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The Monastery of Saint George of Choziba, also known as Mar Jaris, is located in the middle of the desert near Jericho, Palestine.
Shortly after leaving Jericho, our bus turned down a quiet desert road and drove to a spot marked with a gate topped by a cross. We then followed our guide, Archbishop Aristovoulos of Madaba, down a short trail. The trail had steep drops with spectacular views over the rugged valley of Wadi Qelt.
Monastery of St. George of Choziba
At the end of the trail there was a small amphitheater with views of the Monastery of Saint George of Choziba. The monastery is one of the oldest in Palestine. It hangs on the side of a cliff and was founded in the 420s.
The monastery was destroyed by the Sassanids in 614 and rebuilt in the 12th century. It was abandoned after the Crusaders were defeated in the late 12th century, then reestablished by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1878. Construction finished in 1901 under a Greek monk named Father Kalinikos (1830-1909). The bell tower was built in 1952.
The monastery was at the heart of a tragic incident on June 12, 2001, when its sole occupant, Father Germanos (1966-2001), born Georgios Tsiboutzakis in Greece, was murdered during the Second Intifada. Palestinian political figure Marwan Barghouti was convicted in 2004 of directing the attack.
Religious Tradition
The third level of the Monastery of Saint George of Choziba contains the cave where it’s believed Prophet Elijah lived and was fed by ravens (1 Kings 17:5-6). It’s also believed that St. Joachim, the father of the Virgin Mary, stayed in the same cave for 40 days fasting and praying for God to bless him with a child.
On the east side of the monastery is a cave where St. Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, is believed to have spent the rest of her life after the birth of the Virgin. St. George of Choziba (d. 625) lived in the same cave.
The relics of St. George of Choziba, St. John of Thebes, and St. John the Romanian are kept in the main church. The bones of the 14 monks killed by the Persians in 614 are kept in a chapel outside the walls of the monastery.
Visiting the Monastery
The Monastery of Saint George of Choziba is famous for its hospitality. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit on this trip. Archbishop Aristovoulos told us it was about a 15 minute walk down down a steep winding path to the gates and double that going back up. The desert heat makes it more difficult. It’s possible to hire a donkey from the local Bedouins to make the trip easier.
Bedouin Vendors
Beware the Bedouin vendors trying to sell souvenirs from the overlook and the parking lot. They got very aggressive and downright rude when nobody in our group would buy from them. They refused to take no for an answer and tried to shame the group for “being rich while our children starve”. One nearly boarded our bus until the driver berated him in Arabic. Before we arrived, our guide warned us about them and said not to feel pity because they “have Netflix and satellite dishes and flat screen TVs like the rest of us”.
