The road linking Jerusalem to Jericho winds its way down through the barren cliffs of the Judean Mountains. Once, 2,000 years ago, in the time of the Saviour Jesus Christ, caravans of camels and groups of travellers often passed through these parts, linking Jerusalem – Jericho – the Jordan Valley – Egypt – Galilee – Samaria – Syria – Jordan and Lebanon. And today, in the 21st century, cars traverse the Judean Desert towards the same destinations.
The mountain ridges slope down towards the Dead Sea, revealing a sweeping panorama of Mount Nebo in Jordan, the Jordan Valley and the motionless expanse of sand and stone. An oasis of greenery glistens towards Mount Carantania, at the foot of which lies the biblical city of Jericho. An ancient Canaanite city with an unbroken history spanning 11,000 years, Jericho is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Invasions, colonies, rulers, empires and caliphates, as well as the governments and politics of the times, have failed, however, to destroy the heart of this city.
Some archaeological evidence remains from Jericho, the oldest city in the world. It is known that Jericho was a peaceful city, with an important water source – Elisha’s Spring (in Arabic, Ain Es-Sultan) – and a cemetery1. The ruins of one of the many palaces attributed to King Herod the Great can still be seen today in the southern part of the city. Herod used this palace in Jericho during the cold winters of Jerusalem. Today, the site, overgrown with weeds and littered with rubbish, is known as Tulul Abu el-'Alayiq. Archaeological excavations in 1970 revealed the palace’s many functions: residential quarters, swimming pools and saunas. King Herod the Great died in the city of Jericho, but was buried on Mount Herodion, situated on the ancient Hebron Road, a route which still connects the city of Bethlehem with the city of Hebron today.
Hisham’s Palace (Khirbat al-Mafjar, in Arabic) was an important centre of Islam in the 8th century AD, bearing the mark of the Arab Umayyad dynasty (661–750 AD). In its heyday, the fortress was known as the Umayyad Castle of the Desert, as it was situated a few kilometres north of the city centre. The fortress stood until 1033, when an earthquake destroyed it. In the 20th century, its ruins became an archaeological park frequently visited by tourists. Through the mosaics that once adorned the castle’s floor and its administrative layout, the site serves as a reminder of the refined tastes of the Arab Umayyad dynasty and of the era in which they ruled the Holy Places in Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Palestine, leaving behind such fortresses of their power everywhere.
Tell es-Sultan (Ein es-Sultan in Arabic) or the Spring of the Prophet Elisha is one of the most important archaeological sites in biblical Jericho, and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located today in the northern part of the city, this site bears witness to the evolution of humankind 10,500 years ago, when people travelled in tribes from one place to another in search of water and food. Upon arriving in these parts, near the water springs, in the green oasis of the Levant2, people settled on these lands, becoming permanent inhabitants of Jericho. The lush vegetation, rich in fruit-bearing trees and medicinal plants, the water sources and the proximity of the mountains provided the reason for founding this settlement. Over time, the city of Jericho has retained the name ‘City of Palms’ due to its date palm groves, a tradition and name that have endured to this day.
The fortress of Jericho, founded and ruled for many centuries by the Canaanites, was attacked and partially destroyed by Joshua the Prophet. He was one of the close disciples of the prophet Moses. Born in Egypt, he was among the multitude of Hebrews who crossed the Sinai Desert and the Red Sea and, upon reaching Mount Nebo, Joshua the Prophet received a command from Moses to cross the River Jordan and, travelling in secret with other Israelite men towards the city of Jericho, to scout out what sort of places and inhabitants might be found there. After a brief reconnaissance, Joshua returned to camp and reported that there, within the city of Jericho, life was one of great abundance. Later, with a group of soldiers, they carried out the operation to bring down the walls of the city of Jericho, taking it by storm. It is said that Joshua the Prophet used a little-known battle tactic, namely that the power of the sound emitted by the trumpets caused the walls to collapse of their own accord, allowing the Jewish people to enter the city and take control of it (Joshua 6).
The city of Jericho was the birthplace of the Prophet Elisha and the site of the biblical mission entrusted to him by God. He was the disciple of the great Prophet Elijah the Tishbite and witnessed Elijah’s ascension to heaven in a chariot of fire, right from the area of Jericho, towards the River Jordan.
The Jericho oasis is rich in springs and fertile land. A local legend recounts a miracle performed by the prophet Elisha, who, seeing the people’s struggle to obtain food and water, threw a handful of salt over the lands of Jericho, saying: ‘From now on, may you have water and food in abundance!’
