Wadi El Natrun Monasteries

 Today, Friday, October 14 we were invited to visit the Monasteries at Wadi El Natrun, which is halfway between Cairo and Alexandria, in the desert.  I understand that it is 21 miles long containing various monasteries.  We visited 2 main ones, and stopped at 2 more, mostly to check out the gift shops.  The gift shops were packed. Some had some nice nativities that I may have to buy some day.  My Catholic friends were checking out the variety of rosaries. According to Wikipedia, the Natrun Valley is so named due to the natron salt that comes from there, used in ancient days to preserve corpses. It is the location of the "desert fathers" - a holy Christian site where in 330 AD St. Marcarius of Egypt wandered out into the desert to live the life of a hermit.  Desert monks believed that in the solitude of the desert, they could deny themselves all worldly pleasures in order to focus on God.  The earliest monks only ate bread and salt, they dug caves in the sand, and they worked on such labors as rope making and weaving.  They came together to build a chapel, where they would gather once a week while they ate in silence and the high priest would read from the Bible.  They then would gather provisions like water and food and walk back to their solitary caves.  Some of the buildings we were in dated back to the 6th century, and though many now have rounded roofs or light fixtures, they are relatively unchanged from their early days.

For this outing, 14 of us, a diverse group from Egypt, England, Mexico, Canada, and various part of the US, as well as Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Coptic Orthodox, and agnostics packed ourselves into one of the school's vans, and off we went for what was to be a very informative day.

The entrance to the first monastery we visited

One of the many monks who greeted visitors and blessed the faithful

The people are gathered around the uncorrupted body of the Saint.  They spontaneously break out in song.  The monk told us that they sing the Saint's biography.

The original well that led the first desert fathers to this location

Due to some heavy rains last year, the building is in need of some repairs.  During the renovation, they discovered windows they never knew existed.  Note the shape of the windows - probably meant to look like angels

The monk explained that the sun ring behind all of their heads has to do with the fact that at this time many Egyptians still worshipped "Rah" the god of the sun.  Mary and the early popes and other icons were given sun rings to symbolize that their God was more powerful than Rah in order to convert people to Christianity.  He also told us that there are two words on the picture of Mary and baby Jesus which indicate that Christ was fully human, born from a human, but also the Son of God, so he was fully divine as well.  This was an early argument in the church - was he fully a man, the Son of God or was he God in a man's body?

This is an ancient flour mill that is still operational.  The monk holds the large branch and walks it around and around in the circular building.

The water jugs ancient monks would carry back to their dessert caves filled with water for the
week

This is the recipe for Holy Oil.  We were given some small bottles of Holy Oil upon entering.

Monks making holy oil

This is where the ancient monks would gather to eat their bread and salt, once a week (or less for some).  When they joined the monastery, they were to lie prone on the ground while the prayer of the dead was recited above them.  This was to symbolize that they were dead to the.  They were to take a new name, to eat as little as possible.  (Most of this ceremony is still true today. The monk who talked to us said he did not want to come up with his own name and the elder monks refused to give him one, so he remembered a comment a professor had made to him in seminary, so he took that name) They felt that when man tries to interpret God's messages using his own brain, mistakes are made, so they were taught to pray and meditate, but not to question the leader.  Anyhow, because they believed they were dead to the world, they sat on the ground to eat.  The leader would sit at one end and read the Bible to the group and pray and they would all eat in silence.  After the meal was over, they would gather their provisions such as water and walk back to their caves in the desert.  For some, this was their only meal of the week.  One of the saints that was mentioned several times also tried to deny his body sleep and would sit up and tie his hair to the ceiling so that if he nodded off, his hair would be pulled so he would be woken up.  This guide also mentioned one of his mentors that he met in the 1970s.  The monk is still at the same monastery, but he has not left his two room domicile for 30 years! He said back in the 1970's, when he first came to the monastery, this particular monk would sit in front of his apartment from 9am-10am in order to get some sunshine.  He said he wondered if he was a little crazy or if something was wrong with him, but one day the monk rose to his feet and walked with a very straight stance right to the chapel.  This guide obviously admired this man and he said that he knew that he himself would likely go crazy if he did not interact with people.

