Forest fire burning above Abu Ghosh

.
I just returned to Meitar from a few days visit to my previous hometown in the Jerusalem Hills.

 My bus left Jerusalem at 1:35 and when we  passed Abu Ghosh at 1:50  a really big forest fire was burning!

Apparently they closed that part of Highway One (Jerusalem <-> Tel Aviv) right after.
Dozens of firefighting units and planes are battling the fire.
News says it is around Kibbutzim Maale Hahamisha and Kiryat Anavim and the Israeli Arab town of Abu Ghosh.

This is the turn off to those villages, from Highway One.

The houses of Abu Ghosh.

Now, at 5:55,  news reports the fire has been "contained,"  but it ain't over yet. 

Oi,  I hate forest fire season. 
Good  luck to the folks in the hills.
.

A monk at the door

.
A monk at the door.
.
This fine Sunday morning I took my visiting American friends to Mass at the Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh.
The sung worship of the monks and nuns sounded so nice in the old and beautiful 12th century Crusader church.
.
(Fellow Israeli blogger Toby has a meme called Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors; you are welcome to look in or come in.)
.

Welcome back RAIN!

.
The times are a'changin'.
This dry sundial in a monastery garden surely has some water in it for that bird today.
YES!!! It rained last night!!
Israel's first rain since last spring!

Rain is such a blessed thing here that Hebrew has a name for this first rain--ha-yoreh.
The last rain, usually in March or April, is called the malkosh.

I slept right through the rain last night, but walking down in the woods this morning I could smell the wetness, so welcome after so much dryness.
.
The sundial's shadow did not show the right time but no matter, it is fine for Shadow Shot Sunday.
.

"I am the door"

.



Here's a very tall door for Monday Doorways and some words of explanation for Our World Tuesday.

.

Enlarge* the photo to enjoy the Latin words in gold.
Latin scholars out there, can you translate? I think the words are based on passages from the Gospel of John.
.
I'm just guessing here, but maybe it is

EGO SUM OSTIUM + DICIT + DNS +
I am the door, says the Lord,

SI - OVIS SITIT VENIAT + AD ME ET BIBAT +
if the sheep thirst, let them come to me and drink.

Here is the door from afar, to the right of the smaller door.

The church is from Crusader times, 12th century.
We have talked about this church and Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh quite often lately.
.
*UPDATE:
Dear readers, I am sorry the photos no longer enlarge when opened.
Blogger has changed the photo viewing system just recently and everyone hates it.
See the discussion here:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=73493b0be3a4116d&hl=en
.
UPDATE 2: Thanks to blogger Martus for solving the mystery of what is written on the door. Please see his comment near the end of the Comments section.
.

New and old in the Crusaders' church

.
Since everyone seems to be enjoying the pictures from the Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh (a village near Jerusalem), I'll show you some more.

The walls and pillars of the Crusader church still have parts of frescoes from the 12th or 13th century.
The frescos were done by Greek Orthodox artists in Byzantine style.
See a fresco up close here. At some point in the conquerings of the land, the faces were de-faced and that is how they were left.

The remains of the Crusader Resurrection Church were restored by the French government and handed over to the Benedictine Order in the 19th century, and since then our present Benedictines have made lots of improvements too.
.
Here you see the lectern for the readings.
The monks sit on one side and the nuns on the other, and together they sing heavenly music.
.
Click and see a marvelous 360-degree photo of the church!
.
It's the modern version of "choir stalls."
Benches but with nice individual seats, and next to each seat, a box for prayer books and music.

After Mass, candles at the altar must be coaxed back into shape.
Candle care, singing, gardening--it's all part of a nun's work.
.

Green door with a grate

.
Here's a strong and serious door for Monday Doorways meme.

In this close-up of the monastery's sign you can see some reflection of the Israeli Arab town of Abu Ghosh.
Just outside the monastery wall is a mosque and minaret; sometimes the muezzin's call mingles with the Latin + French Mass being sung in the church.

The little door of the grate was open and the lush greenery of palm trees and gardens was visible inside.
The church was built by the Crusaders over a spring in the 12th century.

The Olivetan Benedictines have a double monastery; the men's and the women's monasteries are within the same walled compound, and each has its own superior.
.
Enlarge the photo and see a nun carrying a tall musical instrument into the modern monastic enclosure.
Pictures of her playing that Senegalese kora or bridge-harp are in an earlier post.
.
More pictures inside and outside the church are here.
.
UPDATE: I just learned that That's MyWorld is being continued in the form of Our World Tuesday. Thanks to hosts Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, and Sandy for giving it new life after founder Klaus, z"l, died. He would be happy to know that.
.

