Monastery of Saints John and George of Choziba

The Monastery of Saints John and George of Choziba, best known as Saint George Monastery in Wadi Qelt (Arabic: دير القديس جورج‎) or simply the Monastery of Choziba, is a monastery located in Wadi Qelt, in the eastern West Bank, in Area C of the Palestinian Authority territories. Its Arabic name is Mar Jaras.[1] The cliff-hanging complex, which emerged from a lavra established in the 420s and reorganised as a monastery around AD 500,[1] with its ancient chapel and irrigated gardens, is active and inhabited by Greek Orthodox monks. It is reached by a pedestrian bridge across Wadi Qelt, which many believe to be Psalm 23's "valley of the shadow of death".[2] The valley parallels the old Roman road to Jericho, the backdrop for the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). The monastery is open to pilgrims and visitors.[3]

Monastery of Saints John and George of Choziba
دير القديس جورج
St. George Monastery in Wadi Qelt
Religion
AffiliationEastern Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Location
LocationJericho Governorate, West Bank, Palestine (Area C)
Shown within the West Bank
Monastery of Saints John and George of Choziba (the Palestinian territories)
Palestine grid1890/1389
Geographic coordinates31°50′40″N 35°24′51″E

Established during the Byzantine period, it was destroyed by the Persians in AD 614, rebuilt in the 12th century during the Crusader period, abandoned after their defeat, and rebuilt again by Greek monks starting at the end of the 19th century. The site is associated with the lives of Elijah and that of the parents of the Virgin Mary, and holds the relics of three Eastern Orthodox saints, making it a site of intense pilgrimage.

Visiting

Reachable from the Highway 1 between the Dead Sea and Jerusalem, by turning off to Mitzpe Yericho and following signs for the monastery. There is a 3-hour long hiking path through the wadi and other paths above and along the wadi, or alternatively a parking lot across the wadi from the monastery with an adjacent lookout point. From the parking lot, it's a fairly short hike, about 1km, but very steep going down to the monastery. It gets very hot at times, and hiking back up in the heat could be very challenging for some people. There are young men with donkeys who will give you a ride down to the monastery, or back up to the parking lot, for a negotiable fee.

One can also hike up the wadi from Jericho, via the ruins of the Herodian winter palaces at Tulul Abu el-'Alayiq.

The monastery is open daily except on Sundays and certain holidays, between 9 am and 1 pm.

There is a strict dress code. No shorts for men; no trousers of any sort for women, women must wear a long skirt, and a modest top.

History
St. George Monastery seen from across Wadi Qelt
Corridor in front of the main church, leading to the Chapel of SS. John and George

Byzantine period

Monastic life at the future site of St. George's Monastery began around 420 CE as a lavra,[1] with a few monks who sought the desert experience of the prophets, and settled around a cave where they believed Elijah was fed by ravens (1 Kings 17:5-6). Hermits living in caves in nearby cliffs would meet in the monastery for a weekly mass and communal meal.[4]

Between 480 and 520/530 the lavra was reorganised as a monastery by John of Thebes, also known as Saint John of Choziba, who had moved to Syria Palaestina from Egypt.[1][5] In his time it was dedicated to the Mother of God.[1]

The monastery became an important spiritual centre in the sixth-seventh century under Saint George of Choziba (died c. 620).[1][6] The monastery was eventually renamed after him.

At this time the monastery contained the original small chapel dedicated to Saint Stephen and a church of the Virgin Mary.[1]

Destroyed in 614 by the Persians, the monastery was more or less abandoned after the Persians swept through the valley and massacred the fourteen monks who dwelt there.

