When we reached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, someone asked, "how far did we travel today?" Father Vincent's answer: "As far west as we can without getting wet."
It'll do.
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| Madonna and Child, Trappist Monastery at Latroun |
Our initial stop was at the Trappist Monastery at Latroun near Jerusalem. As the entrance doors into the main chapel opened, the morning light illuminated the statue in the main sanctuary - an image of the Madonna holding the Christ child in her arms as He in turn embraced His future cross. After Lauds, we toured through the monastery winery, paused at a memorial site for the seven Trappist monks who were martyred in Algeria (as seen from the movie "Of Gods and Men") and then we travelled to the crypt containing the tomb of St. George inside the Greek Orthodox Church near Tel Aviv.
The real story of St. George is probably even more derring-do than the fantastic and pseudo-romantic legend that followed him. Yet the damsel and the dragon slayer depicted in the icons we see today still have their stories to tell. After all, can't God inspire fiction, too? St. George, the patron defender of our very seminary, may or may not have been a knight in shining armor, but his martyrdom is the story of a true knight of Christ during the years of the emperor Diocletian. Like the Trappists who were martyred almost two decades ago, St. George was also known to have been tortured and finally beheaded. These martyrs wore the breastplate of faith, and their fair maiden was the bride of Christ.
How far did these men go to remain loyal to God? I suppose as far out into the shores of eternity as they could in this life without getting wet.
As we stepped down toward the crypt, said a prayer for Cardinal George, stepped back out toward the other end and back to the sanctuary, many stopped on the way up and looked at the ornamented tomb of the saint one last time.
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| St. George's Tomb |
It can hit you like a ton of bricks, when from a final glance, you come to appreciate the ones who went before you. An almost nostalgic sigh escaped some of our lips. This was the burial sight of a brother in Christ. We can look upon one another, too, and realize that it is neither marble nor stone that is the most important element to encounter, but the human person, our brothers and sisters - those are the holiest sites to see. To peak into each other's lives is a pilgrimage all on its own. But sometimes the world of Christianity is so fantastic, and the mind of God so imaginative, that our account of one another can actually become the stuff of fairy tales.