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On Sunday, September 1/14, 2025, the Sinai brotherhood met in General Assembly and unanimously elected Archimandrite Symeon Papadopoulos as the Abbot of Sinai. At a future date, he will be consecrated Archbishop of Sinai, Pharan, and Raithou by the Patriarch of Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, after which he will be enthroned at Saint Catherine’s Monastery. We wish him Πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη.
Archimandrite Symeon wearing the mandya as the Abbot of Sinai. On Friday, September 12, Archbishop Damianos submitted his formal letter of resignation as Archbishop of Sinai, Pharan, and Raithou. He was born in 1935, and is thus in his ninety-first year. He was consecrated Archbishop of Sinai in 1973. This brings to an end a term of service of fifty-two years.
Archbishop Damianos at the throne of the Church of Saint Catherine, the Sinai metochion in Athens, on Sunday, September 14. Sinai Greek 4743 is a tiny Greek New Testament printed at Lugduni Batavorum (Leiden) by Officina Luchtmanniana in 1751. It measures 6.5 by 11 centimetres. It was bound in vellum. The front has a depiction of the Crucifixion, and the back the Resurrection. The spine is flat but was stained blue and red in alternating panels to suggest four compartments, and stamped in gilt with floral designs. All edges are gilt, and the top and bottom edges are gauffered near the spine and foredge with dots and semi-circles. An inscription inside reveals that it belonged to David Monk and Oikonomos, and is dated 5 March, 1793.
Sinai manuscript Greek 1583 contains music for extended melodies written in Byzantine notation in 1712. The volume was beautifully bound in tooled and gilded leather, with two metal clasps, and a raised headband and footband in the Byzantine style.
The edges of the pages were stained blue, and then stamped with alternating gilt rosettes. These display a high level of craftsmanship, but above all, they are the sign of a love for books and the wisdom they contain. Portrait medallion of the Evangelist Matthew from the sixth century Sinai apse mosaic.
And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. (Matthew 9:9) Yea, for to this end He came, not to cure bodies only, but to heal likewise the wickedness of the soul. Which He did also in the case of the paralytic; and having shown clearly that He is able to forgive sins, then, not before, He comes to him whom we are now speaking of; that they might no more be troubled at seeing a publican chosen into the choir of the disciples. For He that hath power to undo all our offenses, why marvel if He even make this man an apostle? But as thou hast seen the power of Him that called, so consider also the obedience of him that was called: how he neither resisted, nor disputing said, ‘What is this? Is it not indeed a deceitful calling, wherewith He calls me, being such as I am?’ nay; for this humility again had been out of season: but he obeyed straightway, and did not even request to go home, and to communicate with his relations concerning this matter; as neither indeed did the fishermen; but as they left their net and their ship and their father, so did he his receipt of custom and his gain, and followed, exhibiting a mind prepared for all things; and breaking himself at once away from all worldly things, by his complete obedience he bare witness that He who called him had chosen a good time. Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary on Matthew, Homily 30 Portrait medallion of the Prophet Hosea from the sixth century Sinai apse mosaic.
The prophet Hosea lived at a time when faith had grown weak. He recalled the sojourn in the wilderness with longing. It had been a time when the children of Israel were close to God, when He had dwelt tangibly in their midst. In prophetic vision he foretold the day when, again, God would bring Israel into the wilderness, ‘as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt’ (Hosea 2:15), where the covenantal alliance would be reconsecrated. Monks of Sinai enter into this eschatological age by anticipation. There is a terrace at the northwest corner of the monastery, and it is very pleasant during the summer to watch the sunset and the approach of night from there. On rare occasions, there is enough humidity in the air to catch the rays of the setting sun.
The hermitage of Saints Galakteon and Episteme in the morning sunlight. In the summer, the sun rises farther to the north, and the hermitage only enters into sun later in the morning. During the winter, the sun rises farther to the south, and the sunlight reaches the hermitage hours earlier.
The Elder Paisios spent time at the hermitage of Saints Galakteon and Episteme during the two years he lived at Sinai, from 1962-1964. There, he slept on a mat woven from palm fronds, with a sheepskin for a cover. To keep warm in the cold winter, he would make a small fire of brushwood and brew some tea. He once said, ‘One hot tea with three little spoons of sugar can warm you up as much as three sweaters.’ In this icon, the Patriarch Euthymios of Jerusalem stands in the presence of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Prophet Moses. The Theotokos raises her hands in intercession, with the Christ Child portrayed in a medallion before her. This icon is known as the Blachernitissa, but it is especially associated with the Virgin Mary of the Burning Bush. The icon is thought to have been created at Sinai soon after the repose of the Patriarch in 1224.
Around the frame of the icon are the words of the hymn from Mesonyktikon, In all generations we call thee blessed, O Virgin Theotokos, for in thee the uncontainable Christ our God was pleased to be contained. Blessed are we also, having thee as protection; for day and night thou prayest for us, and the sceptres of the kingdom are strengthened by thine intercessions. Wherefore in hymns we cry unto thee: Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, the Lord is with thee. There is also the beginning of the hymn in honour of Saint Euthymios the Great, Be glad, O barren one, that hast not given birth; be of good cheer, thou that hast not travailed; for a man of desires hath multiplied thy children of the Spirit. In 1223, Patriarch Euthymios of Jerusalem passed away at Saint Catherine’s Monastery. From his great veneration for Saint Catherine, he asked that he be buried in the basilica beneath the north aisle opposite her reliquary. A marble inscription in Greek and Arabic marks the location. Below, a transcription of the Greek, a translation of the Greek, and a translation of the Arabic.
Ἐνθᾶδε κεῖτε τὸ σώμα τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Εὐθυμίου Πατριάρχου Ἱεροσολύμων ἔτος ϚΨΛΒ μηνὶ Δεκεμβρίῳ ΙΓ ἡμέρα Δ. Ἐπὶ τοῦ Ὁσιωτάτου Πατρὸς ἡμῶν Μακαρίου Ἀρχιεπισκόπου τοῦ Ἁγίου Ὅρους Σινᾶ. Here lies the body of our father among the saints Euthymios Patriarch of Jerusalem the year 6732 [AD 1223] the month December 13, the fourth day [Wednesday]. In the time of our most righteous father Makarios Archbishop of the Holy Mount Sinai. Here lies the body of our father among the saints Euthymios Patriarch of Jerusalem the year 6732 the month December 13, the fourth day. In the time of our most righteous father Makarios the Damascene Bishop of the Holy Mount Sinai. Our father pray for us your disciples and pray for me the writer of this text. |
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