Chapter 1751 Monk

The magnificent historical masterpiece "Three Thousand Years of Jerusalem" said: The earthly sanctuary is Syria, and Syria is the birthplace of the real Christ. Jesus, the Jew, was born in Bethlehem in ancient Syria. Joseph, the father of Jesus, and Mary, the mother, Leah are also Syrians.

Lebanon and Syria used to belong to one country in history. After that, Lebanon was once the only Christian country in the Arab world. Maronites are one of the Christian sects in the world. Nearly a quarter of the Maronites in the world live In Lebanon, the Sacred Valley of Kadisha is one of the gathering places for Maronite believers.

The Sacred Valley has always been a place of joy for monks, hermits, and ascetics in history. When the war swept across the Middle East, the Qadisha Valley even became a sanctuary for Christians in the Middle East. It is now one of the few world cultural heritage sites in Lebanon.

When Yang Cheng heard the manager's introduction, he suddenly turned around and asked Hansen, "Is Gavin a Maronite?"

Hansen memorized Gavin's information, and frowned, "It's not mentioned in the information, but it is mentioned that Gavin can use Arabic proficiently, and it is said that he can also speak ancient Syriac~"

Yang Cheng immediately said, "That's absolutely true, Christians of other denominations don't need to learn Arabic or even ancient Syriac.

language, so he once took advantage of the opportunity to test the aircraft in Turkey and met the Maronite bishop through Tripoli? And now he is very likely to hide in the sacred valley to practice in seclusion, damn it, who would have thought that the leader of Iota would actually hide in the deep mountains and old forests to practice penance? "

Hansen couldn't help admiring, "Others can't think of it, but boss, you have thought of it~"

Yang Cheng laughed, and nodded Hansen in the void, "You have also learned to flatter, no matter what, it's easy to check if you have the direction."

"Boss, do you want me to send someone into the Sacred Valley to check?"

Yang Cheng smiled playfully, "No hurry, let's go together tomorrow~"

Having made an unexpected discovery, he suddenly felt in a good mood. He felt that today's Lebanese dishes were extraordinarily delicious, and the sourness of the lemon exuded a sweet taste in his mouth.

. . .

Early the next morning, they drove to the Sacred Valley by car, because the earliest monasteries in the history of Christianity were hidden in the Sacred Valley, and they also provided shelter for many Christians and monks who were persecuted by the Romans and Arabs. To this day, the Sacred Valley is also a holy place in the minds of Christians. Many monks and nuns still live in these monasteries, just like thousands of years ago.

Yang Cheng and the others disguised themselves as tourists, and followed the route given by the hotel manager to enter the Sacred Valley from the small town of Busheri.

The reason for the existence of the small town of Boucheri,

It is not just as simple as the entrance to the Sacred Valley, but more importantly, it is the hometown and burial place of the greatest Lebanese poet Gibran. As the founder of Arabic literature, Gibran has great influence in the whole of Arabia and the world. influence.

After Gibran's death, his sister fulfilled his wish during his lifetime, and bought a monastery built in the seventh century on the mountain outside the town, and placed his coffin in the stone room at the foot of the mountain. Later, with the help of the Lebanese government A museum was built and many precious manuscripts of Gibran's poems and paintings were collected.

There is a beautiful rose garden in front of his tomb. When the roses are in full bloom, they are full of fragrance. From there, you can overlook the whole town and the rolling valleys in the distance, all bathed in warm sunshine.

The town is not big, there is only one main road connecting the houses and shops, and it takes about half an hour to walk through it all. Everyone here is a Maronite, and everyone seems to know each other. Yang Cheng and the others found many People walking on the road greet each other, not simply nodding say hi, but greetings by name.

Because there is no religious conflict here, the flames of the civil war that lasted more than ten years did not spread here, which also made the town a paradise in Lebanon. There are many houses in the town that are more than a century old. The hotel I stayed at tonight was a remodeled one-hundred-year-old residence.

The owner of the hotel is an elderly couple who have lived here all their lives and rarely even leave the town to go to Beirut, Tripoli, let alone go abroad.

When Yang Cheng chatted with the old couple, he learned that this house was designed and built by his grandfather, including every door and window in this building. Even after more than a hundred years, it is still extremely strong. The key is that it is not lacking in beauty. , Yang Cheng and the others will stay on the second floor, which also has a fountain terrace.

The gray-haired grandfather asked the beautiful maid to make tea for everyone, and at the same time showed them around the bedroom.

The bedroom is very cozy. The bed sheets in the style of roses made Yang Cheng feel at home. From the open floor-to-ceiling windows, you can walk to the terrace outside. Opposite is the deep valley. In the misty, desolate and magnificent valley, there are traditional Lebanese houses built of stone blocks scattered in the desolate and magnificent valley. The light yellow stone walls and red pointed roofs complement each other.

