When the almond trees are in bloom, the air is filled with a light and subtle fragrance.
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I arrived at Saint Catherine’s Monastery on February 23, 1996. The almond trees were in bloom. Each February, when they bloom, it is a sign that I have been here yet another year.
Winter sunrise at Saint Catherine’s Monastery. Δόξα. Καὶ νῦν. Θεοτοκίον. Τὴν παγκόσμιον δόξαν, τὴν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων σπαρεῖσαν, καὶ τὸν Δεσπότην τεκοῦσαν, τὴν ἐπουράνιον πύλην, ὑμνήσωμεν Μαρίαν τὴν Παρθένον, τῶν Ἀσωμάτων τὸ ᾆσμα, καὶ τῶν πιστῶν τὸ ἐγκαλλώπισμα· αὕτη γὰρ ἀνεδείχθη οὐρανός, καὶ ναὸς τῆς Θεότητος· αὕτη τὸ μεσότοιχον τῆς ἔχθρας καθελοῦσα, εἰρήνην ἀντεισῆξε, καὶ τὸ Βασίλειον ἠνέῳξε. Ταύτην οὖν κατέχοντες, τῆς πίστεως τὴν ἄγκυραν, ὑπέρμαχον ἔχομεν, τὸν ἐξ αὐτῆς τεχθέντα Κύριον. Θαρσείτω τοίνυν, θαρσείτω λαὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ γάρ αὐτὸς πολεμήσει τοὺς ἐχθρούς, ὡς παντοδύναμος. Glory. Both now. Theotokion The universal glory born of men, who hath given birth unto the Master, the heavenly gate; let us praise Mary the Virgin, the song of the bodiless hosts, and the adornment of the faithful. For she was shown to be a Heaven and a temple of the Godhead; destroying the wall of enmity, she ushered in peace and opened the Kingdom. Possessing, therefore, this anchor of faith, we have as champion the Lord Who was born of her. Take courage, therefore, take courage, O ye people of God; for He shall fight thine enemies, since He is the Almighty One. A four o’clock in the morning, the sky outside is still completely dark. Looking up from the right chanting stand at the beginning of Mesonyktikon, the seventeenth century cross on top of the iconostasion extends almost to the ceiling beams. Two icons to either side depict the Most Holy Theotokos, and the Apostle and Evangelist John, standing at the cross. These are lit by icon lamps. On Sundays, we also light the four red icon lamps to either side of the central candelabra. The candles are lit when we chant the Doxology.
On the feast of Holy Theophany, for the Great Blessing of the Waters, we use a fountain dating from 1783. Water streams from a container above through the beak of a silver dove mounted at the top, from which it drips through the mouths of doves set at the rims of three lower basins, one after the other, until it reaches the lowest basin. The fountain is adorned with palm branches, olive boughs, and tangerines brought from Wadi Pharan, where temperatures are always warmer. An icon lamp, also supported by a silver dove, is suspended above.
Ἐπεφάνης σήμερον τῇ οἰκουμένῃ, καὶ τὸ φῶς σου Κύριε, ἐσημειώθη ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς, ἐν ἐπιγνώσει ὑμνοῦντας σε. Ἦλθες ἐφάνης τὸ Φῶς τὸ ἀπρόσιτον. Thou hast appeared today to the world, and thy light, O Lord, is signed upon us that in knowledge hymn thee: Thou hast come, thou hast appeared, thou Light unapproachable. The first rays of the winter sun shine on the bell tower and minaret. After I took the first photograph, a dove flew up to the highest cross to catch the first warmth of the sunlight.
All the icon lamps are lit as we prepare to celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Christ. They are like multi-coloured stars floating just overhead.
Καὶ καλέσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον, Μεθ’ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός. And they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew 1:23)
Detail, Menologion icon, ca. 1200 In December, the sun reaches its farthest point south, the winter solstice, and imperceptibly begins its return north.
A stair rail casts a shadow in the first sunlight of a new day.
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