Pelagia Sayyaf, Mother Superior of Convent of Saint Thecla in Maaloula

Conversation with the Abbess of the Monastery of St. Thecla in Maaloula, Matushka Pelageya Sayyaf. The subject is “The Life of St. Thecla“.
LOCATIONS:
Nestled near a giant cliff is the Mar Taqla Convent, the world’s oldest female monastery. The name of the monastery comes from the name of the first woman – a disciple of the Apostle Paul.
The monastery was erected, according to theologians and local citizens, on the site where the cave of the saint was located: here she devoted herself to prayers, healed the sick and cripples, later died and was buried.
Before the war, the chapel in the cave where the relics rested was a place of international pilgrimage. Among the pilgrims there are many who suffer from incurable ailments and hope for a miraculous cure.
The source of crystal clear and healing water contained in the natural stone reservoir does not dry up. Some of the sufferers leave their crutches here forever.
Many ecclesiastical writings and legends are devoted to the life of St. Thecla. The oldest, found in Egypt, states that when St. Paul was expelled from Antioch, he went to Iconium, where he stayed with a certain Onesiphorus. Next door lived a wealthy widow, whose daughter, named Thecla, sitting at an open window, heard the alien’s, at the time, redolent speeches…

LOCATIONS:
Video recording of September 24, 2008, in Maaloula: the inauguration, on the territory of the monastery of St. Thecla, of a bronze monument to Jesus created by sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov. A celebratory liturgy with representatives of the Antioch Church and Islamic clergy, the Russian Spiritual Heritage Foundation of St. Paul, and the International League for Human Dignity.