Students experience the liturgical life of Sinai’s ancient monastery

From January 3-11 a group of eleven Yale students and five faculty visited the Holy Monastery of the God-trodden Mount Sinai (also known as Saint Catherine’s) in Egypt. The trip was the final component of a travel seminar titled Art and Ritual at Mount Sinai taught in the fall 2024 semester by Robert S. Nelson, Yale professor emeritus in the history of art, and Vasileios Marinis, professor of Christian art and architecture at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (ISM) and Yale Divinity School (YDS). The course examined art, ecclesiastical and pilgrimage rituals at the monastery. Students in this year’s course were from multiple departments at Yale including the ISM, YDS, Art History, Medieval Studies, Classics, History, and Egyptology.   

Founded in the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian on a site already ascribed and venerated by Christians as the place where Moses encountered the burning bush, the monastery is one of the oldest continuously inhabited Christian communities in the world. Its holdings of icons are unparalleled and offer the opportunity to study Christian imagery in the context of both devotional use and corporate rituals. 

The travel seminar aims to understand the development of monasticism in Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and today; to study the rites and rituals of pilgrimage to Sinai; and to develop skills in visual analysis and literacy through the examination of works of art in various media (mosaic, portable icons, manuscripts, textiles, metalwork). It also considers the ways in which visual, as well as historical or social contexts, matter in the interpretation of images.  

While in Sinai, students and faculty experienced firsthand the liturgical life of the monastery, the highlight of which was the Christmas vigil, celebrated throughout the night between January 6 and 7 (December 24 and 25 according to the Julian calendar). 

Students had the opportunity to give on-site reports about their research projects. The group spent considerable time in the skeuophylakion (sacristy), where some of the most important treasures from the monastery’s collection are displayed, including the famous sixth-century encaustic icons of Christ Pantokrator and the Virgin with Martyrs and Angels, illuminated medieval manuscripts, vestments, and objects of fine ecclesiastical metalwork. The monastery’s librarian, Father Justin Sinaites, gave students and faculty a tour of the library, where they were able to observe several important manuscripts written in Greek, Arabic, and Glagolitic. 

Finally, several participants hiked to the Holy Summit of Mount Sinai (Jebel Mousa), where, according to tradition, Moses received the Law from God. The group also spent one day in Cairo, where they visited medieval Coptic churches and several museums. 

The trip was an unforgettable experience, enhanced by the participation of colleagues who shared their expertise. These included Gabriel Radle, associate professor of liturgical studies at the ISM and YDS; Jacqueline Jung, professor of medieval art and architecture at Yale; Martin Jean, director of the ISM and professor of sacred music and professor (adjunct) of divinity; Father Arsany Paul, a Ph.D. candidate in liturgical studies at the University of Notre Dame; and Tom Drobena, adjunct professor of theology at Assumption University.