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| VISIT OF FR. MARCOS JURCHEM, GENERAL DEFINITOR, TO CAIRO |
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| “Love speaks all languages and cultures” |
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Communicationes
Cairo - Egypt (30-06-2010).- The Basilica of St. Teresita here in Cairo was built in 1930. It is very imposing in modern Byzantine style with Arabic-Egyptian ornamentation. The monastery is also very big and was constructed in 1939. It served as a stop-over for missionaries on their way further east.
There is only one underground station, called Saint Therese, situated very near our monastery. This is truly an astonishing mystery and goes to show that love speaks all languages and cultures.
There is a constant stream of visitors to the Basilica. In proportion to the number of Christians in the population this is remarkable, but many of these visitors are Muslims. Among Muslims, ladies are expected to be hidden; they hold no prominent place in the Arabic-Muslim culture. There are no examples or figures of important women. Insofar as I could see, a lot of women visit the Basilica and, while their husbands accompany them, it is the women who approach the statue of St. Therese in the crypt. They touch the protection glass, kiss it and say their prayers. In many parts of the Basilica we find small thanksgiving cards to Teresita, in 26 different languages, witness to the universality of the Saint.
Since so many honour the statue of St. Therese, I said to Brother Patrick that it would be interesting to display a written request of the Saint: “I appreciate your visit, but my greater friend, Jesus, present in the Eucharist, also awaits your visit. Thank you.”
Here in Egypt the Carmelites run two small hospitals, one in Cairo, another in Alexandria. Huge crowds attend, with 10,000 consultations and between 500 and 600 operations a month, in Cairo alone. It is a miracle how they can cope with so many patients. There are a total of 90 staff and 70 doctors. Support and maintenance come from what the people can afford to pay. There is no government aid whatsoever. Medical and surgical equipment are gifts from European countries, like France, Germany, Italy, Spain… At the moment there is urgent need of new X-ray apparatus at a cost of 500,000 dollars! Sts. Joseph and Therese must continue to work their miracles.
At this time of the year the heat is overpowering and the hot desert wind burns your skin. People, especially ladies, believe that clothes afford protection from the heat so they wear quite a lot of garments. They have only an inch-opening in their face covering and can hardly see where they are going. The city of Cairo has a population of 22 million. Traffic crowds the streets and avenues and the small lateral streets have a lot of rubbish, as in many cities. I have seen many cats around, but no dogs. It only rains about once a year – just as well because there would be an inundation of insects. We visited one slum where most of the inhabitants are Orthodox or Coptic Christians, living in great poverty. While we admire some of the great monuments of Egypt, the Pyramids, churches and mosques, we might say that we have here a living monument to poverty – people. We can visit many Christian churches, hewn from the rocks. In some buildings, again as in other great cities, we have animals being kept among human inhabitants – goats, sheep, chickens and ducks.. You have mosques everywhere, with their minarets and amplified calls to prayer. In times past, without the amplifiers, they would have been far more appealing and sonorous.
We visited one of the street markets this morning. They have some beautiful, high quality, works of art. I bought some alabaster perfume, reminding me of the Gospel passage of Our Lord and Mary. There are all sorts of exotic perfumes for sale, - lotus flower, papyrus etc.
We visited the Pyramids of Gize, near Cairo, 5000 years old, enveloped in the mystery of man’s belief in life after death. Nowadays, men are only interested in the present, fearful even to consider a future existence.
We also paid a visit to Mount Sinai or Horeb, about 450 Kilometres from Cairo, an 8-hour journey. At the foot of Sinai we have St. Catherine’s Orthodox monastery at 2,500 feet from sea-level. We climbed the Mount at 2 in the morning, some 4,500 feet, as Sinai itself is 7,000 feet above sea-level. It took us 4 hours in a biting wind. We had to hire blankets to keep ourselves warm and wait for sunrise at 6.30. We recited our Morning Prayer, had a cup of tea and made our descent. We were part of a group of 250 people. We could have hired camels for the climb, but being young, preferred to go on foot. It did take its toll on tired limbs, however, and it makes you wonder how the natives adapt to living in the desert with its rocks and sand. The whole Sinai Peninsula is desert. The Suez Canal is spectacular and you get the impression that the ships in it are sailing along over the desert sands! The River Nile is the salvation of Egypt and its rich banks are cultivated without the help of any modern machinery.
On 29 June, St. Peter and Paul, the noviciate year began in the Shubra Community of Cairo. There are 10 members in the community, with a Postulant, one Novice and one simply Professed. There is a small Centre of Spirituality attached to the monastery and it is being upgraded at the moment.
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