Going
to the wilderness, arriving at the monastery:
“So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” (Psalm 55:6)
On Thursday morning, 12/05/1949 brother Shawky Hanna Allah took the bus headed on the desert road to Alexandria (Alexandria el-Sahrawy), and got off at the rest house area and from there he headed to the village of Elhochria (Wadi el-Natrun/Natron Valley). The roads that led to the monasteries were bumpy and unpaved that in order to reach one of the monasteries you must have a guide or a directory to guide you through the vast deserts so as not to get lost!!
There at the village of Elhochria was a guide for the monasteries by the name of “Hassan el-Gazeery”, and the late Pope Youannes (John) XIX (the 113th Patriarch) loved him very much for his kindness and good nature that he used to call him “Hassan Bey[1] el-Gazeery”.
This guide accompanied Shawky from Elhochria to Der el-Suryan all that distance on foot, which is about 12 km. During their walk to the monastery, the young Shawky chatted with him on the lives of the monks in the monasteries, how they live? And what do they eat? He did this so that he may learn more on that life that he yearned for, and that monastery of which he knew nothing about!! They continued like this until they could see the walls of the monastery and some of the palm trees planted inside. When they arrived they knocked on the gate of the monastery and the Father gatekeeper opened for them. Learning from them the reason for their arrival, the father gatekeeper received the young Shawky with all love and welcoming which gladdened the heart of that stranger coming from the world!!
And it was the habit of the monastery at that time to wash the feet of those who came to the monastery walking all the way from the rest house. For the fathers received him and washed his feet as an expression for their love for him and their welcoming, and to relieve him from the trouble of the road.
“So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” (Psalm 55:6)
On Thursday morning, 12/05/1949 brother Shawky Hanna Allah took the bus headed on the desert road to Alexandria (Alexandria el-Sahrawy), and got off at the rest house area and from there he headed to the village of Elhochria (Wadi el-Natrun/Natron Valley). The roads that led to the monasteries were bumpy and unpaved that in order to reach one of the monasteries you must have a guide or a directory to guide you through the vast deserts so as not to get lost!!
There at the village of Elhochria was a guide for the monasteries by the name of “Hassan el-Gazeery”, and the late Pope Youannes (John) XIX (the 113th Patriarch) loved him very much for his kindness and good nature that he used to call him “Hassan Bey[1] el-Gazeery”.
This guide accompanied Shawky from Elhochria to Der el-Suryan all that distance on foot, which is about 12 km. During their walk to the monastery, the young Shawky chatted with him on the lives of the monks in the monasteries, how they live? And what do they eat? He did this so that he may learn more on that life that he yearned for, and that monastery of which he knew nothing about!! They continued like this until they could see the walls of the monastery and some of the palm trees planted inside. When they arrived they knocked on the gate of the monastery and the Father gatekeeper opened for them. Learning from them the reason for their arrival, the father gatekeeper received the young Shawky with all love and welcoming which gladdened the heart of that stranger coming from the world!!
And it was the habit of the monastery at that time to wash the feet of those who came to the monastery walking all the way from the rest house. For the fathers received him and washed his feet as an expression for their love for him and their welcoming, and to relieve him from the trouble of the road.
[1] A
title of courtesy traditionally used for a Pasha’s son
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