Christ is risen! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Христос воскресе! !المسيح قام
In this particularly difficult Paschal season, we would like to share a very special video called “Holy Image, Hallowed Ground”. Along with a number of beautiful scenes and interesting interviews, it is also a chance to see St. Catherine's Monastery during an Easter celebration. The video was made by filmmaker Lyn Goldfarb and the Getty Museum as an introduction for one of the Exhibits of St. Catherine’s Monastery Icons, undertaken by the Monastery in recent years as a way to let more people partake of their historical and spiritual treasures.
In the film you will see the scenes of Paschal services in the Monastery and meet with Archbishop Damianos, the Abbot of the Monastery, Elder Pavlos (blessed memory + March 1, 2020), Fr. Justin, the Librarian of the Monastery, and others, as they talk about Monastery life.
Fr. Justin: “The culmination of the entire year at Saint Catherine’s Monastery is the joyous and light filled celebration of the Resurrection of Christ, the Feast of Feasts and the Festival of Festivals. The Greek word for this is Pascha, but it is known in the West as Easter. And it is one of many times in which we are reminded, that the treasures that we have here are a heritage, that has been guarded by the vigilance of the fathers through the centuries gone by, and that we continue in that heritage because of their labors.”
Archbishop Damianos, continues: “And they are the world’s inheritance, and we have the responsibility to protect and conserve them, as we have done through this day, throughout the ages, for as long as the centuries exist. …
"I have had the joy - I would not say luck, because it was an obvious choice – to have been in this Monastery since 1961 … since I arrived as a young man. There have been many changes here in that time. In today’s world we have grown more and more involved with ourselves and our material possessions. It is what we now call ‘globalization’. I wish that word meant the global rebirth and renewal of the spirit. Unfortunately, it does not seem to. We would have been a lot happier if it did. This is what we try to do here: to give life to that Other meaning. ”
FMSM is grateful to Lyn Goldfarb, the filmmaker, of Lyn Goldfarb Productions, Inc., for permission to use the film.
We also have this video with Russian subtitles on our Russian Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/4StCatherineMonastery/
(If you would like to help the monastery at these difficult times, please follow the link: http://www.mountsinaimonastery.org/support/)
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For Holy Week and Paschal services 2020 in St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, please see the Sinai Digital Library channel: