For the Feast of SAINT ANNE, the Mother of THE THEOTOKOS

"For water hath broken out in the desert, and a watercourse in a thirsty land." (Isaiah 35:6)

For the Feast of SAINT ANNE, the Mother of THE THEOTOKOS

This year [2021], we decided to celebrate the Liturgy at midnight at the chapel of Saint Anne. We left at 9:00 PM, when they lock the entrance to the monastery.

We reached the chapel a little after midnight, and celebrated the Liturgy in the stillness of the night.

It began to get light as we made our descent.

The sun rose when we were about halfway to the monastery, where we arrived around 6:00 AM.

"Thou didst bear the chaste Mother of God, she who conceived Life, O godly minded Anna; wherefore, thou hast now departed with joy for the heavenly dwelling place, wherein is the habitation of those who rejoice in glory, and thou askest the remission of offences for those who honour thee with longing, O ever-blessed one."

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Chapel of Saint Anne

There are several chapels to the west of the Basin of the Prophet Elias. The most remote of them all is the Chapel of Saint Anne, perched incongruously next to massive outcrops of solid granite. It is my favourite of all the little chapels in the Sinai mountains.

I first saw the Chapel of Saint Anne in January of 2005, when I joined Father Nilus as he took holy water from the Theophany services to bless all of the outlying chapels. The roof had cracked, allowing water to seep in. This was eroding the earth mortar between the stones, and much of the plaster inside had fallen off. No one had celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the chapel for many years, because it had become so dilapidated. But every detail of the chapel seemed to have been made with sensitivity and devotion, and it was beautiful, even in that state. 

I was able to clean the chapel, and Evangelos Zournatzis, an iconographer from Samos, sent me a photograph of an icon of Saint Anne he had painted, that I was able to print and frame. We returned on July 25, the feast day of Saint Anne, to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. It was a great joy, and we have been back every year since then. ...

In 2008, the Chapel of Saint Anne was renovated. Mortar on the roof and outside walls that had crumbled was replaced. The plaster inside was patched, and the walls and ceiling whitewashed. A wooden floor was installed over the earlier dirt floor, while retaining the flagstones at the eastern end of the chapel. ...

The cycle of services and the structure of the day [in Saint Catherine's Monastery] is that of a coenobium [a group of monks living in community]. But when responsibilities allow, it is wonderful to climb up to some remote kelli and spend three days. The silence is profound. It is as if we return to the Sinai of a thousand years ago.

Based on Fr. Justin's Sinai Blog: https://www.fatherjustinsblog.info/archives/6943 and others