Monks

Things are still well in the Holy Lands. As of my last entry not much is new. This past weekend our class got the chance to go and see lots of historical sites such as some Solomonic gates and Bronze age era ruins. I also climbed into the oldest building ever found (it is about 8,000 years old). So life has been good. I have done two really cool things as of recent. The first thing was walking on an ancient path from St. George's monastery to Jericho. That parth is a part of an ancient path from Jerusalem to Jericho which was where the good samaritan did his good works. Just kidding. That is a parable so it didn't happen. Or did it? Maybe the parables are the only things that actually happened in the Bible....Or actually probably not. But, that would have been the route that Jesus had in mind when he told the parable. Anyways, it was cool to do. It is awesome to see all the ancient monks cells in the cliffside. The cliff wall was literally dotted with monks cells from thousands of years past. Once Christianity became legal in 4th century some Christians thought life became too easy so they left the cities and went into the desert to spend time in constant prayer and ascetic discipline. Once more Christians did this they began living in caves close by and coming together for meals and common prayer. Eventually, monasteries formed. These caves are where they lived and prayed. They would find caves and build walls and doors and pray to God constantly. Of course the demons came to tempt them to sin but the monks fought them off with prayer, Scripture, the Sign of the Cross, and Christ himself! There is some great literature about it...it is very fascinating! Walking by the cells caused me to think about all of the Christians who have walked before me, lived Holy lives, and are perhaps now in heaven praying for my very soul. It was ivery awe-invoking. The other cool thing I did was visit Mar Saba monastery with a few friends. It is a Greek Orthodox monastery out in the middle of the Judaean desert. A monk by the name of Father Raphael showed us around the monastery. Inside the chapel is the body of St. Sabbas whom the cloister is named after. He founded the monastery in the 5th century. His body lies inside a glass case, unembalmed, in the chapel. I saw it with my own eyes. The body is in excellent condition...it has hardly deteriorated at all (remember it has not been embalmed or anything!). The monk said it was a miracle of God. Perhaps this is true. Father Raphael also informed us that when St. Sabbas arrived at the place the only water was sewage water. He prayed for water and God produced a stream of running, clean, drinking water for the monks to drink. It is still used today. After the tour we had some drinks and Father Raphael bestowed some monastic wisdom upon us.