Sacristan duties on a ladder

.
A brave Benedictine nun positioned a ladder on the stairs leading down to the crypt and climbed up to extinguish the candle at one of the stations of the cross.
This was after the Epiphany Mass last Thursday.
I think you have to be surefooted as a mountain goat to take care of the tall 12th C. Crusader church.
.
The church and the Abbey of St. Mary of the Resurrection are behind the tall trees.
I imagine the nuns and monks hear quite well the muezzin's call to prayer five times a day, as the minaret is just to the left of their compound.
.
Abu Ghosh is a Muslim Israeli Arab town west of Jerusalem.
Its restaurants are always full of Israeli Jews who appreciate their Middle Eastern food.
.

A Senegalese bridge-harp in a French monastery in Abu Ghosh

.

(Enlarge to see the strings!)

When this Benedictine accompanies her singing sisters and brothers on the kora, which sounds almost like a harp, the liturgy sounds heavenly.
.

The dim light within the 12th century Crusader church is enough to create shadows for Shadow Shot Sunday.
.

The kora is from Senegal.

It has been a traditional instrument in the hands of the griot (~ bard) for centuries.

A calabash gourd is cut in half and covered with cow skin.

Over the bridge and up to the long neck are stretched 21 strings made of fishing line.

.

Hear a little of its sound at coraconnection.com/sounds/konte1.mp3 .
The modern French Benedictine contribution to the kora (or cora) is mentioned in the History section of the Wikipedia article.

.

Binding

.
The Western Churches are celebrating Epiphany today in Israel.
I went to Abu Ghosh to observe the beautiful prayer service at Saint Mary of the Resurrection Abbey.
.
And guess what!
Their Book of the Gospels (which I showed you last week) now has a new binding.

.
But inside, the lovingly illuminated pages painted and written by the freres and the soeurs of the community are still the same.
.
Epiphany marks the night when the three Magi arrived at the humble birthplace of Jesus.
This page shows even their camel and horse kneeling before the baby!
.

This is my favorite page.

Enlarge the photo and you will see monastic communities from all over the Hills of Jerusalem ( Hills of Judea), actual nuns and monks of our own day and age, 2011, are walking toward the manger.

I know some of the people by name!

What a great idea, to make the Book of the Gospels span two millennia in such a way.

.

In previous posts: Epiphany at Abu Ghosh 2007, and T.S. Eliot's poem "The Journey of the Magi".

Gallery images and more about the Gospel Book at the abbey's website.
.

Still life

.
On an ancient table new fruit.
.
For the new meme in Spain, "Food for Thoughts."
.

A symbolic reflection

.
A nun's face is caught up in the Book of the Gospels and is reflected back to us
(and to all in James' Weekend Reflections group).

The exquisite book from which the Bible readings are chanted was hand-written and illuminated by the French-speaking Benedictines of the Monastère de la Résurrection in Abu Ghosh.

.

I realize that religious things are not at the top of most people's thoughts this day after New Year's Eve.

But as a good Jewish Mother I just have to talk about the brit.

Like all Jewish boys, Jesus was circumcised and was given his name eight days after his birth. Yaani, today, January 1.

Mazal tov!

.

Various Christian churches around the world celebrate this day as The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.

.

Epiphany at Abu Ghosh

.

T.S. Eliot and I wrote about Epiphany last Sunday .

But today, January 6, is the day Christians in Israel celebrate the feast day.
.

The beautiful book from which the Bible readings are chanted was hand-written and painted by the French-speaking monastics of the Monastère de la Résurrection.

The church was built by the Crusaders in the 12th century.

It stands next to the mosque in the Israeli Arab village of Abu Ghosh.

The acoustics are heavenly. You can hear the Benedictine nuns and monks singing in this short video on YouTube.

"Gifts from the Magi" perhaps, near the icon of the nativity.

.

Traditional bread for this day is among the gifts.

Fragments of frescoes from 12th century Crusader times adorn the walls.

See more of them in a short experimental video by an art student.

(Enlarge to enjoy the winding suspended stairs.)

A Sister in the rain near the monastic enclosure. This is a more modern building, separate from the old Crusader church.

.
The Olivetan Benedictines have a double monastery; the men's and the women's monasteries are within the same walled compound, and each has its own superior.
.

(These photos are from Epiphany 2007 but I imagine--and hope--that not much has changed since then.)

.