Early Muslim period

In the late eighth-century writings the monastery starts being associated with the parents of St Mary, Saints Joachim and Anne.[1] A monk from that period mentions a "House of Joachim".[1]

Crusader period

After the 614 destruction by the Persians, the monastery was rebuilt during the Crusader period.[7] Manuel I Komnenos made some restoration in 1179, and, according to an inscription, Frederick II made further restorations in 1234.[8] After the Crusaders were defeated and pushed out of the region, the monastery was again abandoned.[7]

Modern period

The monastery was reestablished in 1878, and has since then been in the care of following monks or abbots:

  • Father Kalinikos (1830-1909)
  • Father Amphilochios (1913-1986)
  • Father Antonios Iosiphidis (died 1993)
  • Father Germanos (Georgios Tsibouktzakis; died 2001)
  • Father Constantinos (current abbot, as of 2019).

In 1878, a Greek monk, Kalinikos, settled here and restored the monastery, finishing it in 1901 with the assistance of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.[9]

St John (Iacob) the Romanian

Romanian monk-priest, Father Ioan (John), born Ilie Iacob in 1913, left the Romanian skete on the River Jordan he had been the abbott of since 1947, and moved in 1952 to St George Monastery together with his attendant and disciple, Ioanichie Pârâială. Following summer the two retreated to the nearby Cave of St Anne, which Father John never left again. Affected by illness, he died after seven years, in 1960. In 1992 he was declared a saint by the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate and in 2016 he was officially recognised as such by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.[10][11] His name was added to the official name of the monastery and his body is exhibited at the front of the monastery's main church, next to the relics of Saints John of Thebes and George the Chozevite. He is known as Saint John (Iacob) the New, the Romanian, or of Neamț, the Chozevite.

Father Germanos (Tsibouktzakis)

Father Germanos came to St George's in 1993 and lived there until he was killed by Arab terrorists during the Second Intifada in 2001.[12] For many years he was the sole occupant of the monastery, of which he was named abbot in 2000.[12] Emulating the Wadi Qelt monks of late antiquity, Father Germanos offered hospitality to visitors, improved the stone path used by pilgrims to climb up to the monastery, repaired the aqueducts, and improved the gardens of shade and olive trees.[13][14]

Religious traditions and relics

The traditions attached to the monastery include a visit by Elijah en route to the Sinai Peninsula, and St. Joachim, whose wife Anne was infertile, weeping here when an angel announced to him the news of Mary's conception.

Relics of the three saints closely associated with Choziba - John of Thebes, George the Chozevite and John the Romanian - are kept in the monastery's main church.

The bones and skulls of the martyred monks killed by the Persians in 614 are kept today in a chapel outside the monastery walls.

References
  1. Pringle, 1993, p. 183
  2. "Abraham Path Initiative: St. George's Monastery". Archived from the original on 2017-12-31. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  3. Dave Winter, Israel handbook: with the Palestinian Authority areas, Page 271, 1999. "St George's Monastery Clinging to the side of the Wadi Qelt ravine, this monastery takes its name from St George of Koziba; a monk born in Cyprus c 550, but who spent much of his life at various lauras in the Judean Desert"
  4. Palestine & Palestinians. Beit Sahour: Alternative Tourism Group. September 2008. p. 181. ISBN 9950-319-01-3.
  5. Sharon, 2004, p. 71
  6. Saint George the Chozebite, Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia, 8 January 2013. Accessed 15 December 2019
  7. Monastery of St George, on See the Holy Land website. Accessed 2018-11-12.
  8. Sharon, 2004, p. 75
  9. Sharon, 2004, p. 77
  10. Patriarchate of Jerusalem, The Feast of St. John the New Chozevite, 10 August 2017, accessed 15 December 2019
  11. A Spiritual Joy for Romanians: The Patriarchate of Jerusalem Will Officially Recognize the Sainthood of Venerable John Jacob of Neamţ, Basilica News Agency via OrthoChristian.com, 26 January 2016, accessed 15 December 2019
  12. Franklin, Stephen (22 June 2011). "Monk falls victim to `circle of violence'". Chicago Tribune.
  13. "The Monastery in the Methodist Eye:Rev. Merton S. Rice of Detroit and St. George of Choziba" (PDF). Methodist History. 2005-01-01.
  14. Keyser, Jason (15 June 2001). "Monk killed in ambush buried". The Topeka Capital-Journal. AP. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.

Bibliography
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