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The Monastery of Mor Gabriel Hymn: "Blessed are you! the monastery of St. Samuel and St. Simon, Treasures of life exist in your citadels. Twelve thousand in the "House of Saints", Eight hundred who came from Egypt. Famous and renowned bishop St. Gabriel, Glorious one St. Aksenoyo, and St. Simon of Olives. Halleluja! May their prayers assist us."
The monastery of Mor Gabriel, founded by Samuel 1600 years ago, in 397, has the distinction of being one of the oldest, if not the oldest, functioning Christian monastery in the world. Older than any monastery on mount Athos by at least 400 years, its foundation antedates that of the monastery of Mar Saba in Palestine by some eighty years and that of St Catherine on Sinai by a century and a half. This means that the monks and nuns of the monastery of Mor Gabriel who chant the monastic office there today carrying on a tradition that has continued (apart from some periods when the monastery had been sacked by raiders and left deserted for a while) over a span of some fifteen centuries. On the basis of this fact alone the monastery of Mor Gabriel deserves to be held in honour by the entire Christian world; but for the Syrian Orthodox Church the monastery has a special importance today since it constitutes one of the main focal points of Syrian Orthodox liturgical language and tradition. Over the centuries many famous names have been associated with the monastery Mor Aksenoyo (Philoxenos), Mor Schem'un d-Zayte or Simeon of the Olives, Mor Gabriel of Qustin (to whom the monastery owes its present name), and many others. Testimony to the importance of the monastery as a cultural centre over the centuries is provided by the many manuscripts written there which have found their ways to western libraries. An early example of this is a fine estrangelo manuscript containing the biblical books Ezre and Nehemiah, copied by a certain Emmanuel in the autumn of AD 770; in the middle ages this manuscript (like several others originating from the monastery) was in the library of the Syrian Monastery in the Nitrian Desert in Egypt; today it is housed in the British Library. The British Library is also the present home of another important manuscript written in Mor Gabriel: this contains Barhebraeus' theological compendium entitled 'The book of Rays', and was copied (by a certain Barsa-mo) in 1364, lass than a century after the author's death. In recent years the monastery's school has played a very important role in providing teachers of Syriac for Syrian Orthodox communities in many different countries. Refounded in 1956 by the Superior, Rabban Shabo Gurash, the school has been greatly expanded under this successors, Rabban Yeshu' Cicek (from 1962-1973; now Metropolitan Mor Julius), and Rabban Samuel Aktas (from 1979; now Metropolitan Mor Timotheos). Needless to say, the success of any school depends on its teachers, and in the case of the school of Mor Gabriel, a particular debt is owed to the tireless labour and dedication of its head teacher, Malfono Isa Gülten.
The Legend of the Founding of Mor Gabriel Monastery The legend of the Founding of Mor Gabriel Monastery is found in the life stories of the saints, Mor Shmuyel and Mor Shemun. This is how the story begins: Toward the end of the 4th century, Mor Shmuyel from Esthin village near Savur, forsook his village and relations at a young age and chose to live alone as a monk. He withdrew to seclusion on Umrin Mountain, near Nusaybin, and passed ten years there in worship and devotions. When the Persians occupied the area, he set out toward the east and built a simple stone shelter next to spring near the village of Kartmin. Miraculously he healed a child named Shemun who had been taken with a vicious illness. He then took Shemun to be his disciple. Mor Shmuyel, who loved seclusion, took Shemun away to be farther from the village. As the two saints walked toward the northeast, they promised that when they finished reciting the whole book of Psalms, they would stop, and build a small monastery at that place. When they had finished chanting all the psalms, they had come just beyond a stone's throw from the ruins of an old Pagan temple. Just as they had previously decided, they camped there. These two saints, tired from walking, fell into a deep sleep in the hope of beginning construction of their monastery at dawn. While deep in sleep, The Lord's angel took the form of Mor Shmuyel, and appeared to Shemun. He said: "Shemun, my son, get up. Let's lay the foundation for the monastery". Mor Shemun got up right away and went with the angel. The angel pointed to a stone in the west, and said: "Let this be the western door (of the house of prayer)." He pointed to a stone just to the north, and said: "Let this be the northern door." The angel pointed then to a stone in the southern direction and said: "And let this be the southern door." Then the angel gave a measuring line to Shemun and the two of them measured a wide area from the east to the west, and from the north to the south. When Mor Shemun saw how extensive the area was, he was amazed, and asked within himself: "Why such a large space for just two people?". The angel knew his thoughts, and said: "Don't worry. In the future this will be a place for many people to worship and take shelter. Have you not heard of the revelation given to the Zecharia the prophet? It says: 'Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without wall...' (Zech 2:4); and 'The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former' (Hag 2:9)." Upon this Mor Shemun said: "Well then, who will build such a large place?" The angel took a great stone and elevated it about a yard high into mid air, and said: "The power that holds this stone in mid air shall construct this place." After the angel and Mor Shemun finished laying the foundation, they returned to the place where Mor Shmuye was sleeping. Mor Shemun fell asleep again without noticing that it had been an angel. After this Mor Shmuyel awoke. As soon as he finished his prayer, he woke Mor Shemun and said: "Get up my son, let's gather the stones needed for our house of prayer, and build it." The weary disciple said: "But master, all night long we worked laying the foundation. We even laid three stones in various places as markers." When he heard this, he understood that Shemun had seen a revelation, and he said: "Good then, let us go to that place, and continue our work." When they arrived, the old Mor Shmuyel saw the stone elevated in the air and rejoiced greatly. Together they began the construction of the house of prayer. These things occured in the 708th year of Alexander the Great, son of Philip of Macedonia (equivelant to 397 AD) and during the time of Falabyanos, the Patriarch of Antioch. Sources: Prof. Sebastian Brock History of Deyrulumur, Mor Yuhanon Dolabani, 1959, Mardin
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