On January 27, the church honors the memory of Egyptian monks from the monastery of St. Catherine. It was located near Mount Sinai (where the 10 commandments were received) and had very strict rules. The monks remained in silence and solitude all week, meeting only on Sundays for communion.
The monastery had its own hermitage in Raifa, where the lifestyle was even more strict.
The hermits ate only dates and grains that they could find in the area. They drank only water, and then limiting themselves.
For a righteous life, the Lord rewarded many of the elders with the gift of working miracles. Many pilgrims came to the monastery and desert for healing, advice, and spiritual enlightenment.
But for the nomadic Arab tribes, the holiness of the elders did not matter. They considered monasteries as targets for their raids.
Twice Arab nomads attacked monks in Sinai and Raifa. For the first time, in 312.
40 martyrs were killed in Sinai, and 39 in Raifa. The attack was unexpected and brutal. Only a few monks who were in the church at that time were saved. One of them, Ammonius, left us a description of the terrible event.
The second attack occurred in the 5th century. Again the nomads showed unprecedented cruelty, killing almost all the ascetics. Only a small handful managed to escape. Among the survivors were the theologian Nil Postnik and his son Theodul. Neil described what happened in one of his works: “The Tale of the Massacre of the Monks on Mount Sinai.”
Of all those killed in Sinai and Raifa, the names of only 17 have reached us. But during church services, those whose names we do not know are also remembered.
Days of Remembrance
January 27
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Investment in the Soul!
