Το Διακόνημα των μοναχών στο Άγιο Όρος

The feast of Theophany at Vatopedi Monastery, Holy Mount Athos – 2015

Προσκύνημα Μονής Εσφιγμένου, Άγιον Όρος - Pilgrimage Esphigmenou Monastery , Mount Athos

Holy Mountain: a universal presence and a heavenward orientation ( Metropolitan of Nikolaos of Mesogaias and Lavreotikis )

Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaias

The spiritual influence of Mount Athos is indisputable and certainly stems from the fact that many men have attained holiness through their secret ascetic struggles there. In recent years many pilgrims have found peace of mind and repose on the Mountain, together with spiritual guidance and support.

The higher one rises, scientists tell us, the weaker the force of gravity becomes, the less one feels the pull of the earth, the looser one’s connection with it becomes, the easier one can shrug off its pressures and demands, the lighter one becomes.

The closer, too, one feels to heaven, which, though so vague, is so real and so desirable. Although less tangible, it seems more real than the earth. The higher one rises, the clearer the air becomes, the sharper one’s hearing, the broader the horizon, the closer one draws to the truth, and the truth is more convincing than reality.

Of all the holy sites in the Orthodox world, Mount Athos is the place where for over a thousand years the monastic life has been lived in its most absolute form. The passing centuries may have stamped their ‘worldly’ influence on the Mountain; even there men may display their weaknesses or even passions, which is only natural, and modern ‘civilisation’ may have done its damage, but in an inexplicably mystical way the Mountain has retained its blessed character, the constant and unique evidence of its grace, its rare and singular spiritual strength, and its dynamic relationship in space and time with the Lord God and the Kingdom of Heaven. Its philosophy of life has not been jeopardised by wrong choices, has not been harmed by a bad process of modernisation, and has not been corrupted by the times or by men, whoever they may be. Its truth endures.

It is like a rock which problems like changing political influences, the immoderate use of technology, tourism, parochial views, inter-monastic feuds, rivalries and even hatred, and all kinds of hostile forces only succeed in briefly washing over or moistening the surface of, without in the least disturbing its inner core.

There is something that does indeed protect it. Perhaps it is its monastic diversity, perhaps it is its enduring quality, perhaps the naturalness of its monastic expression, perhaps its treasures, relics and splendour, perhaps the abaton1 and its administrative autonomy, perhaps its ecumenical character, perhaps the care and protection of the Mother of God, perhaps its special grace. Despite its theocratic character, after eleven centuries of glorious existence Byzantium fell. Athos, on the other hand, is now in its fourteenth century of life but it moves at the pace of the world to come and gives you the impression that it is a place which is ‘not of this world’ (John 18: 36), one whose relationship with time is like that of its surface with the air and whose ‘citizens dwell in heaven’ (Philippians 3: 20).


‘A rich mountain, a firm mountain’ (Psalms 68: 15)

With its slender connection with ephemeral and worldly things and its attention constantly focused on lofty matters of the soul, the Holy Mountain seems to embrace the whole of mankind and to possess a gaze that can see beyond the limits of time and reason. In geographical terms, the Mountain is situated in Greece but it does not belong to her.

Perhaps it is that part of Orthodox life which best emphasises the catholicity and universality of the Church. Its monasteries include a Russian, a Serbian and a Bulgarian foundation. There are two Romanian sketes2 and monks from distant countries and civilisations, such as Peru and Colombia. Within its geographical borders God is worshipped in numerous languages and a wide variety of cultures and traditions find expression here: there is a marvellous, well-balanced diversity. Nothing in all this obstructs the unity of faith, the catholicity of the Orthodox spirit, the universality of the Church’s witness.

On the contrary, all of this proves that the Word of God is not restricted by language or confined within borders, and is not stifled by different forms of cultural expression or perhaps even different religions. It is an interesting fact that only a third of the members of the ‘Friends of Mount Athos’ society in England are Orthodox. The number of non-Orthodox writers recording their admiration of Athos and their sense of its mystical power is increasing all the time. The Mountain moves all people.



Here space and time acquire another dimension and perspective. One’s relationship with earthly, ephemeral and perishable things is an entirely perfunctory one. Concepts like ‘money’, ‘property’, ‘wealth’, ‘investment’, ‘entertainment’, ‘competition’ and ‘interest’ completely lose their importance. Here only the most essential worldly concerns are allowed to occupy one’s thoughts. The soul opens itself up to heavenly things. Here the main focus of interest is eternity and God’s kingdom. The purpose of history is not to serve as an object of worship but to build the foundations of the present. The future is not seen as a way of relieving suppressed emotions but as a way of transforming the present. The whole of time is held within its embrace. Athos follows the Old Style Calendar knowing that it is wrong but without being bothered by the fact, believing that it is a system that works well for it. Even the Byzantine cycle of daily time, which is so cumbersome in practice, seems to have a good reason for existing here. The Mountain lives in its own time. It has escaped the most pressing demands and defeated the most powerful oppressors.

Time is not binding. Tradition is not restrictive. The liturgical rite is not a shackle. National identity and language do not count for everything. Education is not a privilege. There is no discrimination. Comparisons are avoided. The most important thing is being constantly in God’s presence and embracing the whole world.


‘I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from?’ (Psalm 121: 1)

The first thing that can be said about Athos is that it is a mountain, and in a notional sense at that. It is a high point. It represents a life that consists of an uphill struggle, that can be enjoyed ‘in a state of spiritual exaltation’, that involves a ‘heart which contemplates the heavens’ and seeks the ‘one who dwells on high’, the Almighty. It is an interesting fact that in the Orthodox tradition there are four hagiographical allusions to mountains on which revelations took place.

On Mount Sinai Moses received the Ten Commandments, the expression of God’s will. Moses spoke with Him, heard His voice and saw Him from behind (Exodus, chapters 19 and 20).

On Mount Carmel the Prophet Elijah prayed and God heard his prayer and answered it. Elijah felt God’s presence and experienced the manifestations of His power (I Kings, chapters 18-20).

The Mount of Olives was the scene of the Lord’s ascension into heaven. Christ deified human flesh and ‘took sinful human nature upon himself and offered it up to God the Father’, thus revealing a glimpse of the glory and honour of human nature (Acts 1: 12).

Finally, on Mount Tabor the Lord revealed as much of His glory as could be borne by human nature and emanated His divine light (Matthew 17: 1-8).

The Mountain is a place where God reveals His commandments; it is a place for a practical way of life, a place where patience, humility and love prevail, a place where man can clothe himself in divine raiment. It is a place where ‘nature is constantly constrained and the senses ceaselessly imprisoned’, a place of extreme, unceasing and persistent askesis3 and submission.

It is a place of prayer and signs. Prayer is unceasing, and in the cases of many monks extensive and long-lasting. At sundown the ascetics begin their all-night vigil, the coenobites take over with nocturns, in the morning the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, and during the day the Hours are performed by the monks in the course of their duties or while in their cells; during the times of quiet and pious chatter the repetition of the divine meanings of the Jesus Prayer can be constantly heard on numerous lips. Tongues pray; the architecture of the churches underscores the intensity of the prayers; the daily routine, the long services, the hearts of the monks are all imbued with the sweet melody of prayer.

