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Pilgrimage in the Holy Land

St John Phocas, tr. Stewart, 1889

Chapter 16

Immediately beyond Gethsemane, not more than an arrow-shot distant, stands the building called the ‘Kettle,’¹ which is built upon the rock in a square form, of the height, I think, of two spears, and tapering like a pyramid from the base to the summit, wherein an Iberian monk has shut himself up, and is working out his own salvation. Next to this is a great hill, in which are various artificial grottos, which are called after the name of the Virgin, and are inhabited by a few orthodox and by a larger number of Armenian and Jacobite monks. After this, the ravine widens at the place where is the Valley of Lamentations, and beyond this is the Potter’s Field, which was bought with the price of our Lord to bury strangers in. After this comes the Pool of Siloam, which by its overflowing waters the whole of that dry country. Beyond this are to be seen meadows of small extent in the flat part of the valley, with trees growing in them. The spring itself is surrounded and adorned by arches and numerous columns. Thus, as I have already said, this valley arrives at the laura of St. Saba, a distance of eleven miles. There the valley widens into a great dry chasm, in which are to be seen the laura, the church, and the tomb of the saint. In front of the laura, on both sides of the ravine, are grottos and small towers, inhabited by those who have despised the world and its luxuries for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake, who endure its unendurable heat, and by means of a quenchable fire quench that which is unquenchable. Upon the spot where stands the church and the tomb of the holy father Saba, who was inspired by God, the ravine divides into three parts, and becomes of great depth. The saint built towers along the edge of it, and in the midst of these great towers built the church, and all around it wrought these, the newest of ascetic cells, as is recorded in the account of his marvellous life. This church is full of interest, being very large, long, full of light, with its pavement adorned with marbles, which, though of small cost and brought from the wilderness, are nevertheless curiously worked. In front of the temple is a paved court, and in the midst thereof is the tomb of our great father Saba, rising about a palm above the ground, and adorned with a slab of the whitest marble. Close by and round about this, and also beneath the earth, may be seen the sepulchres of those holy fathers whose light has shone in the wilderness, and among them those of the ancient poets, SS. Cosmas and John.² Here are nearly forty inspired men, eminent beyond all others, of whom six converse directly with God, their names being Stephanus, Theodorus, Paulus; the fourth comes from Megalopolis, the fifth is a Spaniard, and the sixth is Joannes Stylita, celebrated among mankind for his spiritual insight.

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