Layers of history and biblical archaeology have accumulated over ancient Jericho. As a crossroads, a route much travelled by people, it was only natural to discover that Jesus Christ Himself, during His messianic life on earth, passed through Jericho whilst travelling to and from Galilee. Holy Scripture speaks of these journeys, recounting the miracles performed by the Saviour amongst the inhabitants of these lands.
The first miracle took place in the Jordan Valley, not far from the city of Jericho, during the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the Epiphany took place—the mystery of the manifestation of the Holy Trinity, of the Father’s love for the Son and, by extension, of God’s love for mankind. The second miracle was that of the Healing of the Blind Man of Jericho (Luke 18:35–43). Another miracle was that of the healing of two other blind men (Matthew 20:30–34).
Another miracle performed by Jesus Christ is that of the 40-day fast on Mount Carantania (Matthew 4:1–11), during which, whilst tempted by the devil with the material things of the world, He withstood the temptations, thus demonstrating the value of the spiritual life and of faith in God’s work, both in this life and beyond.
The traveller arriving today in Jericho, the oldest city in the world, situated at the lowest elevation (417 metres below sea level), steps into an Eastern city which is, at the same time, religiously eclectic. Several church communities are based here: Russian, Coptic, Greek Orthodox and Romanian. In the city centre stands the Blue Mosque. Not far from it, at a crossroads, stands a huge tree with an oversized trunk, a crown of green leaves and an inscription in the languages commonly spoken here: ‘Zacchaeus’s Mulberry Tree’. It is said that this was the site of the customs post between Judea and Samaria, where travellers had to pay a toll. At that time, the tax collector was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a man of small stature, and his name derives from ‘Zachay’ (meaning ‘innocent’ or ‘blameless’ in Syriac). Zacchaeus’s encounter with Jesus Christ was providential, for Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, was healed of the sin of greed and of the desire to increase his personal wealth through deceit (Luke 19:1–6).
This passage of Jesus Christ through Jericho and His conversation with Zacchaeus the tax collector were the reason why the Greekof Jerusalem built a church in the 18th century dedicated to the Holy Prophet Elisha, the patron saint of the city of Jericho. In the churchyard stands the withered trunk of another sycamore tree, a reminder that this was the site of Zacchaeus’s house, where the Saviour Jesus Christ is said to have stayed with His disciples.
In the rear courtyard of the church lies the monastery’s cemetery, where Hieromonk Damian Stog and the family of Dumitru Samoilă are laid to rest. Father Damian Stog served at the Romanian church on the Jordan. In 1970, whilst in the vicinity of the River Jordan and having entered its waters, Israeli soldiers ordered him to leave the waters marking the border with Jordan. Father Damian Stog suffered from hearing loss, did not speak Hebrew and, having failed to comply with the order, the soldiers shot him on the spot. His body, recovered from the waters of the Jordan, was buried at the Monastery of Zacchaeus’s Fig Tree. The family of Dumitru Samoilă, originally from the Botoșani area, arrived in biblical Palestine in 1933, settling in Jericho. Their property consisted of a small plot of land with a modest cottage on it, which they had purchased with great financial effort. Towards the end of their lives, having no heirs, they donated this small property to the Romanian Patriarchate so that a place of prayer and rest could be built for Romanian pilgrims to the Holy Places. This came to fruition between 1994 and 2010, during the tenure of His Grace Bishop Ieronim of Dacia Felix (Archimandrite Ieronim Crețu, representative of the Romanian Patriarchate at the Holy Places 1994–2014).
