Milenium en Compostela; 18 voices in the Camino

[Rosina Lila]

Hi William,
         Indeed I stayed in a lovely cottages' hotel at the foot of the
mountains less than a mile away from St. Catherine's'. Luckily, there were no lines
at the Monastery both times that I went, which was rather surprising since
the Monastery is only open a few times a week from 9 to 12.
         The icons are the most beautiful and impressive anywhere; the
Transfiguration mosaic  behind the altar, with our very own St. James in it, is,
deservedly,  world  famous.  But there is one icon in the church that took my
breath away: it is rather large, 111x79 cms. and it shows Mary presenting Baby
Jesus in the temple. The Baby is in the arms of a temple official but looking
back at His mother and extending one little arm towards her. Mary is accompanied
by St. Ann and by Joseph who carries the two sacrificial doves on a mantle.
The effect of the icon on the viewer is mesmerizing. As I was glued before it,
a multi-lingual monk told me that he thought I must be a   Catholic, when I
asked him why, he mentioned  that the Pope had visited the Monastery sometime
earlier and had spent a long long time before that icon.
         All the icons are beautiful, and the low-hanging lamps give them an
other-word aura.
         I was also quite taken by the priceless library, and by  the
parchment signed with  Mohammed's palm print wherein the Prophet assured the safety
of the monks and of the oldest continuously occupied Christian monastery in
history.
         And, yes, I did go up to the top of Mount Sinai, but I did not walk
up the 2,200 carved steps; instead, starting about midnight,  I, and a few
others,  rode  camels half-way up (very scary!) and walked the rest of the way
arriving at the top in time to see the sun rise.  A short-distance before the
top there is a little chapel (a hut, really) and a multi-lingual monk who hears
confessions, ....imagine!  When a young man in front of me told the monk that
he would love to confess but that he had nothing to repent of at that moment
the monk reminded him that spiritual arrogance is no virtue. ..... Oh, well!
         By the way, as we were making our way up the mountain in the dark,
we heard and saw, some commotion below by the walls of the Monastery; my camel
guide said that it was some Bedouins coming to collect the bread which the
monks have provided for them daily for eighteen centuries; apparently a bargain
was struck in the 2nd. century whereby the Bedouins wouldn't rain rocks down
into the monastery in exchange for a daily provision of bread.  Mohammed's
seventh century assurance of safety did not alter the custom.
         As we all know, many experiences can only be felt and all the words,
videos and pictures in the world cannot begin to explain them. Among them is
the  Camino,   San Juan de la Pena,  the Falls of Iguazu, and, at the top of
the list for me, the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Egypt's Sinai.
Warm regards,
Rosina

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