The Mountain reveals the extremity of human situations. It is moderate in its discreet character but also displays a divine extremeness – though without foolish extremes – in its absolute and uncompromising lifestyle and philosophy. The daily vigils, the absence of a comforting female presence (even in pictorial form), the customary obedience, the life devoid of personal choices emphasises the naturalness of the ‘supernatural’ state. The Mountain is a place where the majesty of human nature is displayed. It functions as a kind of training ground for achieving deification. ‘The angels’ ranks were awed by thy life in the flesh’, chants the Athonite world, in honour of its father, St. Athanasios of Athos. Human limits are pushed to their utmost. Here saints like Gregory Palamas become beholders of divinity. Saints like Maximos the Kafsokalyvitan cast off their earthly gravity and appear to fly. Saints like Nikodemos Hagioreites express their intelligence as light, while their knowledge assumes the character of revelation. Saints like our modern-day saints Païssios, Ephraim and Elder Joseph the Hesychast combine rigorous discipline in their lives with grace, like the old elders in our ascetic literature. Saints like Kosmas the Aetolian or Fathers Sophronios and Porphyrios, also from our own time, draw strength from Athos’s springs for a few years and then become lifelong reformers, preachers and theologians of worldwide renown.

But the Mountain is not only a place for man’s spiritual glory. On all of the four mountains mentioned earlier God’s presence is marked by the appearance of a cloud. On Mt. Sinai as a ‘dense cloud’ which Moses enters, sensing but not actually seeing the Lord (Exodus, chapters 16, 19 and 24). On Mt. Carmel the ‘cloud’ breaks the silence of the heavens and brings forth rain in a miraculous manner (I Kings 18: 44). On the Mount of Olives, the Mount of the Ascension, the Lord ‘was taken up into a cloud’ and carried off to Heaven (Acts 1: 9). Finally, on Mt. Tabor ‘a bright cloud overshadowed’ the disciples and the voice from the cloud saying ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased: listen to Him’ shows that God the Father was present there with them (Matthew 17: 5).

The Mountain lives within a cloud of God’s graces. Sacred relics emit a sweet fragrance, holy icons exude myrrh, events take an unexpected turn, expectations are exceeded, rare surprises occur, God works with a power greater than the force of natural laws and logic. You enter the cloud of Athos as a visitor and, like Moses, you discover the tablets with God’s commandments in your hands. You find it easier to observe them. You are surprised by the presence of the cloud and are startled by the ‘sign’ of God’s grace flowing down like rain. You are struck by the cloud’s mystical character and ‘fall on your face in great fear’, like the disciples on Mt. Tabor. You behold the cloud and hear the voice of God the Father within you. You sense its intangible divine majesty and ‘gaze up at heaven’ like the Apostles on the Mount of Olives and you ‘return’ with great mystical ‘joy’.



If the Mountain of God’s presence illuminates with its apocalyptic visions, the cloud of the divine mystery fills the heart with the humility of uncreated grace. On the Holy Mountain you experience miracles, you perceive holiness, you are illuminated by whatever you can see, you are nourished by whatever lies within your reach, you have the ‘same mind that was in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 2: 5).

A long time ago I was approached by a young student. Very hesitantly, but with the intensity of someone who is determined to find out something, he declared that, although he was an atheist and found it hard to believe, he very much wanted to find faith. He had tried and searched for years but all to no avail. He had talked with professors and educated people but his thirst for something serious was not satisfied. He heard about me and decided to share his existential need with me. He asked me for a scientific proof of God’s existence.

‘Do you know anything about integrals or differential equations?’ I asked him.

‘Unfortunately not,’ he replied, ‘I’m an Arts student.’

‘What a shame! I knew a proof like that,’ I said in a deliberate attempt to be funny.

He felt awkward and fell silent for a while.

‘Look,’ I said, ‘I’m sorry I teased you like that but God is not an equation or a mathematical proof. If He was, then all educated people would believe in Him. You know, there is a different way of approaching God. Have you ever been to Mount Athos? Have you ever met any ascetics?’

‘No, father, but I’m thinking of going. I’ve heard so much about it. If you tell me to, I’ll even go tomorrow. Do you know any well-educated person I could meet?’

‘Which would you prefer: a well-educated person who would confuse you, or a saint who might wake you up?’

‘I’d prefer a well-educated person. I’m afraid of saints.’

‘Faith is a matter of the heart. Try talking to a saint. What’s your name?’ I asked him.

‘Gabriel’, he replied.

I sent him to an ascetic. I told him how to get there and gave him the necessary instructions. We even drew a sketch-map.

‘You must go and ask the same thing,’ I said. ‘“I’m an atheist”, you must say, “and I want to believe. I want some proof of God’s existence”.’

‘I’m afraid, I’m too shy,’ he replied.

‘Why are you afraid and shy of the saint when you’re not afraid or shy of me?’ I asked him. ‘Just go and ask him the same thing.’

A few days later he went, and he found the ascetic talking with a young man in the yard of his cell. Opposite, four other young men sat waiting on some logs. Gabriel gingerly took his place amongst them. About ten minutes later the elder finished his discussion with the young man.

‘How are you, boys?’ he asked. ‘Have you had a loukoumi?4 Have you had a drop of water to drink?’

‘Yes, thank you, father,’ they replied with conventional worldly politeness.

‘Come here,’ he said to Gabriel, picking him out from the others. I’ll get some water and you take this box with the loukoumia. And come closer so that I can tell you a secret: it’s okay being an atheist, but to be an atheist and have an angel’s name, well… It’s the first time I’ve ever come across anything like that.’

Our friend almost fainted with shock at this sudden revelation. How did he know his name? Who had told him about his problem? And what did the elder want to say to him?

‘Father, can I have a brief word with you?’ he uttered in a faint voice.

‘Look, my son, the sun is going down: take the loukoumi, have a drink of water and go to the nearest monastery for the night.’

‘Father, I’d like to speak to you, if that’s possible.’

‘What is there for us to say, my child? Why have you come?’

‘On hearing this question I immediately felt a huge weight off my chest,’ he told me later. ‘My heart began to overflow with faith. My inner world began to glow. My questions began to be solved without any logical arguments, without any discussion, without any clear answers. All the “ifs”, “whys” and “maybes” were banished at a stroke, leaving only the “hows” and “whats”.’

What the knowledge of educated men was unable to give him he gained from the kind allusion of a saint, who had completed only four years at junior school. Saints are very discreet. They operate on you without an anaesthetic and there is no pain. They perform a transplant without cutting you open. They raise you to lofty heights without using the steps of earthly logic to get there. They plant faith in your heart without tiring your mind.


‘Inviolate and God-trodden mountain’

The Holy Mountain is a training school of the heart, a place of healing for the inner man. It raises you up to spiritual heights which cannot be reached even by the most modern balloon of worldly reasoning. Here Grace expresses truth in unexpected ways.

The basic question on the Mountain is not whether God exists. This question seems to have been decisively resolved a long time ago. Neither is it whether our God is better than other people’s gods. Here ‘our’ does not have a possessive sense – as in the phrase ‘God is mine’ – but the sense of a child selflessly wishing to join its father – ‘I am striving to become His’. All efforts are directed at partaking of God’s divine nature (2 Peter 1: 4), at making the most of our kinship with Him, at gaining a sense of His presence, of learning the benefits and ways of experiencing Him.

The Mountain’s value does not lie in its individual charismatic monks, however many or great they may be. Its majesty is concealed in the fact that it is a resting-place for God. Just as, for reasons that remain unknown to us, in some icons that depict exactly the same figure as others God works in different ways, and imparts a special grace to some that He does not give to others; just as amongst His twelve beloved disciples the Lord had a favourite; just as from amongst all His peoples he selected His ‘chosen people’; just as He performed the miracles that revealed His glory only in certain places like the Pools of Bethsaida and Siloam, so too does He select certain places in His creation to be special expressions of His grace. The Holy Mountain is the Mountain of God.

Paper presented at the Inter-Orthodox Theological Conference ‘Russia and Athos: A Thousand Years of Spiritual Unity’ held in Moscow, 1-4 October 2006.

