tribesofsinai2024

Who visits Mount Sinai each day?

Each day between one and several hundred pilgrims and tourists visit St. Catherine’s and Mount Sinai from every continent on earth. 

Until motorised transport, it used to take pilgrims eleven days to make the arduous and dangerous 430km journey across the Sinai from Cairo to St. Catherine’s Monastery. In those days the Bedouin did not respect international law and were feared. 

Over the centuries Russian and Greek Orthodox devotees have been particularly persistent in the pilgrimages. The Monks like to tell stories of barefooted pilgrims and elderly folk bent over walking sticks singing and praying their way to the top of Jebel Mousa. 

These days many more people come pointing iPhones at the mountains, Monastery and Monks, but most of all at themselves and each other. 

Below is a brief description of a few pilgrims we have met. Their names have been changed out of respect for their anonymity. 

• Demetri, a young Australian with Greek ancestry, searching for direction in his life. He had been deep into new-age philosophies, meditation, healing and the occult until he discovered the love of Christ. He was spending a few weeks at the monastery to discover whether a religious life was for him.  

• Alexander, a young American training for the Catholic priesthood traveling alone for his vocation. We had supper together and heard his story. He was amazed at our confident assurance of the Lord’s leading and blessing in life and we were amazed that he was going into the priesthood without a personal faith in Christ. 

• Sophia and her husband had made a visit from Russia hoping the Monks would pray for her stomach problems. When this did not materialise, she was open for us to pray for her. 

• Fatima, a young Egyptian lady who had encountered Christ and was seeking sanctuary, fellowship and guidance. 

St. Catherine’s is a special place for many reasons. A major one is that people seem open and have time to talk about their spiritual journeys. When people talk about the things that matter most to them it feels like one is standing on holy ground. 

Reflection

Where do you go to share your most precious thoughts and experiences? 

Who do you talk with to share the most precious and possibly painful parts of your life? 

Prayer

Please pray for the Monks at St. Catherine. Most of them are contemplatives who find the constant steam of tourists exhausting. 

The expectations of visitors are often beyond the Monk’s ability to perform.  They appear like sheep without a shepherd. Please pray for the Lord Himself to draw people to Himself and minister his presence, healing and deliverance to those in need.  

Please pray for the Egyptian tour guides to be able to tell the Exodus story well and accurately.

I was particularly impressed with one character who poured out a remarkably accurate version of the Exodus with heart-warming enthusiasm to his group.

Others are far less concerned with the facts of history and relay their versions with unchallenged confidence and authority. Many tour groups sweep by the fourth-century Biblical manuscripts on display, not being aware of, or choosing to ignore their significance.