Liu Junyu took out his mobile phone and kept taking pictures, admiring while taking pictures: It's so beautiful!

But the old man said that the most beautiful season in the Sacred Valley is winter, when everything is covered with snow, it feels like being in another world.

After Liu Junyu had finished taking pictures, Yang Cheng had almost rested, and was about to set off into the Sacred Valley. He did not forget the main purpose of this trip, and traveling to see the scenery was just a incidental thing.

After asking the grandfather, I learned that there is only one way to enter the Sacred Valley. Cars can’t get in, you can only enter on foot. The route is very clear and you won’t get lost. You can return halfway or go straight ahead, and leave the Sacred Valley from another exit. , the whole walking distance is close to 5 hours, which is a great test for people's physical strength and will.

In the words of Christians, this is also a path of meditation. When Yang Cheng and the others arrived in the small town of Busheri, they happened to meet a group of Christians from Eastern Europe who came here for a pilgrimage. The conversation revealed that these people wanted to see the last remaining monastery in Lebanon and, if possible, stay here for a few days.

In the past, the monks lived in seclusion here for the sake of purity, but now that so many tourists come to visit, they are still "reclusive", Yang Cheng watched the group of tourists take a step ahead, and said in his heart.

Today, Hansen and the others didn't wear suits and ties, but all changed into mountaineering suits. They vaguely surrounded Yang Cheng and Liu Junyu in the middle. On the surface, they couldn't see their relationship, as if they were part of a tourist group.

It's just their serious expressions, and they can't find the fun of playing at all.

Walking along the stone road for about an hour and a half, Yang Cheng faintly noticed that the group of pilgrims who set out earlier had turned in the direction, and when they got closer, they found that there was the first branch road, a narrower stone road. The trail winds down, Hansen said, "This road should lead to the monastery, boss, do you want to go down and have a look?"

Yang Cheng looked at Liu Junyu whose physical strength was slowly passing away, and said, "Go down and have a look, and take a rest by the way~"

Sure enough, after walking down for about 10 minutes, a monastery built in the 13th century came into view. Surprisingly, the group who just came down did not seem to stay here, and Yang Cheng did not hear any noise in the yard. The sound of conversation, is there no one here, so the pilgrims did not stay to visit?

Just guessing, an old man dressed in a black robe similar to that worn by Catholic priests walked out from behind the building and smiled at Yang Cheng and the others, "Are you here to visit?"

Yang Cheng stepped forward with a smile, "Hi sir, we are tourists~"

The old man put down the watering can in his hand and introduced with a smile, "My name is Dario. I came to settle here from Colombia more than 20 years ago. Welcome to visit me~"

Dario was very enthusiastic and invited Yang Cheng and the others to visit. It seems that he has rich experience in receiving tourists for many years.

The monastery is built into a mountain, and has two small chapels, a study room, a bedroom, and a small garden. The monks live here, cooking and cleaning are all done by themselves. In addition, Spending 14 hours a day reading the Bible and praying, and eating only one meal at two o'clock in the afternoon, this is a boring day for a monk, but Dario seems to be used to it.

"There are not many tourists today. It seems that a wave of people passed by just now. Why didn't they come in?" Dario invited Yang Cheng and the others to sit down.

Yang Cheng didn't know what the group in front was thinking, so she said vaguely, "Maybe I thought there was no one~"

Dario didn't bother with this issue, and said to himself, "I don't have many guests here, but I enjoy communicating with every guest."

Poured a glass of water for Yang Cheng and the others, pointed outside and said, "You are lucky today. There is a monastery about half an hour away from here. There will be a mass at noon today. Many tourists have already gone there first. You guys It’s too late to go now.”

It’s hard for Yang Cheng to say he’s not interested in mass, so he just said, “Let’s go fast, let’s go after a while~”

Dario didn't think too much about it, "On the way you go, you will see a valley full of thorns and olive trees, where chrysanthemums are blooming. You can pick some and donate to the monastery along the way."

Yang Cheng came here to inquire about news, not to pick flowers for fun, so he took a sip of water and asked tentatively, "Sir, is your monastery the only one around here?"

Dario didn't do it, he thought, "Of course it's not just my room, there are many here~"

Pointing to the west, "There is a grotto there, and it is also a place where hermits live in seclusion."

"Sir, do you know every hermit here?"

To Yang Cheng's regret, Dario shook his head, "No, there are hundreds of monks living in the entire Sacred Valley, and only a few of them often meet, and many of them have never met."

Dario wondered, "Are you here to find someone?"

Yang Cheng said frankly, "Yes, an old friend seems to live here, we want to try to find it~"

With the last gleam of hope, he said Gavin's name, and took his photo to show Dario to identify him. Unfortunately, Dario didn't know him, and he had never seen him.

Since there was nothing to ask here, and they recovered their strength after drinking water, they took their leave and left.

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