All photographies: Copyright Fr. Constantine Prodan
(http://sfantulmunte.wordpress.com/)

Translator’s notes:

1 The regulation forbidding the entry of women to Mount Athos.

2 Skete (plural sketes): a small monastery.

3 Spiritual exercise or training.

4 A piece of Turkish delight, a traditional hospitality offering on Athos.

Of all the holy sites in the Orthodox world, Mount Athos is the place where for over a thousand years the monastic life has been lived in its most absolute form.



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Ιερά Μονή Φιλοθέου (Αγιο Ορος) - Philotheou Monastery ( Mount Athos)

How the monks make kollyva on the Holy Mountain

On the Holy Mountain, the abbots of the last hundred years are commemorated, as well as the priests and monks of the last thirty. Kollyvo is made every time an icon is placed in the church for veneration. Every Saturday, however, the departed are remembered unless it’s the return of a feast of the Lord. It’s a little, zinc plate of boiled wheat which is placed under the icon of Christ.

The kollyvo for a feast requires real confectionary and iconographical skills. Normally, on the surface there’s an icon of the founder or the saint who the honored in the main church is named after, for example, Saint Athanasios the Athonite in the Great Lavra or the Annunciation in the Monastery of Vatopaidi.

Ordinary kollyvo is made as follows: they place crushed wheat into water to make it expand. Then they put it into a container of cold water and bring it to the boil. After half an hour, they pour off the water and add fresh, boiling it again until the wheat is soft and the liquid opaque. A little salt is added. They pour off the liquid, with the addition of sugar and cinnamon. They wash the wheat in cold water to stop it sticking and spread it out to dry. Two or three hours before the Divine Liturgy, the monk whose obedience it is, takes a handful of fine breadcrumbs and adds it to the kollyvo to soak up any moisture, so that it’s completely dry. Afterwards he’ll sieve it to get rid of the breadcrumbs. The wheat’s now ready. He spreads it out and sprinkles sugar on top (not caster sugar, but ordinary) and makes a cross with sugar colored with cinnamon. If he wishes, he can also add ground hazelnuts at an earlier stage in the process.



The kollyvo for a feast has ground walnuts added, as well as cloves and cumin. Some monasteries use ground hazelnuts (carefully peeled of their skins) instead of walnuts and cinnamon instead of cloves.



For the icons on the surface of the kollyvo, they take the wooden end of a fine artist’s brush and press the shape on the sugar from the anthivolo (a copy or template). In this way, they fill in the clothes, face and hair with different-colored sugars.



Ordinary kollyvo is the normal sweet for monks in a coenobium and is distributed in the refectory at the end of the meal. The Russians on the Holy Mountain make kollyvo not with wheat, but with rice, as is the custom in Russia. Smyrnakis noted that this was the case not only in the Monastery of Saint Panteleïmon, but also in the Russian sketes and cells, as well.



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Αγιον Ορος (Περιβολι της Παναγιας) - Mount Athos (Garden of the Virgin Mary)

Ιερά Μονή Διονυσίου (Αγίου Όρους) - Dionysiou Monastery (Mount Athos)

Testimony from Mount Athos, The significance of pain ( Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi )

“Lets us reject both pleasure and pain in this life with all our might in order to be freed from any schemes drawn by passions and from any demonic wickedness. For, we love passions for their hedonistic pleasure and because of pain we avoid virtue”. (Saint Maximus the Confessor, Seven Hundred Chapters on Theology, Third Hundred, paragraph 52) What describes a man’s life without God is how fiercely futility clashes with irrationality with tragic consequences. The wretched man is the victim of this tragedy. He is being dragged without mercy from the instigators of pain and fear to his death, which he alone has shaped when he severed himself from God, from eternal life and happiness. Had the Merciful Lord not put an end to death and the derived sin, there would have never been a more pitiful being than man. The joyful message that “The Word became flesh” (John 1, 14) ended this calamity and transfigured the tools of death into the beneficial sources of life and happiness. “The All Merciful God became flesh in order to draw human nature unto Himself and prevent it from behaving horribly to itself or rather, from rebelling against itself, having being severed in many pieces and being unable to rest anywhere because of the unbalanced movement of its intentions on everything”( As above, paragraph 47).

Here the all-wise Father, as an excellent anatomist, refers to the unbalanced nature of our being and the revolt which takes place against it and for its sake. No one who has the appropriate experience disputes this fact. Where do the reasons, the rules and the ways of this abnormality originate from? The problem started at the very moment man tragically fell. Everything had been originally created as “very good” and all natural and spiritual faculties were in order. It is the delusion of “autonomy” which has guided all the natural motions to the opposite direction, creating thus unnatural operations which are none other than the revolt against oneself and against one’s environment. When man used to perform and move naturally as a proper psychosomatic being, he was also promoting the equilibrium in life and was causing a mutual enjoyment. The fall reversed all these and corruption followed. It was inevitable then, that since man had severed himself from life, from God, to come under the authority of death and ruin and the tools of death to be set in motion. “With pain you will give birth to your children…by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken… (See Genesis 3, 16-29). The penance of disobedience has been fully employed after man severed himself from life and God, and the tools of ruin and death took over. In the place of full godlike joy and pleasure in everything, came pain and sorrow. In the place of life came death.

Was it justified however, to have ruin and death reign over mortal creatures and especially over man who had been created in the ‘image and likeness’ of God? We will attempt to offer an answer to this by borrowing from the god-inspired wisdom of our Fathers, to whom the Holy Spirit has revealed the deep mysteries by which It governs creation.

The absolute All-Love, God, in his Godlike perfection and All-Wisdom, has freely created nature from nothing, as well as the world, the universe. This term “from nothing” is very crucial. It means that they have been created by another cause, “by God” and therefore they are fully dependent on Him. They are neither able to exist by themselves nor are they autonomous. Nevertheless, they have been created as “very good”, balancing in accordance with the precepts and the laws of their creator. However, as we have already mentioned, the tragic fall of man has caused reversal and deformity. The fall, having a moral implication, describes sin as the cause of the revolt and an insult to divine justice. By ‘divine justice’ we mean the perfection of the creation because of God’s love and his All-Wisdom. The creation, being intrinsically good, caused everything to be orderly and harmonious. We correctly describe this state as ‘the justice of creation’. Consequently there is a similarity and a correlation between the divine justice and the justice of creation. Man’s rebellion and insult towards God, did not manage to interfere with the divine justice, since the latter is infinite and unalterable. But it infringed on the justice of the creation because it is homogeneous. Thus it reversed its original harmonious precepts and conditions which governed its performance. Man’s revolt and insult against the conditions and rules of his personality, which God has created as “very good”, has caused a worldwide damage and misery. This transgression deserves a penance which the All-Good philanthropy of God has turned into a blessing. The ‘penance’ imposed on this transgression and insult was not derived from divine justice, because the latter was not trampled upon. But it was imposed by the justice of creation, whose equilibrium man disturbed because he did not safeguard that which God gave him which was “very good”. Since the laws of nature now act in an unbalanced and corrupted way, because they have been tampered with, they have also dragged man into this irregularity. Thus, they cause all the perils and hardships to man and to the whole creation. The punishment which the affected justice of creation imposes is none other than death with all its instruments. These perils would have been eternal had divine philanthropy not intervened to reform them and alter the poison into medicine. This is what Saint Maximus says on this issue: “Since we have been initially deceived by hedonistic pleasure and preferred death from true life, let us persevere in the face of the hardships befalling our bodies with delight, in order to destroy hedonistic pleasure. When, therefore, the death of hedonistic pleasure destroys the death from pleasure, let us regain through small physical hardships, life, which we have lost because of hedonistic pleasure”. Therefore, according to our Fathers the penance which was imposed on us was not a punishment but the appropriate therapy for the injury, which was devised by our Lord’s philanthropy and providence. The same is professed by the other great pillar of our Church, Saint Nicolaos Kavasilas, who writes: “Therefore, after the fall, God has permitted (συνεχώρησεν) death and pain, because he did not want to punish the sinner but rather to offer a medicine to the sick”. In the face of such divine philanthropy what more can one say other than Saint Paul’s exclamation? “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”(Romans 11, 33).The final natural result of Adam’s fall and his greatest punishment was obviously death. As soon as death entered human history, God took the initiative and changed the nature of death in one single move totally and permanently.

