The Struggle of Early Monastics
Elders from our local community recount that during the Ottoman era, the monks managed to ransom many individuals who had been captured by the Ottomans by pooling their resources. They welcomed those in distress who sought refuge in the monastery, providing for them. This led some malefactors to believe that the monks possessed abundant wealth and treasures, making the monastery vulnerable to plunder. The monks endured beatings, torture and insults as a result.
The late Georgi Raouf Farah recounted to us an incident where one of the landowners sent his henchmen to beat the abbot and search for its funds. However, they did not find the abbot there. Instead, they ruthlessly beat the frail and elderly monks, except for one monk who, in his humility, hastened to greet them, offering a clay pitcher of water. In response, they hurled insults and dragged him to toss him off a cliff into the valley. After they cast him down, the monks rushed to retrieve him, presuming he had died. To their surprise, they found him standing, still clutching the pitcher, his body riddled with wounds, particularly as he had become entangled in the cacti. His display of love and forgiveness left them ashamed, so they hurriedly fled, having witnessed the monks' meekness and affection.
The monastery archives recount an incident where a clergyman, feeling aggrieved, brought complaints to the influential elders of the Azar family, accusing the monks of mistreating him at the monastery. In response, the elders summoned the monastery's abbot to reprimand him, to which he replied with regret, "We have offered him what little we have." The elder then inquired, "And what do you have?" To which the monastery's abbot responded, "Only some" water gathered from the rocks.
This incident highlights the monks' enduring suffering and their steadfastness in patience, poverty and austerity. It also underscores the disregard of authority towards them and the abuse of power by those in positions of influence.
The Work of Early Monastics
The monks were actively involved in agriculture, livestock raising, manuscript copying, iconography on wood, chanting, and educating both the local community and visitors. They were assisted in these endeavours by some teachers, such as Professor Dimitri Chehade from Damascus, who, out of his love for the monastery, dedicated half of his estate to Hamatoura. He spent his later years here, passed away, and was laid to rest alongside the monks. The other half was dedicated to the Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus.
The monks exerted efforts in fortifying and equipping the monastery to ensure their own stability and to better serve the needs of visitors. Archival records from the Beirut Archdiocese indicate that construction work became a primary focus for the monastery after the calamity of 1860. This involved the reconstruction of the kitchen and several monastic cells.