 |
|||||
Summer 2006 |
|||||
|
Letters from Taybeh The Internet is an amazing thing! It connects people from all over the world through the mysterious technocracy of “spiders.” Google a thought, Yahoo an interest, favorite-search-engine a hope, and BAMMO! Cyber-spiders throw out their word-sticky webs to connect someone in Taybeh with someone in Kentucky. If the love-lost can find each other by spider-power, so can those who “love the beauty of God’s House!” This is how Maria found Mary – the rest is the future!
Who is Maria and Where is Taybeh?
St. George Orthodox Church in Taybeh that Maria refers to was built by Sts. Constantine and St. Helen in the fourth century. It is in ruins and is an archeological site where the local 1300 Christian residents light their candles daily and pray for the “peace of Jerusalem,” as King David prayed three thousand years ago. The present St. George Orthodox Church was completed in 1931 on the same ground where the seventh century church of St. George was destroyed twice. St. George Orthodox Church is under the protectorate of His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Palestine, Syria, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion. All of the Orthodox faithful are of Palestinian ethnicity; however, in Jerusalem a few hundred people of Greek ethnicity also have deep roots in Palestine in addition to the 200 serving in the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher. On St. George website at, Maria posts this tragic message: Fundraising in the Wilderness "April 2004 - As the Christian population continues to fall below two percent of the 3.5 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza, we are probably looking at a future that might not include Christians living in the land of Christ’s birth. How sad for such a sacred land where Jews, Muslims and Christians should practice co-existing instead of slaughtering each other. Actually, living in the Holy Land the last eight years, I see the Jews and the Muslims killing each other and the Christians just disappearing to other countries." Read full text of Fundraising in the Wilderness.
Who is Mary and what is HEXAEMERON? It does not matter who Mary is and Hexaemeron is sufficiently explained on our website as a collaborative effort to support labors in sacred arts, education and charity. And Hexaemeron will find a way to restore the icons of St. George Church, hopefully with the financial assistance of our newsletter readers. But only God can bring about “the Peace of Jerusalem.” Please make this your prayer, the prayer of all Christians! And support your suffering brothers and sisters in the Holy Land. Many missionary teams, financially supported by American Christians, have been sent to the Holy Land to convert Muslims and Jews while ignoring the plight of their fellow Christians whose very ancestors walked with Christ and his Apostles. Your local church, of any affiliation, can help these brave Christians of Palestine caught between two fires, the Muslims and Israelis. Visit St. George Taybeh to see how you can partner with St. George Church with building affordable housing for the Christians villagers of Taybeh. Call it “Habitat for Christ!” — did not our Lord’s mother seek a place in this same land to bear the Son of God where there was found no room for Him.? If you specifically want to support Hexaemeron’s efforts to restore the icons of St. George, send a tax-deductible donation designated for St. George Icons. Hexaemeron “Letters From Taybeh” will feature the continuing correspondence between Maria and Mary in future issues of the Hexaemeron Newsletter. |
|
||||