Since man’s biological constitution was dressed in the law of corruption, death reigned upon it as a censure. Thus, God in His All-Wisdom turned death, which is the fruit of sin, against biological life. From then on death destroys not only man but also the corruption with which he has clothed himself.

“God Word, who has created human nature, neither created the experience of hedonism nor of pain. But he only planted in human nature a kind of spiritual propensity towards pleasure, so that man could derive joy in an inexpressible way. This force, which is the natural desire of the intellect for God, was given to the senses by the first man. Thus he experienced his first sentiment of pleasure, which acted unnaturally through his senses. Then God, who is providing for our salvation, placed next to pleasure pain as a punishing force. Hence, the law of death wisely took residence inside the body to prevent the desires of the irrational mind from moving unnaturally towards created things”

God in order to punish as well as cure our readiness for pleasure, established pain and death into human nature, to follow it everywhere and appear unwillingly. Because human nature prefers irrational pleasure, the equivalent pain, with all its innumerable hardships which cause death, has been invented in order to completely destroy pleasure. Here we must pay attention to one factor according to our Fathers’ thinking. The aforementioned fight which pain and all its constituents launch against pleasure does not destroy its essence neither does it uproot it. But it only destroys its sensual form, which is performed by the outer sensuous organs of man. Its spiritual essence is not invalidated because man is still able to enjoy the pleasure of the divine gifts and eventually the divine Eros. The invention of the willing, or of the reluctant hardships, which constitute the meaning of the cross, takes away pleasure and abolishes its active movement. According to the spiritual law, human debts incurred in this life are being paid off with the onslaught of willing or reluctant hardships.

The result of all human activity has two elements: pleasure and pain. Pleasure always comes first since the ailing intention prefers it or rather actively looks for it. Every transgression or wrongful deed, which in essence is sin, occurs for the sake of some kind of satisfaction, which in essence is pleasure. In order to abolish pleasure, or rather to pay for it, one must undergo hardships and sorrow caused either willingly by repentance or by any other painful way allowed by God’s providence.

Saint Maximus says: “When an unexpected temptation occurs to you, do not accuse the person who caused it, but examine why it has occurred and you will be able to correct yourself. Since either from this one or from someone else, you had to drink from the bitter glass of God’s judgment” (Saint Maximus the Confessor, Hundred Chapters on Love, Second Hundred, paragraph 42). Whenever our blessed Elder Joseph was giving a detailed explanation of the workings of the spiritual law through which our All-Wise and All-Good Lord governs His creation, he seemed to rise to a higher spiritual state, which we can only describe as beyond nature. His words were not the usual but would become predictions and prophesies and would attest that he practically lived inside the divine wishes and designs and was experiencing them, since they were irrefutable and true.

Generally speaking, temptations according to our Fathers are the bearers of every agitation and pain which occur in our lives. Sometimes they provoke sorrow, sometimes anxiety, at other times physical pain. As a doctor, God orders the appropriate medicine according to the source of the passion which has overcome the soul. “Where I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of the sand” (Psalm 139, 18). To some people God permits the onslaught of temptations to abolish sins which have already been committed; to others to prevent them from committing the sins which they were about to commit. Certainly there are also testing temptations. These occur to reveal the strength of the virtue and the holiness of the great athletes, like Job, in order to strengthen the Church. Unless there is a cause which will become a motive, the most evil demons cannot start a fight, from which the onslaught of the spiritual war is launched.

One basic source from which they usually direct the attack is the passions which reside in a man’s soul. These passions are the wicked habits, which he has created out of negligence or self-love. The evil demons are watching these passions and their demands which want satisfaction, and bring to the mind wicked thoughts and force man to agree to them. When they achieve this, they continue pressing the enslaved man to proceed with committing the deed which he almost cannot resist.

Now, what is a passion? Passion is an irrational motion of the soul; a movement out of its natural environment, especially towards perceived things. Wickedness is the wrong judgment of thoughts, which is followed by the mistreatment of things, whence abuse and self-love originates. Some people believe that evil would not exist in the world if there was no other force and motive to attract us to it. However, our Fathers tell us that evil is none other than the negligent performance by the natural faculties of the mind. The only way one may be rescued from this adventure is to keep his mind vigilant and control his sinful thoughts, so that he is not dragged into practical sin. In other words, if our natural rational faculties submit to divine commandments and our irrational tendencies come under control, then neither evil will exist in the world, nor the force which attracts us to it will be found.

The Scriptures indicate that man’s first transgression shows that he has preferred sensual satisfaction rather than his spiritual attraction and perception of God and divine things. This preference has created the sensual pleasure whence death and pain originated. God’s philanthropy has given us a remedy so that evil does not become eternal: the love for struggle (φιλοπονία), as a necessary penance to human life, from which there are no exceptions. Where is wisdom in this sense? It is to carry our cross eagerly, whence two benefits are derived: One is to freely submit to the love for struggle, which is also described as our ‘cross’ and through which we confess our Christian identity as we have promised during our baptism. The entire essence of our faith and our baptism is “the message of the cross and death”. The second benefit is that we come to acquire a payment method with which we are writing off our known and unknown debts. Saint Maximus says: “Since we must necessarily suffer because through our forefathers hedonism has entered our human nature, then let us accept the temporary hardships bravely and patiently. These not only soften the foundations of hedonism inside us, but also they set us free from eternal condemnation, which is in store for us because of it”.

As Saint Paul says, all the saints have been disciplined. Therefore let us also thank God when we are being disciplined along with them, so that we are also made worthy to participate in their glory. “The Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3, 12).

The Lord has shown us another kind of philanthropy: He has condescended to also submit to the love for struggle in order to provide a consolation to us, since He was not obliged to surrender either to pain or to natural death. Unlike us, he had not participated in hedonism and passion during his physical birth. Since we now have the prototype of our salvation participating in our own hardships through His passion on the cross, we modify our natural love for struggle to become a struggle with a keen sense of honor (filotimo) because we imitate our Savior who has suffered and was crucified for us. Thus our insult becomes worthy of repayment.

A sensible way to succeed in our struggle is this one: When one desires the true life, he recognizes that any kind of hardship either willing or unexpected destroys the mother of all evil, hedonism, and thus he gladly accepts all the hard consequences of the unwilling hardships. With perseverance, he comes to transform hardship into easy and smooth paths which lead towards life without any doubt.

When during my life next to our ever-memorable elder, I would make a mistate our of ignorance, he would impose a penance with which I would have to take a difficult walk. When I had asked him why, he sadly told me this: “Along with repentance we need to perform a practical deed of hardship to extinguish the guilt, otherwise divine providence will impose some reluctant penalty, which might be more painful and hard to bear. That’s why we avert it with our willing double repentance to restore the equilibrium”. He would always teach us the meaning of the spiritual law in detail as well as the sense of that which the fathers’ call “conventional assaults”, by which God enforces His justice according to His vast philanthropy. All these convince us that nothing is happening in our lives without a reason. Therefore, the everyday temptations are part of the dispensation of divine providence in order to provoke the love for struggle, which is the most practical indication of our repentance. As we have already mentioned, temptations are generally regarded by our Fathers as the fruits of our own past, present or future transgressions which God, by His prognostic philanthropy, obstructs in order to secure our salvation. Those who also live a pious life meet with temptations. This is certified by the Scriptures which say: “a righteous man may have many troubles” (Psalms 34, 19) and “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Jesus Christ will be persecuted” (B Timothy 3, 12).This is the meaning of the cross which our Lord is instructing us to carry always, along with all the saints.

