GOARCH Pilgrims Visit Sinai

During the latest GOARCH Pilgrimage to Egypt, over 50 faithful visited the Monastery of Saint Catherine's in Sinai peninsula, Egypt, led by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. On Wednesday, May 10, His Eminence presided at the Divine Liturgy for the feast of Mid-Pentecost. In an address, he emphasized the historic, ecclesiastical and theological significance of the Monastery and expressed wishes for the health of His Eminence Damianos, Archbishop of Sinai, Faran and Raitho, who has recently been facing medical issues.

The Dikeos of the Monastery, the V. Rev. Hieromonk Porphyrios, welcomed the Archbishop and expressed gratitude for the support of the Archdiocese for this historic and magnificent monastic community. The pilgrims from America participated in an extensive tour of the sacred ecclesiastical items in Saint Catherine's Monastery. Archbishop Elpidophoros, the Rev. Protopresbyter Nikiforos Fakinos, representatives of the Archons, and pilgrims venerated the Chapel of the Burning Bush and the relics of Saint Catherine, before visiting the Museum of the Monastery. Gifts were exchanged between the Archbishop and the Dikeos of the Monastery.

A number of pilgrims also joined His Eminence in climbing to the summit of the God-Trodden Mount Sinai, where Moses received the God-inscribed Commandments. From that spectacular and very sacred site, the Archbishop prayed for the divine protection of all people who are persecuted, afflicted and exiled from their homes, much like the Israelites, led by Moses in the Bible. The covenant between God and people is based on adherence to the moral principles of the faith, the very precepts inscribed by God on Mount Sinai.