Subject: THERE IS A MORAL TO THIS STORY
The Convent of St. Elias
PRILEP, Macedonia (AP)
Outside a small Macedonian village close to the border between Greece
and strife-torn Yugoslavia, a lone Catholic nun keeps a quiet watch
over a silent convent. She is the last caretaker of the site of
significant historical developments spanning more than 2,000 years.
When Sister Maria Cyrilla of the Order of the Perpetual Watch dies, the
convent of St. Elias will be closed by the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of
Macedonia.
However, that isn't likely to happen soon as Sister Maria, 53 enjoys
excellent health. By her own estimate, she walks 10 miles daily about
the grounds of the convent, which once served as a base for the army of
Attila the Hun. In more ancient times, a Greek temple to Eros, the god
of love, occupied the hilltop site.
Historians say that Attila took over the old temple in 439 A.D. and
used it as a base for his marauding army. The Huns are believed to
have first collected and then destroyed a large gathering of Greek
legal writs at the site. It is believed that Attila wanted to study
the Greek legal system and had the writs and other documents brought
to the temple. Scholars differ on why he had the valuable documents
destroyed - either because he was barely literate and couldn't read
them, or because they provided evidence of democratic government that
did not square with his own notion of rule by an all-powerful tyrant.
When the Greek church took over the site in the 15th Century and the
convent was built, church leaders ordered the pagan statue of Eros
destroyed, so another ancient Greek treasure was lost. Today, there is
only the lone sister, watching over the old Hun base, amidst the strife
of war torn Yugoslavia, and when she goes, that will be it.
Thus, that's how it ends: No Huns, no writs, no Eros, and nun left on
base.
Tom Buchanan
buchanan@preferred.com
http://www.preferred.com/~buchanan/mg.html
1974 MGB-GT
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