If man perseveres in the face of all hardships without complaint, he will remain in the remembrance of God. Patient perseverance in this task will stimulate the remembrance of God and thus man will enter the state where he will adhere to Saint Paul’s command “pray continually” ( A Thessalonians 5, 17). Remembrance of God is the espousal of the love for struggle, which is being created so that one is able to obey the divine commandments. Whoever abandons the remembrance of God, turns towards hedonism and tries to find solace through external effusions. He who is ignorant of the divine grace tries to soothe himself by sensual pleasures and comforts. His preference for these causes the direct result which is the love for struggle and hardships. On the contrary, whoever loves God and readily submits to His wishes will receive the visitation of divine grace, which will be the wages for those who love struggle and will replenish any deficiency and answer any query. Grace becomes “all things to all men”; to the thirsty it becomes water; to the hungry food; to the naked garments, to the ignorant knowledge and to passion-slaves freedom and resurrection.

There is something weird about human life. We are forever hearing about bitterness, disillusionments, hardships, pain and the rest of it and we are wondering: Who is preventing man’s salvation since solace is clear? The presence of Word God has solved every problem and has granted in abundance everything we need. “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11, 22)

An indication that one has acquired spiritual wisdom is the fact that he perseveres in the coming hardships without blaming anyone for them, despite knowing those who have caused them. Then he imitates our Savor Christ, who was praying for those who crucified Him. “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23, 34). How many of us view the commandments as oppression against our freedom and blame God for making demands on us? Where are now these demands? He who controls himself avoids the lack of restrain; He who has no property abstains from greed; the quiet from trouble; the pure from hedonism; the modest from fornication; the self-sufficient from the love for money; the gentle from fury; the humble from selfishness; the obedient from quarrel; the audacious from hypocrisy; the confessor from denial and the martyr from idolatry. There it is then. Every virtue which is performed unto death is nothing but the annulment of the corresponding vice and sin. Therefore, this becomes an obligation for our rational existence. Where are then, the so-called imposition and the harness to our freedom? This obligation is not even an exchange for the kingdom of heaven, since obeying the commandments constitutes a natural duty and therefore the kingdom of heaven is given for free.

source: Translated by Olga Konari Kokkinou from the Greek edition: Γέροντος Ιωσήφ Βατοπαιδινού, Αθωνική Μαρτυρία, Ψυχοφελή Βατοπαιδινά 2, Έκδοσις β΄, Ιερά Μεγίστη Μονή Βατοπαιδίου, Άγιον Όρος 2008.



http://pemptousia.com/2011/12/testimony-from-mount-athos-the-significance-of-pain/

Ιερά Μονή Βατοπεδίου, Άγιον Όρος - Vatopedi Monastery, Mount Athos ( video )

Περιβολι της Παναγιας ( Αγιον Ορος ) - Garden of the Virgin Mary (Mount Athos )

What blocks us from living a Holy Life

The first and foremost reason why our intention to correct ourselves and lead a holy life remains without result lies in the fact that our intention is often too vague and indefinite.
A certain sinner, for example, says to himself: “It’s high time for me to stop sinning, time to mend my ways! I repent! I’ll stop sinning!” The intention is quite indefinite. And because of this, although it might be sincere, it is unreliable and may not achieve the desired correction.
He who has a sincere desire to amend himself must first of all determine exactly what it is that must be corrected. He must determine what his greatest sin is and what means he must use against it, and what dangers he must avoid so as not to fall into it again, since it has become a habit, a part of his life. All this thought and self-examination must come first and only then should a resolve be made, and that resolve should be specific as, for example: “Enough is enough! With God’s help I am no longer going to fall into such-and-such a sin; I’m going to break this bad habit; I’m no longer going to associate with those particular people who encourage me in this habit; I’m going to break off that unhealthy relationship; I’m going to use such-and-such means against this sin; I’m going to arm myself and muster all my forces against it when it begins again to tempt me.”
The same thing must also be said about the resolution to lead a righteous life. By no means is it enough to content oneself simply by stating the following resolve: “From this time forth I’m going to lead a God-pleasing life.” Such a resolution is not definite enough, and although it may have come from the heart, it is doubtful whether it will have any effect.
He who desires to abandon a life of sin and live a righteous life must first of all examine which obligations he has most difficulty in fulfilling and does not like to fulfill; what exactly hinders their fulfillment; what he must do, what means he must employ to fulfill them more readily. Having done this, he must make a specific resolve, as for example: “Now, with God’s help I will try hard to fulfill this obligation which until now I have done so poorly; I will apply myself to using such-and-such means towards its fulfillment. For example, when someone offends me I will be more patient; I won’t start using insulting and shameful language, or better yet, I won’t answer back at all; in such-and such company I’ll be more careful in what I say; at such-and-such times I’ll try to pray fervently, something I have not done up to now.., and so on.”
In general, the more definite one’s intention to change one’s sinful life and live righteously, the more it will suit the particular circumstances, the state of one’s soul, one’s relationship with others, etc., and the more hope there is of its bringing it into reality. When something is so definite one can more easily direct one’s thoughts and one’s strength to one subject and thus, of course, more easily achieve the desired goal.
Another reason why our good intentions fail, is because we do not hold firmly enough to our resolve. Scarcely two or three days pass by after our having made our resolution and we, in our normal daily routine of life amidst our worldly cares and pursuits, have already forgotten our intention, although at the time it was made with proper firmness of purpose. For this reason, if we truly wish our good intention to be realized, then each of us, every morning after our morning prayers, must immediately bring to mind and renew our resolution, saying in our hearts: “I promised God to turn away from this particular sin; I really wanted to fulfill this obligation; I must keep my promise!” Having renewed in this way our good intention, we must diligently pray to God that He would grant us the necessary strength to carry it out.
Likewise, our intention must be renewed in this way throughout the course of the day. And when evening comes, we should never go to sleep without having first examined our hearts to see how we have spent the day: did we keep our promise to God? And if it happens that we went against our resolve, against our promise, then we must immediately ask God’s forgiveness, and once again renew our resolve and carefully watch over ourselves. This is the way in which those people act who are concerned for the salvation of their souls, and in this way they attain salvation!
The third reason we fail in our intention to lead a better life, is our excessive fear of the difficulties connected with such an undertaking. A holy life is not attained without work, without sufferings and difficulties; it often takes a prolonged and fierce battle. We must withdraw from occasions to sin, of which there are so many. We must sacrifice various enjoyments which are so pleasant, abandon many worldly pursuits which make life interesting, and endure many unpleasant things which because of our self-love are often so difficult to bear.
For example, let us suppose that we resolved to withdraw from our natural inclination to become angry. In order to turn away from anger we must quietly endure a lot of what is to us almost unbearable, and to which our usual response would have been a stream of crude words; sometimes we must not justify ourselves even when we are in the right; often we must be silent when we feel the urge to speak; often we must give in to others even when the occasion does not demand it; we must often bear the offenses of others and not reveal our irritation; often force ourselves to patiently endure when we are slandered or laughed at like fools and cowards. All this we must endure if we truly desire to realize our intention to withdraw from anger.
Amidst all the difficulties of keeping oneself from anger or any other sin which manifests itself as particularly great, our soul often falls into despondency and all our strength seems to evaporate. In such cases we must immediately bring to mind various sacred truths and experiences which are able to restore our former spirit, our former strength, and give us hope of abandoning the sin from which we decided to turn away. Thus we must remember that no matter how weak a man is, with God’s help he can do and endure all things if only he truly desires and uses it; this is accomplished through the strength that is granted by God.
We must remember the millions of righteous ones, who have gone before us and their self-denial, patience and endurance which they left as an example for us and for the whole world. We must remember that, above all, God desires our correction, and because of this, knowing our weakness and our needs, He will unfailingly come to our aid if only we turn to Him with fervent prayer and make use of the means and the power which He has given to us.
We must remember that the difficulties which invariably accompany any important undertaking are intimidating only to the lazy and faint-hearted; that only the first steps along the path of correction are unpleasant and difficult; that the farther one goes along such a path the easier and less painful it becomes; that any victory which we gain over our enemy makes us much stronger and better able to endure any further onslaughts. We must more often remind ourselves of the feeling of peace and satisfaction we shall experience when in the last days and hours of our life we look back at our past, at the difficulties we have heroically overcome, at the many sufferings borne with Christian patience, at the countless temptations conquered by our love for God, at all the noble deeds which we performed in secret before God’s eyes alone, at all the favors which we showed our fellow man, at the faithfulness with which we fulfilled our obligations, often forcing ourselves to the utmost to do this.
Finally, we must more often remind ourselves that for all this we will be rewarded by so much in the life of the age to come that all the difficulties which we overcome here in this life, all the sufferings which we endure in this age for the sake of a righteous life, will appear to us much smaller; in fact, they will appear insignificant, in comparison with the heavenly rewards.
O, Almighty God! Now we count each minute of trial and suffering and we rarely consider the blessed eternity which delights the souls of Thy righteous and faithful servants. Brother! In your striving towards a God-pleasing life, when you weigh your earthly difficulties and grief, place more often on the scale this eternity! It will outweigh all your trials, all the pleasures of worldly pursuits, pleasures and enjoyments.
The fourth reason that our resolution to lead a better life often fails, lies in the fact that we want immediately to become saints. Many people, when they once feel an aversion to their sinful behavior, make a firm resolve to change their ways and place a good beginning towards this reform; but because this doesn’t happen as quickly as they would like, and whether by habit or rashness they often fall into their old sins, they lose heart and come to the conclusion that it’s impossible for them to change their ways.
Brother! Sister! People don’t become saints overnight. Our old man does not easily yield to being transformed into the new man. A big tree is not felled by a single stroke of the ax. So it is with each evil passion which’ is so firmly rooted in us. The way to perfection or to spiritual maturity is almost always unnoticeable, just as are so many things in nature.
A spiritual man passes through various stages of growth, just like the physical man. Much time is spent in childhood before reaching the fullness and strength of manhood. There is a long period of weakness, and only then does one become stronger and stronger, until finally one becomes a man. Only at this age is one capable of doing what is proper to a man. Likewise, a ripened ear of corn is at first only a seed, then a small blade of grass, then a stalk, and finally an ear of corn; but even this ear is not ripe all at once, but grows, then flowers, then it tassels and only then does it become ripe. The same is true of a righteous, life! Even the best man in the world does not suddenly become a saint. His perfection for the most part develops slowly and only little by little. Good earth which accepts into itself a good seed brings forth fruit, says the Lord, in patience. (Lk 8:15).
To fall, of course, is not good, and it were better not to; but he who falls and then quickly gets up, becomes wiser and more careful, renews his good intention, fervently prays to God for new strength to attain a righteous life. Falls are not such a hindrance for such a man on the path to perfection. At the time of his fall, when he falleth, he shall find a stay, i.e., strength (Sir 3:31) and like the Apostle Paul, strikes ahead towards the mark of the prize of the high calling, forgetting those things which are behind. (Phil 3:13).
The above, then, are some of the reasons why our good intentions to turn away from sin and lead a better life are often unfulfilled. Let us avoid these pitfalls; let us try to make our resolution as definite as possible; let us remember more often and continually to renew our decision, and let us not become faint-hearted if we do not at once reach perfection, but let us courageously surmount the difficulties we meet along the way in firm hope of God’s help.


