Christian refuge 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

St. Matthew's Monastery (363 A.D.) is just 20 miles from Mosul, which Islamic State captured in 2014. 

They fully expected an attack on the monastery, with all the destruction IS had done in other cities. So the monks started evacuating their relics and art, including centuries-old Christian manuscripts and the (supposed) bones of Saint Matthew.

But the monastery was saved: "Bolstered by a U.S.-led bombing campaign, a force of Kurdish peshmerga fighters — who are Sunni Muslims — stopped the advancing Islamic State militants just 2.5 miles from the beige stone citadel of St. Matthew’s."

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"St. Matthew’s Monastery maintains a furnished dormitory available for Christians from anywhere in the world to come and stay free of charge."