Deir Mar Musa

Deir Mar Musa is located in the middle of the desert, almost hidden within the mountains offering you a wonderful view on a semi-deserted valley (by night, you will see many lights from villages you won’t expected by the day!). Of course the atmosphere is pure as the billions of starlight attest it after the dawn. It is an Eastern Christian monastery in which the monk follows an ancestral syriac rite (they fell prostrate to the lord in a way that look like the Islamic rite and all the praying time is done sitting on carpets). It has an interesting well-furnished library about religions but also with history, philosophy, sciences and a bit of news. Deir means monastery in Arabic. This one has something special because it allows people to take part of the monastery life by providing them with food and place to sleep in return for a small contribution to the daily activities of the monastery : harvesting olives, almond; cleaning the rooms or the dishes; helping to cook, etc… This initiative include dialogue of religions as non-Christians peoples also join the community.The idea is nice but in fact it’s quite tricky for example during the eid-al-fth (3 days celebration by the end of Ramadan) many people came and disturb the monastic atmosphere, don’t respect the rules (no smoking, silence during the meditation and the prayer time, participating in the works on the morning). I’m curious to know the real Deir Mar Musa on winter…