The Tree of Saint Ephrem the Syrian

This tree is located on the eastern side of the Church of the Virgin Mary, the cave, and carries behind it a unique story with a deep spiritual meaning. At the end of the fourth century, God arranged for Saint Mar Ephraim the Syrian, known as the harp of the soul, to come from Syria to visit the great Saint Anba Bishoy, the beloved of our good Savior, in his cave, to be blessed by him in person. Mar Ephraim was weak in his body, leaning on a stick as he walked, and out of motives of decency and humility, he did not want to enter to visit Anba Bishoy while he was holding his stick. Therefore, he left it outside and planted it in the ground and stayed with Anba Bishoy for three days.  During this time, the stick grew and turned into a fruitful tree of the tamarind plant, as if God wanted to glorify the greatness of the meeting of the two great saints together and to show before everyone the blessing of love and self-denial in the loftiness of this tree that sprouted from a stick more than one thousand six hundred years ago.