Why Sinai? Why not?

All the Saints, more than one every day.  Day by day they are remembered.  What a crowd  and just from one tradition.

Whoever painted these Saints on their Saints days managed to write the name of each one in teeny writing above their head.  You need a magnifying glass to decipher the words but if you screw up your eyes you can just see the halo and the name.  The monks are saintly and I believe that their lives as renunciates are fitting them to become Saints when they die. So, when they leave their bodies accompanied by their two angels, the guardian one and the receiving angel warding off any demons, their journey to heaven is their perfection.  Then, the belief is that after years in heaven, at the second coming, back they will wing to those bones faithfully preserved and prayed over in the ossiary and their new life on earth will be a new heaven on earth.  That is what I understand.  In the meantime, I am left thinking about their lives which faithfully follow the calendar of Saints, faithfully celebrate the great feasts of the Church, lighting candles, venerating the icons and saying the psalms, all of them each week so they know them by heart (and in Greek!).  Us, we just spend a week in the Monastery observing a quieter way of life, reading and studying and meditating and then we come home, home to our lives as householders.  They remain.  We are struck by the discipline and devotion of these monks and the way they as a community have steadily prayed and venerated and chanted and fasted and feasted, have polished the lamps and lit them, have minded the manuscripts and given hospitality to passing pilgrims.  We are struck by the fact that they hold the door open to heaven by these actions so that when we visit we get a glimpse of why they do it, we get a glimpse of why there is always a need for special people living dedicated lives as an act of love.  We are also left thinking that this tradition needs supporting, it needs to be recognised so that there will always be monks at Mount Sinai.  Many people visit the Monastery as an historical site which of course it is and perhaps they might not see what is actually happening day by day behind  the historical building and the site of the burning bush but there is an invitation always open to pilgrim types to take time out of their normal lives and go there to join the continuous cycle of prayer.  You will get a welcome straight from the heart of everyone at the Monastery, they are so pleased that you want to come and warm your heart at this place.  I can recommend the journey and recommend Wind, Sand and Stars expertise in getting you there and keeping you safe and well while you are there.  I am going back next spring on a proper retreat and if you want to come with me, get in touch with me or Wind, Sand and Stars

Modern Day Pilgrims