Deir Mar Musa: Camaraderie (Syria)

Although Deir Mar Musa had been able to survive the ebbs and flows of Christianity in the region, it witnessed a gradual decline through the 15th century, eventually being abandoned in the 1830s with the departure of the last monk. While the church continued to receive visits from Nebek villagers in the ensuing years, its chapel and other buildings were left in perpetual decay, with no promising future in sight.

It wasn't until the 1980s, a century and a half later, that the church was rediscovered. This time, it was an Italian Jesuit priest who spearheaded the reconstruction of the site and the monastic community. Through painstaking effort on the part of Italian and Syrian experts, the chapel's impressive 900-year-old frescoes have been restored to their former glory. Today, the St Moses community is made up of an eclectic bunch, like Syria itself: the half a dozen Italian, Syrian, and French priests and monks receive daily visits from Muslims, Christians, youths volunteers, students and backpackers from nearly all walks of life.

The hustle and bustle of Deir Mar Musa never seemed to stop. During the first night, I attended a special concert by French and Syrian Muslim artists. The musical theme was interfaith; it was a part of the many Christian-Muslim dialogues that the tolerant community actively pursued.

In this musical interaction, visiting French Catholics performed a series of mellow hymns and songs in an impressive array of European tongues (English, French and Latin), from solos to duets and choirs, while their Muslim counterparts played the exotic tunes of traditional and contemporary Arabic music. Amid the resounding applause and cheering, the back and forth exchanges between the various music genres reached the apex when the Europeans and Arabs joined together in an ensemble of singing, Middle Eastern flute and drum beats.

The Italian priest and an imam concluded the evening with words of encouragement, amplifying the camaraderie that had bonded followers of different faiths and nationalities, both on the stage and below. It was a joyous and uplifting experience, one that I had never expected to see in the Middle East, let alone in a country that the U.S. has labeled "Axis of Evil."