The Seven Wonders of the Modern Worships, Chapter 5. The Monastery by M.T. Al-Mansouri,Ph.D.

[M.T. Al-Mansouri, Ph.D.]

After a long time of visiting the stable house, I decided to visit our father Habib in his monastery, which is his home and resting place.

I found him praying and counting his beads while looking at the sky and reciting, " I am your beloved father. I eat dates, cucumbers and raisins. I will tell you the story of Joseph, his brothers and the wolf.''

The people listened to him as he said: When my eyesight was strong like iron, I had a brother named Wadee, who used to kill the snakes and sing like a nightingale. He used to feel sad when he returned home at night because his neighbour's children cried from hunger and the lack of milk. So he decided to migrate. He traveled, worshiped and started to send money and medicine back home".

Then, our beloved father started singing " Oh night! how long will you last in our villages, cities and fields? I see the stars above Jerusalem's sky. There, next to the Aqsa, is the church of Virgin Mary and the Crying Wall. There are children as strong as iron. They got their strength from the power of the Lord. They believed that their rights are stronger than iron. Let the occupier understand the facts and stop his wars, which lasted years. The wars that made the heart bleed and uprooted the fig and olive trees even the ones belonging and loving to the prophets. When will the children sleep in safety and peace?"

The people said " Hallelujah" after our beloved father wished him long life. Then they invited him to a party where Wadee Alsafi, the owner of a pure and clear voice sang beautifully and melancholically," Oh neighbour, hang your key around the nail. Carry your stick and strike the ground before you fall down. " They repeated after him: " Rivers of honey not of onion." So the theatre curtains came down to hide a cockroach. The rat appeared alone on the stage and the key fell down from the nail.