The Feast of St. Catherine the Great Martyr was solemnly celebrated this week both in Jerusalem and at the historic St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai, with the main festivities taking place on 8 December at the ancient desert monastery. This year’s celebration marked the first under the leadership of the newly elected abbot, Archbishop Simeon of Sinai, Pharan, and Raitho, according to orthodoxianewsagency.gr.

Founded more than 17 centuries ago at the foot of Mount Moses, St. Catherine’s Monastery is considered one of the oldest continuously functioning Christian monasteries in the world. Home to the relics of St. Catherine, the monastery observes her feast as its most significant annual celebration. Established under Emperor Justinian, the monastery has long served as a vital center of Orthodox Christian witness in a region sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike.

Archbishop Simeon presided over the festive Divine Liturgy, attended by Greek Ambassador to Egypt Nikolaos Papageorgiou, underscoring Greece’s continued interest in the monastery’s spiritual and historical heritage. Following the Liturgy, the monastic community held memorial prayers and a traditional procession through the monastery grounds.

The celebrations come at a sensitive moment for the Sinai brotherhood. Earlier this year, in the summer of 2025, an Egyptian court ruled that the lands surrounding the monastery constitute state property, granting the monastery only rights of religious use. The decision sparked concern among Orthodox Churches and several international organizations, as large portions of the monastery’s centuries-old holdings were put at risk of expropriation.

The legal status of the lands remains unresolved. Negotiations involve Egyptian authorities, the Greek government, the Sinai monastic community, and the Jerusalem Patriarchate, under whose jurisdiction the monastery falls. While Egyptian officials have pledged to preserve the monastery’s spiritual role and protect its historical and religious significance, no recent progress in talks has been reported, orthodoxianewsagency.gr notes, citing the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On the eve of the feast, Metropolitan Joachim of Helenopolis of the Jerusalem Patriarchate led a solemn Great Vespers service, with a delegation from Jerusalem traveling to Sinai to demonstrate support for the monastic community during this period of uncertainty.