The Romanian settlement in the biblical city of Jericho
In 1933, the Romanian Samoilă family settled in the town of Jericho and remained to work and live on these biblical lands. At that time, the town of Jericho was part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Following the Six-Day War of 1967, Jericho became part of the area now known as the West Bank. The Samoilă family had a single son, Dumitru, who, although married, had no children of his own. Under the spiritual guidance of Saint John Jacob of Hozeva, who was their spiritual father, they decided to donate their land, totalling 1,000 m², and comprising ‘two rows of houses’, to the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate, to serve as a metochion for the Romanian settlements in the Holy Land. The land is situated in the centre of Jericho, surrounded by the homes of local Bedouins, at the foot of the Mount of Temptation, a stone’s throw from the Church of Zacchaeus’s Fig Tree and 8 kilometres from the River Jordan. In the heart of the Jericho oasis, the Romanian Orthodox Church decided in the 1990s to build a church complex larger than the one in Jerusalem. The intention was to create a pilgrims’ centre with a chapel for services to be held in Romanian. The priest who was most involved from the very beginning was Archimandrite Ilarion Argatu of Cernica Monastery. Father Argatu rallied thousands of Romanians from home and abroad around this project. A large sum of money raised by Father Argatu was put towards the project’s documentation. It took five years of negotiations to obtain permits and approvals from the local administration of the Palestinian National Authority. In 1999, the foundation stone was laid, and in 2000, on the occasion of the Pan-Orthodox Jubilee Celebrations marking the Bimillennium of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Patriarch Teoctist, accompanied by a group of Romanian bishops and priests who had travelled to the Holy Places to take part in these Christian celebrations, consecrated the site of two altars and the pilgrims’ hostel that were to be built. The work was arduous; the building site faced numerous challenges, whether due to a lack of materials, a shortage of labourers, a lack of funds, or simply the obstructionism of certain forces opposed to this project. Romanian and Arab architects, engineers and labourers contributed their efforts and devotion to the construction of this complex. Romanians from all over the world answered the call to contribute, even with the ‘widow’s mite’, to this project. Praiseworthy priests brought thousands of Romanian pilgrims to the Holy Places; monks and nuns, whose names will be inscribed in heaven, contributed with all their love and skill—often putting their lives at risk—to the construction and completion of this complex as it stands today. The titanic, tireless labour, which involved thousands of people and the forging of bonds between those who worked together, all of this has led to this result: a large church dedicated to the Nativity of the Lord, a chapel dedicated to St John Jacob and All the Saints of Palestine, a chapel dedicated to St Parascheva of Iași and St Prophet Daniel, a pilgrims’ hostel with over 100 beds, all situated on a plot of land that has expanded from 1,000 m² donated by the Samoilă family to a further approximately 2,000 m² purchased in the vicinity. Beyond the controversies of a day filled with toil and the harshness of less peaceful and tolerant times, the Romanian Orthodox Church has fulfilled a long-held dream of the Romanian people: to have ‘at least one Romanian chapel’ of their own, and here, places of rest and worship at the Holy Places. On the edge of the oasis, near the palm trees that give Jericho its name as the City of Palms, the breeze, scented by the citrus groves and the flowers of the desert, carries across the tranquillity of the day—immersed in the languor of the heatwave—the words of Holy Scripture: ‘(…) John the Baptist came and preached in the wilderness of Judea, saying: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”’ (Matthew 3:1–2)3.
Jericho preserves the memory of some Romanians – monks and nuns who led a life of devotion – who lived for many years in the modest cells near what is now the Romanian Settlement. We recall here the Hieroschemamonk Juvenalie Străinul (1902–1989). He was originally from Bacău County. He entered Durău Monastery as a novice. Seeking greater peace and solitude, he went after two years to Frăsinei Monastery in Vâlcea, where he was tonsured a monk. Two years later, he set off for Mount Athos and lived at the Prodromul Skete, in the cell known as ‘Agheasma of Saint Athanasius of Athos’.4 In 1938, he travelled to the Holy Land, to the Holy Sepulchre of the Lord. There he met Saint John Jacob of Neamț (the Hozevit), with whom he undertook ascetic labours in the caves of Kalomona, near the Dead Sea. In 1947, he went to the Romanian Skete on the Jordan together with Saint John Jacob, who had been appointed abbot there. Six years later, Saint John Jacob, with the blessing of the Romanian patriarchs and the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, withdrew to the Hozeva Valley, into the wilderness. The hieromonk Juvenal the Stranger remained at the Romanian Skete on the Jordan for a further ten years, then retired to the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai, practising asceticism in the Rait desert, not far from the monastery. He came to the end of his earthly life in Athens, in a home for elderly priests of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, where he was also buried.
Another Romanian nun living in the city of Jericho was Sister Galinia Gheorghițan (1889–1978). She lived in the Holy Land for 42 years, having come from Agafton Monastery in Botoșani County. She lived in a humble little house on a side street near the Romanian settlement in Jericho, which did not yet exist at that time. Her home was always welcoming to Romanian guests, offering them accommodation and spiritual guidance. She was a contemporary of Saint John Jacob the Hozevit, Father Ioanichie Pârâială, the nun Magdalena Pârâială, Father Juvenalie Străinul and others. Her little house, with a few cells, still stands today. Mother Galinia is laid to rest in the cemetery of the Russian Eleon Monastery on the Mount of Olives.
