Mattar, S. J. (d. 1967)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1967 Aug 24 p. 3

Birth date:

text of obituary:

In Battle of Jerusalem

Garden Tomb Damaged, Warden Killed

JERUSALEM'S Garden Tomb — believed by many to be the authentic place of Jesus' burial and resurrection — today lies partially in ruins, heavily damaged by a night of shelling during the Arab — Israeli war.

Also a victim of the battle was S. J. Mattar, long-time warden of the site. Mattar, his wife and a co-worker had sought refuge in the rock-hewn tomb itself. Ironically, he was killed after the bombardment at the garden gate.

Both the place and the man are fond, personal memories to at least several hundred Mennonites — some of the thousands of Christians who felt themselves closer to the living Christ when visiting the site and hearing the testimony of its caretaker.

SITUATED outside the Old City wall, the excavated Garden Tomb was especially notable for its beautiful natural setting. Here it was much easier to picture the Biblical events that in the bejeweled interior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the shrine located inside Jerusalem.

Many others have had a further acquaintance with the Mattar family, since one of the daughters, Grace, attended both Hesston and Goshen colleges. She is now Mrs. Melvin Kelley of Tallahassee, Fla. Another daughter, Lydia, lives in New York City.

Immediately after the war Mrs. Mattar fled to her children in the U. S. Interviewed in New York by a correspondent from The Christian Science Monitor, she said it would take six months or more to make the site ready for visitors.

ACCORDING TO The Monitor report, Mr. and Mrs. Mattar took shelter in the tomb on June 5 with their German secretary, Sigrid Proft. The shelling was so heavy the "rock shook like an earthquake during the night. It seemed as if their artillery was aiming at the rock above us."

File:Garden tomb 1967.jpg

Pax tour group holds service at the Garden Tomb in 1955. Numerous Mennonite groups visited the site during the time it was under the care of S. J. Matter [sic Mattar]

The next morning Mattar went out to view the damage. When the women were able to go out later they found his body at the gate.

Mrs. Mattar described her husband as a man who "loved Jew and Arab alike." A native Palistinian {sic Palestinian], he was born of a Roman Catholic mother and Greek Orthodox father. After a series of religious experiences he embrace Protestantism.

As a young man, Mattar lived in the United States and England, a fugitive from Turkish oppression of Christians. He became warden of the Garden Tomb in 1953.