Welcome to FriendsOfMoses.org. We are the non-profit foundation set up to support the Monastery of the Holy Prophet Moses, located in Feiran Egypt.
Friends Of The Holy Monastery Of The Prophet Moses –
An IRS Registered Public Charity
IRS EIN: 47-1925057
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Website : FriendsOfMoses.org
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Monastery of St. Gennadius Scholarius – New Motherhouse of The Holy Monastery of the Prophet Moses
Over 30 years ago His Eminence Damianos of Sinai and Raithu went to Greece to share his vision of establishing female monasticism in Sinai, Egypt. He gave a talk in which he shared his dream that it was both possible and necessary.
Our current Abbess, Mother Gennadia had wanted to become a monastic and to go live in Sinai. There were six other women who told His Eminence Damianos that they too wished to serve in Sinai. Mother Gennadia approached His Eminence Damianos the next day but was heartbroken to learn that Abp. Damianos believed that it was best to first establish a motherhouse in Athens as the conditions in Sinai at Feiran were primitive and there was no local police or secure housing. Mother Gennadia told me that she went home crying and prayed all that night that God would make it possible for her to go. The next day she and the six other women went to His Eminence Damianos and convinced him that it was not only possible but necessary. These were probably the only people with this belief at that time. Most doubted the safety or sanity of such a project. To this day the maps in Egypt and the road signs call it The Monastery of the Seven Girls.
The Monastery of the Holy Prophet Moses continues yet only two of the original nuns remain. Mother Gennadia suffers from the vicissitudes of old age combined with the damage from childhood polio. Last year Mother nearly died from a ruptured appendix that became septic. Since then she has remained in Greece. Shortly before her illness, one of the sisters inherited property from her only brother. This lent itself nicely to the formation of a motherhouse in Greece, The Monsatery of St. Gennadius Scholaticus, with the blessing of His Eminence Damianos.
Over the last year Mother and another sister raised funds and renovated the buildings. A new church was built and consecrated. Final work on the church requires 4,000 Euros (about $4,300).
Please help us raise the final funds. Donations to a church are one way of commemorating someone perpetually. Each Divine Liturgy has petitions for “the founders and benefactors of this holy temple”. This is a uniquely fit memoriam for anyone. Please donate generously and note the dedication. Should you wish to donate some inscribed item them please note that as well. The sisters can suggest an item if you wish.
Please donate now. If you purchase anything from Amazon.com then before you do so please go to smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com and select Friends Of The Holy Monastery of the Prophet Moses as your beneficiary. It costs you nothing and Amazon sends us a nice donation (They get the tax deduct but you weren't getting it for shopping anyway and it costs you nothing!)
Our directDonation page is at :
www.friendsofmoses.org/donate-now
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St. Isaac of Ninevah – Homily 4 – On Almsgiving
If you have something above your daily needs, give it to the poor, and then go with boldness to offer your prayers, that is, to converse with God as a son with his Father. Nothing can bring, the heart so near to God as almsgiving, and nothing brings such serenity to the mind as voluntary poverty. It is better for you to be called an ignoramus by the many because of the generosity of your hands and your measureless liberality because of your fear of God, than to be called wise and sound of mind by reason of your niggardliness.
…When you do good to someone, do not await a recompense from him, and you will receive repayment from God on both accounts; and if you are able, neither do good so as to receive reward in the future age, but rather, practice virtue because of the love of God. The rank of love is more initiated than the rank of labor for God, and it is more initiated in its mystery than the soul surpasses the body in initiation
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian
(Revised Second Edition)
Copyright© 1984 by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery,
Brookline, Massachusetts
A special thanks is in line to those who contributed over the last two years. We are a VERY small charity yet we have been able to meet the emergency needs of the sisters.
Please give a contribution via PayPal or Square. Our only expenses are money transfer fees and internet hosting and telephony costs which comes to about $360.00 per year. Any projects or travel are at the travelers' personal expense. We are essentially a pass-through for contributions to the sisters.
I will be posting shortly about two special needs that confront the sisters right now. One is to finish the chapel at the new Mother House in Athens, dedicated to St. Gennadius Scholarius and the other is a project to repair the rear retaining wall of the monastery in Feiran.
A recent flood in South Sinai caused the collapse of the back monastery wall and the 4th century ruins above are literally spilling into the monastery. This is a catastrophe to the sisters as well as to the archaeological site. Bear in mind that the uppermost layer is 4th century and extends down at least 100 meters, probably into the distant past of humanity.
The need for the church is 4,000 euros but the cost of repairs to the retaining wall in Feiran has not yet been estimated. Given that it is a known archaeological site it will be important to not disturb it as much as is humanly possible.
In the meanwhile please give generously by check, PayPal or Square. You may donate through our web page at: www.friendsofmoses.org/donate-now/
Please include any prayer requests with your tax-deductible contributions.
