Maaloula, Syria, October 20, 2022
Photo: mospat.ru
A special event was held at the Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Thekla in Maaloula, Syria, on Monday, when the holy habitation was given a complex of solar panel-powered electrical equipment.
The equipment will provide power to all the monastery buildings, including the church, the sisters’ cells, and the buildings where they carry out their obediences, reports the Russian Orthodox Representation to the Antiochian Orthodox Church.
The ceremony was attended by a number of Russian state officials. The Church was represented by Archimandrite Philip (Vasiltsev), the representative of Patriarch Kirill to the Antiochian Church.
The delegation was greeted at the monastery gates by the vicar of Patriarch John X of Antioch, His Grace Bishop Moussa of Larissa, Abbess Pelagia, and Archimandrite Matthew (Ruzuk).
Photo: mospat.ru
During the ceremony, it was noted that over the past two years, more than 45 tons of cargo, including food, hygiene products, school supplies, toys, and more have been sent from Russia. The office of the President of the Russian Federation has also provided for the supply, installation, and commissioning of diesel power plants in hospitals and cities. In June of this year, The Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Sednai was given icons painted at Moscow’s Danilov Monastery, together with humanitarian aid for the orphans who are cared for at the monastery.
And now it was decided to provide St. Thekla Monastery with electricity via solar panels.
Bp. Moussa expressed his heartfelt thanks, saying: “It’s impossible to find the words to express the love of the Russian people and Russian Church for the Antiochian Church… We are one Church and one people.”
Following the ceremony, the Russian and Syrian delegations headed to the church, where they venerated the relics of the monastery patron, St. Thekla.
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The Monastery of St. Thekla is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ISIS invaded the small town of Maaloula on September 5, 2013, going on a rampage against Christian people and buildings, destroying all holy sites in the city. 3,000 fled the city, leaving only Muslims and the monastery’s forty nuns, twelve of whom were kidnapped by ISIS in early December of the same year. The nuns were released in March 2014.
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