From “The Conversations of Metropolitan Gregory of Novgorod,” translated from the monthly periodical of St. Panteleimon’s Monastery on Mt. Athos, January 1899, pp. 15-19.

Monastery of Great Lavra - Μονή Μεγίστης Λαύρας

Holy Mount Athos- Elders & Hermits-Psalm 50

Monk Moses the Athonite -The Saints of Mount Athos

The Holy Mountain during its history of more than a thousand years has always been a busy workshop of wisdom and virtue which has produced monks distinguished for their learning and sanctity.

From the mid 18th century down to our own times has been a period when the Holy Mountain has greatly flourished. Akakios Kafsokalyvitis († 1730), the extremely severe cave-dwelling ascetic, the imitator of St Maximus Kafsokalivitis; Ierotheos of Iveron († 1745), a wise teacher; Anthimos Kourouklis († 1782), the joyful missionary to the islands of the Aegean and the Ionian; Paisius Velichkovsky († 1794), the founder of the 'ascetic-literary' school; Sophronios Agiannanitis; Makarios Notaras († 1805), the bishop-ascetic; Georgios of Tsernika in Romania († 1806); Nicodemus the Athonite († 1809), a writer noted for his wisdom; Athanasios of Paros († 1813), a teacher of distinction; Sophronios Vratsis of Bulgaria († 1813); Arsenios of Paros († 1877), a renowned ascetic; Antipas of Moldavia († 1822); Siluan of Russia the Athonite († 1938), well-known from his fine biography; and Savvas of Kalymnos († 1948), the worker of miracles, form an important nucleus of enlightenment, education, and service to God and man. To these names we must add the glorious latter-day Athonite martyrs, who in the 18th and 19th century number as many as 60, of whom we could mention: Pachomios of the New Skete († 1730), Constantine the Russian († 1742), Damaskinos of Thessaly († 1771), Cosmas of Aetolia († 1779), that renowned teacher and founder of churches and schools, Loukas of Stavroniketa († 1802), Gerasimos of Koutloumousiou († 1812), Efthymios of the Skete of Iveron († 1814), Gideon of Karakallou († 1818), Agathangelos of Esphigmenou († 1819), Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople († 1821), Pavlos of Konstamonitou († 1824), and the renowned Athanasios of Lemnos († 1846).

The foundation of the Athonite Academy (1749) was an important point in this modern Athonite renaissance. The distinguished teachers who served there included Neophytos Kafsokalyvitis, its first principal, who was succeeded by Archimandrite Agapios of the Holy Sepulchre, slaughtered by the Turks outside Thessaloniki, Evgenios Voulgaris, that gifted techer, Nikolaos Zertzoulis of Metsovo, Panagiotis Palamas, and Athanasios of Paros, among others. Among those who served as the Academy's trustees and patrons were Gregory V, Nicodemus the Athonite, and Makarios Notaras. Among the Academy's students were the martyrs Cosmas of Aetolia, Constantine of Hydra, and Athanasios Koukaliotis; there were also leaders in the intellectual world such as Iosipos Moisiadax, Sergios Makraios, and Rigas Pheraios, who died for his country. It is an undoubted fact that for the Greek nation then enslaved to the Turks the Athonite Academy lit one more lantern of hope for its survival. The printing-press set up at the Great Lavra by Cosmas of Epidaurus (1755) and the school at the Vatopaidi Monastery also contributed to the awakening of the nation, but unfortunately these were short-lived.

The same period coincided with the lives and work of important men of letters such as Papa-Ionas Kafsokalyvitis, Dionysios Siatisteas, Neophytos Skourteos, Vartholomaios of Koutloumousiou, Pachomios of Tirnovo, Dionysios of Fourna († 1745), the icon-painter and author of the famous book on the art of painting, who lived at Karyes, Kaisarios Dapontes († 1784), a much-travelled writer and poet who was a monk of Xeropotamou, Dorotheos (Evelpidis) of Vatopedi, and Nikiphoros of Iveron.

