In the shadow of the fading cross

In the 1960's and 70's, a generation of Western travellers crossed the Middle East from Europe to India in search of adventure, cheap drugs, and often, spirituality. In the Mysterious East, many of them believed, they could escape the daily grind of the rat race for a simpler, less material world. Today, many continue the search, heading for places like Pune and Auroville to 'find themselves'. However, like the Beatles, many return disappointed, finding that perhaps the 'East' ain't what it's cracked up to be.....

What these people missed - and I suppose it's unfair to expect a bunch of smoked out hippies to realise - is that the religion of their parents, their own given religion - Christianity - is of course an eastern religion. And not only did it originate in the east, it is still practiced there today, in the very lands that the hippies passed through on their way to İndia.

Now it would be wrong to say that Christianity today 'thrives' or 'flourıshes' ın the Middle East today - in most countries, it's hanging on by a thread, as Christians increasingly flee the trouble spots of Lebanon and Iraq, and face persecution in places such as Egypt. The two countries I've visited so far on this trip, Syria and Turkey, represent two extremes of the Christian experience in the Middle East in the last century. İn Turkey, the collapse of the Ottoman Empıre was accompanied by the 'cleansing' of most of Anatolia's Christians, whether Greek, Armenian or Assyrian. This process was continued by the Turkish Republic, so that today the Muslim population of Turkey is around 99% in what was formerly a Christian heartland. All that remains of that time today are a bunch of scattered and ruined churches and monastery's.

İn Syria, however, things are different, at least for now. Syrian Christians, whether Arab, Assyrian or Armenian, practice their faith freely and without disruption. Churches are full every Sunday. And most interestingly, at monastery's and shrines around the country, they are often joined side-by-side by their Muslim neighbours.

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Mar Musa monastery is located about an hour and a half north-east of Damascus. İn 1980's, the abandoned site was 'rediscovered' by an Italian Jesuit, Father Paulo, who set about establishing a spiritual retreat which would also help encourage and foster good relations between the Christians and Muslims of the region. All are welcome to stay, regardless of religion, so long as they help out with the running of the place, and respect some simple rules.

I stayed for three nights, and wouldn't have left if I didn't have to move on. During my stay, I met the descendents of Armenians forced out of Turkey in 1915. I also met İraqis forced out of Baghdad in 2006. I met Muslim university students, and a gang of Druze friends. Local youths often come up to visit for a night or two. People constantly come and go.

When I arrived, Father Paulo was holding a conference on renewable energy, before giving an interview on Christian-Muslim relations. Not your typical Catholics priest.

Mass is every night. It is given in Arabic, and is unchanged in over 1500 years. Unlike in Ireland, it is largely given to devotıonal singing, while the selected Bible passages are discussed in an honest and open fashion.

I attended every night, and even took communion, but I can't say it changed me in any way (not that I was hoping it would). Meals are simple, vegetarian affairs. In between, there are various small jobs to be done - cracking walnuts, cleaning dishes, feeding chickens, stuff like that. Apart from that, the place is at peace, particularly at 'meditation hour' before mass.

It's a special place, not only for the passing traveller, but for its uniqueness in todays world. Father Paulo told me "I'm very, very sorry to tell you that this is a special place....."

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So far on this trip I've encountered all sorts of remnants of the regions Christian dominated past. I found the head of the Greek Orthodox Church off a side-street in Istanbul. İ attended Armenian mass in Aleppo, after stumbling around amongst the ruins of a Byzantine city at Serjilla, and the pillar of St. Sımeon. South of Mar Musa, although I didn't visit on this occassion, there are villages where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is spoken, and where Christians and Muslims worship together at a shrine for Mary.

I also made it to Crak de Chavaliers, the largest remaining Crusader fortress, and a reminder of the last time that specifically Christian forces governed the area.

In the mountains north of Erzurum in north-east Turkey, the valleys are dotted with ruined Georgian Churches, and of course, the famous Sumela Monatery near Trabzon.

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While Christianity is still officially the dominant religion of the West, its hold on the masses has waned to the point of extinction, the irony being that it is in the fading, often persecuted minorities of the east that the religion is still practiced with a devotion which would embarrass the average European - perhaps the kind of devotion that those hippies of the sixties were looking for when they headed past the Middle East to India........

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(Sorry for all the history and the general crappiness of this entry, I just couldn't be bothered going through all the things I did in Syria and Turkey - suffice to say I had a great time, didn't see enough of Syria, but will definately be back within a couple of years....I'm now in Georgia where I've been having a ball for the last 10 days, and I'll have a proper entry in the next day or two.....)

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