FatherJustinsBlog

An almond tree with a twisted trunk grows next to a well at the chapel of Saint Gregory of Sinai. Ruined walls show that, centuries ago, the area was an enclosed garden.

Today we left a little after four o’clock in the morning to celebrate the Liturgy in the small chapel dedicated to the Nativity of the Forerunner.

As we made our ascent, the morning sun revealed ridges of mountains extending into the distance.

At the crest of the mountain, from which we took the path that leads to the little chapel.

A bedouin guide helped us make the trek.

It was a joy to celebrate the Liturgy in this little chapel that has been closed for so many years.

In March, I was able to spend the first three days of the fast at the Chapel of Saint Panteleimon. I took the occasion to open the Chapel of Saint John the Forerunner, which is nearby. I had never been inside before.

The old door was of wood. When it became dilapidated, some entered and left their initials scratched on the plaster wall. We now have a metal door in place. The walls were whitewashed a few years ago, leaving the three apses at the front, which had painted decorations.

The Holy Table is carved from a massive block of granite. The top has been recessed to leave a moulding around the edges, a sign of its antiquity.

In the years I have been here, no one has celebrated the Liturgy in this little chapel. Perhaps this year it might be possible.

A weathered post behind the kitchen area catches the last rays of sunlight.

When the mosaic of the Transfiguration is illuminated by the reflected beams of the morning sun, it is possible to imagine the church as it was when it was first built. The original templon was made of Proconnesian marble, with columns of porphyry. It was low, and allowed an unobstructed view of the mosaic.

Anyone fortunate enough to attain to the divine energy, and to undergo divine transformation, himself becomes completely like the light. He is with the light, and by means of it sees clearly things which, were it not for this great and inexpressible grace, would be invisible to all. According to the Lord’s Beatitude, which cannot prove false, those whose hearts have been purified see God, Who, in the words of the great Theologian, John the Son of Thunder, is Light, and dwells in, and reveals Himself to, those who love Him, and are loved by Him, in accordance with His own promise to them.

Saint Gregory Palamas, Homily on the Entry of the Theotokos into the Holy of Holies