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Show THE MONASTERY OF 3T. CATHERINE AND (1) THE MT. SINAI EXPEDITION ***** The Monastery of St. Catherine stands at the foot of the Mountain of Moses in the he->rt of the Sinai Peninsula. Far into the vas^)and inhospitable wilderness of Biblical renown, It dawns upon the weary traveler and adventurer as a haven of peace and a hospitable refuge. Here the three great monotheistic religions of Moses, Christ and Jfuharamad meet in complete harmony. Like a rock, this time-honoured foundation has stood out amidst the sands and granite mountains of Sinai for more than fourteen centuries with its dignity undiminished and untarnished. The Monastery of St. Catherine is reputed to be ono of Egypt's great and ancient monastie-institutions. In Mount Sinai, the Byzantine rule has \ left its most enduring monument in this Convent, a gem which cannot be overlooked by the devout traveler and pilgrim, Egypt was one of the first countries in ths world to espouse ths cause of Christianity and to bear the brunt of the fiercest Romaa persecutions for the new faith. It was during that period of primitive Christianity in this country that men's minds turned to ascetic and monastic ideas. At the close of the second century, and during thes third in particular. Christians began to flee from the face of their persecutors to the deserts which bordered the green valley of the Nile and went even further into the Sinai wilderness. Thus, before this Monastery came into existence, Sinai teemed with hermits from Efeypt and other territories of the Roman Empire. Many of them preferred to stay on the Holy Mountain of Moses, and St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constnntine the Great is said to have visited this region in 327 A.D. and ordered the construction of the Chapel of the Burning Bush on the spot where God addressed Moses, Life was not always easy and eventless in those parts. From time to time, heathen Bedouin tribes harassed these monastic settlements even after Christianity became the official religion of the Empire. Thus, the monks of Mt. Sinai decided some time in the first half of the sixth century to send a delegation to Emperor Justinian (527-565) in Constantinople and explain to him their precarious life and ask him to build a monastery to house their scattered brotherhood. Justinian, who wished to be regarded as the supreme defender of the faith and who was one of the greatest builders of Christian, antiquity, readily acceded totheir request; and the Monastery emerged Into existence on its ^resent site around the Chapel of the Burring Bush before the middle of the century - some say it was completed in 5*+5 A.D. At its foundation, the Monastery did not bear the name of 3t. Catherir and its cathedral was called the Cathedral of the Transfiguration. It was not until the ninth century that the legend of 3t. Catherine andits associations with the Monastery were widely suread. Later, the remains of this beloved Saint were transferred to the Monastery and were enshrined within the Basilica which was consecrated to her. Since then, the Monastery has (l)Tills is the substance of a paper read at the annual meeting of the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia in April 1951. Those inter' ested in more material than there is in the present summary statement may consult (CPairrios 11 999t533h07e8))) .};f o MlA.lzHoiw.ziL n.3gR. a wbAoitrnikoys,a*, L eLTh. Me oP nMraoesnvtaoessrttse(r eydde .o )f,S a LiSentt .eS -CiCanatathihe erHriinenere i.dn.u A roMuuojnontut r SdSii'nnhaauii |