The Hozeva Valley (Wadi Qelt in Arabic / Nahal Prat in Hebrew) lies in a deep valley between the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, and between the Judean Hills that link Jerusalem to Bethlehem. This ‘Valley of Death’, as it is translated from the local languages, brings to mind the thousands of monks and hermits who withdrew to these wilderness areas for prayer and full communion with God. This Valley of Hozeva is associated first and foremost with the great biblical prophets, Elijah the Tishbite and Elisha, and with Saint John the Baptist, who have gone down in the history of these places as the forerunners of local Eastern monasticism and beyond.
The road descending from Jerusalem to Jericho along the ancient Roman road brings to mind the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37). Today, the Israeli authorities have established an open-air museum, having uncovered the ruins of the ancient ‘Good Samaritan’ inn; this museum is open to visitors. Not far from this archaeological site, the road descends into the Hozeva Valley.
Thus, on the road linking Jerusalem to Jericho, in this Judean wilderness, monastic foundations have existed since the 4th century AD. Unique in its existence, history and continuity is the Monastery of St George the Hozevit, contemporary with the Great Lavra of St Sava the Sanctified and that of St Theodosius the Great near Bethlehem.
Monastic life at this monastery dates back to around 420 AD. The hermits of these parts embraced the way of life of Saint Anthony the Great, who had gathered thousands of monks around him in the Egyptian desert. Thus, at the end of the 3rd century AD and the beginning of the 4th century AD, with the end of the persecutions against Christians, the first monasteries, with their communities, appeared in various parts of Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Asia Minor – Cappadocia. The first monk in Palestine mentioned in local tradition was Saint Hariton. In a valley north-east of Jerusalem, at Douka5, on the summit of a rocky outcrop from which Jericho can be seen, he founded the first monastery for monks. Later, others appeared, gathering around them monks who lived in caves naturally hewn into the rocks, in solitude and prayer. They would meet once a week for a service and a communal meal.
The Monastery of Saint George the Hermit and Saint John Jacob the Hermit was first founded by Saint John of Theba in the year 480, who had come from Egypt. However, its period of greatest prosperity occurred during the time of Saint George the Hozevit in the 6th century AD. It is said that up to 3,000 monks lived in the caves of the Hozeva Valley, leading a life of great devotion. In the year 614, during the great Persian invasion of the Holy Land, the monastery was destroyed and the monks were massacred by the Persians. Some of the monks managed to save the monastery’s most precious treasure, namely the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Egiptissa’, before which Saint Mary of Egypt is said to have worshipped upon her arrival in Jerusalem in the 5th century AD. This icon is now housed in a Greek monastery on the island of Amorgos.
Hozeva Monastery, in its present form, was rebuilt and restored in 1878. It has always belonged to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The monastery comprises the church dedicated to the Annunciation and the old chapel dedicated to Saint Stephen the Archdeacon. The mosaic floor in this chapel dates from the 12th century. Above the monastery lies a small chapel set within the cave of Saint Elijah the Tishbite – his final resting place before being taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.
Among the distinguished monks who lived in the Holy Land during the 20th century and who ended their lives in the Hozeva Valley is Saint John Jacob of Neamț (the Hozevit). Born in 1913 in Crăiniceni, in Botoșani County, the young Ilie was orphaned at an early age and was brought up by his grandmother, who instilled in him a love for the Church and prayer. At the age of 19, Father Ioan went to Neamț Monastery, where he was tonsured as a monk. At the age of 23, whilst passing through Turnu Monastery in Vâlcea, he decided to set off for the Holy Land, where he stayed at St Sava’s Monastery in the Judean Desert. After the outbreak of the Second World War, the German army advanced towards Alexandria in Egypt, a development which caused great unrest throughout the Middle East. The British army, which was defending the Holy Places—then under British rule—gathered all the Romanians and took them to a camp on the Mount of Olives. Father Ioan knew several foreign languages (Greek, French, Arabic and German), and was also skilled in caring for the sick, as he had also served as a nurse at the infirmary of Neamț Monastery and at that of Saint Sava Monastery; for this reason, he was kept in the camp longer than others, so that he might be of assistance to the wounded.