In the mid 18th century a grave theological debate developed all over the Holy Mountain in connection with the issues of the holding of memorial services for the departed, frequency of Holy Communion, and other matters relating to the exact observance of Orthodox tradition. The starting-point for this prolonged controversy was the building of the kyriakon at the Skete of St Anne (1754). The question arose as to whether the commemoration of the founders and benefactors should be held on Saturday or Sunday, and with what frequency the monks should receive Holy Communion. The debate divided the monks, and those who insisted that the memorial services should be held on Saturdays were mockingly dubbed 'kollyvades'. It seems, however, that, behind their apparent obstinacy, they had a profound knowledge of church tradition and fought hard for its authenticity and for its purification from adulteration. Thus the name of 'kollyvas' became a title of honour and the movement was responsible for a profitable and beneficial regeneration and renewal. Indeed, this devout movement was led by three saints: Makarios Notaras, Nicodemus the Athonite, and Athanasios of Paros, and they numbered among their supporters and sympathizers distinguished scholars such as Neophytos Kafsokalyvitis, Christophoros Artinos, Agapios of Cyprus, Iakovos the Peloponnesian, Pavlos the hermit, Theodoritos of Esphigmenou, and a number of others. Some of them chose voluntary exile and took refuge in mainland Greece or the islands, where they founded scores of monasteries, of which a fair number survive today. Thus we see Makarios Notaras on Chios, Niphon on Skiathos, Dionysios of Skiathos on Skyros, Ierotheos on Hydra, with numerous disciples and friends of that Athonite tradition which has nourished monks and saints. The monasteries which they founded were noted for their vigour and service. The Ecumenical Patriarchate by decisions of the Holy Synod finally put an end to the 'kollyvades' issue, by ruling that memorial services could be held as circumstances demanded and that Holy Communion, with the proper preparation, could be received frequently, and that the life of the substance, and not the aridity of the form, was to be adhered to.

Sts Nicodemus the Athonite, Makarios Notaras, and Athanasios of Paros are the typical representatives of the renaissance on the Holy Mountain, and of the spirit which prevailed. They were the authors of widely circulating books which had their effect on the souls of the enslaved Greeks, and their works continue to be re-issued even today. The seal was set on the Athonite theological spirit of the time by the publication of the 'Philokalia of the Ascetic Fathers' (1785), a publication which was a landmark in theological literature.

In a difficult period such as that of Turkish rule, the Holy Mountain kept its lamp perpetually burning, and was able, moreover, to hand on the flame to the peoples of the Balkans and the North. Thus the exchange of visits and the sojourn of many on the Holy Mountain of Athos gave rise to an important spiritual and cultural movement. The quiet of Mount Athos acted as a school of superior philosophy in which not only asceticism and vigilance, but also study in its rich libraries, the translation of rare texts, concern for art, and the transmission of a spirit of service and self-sacrifice were cultivated. The work of the starets Paisius Velichkovski, the reformer of monasticism in Romania and Russia, after his departure from Athos, was particularly inspired. Similar work was carried out by his disciple the Blessed Georgios of Tsernika († 1806) in the monasteries of Moldavia, where hundreds of monks were his spiritual children, by the Blessed Sophronios Vratsis († 1813) in Bucharest, while the Blessed Antypas († 1882) from Moldavia went to Jassy and finally reached the Monastery of Varlaam in Finland. The Russian Saint Silouan the Athonite († 1938) continues to teach through his much-translated biography by Archimandrite Sophronius († 1993) even after his blessed death. Yet again the illuminating influence of the universality of the Holy Mountain is apparent.

The Athonite monastic community has never kept the fragrance of the blossoming of its virtues all for itself. In spite of the harshness of enslavement to the Turks, penury, the difficulties in travelling and the many perils, the Athonite monk in his humble cap went everywhere in the Greek world, to bring the sober preaching of salvation, of redemption, of consolation, of support, and of hope - fiery missionaries like Cosmas of Aetolia, who crowned his long preaching mission with martyrdom, the Blessed Anthimos Kourouklis, who travelled the islands and built churches and monasteries, the Blessed Makarios Notaras, who on the islands of the Aegean created real centres of refreshment and aspiration, while similar work was carried out by his companion Blessed Athanasios of Paros, Arsenios of Paros, and Savvas of Kalymnos, to name but a few. The Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V the Martyr and the company of glorious latter-day Athonite martyrs still teach more strikingly today after their martyr's end and strengthen the hearts of the people.

In our own century the Holy Mountain has continued its hidden service to mankind which makes known the lofty spirituality and life of Orthodoxy and its benign influence beyond its boundaries by continuing to produce ascetics and figures of great spiritual and theological stature. In a world which thirsts and seeks in anguish for authenticity, discipline and truth, it gives its testimony of the experience of the Orthodox spiritual life and the salvation of the soul. The many young pilgrims today may not always be fired with enthusiasm, but they are set thinking by this way of life of asceticism, abstinence, simplicity, and quiet of the monks. Thus often a pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain is a turning-point in their lives. The humility and sanctity of Mount Athos play a role of spiritually alerting the Church and the people.

This spiritual portrait of Athos has to show in our own times many figures who vie with those of earlier eras, whose spirit they transmit, while at the same time providing a starting-point for the carrying on of their work in the future. Among those Abbots known for their great love for the Holy Mountain, for their monasteries, for their spiritual children, for the Theotokos and for God, lovers of virtue and hard work, were the now departed Archimandrites Symeon of Gregoriou († 1905), Neophytos of Simonopetra († 1907) - who were re-founders of their monasteries -, Kodratos of Karakallou († 1940), Athanasios of Gregoriou († 1953), Ieronymos of Simonopetra († 1957), Philaretos of Konstamonitou († 1963), who wore themselves out in the service of their monasteries and their monks, Seraphim of Agiou Pavlou († 1960), Vissarion of Gregoriou († 1974), Gabriel of Dionysiou († 1983), who successfully worked together to promote the common interests of the Holy Mountain, Haralambis of Simonopetra († 1970), and Ephraim of Xeropotamou († 1983).

Apart from these distinguished figures, the following, now at rest, were excellent and discreet spiritual counsellors and confessors in our own century: Savvas († 1908) and Gregorios of Little St Anne, Ignatios Koutounakiotis († 1927), Chariton Kafsokalyvitis, Kaisarios, and Mikhail the Blind († 1952) of the Skete of St Anne, Neophytos, Gabriel († 1967), Efstathios ( 1981) and Elpidios († 1983) the Cypriots, and Spyridon († 1990) of the New Skete, Gregorios of Dionysiou, Maximos of Karakallou, Nikodemos of Crete of the Koutloumousi Skete, among others.

Of widely acknowledged sanctity were the departed Elders Hatzighiorghis († 1886), renowned for the severity of his fasting, Daniel the Romanian, the cavedweller, of Kerasia, Avimelech of Crete and Gerasimos († 1991), the hymnographer of Little St Anne, Kallinikos († 1930), the ascetic and Hesychast and Daniel of Smyrna († 1929) of Katounakia, Gerasimos Menagias († 1957), the wise hermit, Avvakoum († 1978) the Barefoot, of the Lavra, Isaak († 1932), the best of coenobites, and Lazaros († 1974) of Dionysiou, Joseph the Cave-Dweller († 1959), the great ascetic, and Theophylaktos († 1986), the lover of the saints, of the New Skete, Gerontios († 1958) of St Panteleimon, Athanasios of Iveron († 1973), known for his humility and devotion to the Theotokos, Evlogios († 1948), the great faster, and Enoch († 1978), the delightful Romanian, at Karyes, Papa-Tychon († 1968), the great Russian ascetic of Kapsala, Porphyrios († 1992), an elder of Kafsokalyvia with pre-vision and insight, who for years carried the blessings of Athos into Attica, and Paisios († 1944) the Athonite, who gave rest to many who approached him with reverence. Many have written many worthy accounts of all of these.

