The sayings of the Prophets are now being fulfilled, for our God shall be born in the days to come ineffably from the Virgin, … The Magi have been gathered, bearing their precious gifts. In the fields are the shepherds. And we sing a hymn to Him who from a Virgin was born, “Glory to You, O Lord.” (From the Matins of the Nativity)
FMSM FIFTH YEAR REPORT
FROM HIS EMINENCE ARCHBISHOP DAMIANOS OF SINAI:
The Archbishop of the Monastery of Saint Catherine of Mount Sinai in Egypt and its Fathers express their warmest wishes to the “Friends of Mount Sinai Monastery” for their support of the various needs of the Monastery.
While these needs have greatly increased in recent years due to the known events of the Middle East, we hope to meet them with your help. Some of them are medical care and medicines for the Fathers and Bedouin of the area, maintenance of ancient Monastery structures, ongoing digitization of manuscripts and other Monastery archives, repairs to monks’ cells, improved gardening, and renovation of small dependencies of St. Catherine’s staffed by Monastery fathers.
Holding his staff, Archbishop Damianos presides from his throne at the hierarchical Feast day Liturgy of St. Catherine officiated by Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem with many co-celebrants, Dec. 8, 2019. Picture at top of page: procession with relics of St. Catherine. Photos courtesy of Fr. Justin.
We owe our gratitude to all of you, and upon the approaching great Feasts of Christianity, namely the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany together with the coming New Year, we wish you all every joy with inner peace, and the peace of the whole world. Such gifts are attained when we are closer to Christ, a blessing manifested during these holy days with active love and assistance in every shape and form to those undergoing material needs and trials.
Christ is born! Let us glorify Him, and put Him in our heart always.
The Archbishop of Sinai Damianos
Abbot of St. Catherine's Monastery
FROM FMSM:
As of Dec. 14, FMSM had received $59,249.85 in donations for the calendar year of 2019, with an additional $15,000 from a special bequest expected by year’s end. While this shows an increase from 2018, it represents only a small portion of the funds needed every year to keep the Monastery functional and accessible to the world.
The chapel of St. Stephen is especially beautiful at Christmas, when snow often falls onto the lower elevations of Mount Sinai. Photo courtesy of Fr. Justin.
We have transferred $61,931 (including a balance from last year) to the bank account of St. Catherine's Monastery. Your full donations are sent to the Monastery, since FMSM's staff is volunteer and all expenses are paid for by board members.
Of the above total, $6,000 assisted the restoration project for monastic cells. Your gifts over the past four years have helped to bring this project near completion. Work on the drainage system around the Monastery’s ancient basilica, for which we sent funds last year, is also nearly finished.
$10,000 was sent to pay for a contractor to oversee long overdue painting of the basilica's interior and related projects.
$35,636 was sent for urgent renovations at the Monastery's Athens dependency, or "metochion." Large monasteries have historically maintained these "ecclesiastical embassies" in major cities. Major Athonite houses also have metochions in Athens, and the reasons are practical: they facilitate monastery interaction with the outside world and provide housing for monks attending to monastery business. St. Catherine’s Athens metochion also provides administrative support for the protection, study, and appreciation of the Sinai monuments. Also on a pragmatic note, it is often through the city dependencies, most of which have churches, that future Monks are drawn to serve remote monasteries, ensuring their continued life. Many are the Sinai Monks who were once simple communicants at the Athens metochion.
The Sinai basilica welcomes pilgrims on the great Feasts as it has for fifteen centuries. Photo courtesy of Michael Issa.
With resources focused on developing pilgrimage infrastructure at the Sinai Monastery over recent decades, serious and long-neglected problems evolved in the metochion apartment where Archbishop Damianos oversees Monastery business, receives officials of Church and State, and resides when in Athens. With few interventions since original construction in 1953, problems included leaky drainage pipes, mold, dangerous overloads to an antiquated electrical system that had wires attached to the outside of the walls, need to waterproof and insulate the roof of the building, and deteriorating carpentry and appliances combined with a roach infestation. Creating a more functional working space, additional funding is still needed for this project, which includes plumbing and electrical repairs to other areas of the metochion building.
We are grateful to report the recovery of His Eminence from a nearly catastrophic event last year when he fell thirteen feet down a shaft at the Monastery in Sinai due to severely limited eyesight. Indefatigable at his post after nearly six decades of service to St. Catherine’s Monastery – five of them as Archbishop and Abbot – His Eminence regularly works at the Athens metochion, while continuing arduous travel to Sinai for obligations there.
Finally, $10,295 was sent this year for medical care for one of the Monastery's holy elders. The Fathers remain most grateful for this support.
As a bastion of ancient Orthodox spirituality, the Monastery remains a unique example to the global community of multi-cultural peace generated by the Orthodox Christian emphasis on tolerance through refusal to judge others – a legacy surely worthy of the world’s support in such fractured times. As we noted before, an article in the New York Times, together with the attached readers’ comments, references the qualities of charitable organizations most attractive to potential donors. FMSM satisfies - even surpasses - all of these, in that we spend nothing of your donations on advertising or other costs. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/opinion/7-standards-for-your-end-of-year-donations.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
We particularly need to increase our base of regular donors to provide support the Monastery can rely on. Even small contributions go far in Sinai, one of which is to help bring the news to a wider audience by liking/sharing our posts on Facebook – our main means of advertising our work.
With best wishes to all for a very joyous and blessed celebration of the Nativity of Christ!
www.mountsinaimonastery.org/support/
https://www.facebook.com/ForStCatherinesMonastery/
New plumbing being installed at the metochion.
Electrical wires were placed inside the walls instead of the old wiring that was on the outside.
New main electrical panel.