After the hostilities ceased, the prisoners were released, and Father Ioan retired once more to the Monastery of Saint Sava, alongside his spiritual father, Father Sava the Serb. In 1947, he was ordained a hierodeacon, then a hieromonk, at the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem, after which he was appointed abbot of the Romanian Hermitage on the Jordan. In 1952, together with his disciple, the monastic Father Ioanichie Pârâială, they set off for the Cave of Saint Anne in the Hozeva Valley. Saint John Jacob the Hozevit lived in the Cave of Saint Anne until 1960, when, at the age of just 47, on the night of 4–5 August, he passed away to the Lord, worn out by illness and trials known only to God. In accordance with his fervent wish, he requested that his body be buried in the cave where he had lived. This was done exactly as he had asked. Twenty years after his passing, in 1980, Father John appeared to a Greek priest from America, Archimandrite Panteleimonos, who had been his spiritual son, and said to him: “If you wish to see me, come and see me at Hozeva!” The Greek priest did not know whether Father Ioan was still alive, but after some time he travelled to the Holy Land and enquired at Hozeva as to what had become of Father Ioan. Upon learning that he was buried in a cave, Father Panteleimon climbed up there accompanied by a few faithful. They found Father John’s body intact, incorrupt, and giving off a sweet fragrance. A service was then held and, with the blessing of Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem, Father John’s body was brought down to the church of the Hozeva Monastery, where it was placed in a reliquary and where it remains to this day. In 1992, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided to canonise several Romanian saints, including Saint John Jacob, known as the Hozevit, whose feast day is 5 August. I met Father Panteleimonos in America, at the venerable age of 85, living a secluded life after having founded two monasteries – Holy Transfiguration, in the Boston area. He spoke warmly to me about St John Jacob, saying that ‘he was the most humble monk he had ever known in his life’. In the chapel of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, a finger of St John was kept for veneration in a gold and silver reliquary shaped like a hand. Today, at Hozeva, miracles occur ceaselessly at the reliquary of St John Jacob. To some, he has appeared in the flesh, spoken to them or healed them of some ailment. The Greek monks who live today at Hozeva Monastery testify that, sometimes, when they enter the church early in the morning for the Divine Liturgy, they find Saint John reading from the Psalter at the lectern. As soon as anyone appears, he vanishes from sight. Many miracles take place in secret at Hozeva. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem proclaimed the canonisation of Saint John Jacob of Hozeva on 31 January 2016, making him a Romanian saint canonised by two Patriarchates.
It is believed that this valley – Wadi Qelt – is under the protection of the Mother of God, for it preserves the history of the prayers of Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, who had withdrawn to these valleys, into a cave, asking God for mercy so that she might give birth to a child. The Holy Parents Joachim and Anne would always offer sacrifices at Solomon’s Temple, but the high priest told them at one point that their sacrifice was not accepted, for those who have no children are considered people cursed by God. Whilst Saint Anne had withdrawn to the cave in the Valley of Hozeva, Saint Joachim also fled far away, into the desert beyond the wilderness of Judea, where he prayed fervently to the Lord to deliver him from the curse of childlessness. Whilst he was praying, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and announced the birth of the Virgin Mary.
The Hozeva Valley continues the thread of its biblical and modern history. Together with the City of Jericho, Mount Carantania, the Jordan Valley and the Judean Desert, these Holy Places have attracted millions of people from across the globe who have sought either land and water, or military, or an escape from the clamour of the great cities, under the mantle of light cast by the greatest saints of Holy Scripture, and by the Saviour Jesus Christ Himself.
Today, in the 21st century, a modern cable car carries tourists up and down from Jericho to the steep Mount Carantania, passing over the ruins of the ancient city surrounded by the evergreen vegetation of the area, revealing a landscape steeped in the fragrance of the East, that of the Jericho rose which, though left unwatered for years on end, blooms the moment it receives a drop of dew. Such is also the destiny of these Places, which lie under the constant care of the Creator of all things and all people.
- 1
Shimon Ghibson, The Final Days of Jesus: The Archaeological Evidence, Lion Hudson, New York, 2009, pp. 13–14.
- 2
Levant, an old name for the Middle East. Western Asia along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.
- 3
Nun Theodora (Videscu), Jerusalem: The Meaning of the World – Brief Notes on the Holy Places, Nemira Publishers, 2015, pp. 202–210.
- 4
Archimandrite Ioanichie Bălan, Spiritual Conversations, Vol. I, 2nd ed., published by the Diocese of Roman and Huși, 1993, pp. 634–635.
- 5
Cyril of Scythopolis, The Lives of the Monks of Palestine, Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1991, ‘Introduction’.