This guy also told us an interesting story about why they keep the body of the Saints where the people can not touch them.  He said Egyptians like to take things that are meaningful to them - even monks.  He said one time they had the body of a Saint laid out in a Monastery.  The body had already turned black and was dried out, and the monks were praying over it.  One of the monks broke off a finger and put it in his pocket to have it with him!  When the Pope found out about it, he ordered the doors of the Monastery locked and everyone had to remain inside and pray continuously until the guilty party returned the finger.  Four days later it was returned - so now none of the monks want to chance that someone will steal a part of the bodies, so they are always covered up and out of reach!  

Another thing that he told us what about "uncorrupted bodies" - those that do not decompose and have a very sweet smell.  I am not sure I totally believe that this is possible, but I do have to say as I walked by the wooden casket of a Saint, next to where they claim John the Baptist's bones were discovered, I actually had to press my nose up closer to the casket as it had a wonderful smell radiating from it.

 This fresco is part of the most recently built building in the monastery.  It is a museum for the well-loved Pope who died in 2010. These are the garments that he wore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Shenouda_III_of_Alexandria

This is the supposed location of John the Baptist. It was near here where there was the delightful smell.

This is a bowl of ful and bread that was served to us (for free) at one of the monasteries.  They also served us tea and coffee.http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2014/05/ful-mudammas-recipe/

Beautiful artwork adorned many of the ceilings

This is a Coptic Book of Readings.  On the left of each page is the Coptic Language, on the right is the Arabic words.  I believe they said the Arabic words are said when the Priest is facing East, with his back to the people in the congregation - the Coptic words are said to the West, facing the congregation.  The monk below read the words in Coptic for us so we could hear the language.  We were all drawn in my this man's mannerisms and charm.  He was a hoot!

After the monks moved inside the walls, they built a row of very small "cave-like" rooms where they lived. They are each divided into two rooms - one for greeting guests and the other for sleeping and praying. This is how the caves in the desert were designed - two rooms. Today they have apartments with electricity and modern conveniences, but they are still just two rooms, laid out in the same fashion. Notice the size of the doors.  They basically had to crawl in.

The Coptic Christians are known for the many, many ways they represent the cross.

Some of the artwork was hundreds or even thousands of years old - and was barely recognizable as paintings. Here is a look inside one altar room that has not been changed in hundreds of years - maybe longer.  It seems to me that they said the ceiling in this particular altar room dates back to 1500 or so.

 

If you look closely, you can see the faint outlines of murals from days gone by.  This is an altar room. Only the priest/monk is allowed to enter the altar room.  They face towards the East wall, of the rising sun, to give the sermon, first in one language, then turn to the congregation in the west to give it again in another language. The altar rooms were surprisingly large, with relatively narrow doors so not everyone can see the Priest in the altar room.  There are no benches or places for the congregation to sit or kneel - instead just a counter to stand behind that holds the Bibles and readings.  There were more than one altar rooms in each place.  I never thought to ask why.  Do they each have a special purpose, or do they have 3 or so sermons going on at one time?  The door openings to the altar room are covered with various curtains that people were continuously touching and kissing.

Finally, a look at our really amazing guides who told us so many interesting stories. By the way, ALL of these men were doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, or other professionals BEFORE becoming monks.  This man had a spiritual experience his 2nd year of college that convinced him to become a monk.  He told us stories about women who lived as monks their whole life and were only found out they were not upon their death! He then said they have no nuns in the desert because the conditions are considered too harsh for them! lol

This last one is a video of how loud the church bells are here.  Everything is louder in Egypt - it is just a LOUD country!  At the end, I also got a picture of our first guide.