When we looked at the days in our respective diaries for possible recording dates we realised that we would, like everyone else, need to include a week or two off on holiday. The very thought of going off on a break or a holiday is always pleasant but needs that little extra bit of planning for most clergy. In parishes where there is only one priest, like the parishes where we serve, people are getting used to the idea of a scaled down schedule of Mass times during a priest’s absence or, indeed, in some cases, no weekday Mass. Sundays, of course, are quite different, but, it must be acknowledged, we find it increasingly difficult to arrange cover for Sundays as the number of priests previously available to offer that kind of cover is decreasing. So, any priest who wants to go on holiday, not just we three, needs to make remote plans to ensure emergency cover is provided and that Sunday Mass times are covered. It is always a relief when this cover is secured and all priests and parishes are deeply indebted to our colleagues who can help us out in this way.

With plans made and the parish covered I headed off with my elder brother in the footsteps of Moses for a week’s break to visit the Sinai peninsula, to visit Mount Sinai and the ancient monastic foundation of St Catherine at the foot of the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, where the everlasting and the temporal met on that holy place. It was hot, very hot. Mercifully there was very little, if any humidity and, therefore, much more comfortable to move around than I expected. We stayed at a local resort, which was really comfortable, we got used to the heat and avoided the might of the sun for a couple of days before signing up for the trip to Mount Sinai. To our surprise, the night before we were due to head off on the highlight of our trip it was cancelled because too few people were interested in making the journey which, consequently, made it unprofitable for the company. Disappointed but undaunted we made our own arrangements with a local taxi firm and driver to drive us out into the desert where we could at least visit St Catherine’s monastery. After a two hour journey through some of the most inhospitable landscape imaginable we arrived at the monastery. The twenty-eight resident orthodox monks in St Catherine’s guard their privacy zealously. The monastery is open to the public for only a few hours each morning so it pays to arrive, as we did, shortly after the only door through the fortress walls of the monastery was opened. It was humbling to visit so old and reverent a site as St Catherine’s with its unbroken history of Christian worship. This holy place marks the traditional place of meeting between God and Moses in the shape of the burning bush, it boasts an ancient church endowed by the Emperor Justinian, who provided not only the beautiful doors of the Church but the huge bulwark fortress walls within which to protect St Catherine’s relics and the monks who sheltered from the harsh environment of the desert and, it must be said, from man made attacks and assaults. And then there are the icons and the books! What a collection! St Catherine’s was spared the destruction of the iconoclastic period in the Church’s history, not least because of its remote location, and now boasts an unrivalled record of iconic styles and techniques. Breathtaking and beautiful. Words are not enough to describe them so I would encourage you to visit for yourself. I was struck by the words of Damianos, the Archbishop of Sinai, who writes the following in the forward of the official guidebook on the monastery, “If, in addition to whatever artistic enjoyment this volume may offer, the tired wayfarer of today’s hectic life derives some spiritual pleasure and a sense of peace in God, the main purpose of this work will have been attained and our gratitude to our Patroness St Catherine and our Lord Jesus Christ will be even greater and everlasting”. I couldn’t help thinking that this is precisely what we three priests hope to achieve in the making of our album of music with Sony BMG to be released in November. The main purpose of our efforts will have been attained if you find some spiritual pleasure and sense of God’s presence in our singing.

Now back from holiday we look forward to the final topping and tailing of tracks before we record with the choir in Rome at the end of September. Before that, we will be preparing for a big invitation concert in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh in advance of the release of the CD which will be broadcast on PBS in the USA in November. The short holiday was great but its back to work.