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Saint Anne

On Friday, we climbed to the Church of Saint Anne for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy.

Mountain ranges to the east as we climbed up the camel trail. I did not take any photographs before or after the Liturgy, since I knew I would be returning to the chapel the next morning. I spent the night at the kelli next to the Church of Saint Panteleimon.

I returned to Saint Anne’s at 4:30 the next morning in the first light of a new day.

The small chapel in the early morning light.

Candles lit before sunrise.

The first rays of sunlight enter to one side, striking the south wall of the chapel.

As the sun rises, the beam of light comes to rest directly in front of the Holy Table, and at last, upon the Holy Table itself during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. This little chapel is especially beautiful, and it is a joy to return every year for the feast of Saint Anne.

6 comments to Saint Anne

  • Michal Dvořáček

    Dear Father Justin, bless.
    The first “rays of sunlight” have entered also our own space thanks to your today´s post and beautiful photographs.
    Have a blessed day.
    Kind regards from Brno, the town in the Czech Republic, from where we have been following not only your Blog, but also the posts on the “Friends of the Holy Mount Sinai”.
    In Christ´s love
    Michal

  • Mark

    Of the photographs you have posted over the years of this chapel, these strike me as the most intimate. Thank you, as always.

  • Dana Pope

    Fr. Justin,
    Our Church has an Holy Icon of St. Catherine’s. Between your posts and our Icon, I am never far from you all. Thank you.

  • Richard Saloom

    Dear Father Justin,
    To what period does this chapel date? Where most of the outlying the chapels built during any particular timeframe? These pictures are truly inspiring.

    • Father Justin

      Uzi Dahari wrote Monastic Settlements in South Sinai in the Byzantine Period: The Archaeological Remains. This was published as volume nine of the Israel Antiquities Authority Reports, in 2000. The book includes a description of the Chapel of Saint Anne. It is impossible to date these remote chapels precisely, but I think it is safe to say that they were constructed during the most active period of Sinai monasticism, that is, before the ninth or tenth century.

  • Nathalie Beaux-Grimal

    Glory to God !

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