Summary

I had wanted to visit the monastery of Deir Mar Musa, about 60 miles north of Damascus, for a while. Its incredible restoration under a charismatic Italian priest , his tragic disappearance and presumed death during the Syrian civil war, and the inspiring interfaith work of the monastery's remaining monks and nuns all fascinated me. While hiking in a rocky valley behind the sixth-century hilltop monastery this summer, I came across a singular mulberry tree, its branches laden with ripe fruit. I hesitated.

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