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THE
CONVENT OF SAYDNAYA - SYRIA'S LIVING
MONUMENT
TO CHRISTIANITY
by
Habeeb Salloum
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The fast expanding city of
Damascus, with its 5 million inhabitants, was behind us on our way
to the holy Christian town of Saydnaya, known in Greek and Roman
times as Danaba. Our route took us through a narrow green gorge crowded with
villages hanging on the hill sides, spilling onto the orchards
below. Dotted through
these towns were many coffee houses and eating places enhanced by
cool water springs - refreshing meccas for Damascenes, especially
during the hot summer months.
On both sides, the arid
overhanging cliffs contrasted vividly with the canyon's lush
fruit-trees and gardens, beautified by newly sprouting villas. The
division between the desert and the sown kept us company until we
came to an intensely cultivated wide valley dominated to the left by
the Convent of Saydnaya - to the eastern Orthodox Christians, second
to Jerusalem in holiness. Perched
like an eagle's nest on a lofty rock overlooking the landscape
below, it appeared to be a man-made sentinel guarding the
countryside from atop a barren hill.
We surveyed from afar this
historic Convent, but turned to the right.
Our plans were to leave one of Christianity's most celebrated
sacred spots as the last stop before we returned to Syria's capital.
In a few minutes we were driving
through Maaret Saydnaya - a town of luxurious villas set amid olive,
almond and cherry orchards intermixed with vineyards.
Like the majority of Syrian towns, in the last few decades,
it has been in the main, newly constructed.
The money earned by a good number of Syrians working in the
Gulf states has been the catalyst in the transformation of the
majority of the country's urban centres.
Indirectly, the oil wealth of the Arabian Peninsula is aiding
in the evolvement of the neighbouring lands.
A five minutes drive past Maaret
Saydnaya, we parked our auto on a bare mountain-top.
Before us was a winding staircase leading to the small
Catholic Church of Mar Elias, built on a ledge and going into the
mountain. In a few
minutes we were inside this small house of worship erected on the
site of an ancient secret Christian church.
The guardian took us for a tour and pointed to a passageway
where he said Mar Elias escaped from the Romans through a tunnel
which he claimed once led to Damascus, 40 km (25 mi) away - in
Syria, legends such as these seem to be conjured for every religious
site. Our travelling
companions who were devout Catholics prayed before the altar in a
fervent manner before we left to labour back up the exhausting 196
step stairway.
Back on the road, the cool
highland air revived us as we crossed the valley and made our way up
a narrow winding mountain road past Saydnaya to the Convent of
Cherubim - situated 2011 m (6596 ft) above sea level on one of the
highest peaks of the Qalamoun mountains.
Built after Christianity became
the religion of the Eastern Roman Empire, it flourished for awhile,
then became a pile of ruins and was only rebuilt in the last decade.
It is today the object of tourists and pilgrims who come to enjoy
the fantastic view from its walls and feel the aura of this ancient
sanctuary whose name is an Aramaic word meaning angels, from which
we get our word, cherub.
Retracing our steps, we were
soon looking up at Saydnaya's imposing Byzantine type domes,
gleaming in the sunlight. Turning
off the main road, we drove up a rocky hill crowded with homes, many
newly constructed. Like
giant steps they rose to the top of the height crowned with the
impressive fortress-like convent, situated on an elevated rock.
The road ended in a square
edging this famed and revered nunnery.
As we stepped out of our auto, the breathtaking view of the
valley below captivated us. The
thousand of newly built homes, green fields and the endless
orchards, bordered by dozens of large chicken farms, spread as far
as the eye could see. It
was as if nature and man had combined to cuddle this holy pilgrimage
site in a cloak of appealing colours.
Famous among the Christians of
the East, Saydnaya, 30 km (19 mi) north of Damascus, gets its name
from the Syriac Sayda Naya (Our Lady) and is labelled by some
as the ‘Icon of the Orient’.
In the 6th century A.D., after the Byzantine Emperor
Justinian had a vision he ordered a convent be erected on this spot
and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin.
With the passing years, a village grew around the nunnery and
took on its name. Today, besides the convent, the town and the
surrounding area is full of small churches and monasteries, mostly
named after Orthodox saints.
We made our way through a long
narrow entrance into the hallowed structure.
Inside, we found a maze of passages and stairways making
their way into the rocks. Most
were eroded by the feet of the never-ending processions of pilgrims.
It was truly a strange architectural world, carrying the air
of the bygone centuries.
A sister, one of the 50 or so
Saydnaya nuns belonging to the Orthodox rite, led us to a tiny
chapel. The most
important of the holy spots in the nunnery, it is called 'The Shagoura'
in Syriac and 'The Shahira' in Arabic - in both
languages meaning (the Illustrious).
In respect to this sacred room, before entering, like the
other visitors, we removed our shoes.
Over the entrance was inscribed
a forgotten verse from the book of Exodus.
It recalls a commandment, lost to western churches but still
current in Islam, which reads: "Put off thy shoes from thy
feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."
The heart of the building
complex, this chapel is a modest sanctuary, low, narrow and dark,
lit by only candles and oil lanterns.
Its walls are covered with old icons of the Virgin and other
saints - a number painted between the 5th and 7th centuries.
Hidden away among these sacred paintings is the most
priceless treasure of the Convent ‑ the icon of the Virgin attributed to
Saint Luke. It is said
that he painted it from memory - a tale never challenged by the
faithful.
During the Crusades, the
Templars, a crusading guild, like the oriental Christians, believed
in the power of this sacred image.
It was venerated by these Latin invaders and many would send
back to their churches in Europe oil from the Convent which they
were firmly convinced oozed from the icon's face.
Not only Christians but also Muslims have always held this sanctuary in
great reverence. A 11th
century European historian wrote that Sultan Seif-Eddin, Saladin’s
brother, was hospitalized and eventually recovered from his illness
at the Shaghoura Chapel and thereafter he, along with his sister,
used to send gifts and oil every year to the convent.
The centuries have not
diminished the holy lure of Saydnaya.
Among the sacred sanctuaries of the Orient, for Orthodox
Christians, it follows Jerusalem in importance as a place of
pilgrimage. Its popularity is augmented by the miracles which the
Holy Virgin is reputed to bestow on people irrespective of their
religion.
Thousands from all parts of the
world travel to this nunnery seeking the blessing of Saint Luke's
icon. This is especially true among the eastern Christians.
For them to visit this Convent is almost equal to making a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
The aura and legendary tales of
Saydnaya remain today as vivid as they were in the distant past.
Many eastern Christians living as far away as North America
and Australia often make a pilgrimage to this sacrosanct spot,
feeling their life will not be complete without a visit to the
Convent of the Blessed Virgin.
Habeeb Salloum
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