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Donate Now The Need: Historic faith Communities, both monastic and lay, have recently faced unprecedented challenges from civil unrest and from financial crises in Europe and the Mid-East. The Holy Monastery of the Prophet Moses in Feiran, Egypt has also suffered from a dropping water table that i...Technical Difficulties.... Resolved
Our Facebook Feed quit working right about the time that His Eminence Damianos recovered from his accident with the elevator. We are very grateful to God and all those who prayed for him. His recovery could only be described as miraculous, especially given his advanced age. There are few people who could survive a two story fall at half of his age. Glory To God For All Things indeed.
Please Pray for His Eminence Damianos Archbishop of Sinai and Raithu
On 29 January 2018, His Eminence Damianos, Archbishop of Sinai and Raithu and Abbot of St. Catherine Monastery, fell and suffered three fractures in his left arm and internal bleeding in one leg. Physicians are doing all they can to help and His Eminence has remained in good spirits throughout this ordeal. Please remember him your prayers.
His Eminence has served as Archbishop since 1973 and first came to Sinai in 1961.
The above is a synopsis sourced from several monastics.
Attack at St. Catherine's Monastery 0n 18 April 2017
On 18 April 2017 an armed assailant exchanged gunfire with police at the checkpoint immediately outside the monastery of St. Catherine. The man was obviously not familiar with local roads and was conspicuously out of place so a local resident alerted the police. The outsider ran from police but exchanged gunfire, killing one policeman and wounding four others who were transported to a hospital in Sharm El Sheikh. The assailant was killed by gunfire. Another man seen in the area is being sought by the police.
Contrary to some press reports there was no sniper fire nor any explosions.
This is a terrible blow to tourism upon which the local economy was so dependent. Flights from Russia to Sharm El Sheikh (SSH) were to resume soon but that is likely now in jeopardy.
Please make a donation and if possible make it a recurring donation from your credit or debit card through our PayPal account. We currently only have $300.00 in regular monthly donations and monthly operating expenses for the monastery and the five sisters are $2,000. The Friends Of The Holy Monastery of the Prophet Moses is a 501c3 charity. We forward all of your donations to the sisters as we have no employees and cover our own travel expenses. You may always send your prayer requests to the sisters as a note with your donation or simply to our president's email at president"at"FriendsOfMoses.org.
After speaking with Sister Johanna of the Friends of St. Catherine monastery about the difficulty of raising money in the U.S. for monasteries, I wrote to ask Sister Nektaria at The Holy Monastery of the Prophet Moses in Wadi Feiran, Egypt to ask what she understood to be the purpose of a monastery. What follows is her reply. Please remember that English is not her primary language. Nonetheless what she wrote is clearly understandable.
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George Livsey - Recently I spoke with Sister Johana of The Friends of St. Catherine about the difficulties of raising funds in the United States for monasteries. Monasteries simply aren't very numerous here and most people have little or no contact with them at all. As I thought about all of the benefits and blessings I and my family have received as a result of staying at monasteries as well as working with monasteries and hermitages I thought to ask Sister Nektaria in Egypt why we should support monasteries. Her response follows. Please excuse any errors or unusual expressions as English is not Sister Nektaria's primary language. Sister Nektaria watering the gardens. Many people don't know the purpose of the Monasteries and what they can offer to the people. In simple words, forgiving and our ignorance we can tell you the following: A Monastery is the house of God. The Monks or the Sisters that live inside a Monastery, decided to leave everything they have as family, properties and perhaps a good career inside the world, to worship God. A Monk or a Sister when decides to go to a Monastery must follow three things: Not to have property or personal belongings at all, but everything in the monastery is common for the sisters, as the love of God is common for all people. To obey to the Superior Gerondissa, with all their hearts in everything, because she is from God in this special place, to guide the sisters straight to God in heaven and she is responsible for their souls in the eyes of God. And the third thing is, that, in one common community with love they all pray to God for their souls, but also they all pray to God for all people. This is their duty, to pray for all the world. And they pray for the people for different purposes, as God lights their mind. Other times they pray for the people that are ill in the hospitals, other time they pray so that God protects the people from accidents, other time for poor people, other time for the sins of the people to be forgiven by God, other time that God lights the mind of the people to love trully God in their hearts, other time for people that are in prison, other time for the orphant children, other time for people in dispare to find joy in their hearts and for many many other purposes. That's why many times, people ask from the sisters to pray for them for special reasons or problems they have.And because all the time the sisters pray to God, when people go to a monastery, they feel peace and the blessing of God. Also as when we light a candle, we ask from God to help us in a special reason, and the light of the candle goes up to heaven to God, a Sister that has dedicated all herself and her life to God, is her hole body the candle and her prayers is the light of the candle that go straight to God. Let's give God’s mercy to all people. In Christ Sister Nektaria