|
|
The icon of the Holy Prophet Moses on the southwest pier in the Church of Saint Catherine, the Sinai metochion in Athens. He holds the two stone Tablets of the Law, surmounted by the golden pot that had manna, and an icon of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. Her hands are extended in prayer for all of creation.
Εἶχέν μὲν οὖν καὶ ἡ πρώτη σκηνή δικαιώματα λατρείας τό τε ἅγιον κοσμικόν σκηνὴ γὰρ κατεσκευάσθη ἡ πρώτη ἐν ᾗ ἥ τε λυχνία καὶ ἡ τράπεζα καὶ ἡ πρόθεσις τῶν ἄρτων ἥτις λέγεται Ἅγια· μετὰ δὲ τὸ δεύτερον καταπέτασμα σκηνὴ ἡ λεγομένη Ἅγια Ἁγίων χρυσοῦν ἔχουσα θυμιατήριον καὶ τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης περικεκαλυμμένην πάντοθεν χρυσίῳ ἐν ᾗ στάμνος χρυσῆ ἔχουσα τὸ μάννα καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος Ἀαρὼν ἡ βλαστήσασα καὶ αἱ πλάκες τῆς διαθήκης ὑπεράνω δὲ αὐτῆς χερουβιμ δόξης κατασκιάζοντα τὸ ἱλαστήριον· περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἔστιν νῦν λέγειν κατὰ μέρος.
Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. (Hebrews 9:1-5)
In writing ‘of which we cannot now speak particularly’, the author hints that to enter into the signification of each would have required a long discourse. For these were not physical objects only, as Saint John Chrysostom points out, but they were also certain αἰνίγματα, as he calls them, a word that means ‘figures, types, symbols, signs’. It remained to later writers to search out the significance of these objects.
The Church of Panagia Kapnikarea dates to the eleventh century. It is one of the oldest churches in Athens. Photios Kontoglou painted the Theotokos Platytera in the apse in 1942, and completed the remaining icons on the walls in the early 1950s. The icon of Saint Catherine is on the east face of the arch to the north of the bema.
The icon of Saint Catherine on the northwest pier in the Church of Saint Catherine, the Sinai metochion in Athens.
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.
|
Recent Comments