Syrian monastery shielded from danger multiple times

Synthèse :

My fear were unfounded: the Our Lady of Saidnaya monastery stood before me, intact, luminous, and majestic under the soft autumn light. The year was 2021: the country bore the visible marks of eight years of war and was now battling the deadly Covid-19 epidemic. Mother Devronia, the convent's superior general, was waiting for me at the door of the parlour and said: 

"You know Saidnaya well, since you have been here several times, and have received a special grace from our holy icon, the 'Chaghoura'... long before the terrible events that we have experienced here and throughout Syria.

- Sister, I haven't forgotten anything, but when I got here today, I was really afraid of seeing the scars of the war...Aleppo, my home town, was half destroyed!

- We have suffered a great deal during this tragic period, but at the same time God gave us the grace to endure it. We never thought of abandoning our monastery when we were threatened and even besieged by the jihadists. We have always refused to go live in the world. It was the world that burst in on us, when a missile hit one of the convent's pavilions. It crashed into a postulant's room with a deafening noise, but it didn't explode! According to the bomb disposal experts, its charge could have destroyed the monastery and half the village.

- Was it an intentional strike or a mistake?

- A mistake! The Russians were positioned with their tanks on the hillside opposite. This prompted a visit from thirteen international television channels. We told them that we had been protected by the holy icon, as she has always done in difficult times. In fact, not a single nun has been injured here since the start of the war, although we have never closed our doors to pilgrims, the needy or the soldiers stationed in the area. We kept our fears in check with our daily prayers and, every evening, at around eight o'clock, we all went out in procession with crosses and lighted candles and, in a loud voice, we intoned prayers of exhortation. For our Church proclaims, through the voice of Saint John Damascene, that the love of those who are afraid is imperfect.

Three years after the missile incident, we received a call from Australia: Mrs Caroline Daoud, a Lebanese expatriate, wanted to know what had happened in the north side of the monastery. After telling her about the damage that had not yet been repaired due to a lack of funds, I asked her how she knew us. She replied that she did not know the convent, but that a Lady had spoken to her about us, asking her to help us so that "my house in Saidnaya in Syria, north of Damascus, does not fall into ruins, because it is my daughters' house". This person, Caroline Daoud, added: "I believe I have had a providential encounter with the Blessed Virgin, so I immediately phoned the Orthodox Patriarchate of Damascus, where Archimandrite Tony Yarzi confirmed your presence in Saidnaya and gave me your telephone number. So I'm ready to help you."Then she came in person from Australia at the end of the war and we were able to restore not only the pavilion, but also the rooms for the nuns and retreatants.

Our Blessed Mother, who knows our needs, watches over us. We felt this protection during those terrible years when we lacked everything. We, the village, the orphanage and all the families that depend on the convent, were without food or reserves and unable to leave to get supplies, as we were surrounded by the jihadists of the Islamic State. One autumn, we found ourselves with only one week's provisions left! Our bursar sister was very worried, as you can imagine...

Then one afternoon, at around 3pm, two tarpaulin-covered trucks pulled up outside our door, loaded with roughly the same volume of basic supplies that we used to buy every autumn to last until the end of spring! And yet we hadn't placed an order! These trucks had passed through all the check-points and avoided numerous roadblocks, and the two Muslim drivers asked to see the bursar sister. They were at the bottom of the monastery, shouting "Hadgé Elisabeth! Hadgé Elisabeth!" We went down, and this is what one of them told us: "I am here to carry out the request of my mother, who lives in Damascus and who received a visit from the Blessed Virgin around midnight, urging her: 'My house in Saidnaya and my religious daughters lack everything, they are in danger of starvation, get up!'" The man in question said: "My mother got up, put on her white tunic and began to pray. She was very troubled and I offered to stay with her to see if 'Setna Mariam' - as we call her - would return. We didn't see her again, but we immediately decided to help you, because we know you."

- But, Mother, who was this young man?" I asked. Had you seen him before?

- No, I hadn't! He wanted to remain anonymous, in accordance with his mother's wishes. And what's more, when I asked him how he knew Sister Elisabeth's name, he smiled and said: "I only know that she's the one who has to collect your supplies, but I don't know her!" It was so incredible that I said out loud, folding my hands: "Blessed Virgin, please tell me where this manna is coming from?" And the embarrassed young man answered: "From Damascus, Mother!"

This made me laugh, and Mother Devronia, still very moved, said to me:

- You know, Muslims are very discreet when they give alms, following the Gospel: "Let your right hand ignore what your left hand is doing." I wanted to sign a paper to acknowledge that the goods had been delivered, and I received the following reply: "The Virgin asked my mother to help your community, and I'm just doing her will and Setna Mariam's wish. Please accept these goods which are for you". We did so and they left as they had come.

What I'm telling you here is one of the many signs that we received at such a difficult time, and continued to receive afterwards. For, at the end of the war and during the Covid-19 pandemic, we were once again surrounded by the armies of Isis, whose clear goal was to destroy the monastery and exterminate the population's Christian majority. Our Blessed Mother protected us once again. Do you remember our telephone conversations at that time? We were very scared. The war was still going on and our monasteries was receiving many visitors. Frightened people came to us for help, asking us how to be protected from Isis and the new invisible scourge of the coronavirus!

On 27 March 2020, our Sister Julietta received a call from one of her friends, Sister Domiani, a Coptic nun from Egypt. She told her that in a dream she had seen herself in front of the icon of the Virgin Maryholding the Child Jesus. Mary was weeping and begged her Son to take this coronavirus away from the world. The Child, who was holding a burning globe in his hand, looked away from his Mother and said: "I am sad for this world that has moved away from me. It has deprived itself of my mercy, my love and prayer." And he threw away the globe to show his sadness!

Sister Julietta told me this, and the next day she asked to see me: "I too, Mother, had a dream last night: I was in the crypt, prostrate before the Chaghoura, weeping and praying to the Virgin, when suddenly I saw Sister Mariam enter and fall into ecstasy, proclaiming: "Rejoice, the Virgin has answered our prayers; she has convinced her Son to extinguish the scourge of the coronavirus, and to extend his mercy. To do this, she has asked us to mark the doors and windows of our homes with the sign of the cross, as well as everyone's foreheads, with blessed oil. It's a protection for the whole world".

We did it here, after spreading her message. Nobody contracted the coronavirus! We had no vaccine and no treatment. The Lord protected us, the villagers and those who came to see us, because we welcomed thousands of pilgrims and visitors at that time, without any precautions other than those indicated by the Blessed Virgin. This is not the first time in history that scourges have been deflected in answer to sincere and fervent prayers. In Europe, how many churches, basilicas and chapels have been built in thanksgiving for the Lord or his Blessed Mother's protection against epidemics?

In the 7th century, Saint John Damascene, who himself received an extraordinary grace as he prostrated himself before the Shaghura of Saidnaya, let this beautiful prayer spring from his heart: "O Virgin of Saidnaya, the families of the innocent rejoice with you, who are full of grace. Angels and men glorify you, the holy altar, the paradise of praise, the pride of virginity, Mary, from whom the Son of Man, our Lord, was incarnate. He made your dwelling a throne, your womb a heavenly haven. That is why, Immaculate Virgin, full of grace, all the innocent glorify you and pray to you."

Aller plus loin :

Jean-Claude Antakli, Itinéraire d'un chrétien d'Orient, Éditions du Parvis, 5th updated and expanded edition, 2022.

En savoir plus :

• Geneviève and Jean-Claude Antakli, Dieu existe. Ses merveilles étincellent sous nos yeux, Éditions du Parvis, 2020.