Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Mount Sinai on Thanksgiving Day

A e-mail note from Father Michael from the Holy Land, Nov. 26:

On Thanksgiving Day 2007 we as secessionists went up to Mount Sinai. We got up at 2 am and started up the mountain at 3 am. The day before we went Jerusalem at 5 am and visited Mitzpe Ramon, which was a wonderful lookout in another wonderful view of the mountains and plains of the Israel desert and then down to Eliat and we crossed the border at Taba and the Egyptian Comboni Sister got turned back and the Ethiopian priest make it but had to take a lot of stuff from both sides. We were at the border for three hours.Then we drove on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba and then up the high plateau in the Wadi Ghazala to Wadi el Sheikh.
Thursday November 22nd, we took a bus to Saint Catherine's Monastery and started the ascent up "Jebel Musa" along the Sikket-el-Basha path and we all walked even though there were camels available which took two hours and then straight 743 steps to be there for sunrise. The sun make it but not everyone else. I used a flash light and did make it. With Moses in mind I thank God for his revelation and even his commandments and the view of the mountain tops was just something outstanding.
Then down the 743 steps and them down the traditional Moses' path of some 2000 more steps and a few falls. It was day now but still tough, very hard on my knees.
Once we all got down we had Mass outside on the mountain side. and then we went in to the Orthodox of the historic Saint Catherine's Monastery and then lunch and went on a short desert walk up to the Rock of Inscriptions of many travelers and the graffiti left by them. We spent the America Thanksgiving Day on the Gulf of Aqaba or the Red Sea. I was tired indeed.
The next day we crossed the borders with no problem at all and we stopped to see the coral reef and the Eilat Aquarium. Then we went by bus to visit the Timna natural reserve and Solomon's Columns, the Temple of Goddess Hathor, which was an ancient copper smelting installation done by the Egyptians.
We got back to Jerusalem after dark and got woken up by another earthquake around the Dead Sea. No harm done.
On Saturday evening we started an eight day directed retreat and will be till Sunday December 2nd midday.
I may go to Jordan on the fifth till the ninth and on the tenth I head back to Africa.
Michael

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