The last two to be mentioned above were widely known for the grace which was given them. Elder Porphyrios was one of the most important figures of our times: he had the authority of authenticity, he had the experience of the Holy Spirit, he was truly humble, his simplicity was thoroughgoing; in him childlikeness was interwoven with holiness. He was a discerner of souls, a teacher and a guide to many, who, greatly moved, will tell of their meetings with him. Elder Paisios was also an experienced, patient and persistent physician of souls and a guide to a host of people with great needs. His joyful discourse, his example, his counsels reached people, and infected them with his peace, the joy of blessing, the refreshment of the spirit.

Amongst the men of letters of our time whom the Holy Mountain has produced are the priest-monk Theodoritos of the Lavra, Gerasimos of Esphigmenou (Smyrnakis), famed for his fine book on the Holy Mountain, the deacon-monk Cosmas of Agiou Pavlou (Vlachos), similarly, the priest-monk Christophoros of Docheiariou (Ktenas), the author of a host of works on the Holy Mountain, the Lavra Elders Paneleimon, Chrysostomos, Alexandros (Evmorphopoulos), Spyridon (Kambanaos), a doctor, Pavlos (Pavlidis), also a doctor, Alexandros (Lazaridis), Evlogios (Kourilas), subsequently Metropolitan of Korytsa, Ioakeim of Iveron, Theophilos, Nikandros, Iakovos and Arkadios of Vatopaidi, and the Xeropotamou Elders Pavlos, Chrysanthos and Evdokimos, Athanasios of Pantocrator, Zosimas of Esphigmenou, Neilos (Mitropoulos) of Simonopetra, Savvas of Philotheou, Varlaam of Gregoriou, Theodosios of Agiou Pavlou, and Ioakeim (Spetsieris) of New Skete.

The work of the saints, the abbots, the spiritual fathers, and the scholars of the Holy Mountain, of yesterday and today, radiates outwards and has a beneficial effect upon the world - because Athos, over and above its priceless material treasures, is the guardian of treasures of living virtue, which is of greater importance; it can provide a way of life to cope with the harshness of everyday life, its monotony and loneliness. Thus the Holy Mountain has been justly called by Prof. A. Stavropoulos "a school of spiritual fatherhood and counselling", through offering hospitality to many and through those monks who are able to go out into the world for confessions, conversation, and mission. The audience for their advice includes bishops, priests, monks, nuns, university and school teachers, and 'the least of the brethren'. As has been rightly said by J. Lacarriere "in the person of these few men who remain isolated in their kalyva or cave one can see the guardians, the trustees, the 'athletes' of a wisdom and a science of man which we hasten to admire when it comes from India or Tibet, but which we ignore when it is practised next door to us".

The words of Elder Paisios about Hatzi-Georgis, the subject of his biography, apply equally to himself and to many others of those whom we have spoken of and describe their noble fight for the well-being of the world. "He advises each one appropriately, with discretion, and comforts their souls and aids them with his prayers of the heart. His face is radiant with the holy life that he lives and brings divine grace to anguished souls. His reputation has spread everywhere and people hasten from every quarter to derive spiritual benefit. From morning till night he deals with the pain of the anguished and warms their hearts with his spiritual love, which is like the spring sunshine".

Elder Avimelech of Little St Anne used to say when asked what he was doing, "We are keeping alert". The blind Elder Leontios of Katounakia used to reflect that "now I see everything better, I experience everything better; God has given me more powerful light than that which I had when I had my health". Elder Mikhail of Kafsokalyvia with a perpetual smile on his lips used to converse with the saints. The Konstamonitou bibliophile Elder Modestos would say: "If we do not feel that all our brethren are ours and that we are theirs, the Holy Spirit will never dwell in our hearts. Our behaviour towards them should not be regulated by their spiritual quality". Elder Philaretos of Karoulia, a most strict ascetic, used to say: "My brethren, everybody strives for his salvation, except me, a sinner". A Koutloumousiou elder who suffered ill health for years on end would say that "it is the divine will and it is profitable that the body should be ill so that the soul should be saved". Another wise elder of our own times would often stress that "natural quiet helps towards inner peace. But if it doesn't exist, you must stick patiently to whatever you find before you, and God will give you the greater gifts. And look to see why you do not have peace". He also said, "you should be sad so that you may be glad", and "it's better to have difficulties than to think that you are doing fine; by means of difficulties you become more mature, more beautiful ...." In one of his books, Elder Mitrophanis of Hilandari says of the service which monks perform that it is "the heartfeltness of prayer, love which goes as far as sacrifice, forgiving humility, and the enthusiastic love of mankind".

It is a marvelous thing for holiness to be accompanied by skill with words. When on the Holy Mountain today there continue to be such figures, it is an unexpected blessing for the world.





Monk Moses the Athonite

Mount Athos • The Holy Mountain (Άγιο Όρος)

General information about mount athos and Skiti of Agiou Andrea in Mount Athos (Holy Mountain) and the icon preservation works of father Pavlos, his brother and scholars from France. Το βίντεο παρουσιάζει το εργαστήρι συντήρισης εικόνων που διατηρούσε στη Σκήτη Αγίου Ανδρέα Αγίου Όρους η παλαιότερη συνοδεία (αρχιμανδρίτης Παύλος Πολίτης, πατήρ Μάξιμος) και τη συνεργασία τους με Γάλλους πανεπιστημιακούς, χρησιμοποιώντας την τελευταία λέξη της τεχνολογίας. περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το εργαστήριο στο σύνδεσμο

Caves of Athos

Russian Orthodox Chant from Valaam. The Megalynaria: My soul does magnify my Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour: Refrain: U are more honored than the cherubim and more glorious than the Seraphim. U who gavest birth to GOD the LOGOS without corrupition. Thee - the very Theotokos do we magnify.

Divine Worship

Divine Worship is a well-known yet still quite unknown, wonderful, secret world. In the secret corners of this spiritual Paradise planted by the hands our Holy Fathers, one finds whatever is most beautiful, most noble and most godly and begotten of man’s soul growing. Here one finds the heavenly harmony played upon the chords of noble human hearts, secret lyres of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of the Lord.



In the Divine Worship one finds the sprouts of human words, treasures accumulated during his secret dialogue with his Saviour, the “fruit of the lips” offered as “a sweet savour” before the throne of the Lord.

The Church believes that the richness of its worship has within it the dew of the Holy Spirit. Thus a cycle is generated: worshiping the Lord with the liturgical forms handed down to him, man learns how to offer the genuine worship from them; then the fervent yearning is sown in his heart for this genuine worship so that he worships again “in the Holy Spirit”.



Deep down, the worship of the Lord is not a work of man. It is a mystery, which cannot be measured or defined by human standards. Divine Worship is an innermost function of the mystical body of Christ, the Church. It is the overflow of the soul towards the Father which is accomplished through his beloved Son in the Holy Spirit. No one can call God his Father unless the Holy Spirit teaches him how. It is this Spirit who concelebrates and glorifies together with the Church ‘for all days’.

The Saints of Mount Athos

The Holy Mountain during its history of more than a thousand years has always been a busy workshop of wisdom and virtue which has produced monks distinguished for their learning and sanctity.

From the mid 18th century down to our own times has been a period when the Holy Mountain has greatly flourished. Akakios Kafsokalyvitis († 1730), the extremely severe cave-dwelling ascetic, the imitator of St Maximus Kafsokalivitis; Ierotheos of Iveron († 1745), a wise teacher; Anthimos Kourouklis († 1782), the joyful missionary to the islands of the Aegean and the Ionian; Paisius Velichkovsky († 1794), the founder of the 'ascetic-literary' school; Sophronios Agiannanitis; Makarios Notaras († 1805), the bishop-ascetic; Georgios of Tsernika in Romania († 1806); Nicodemus the Athonite († 1809), a writer noted for his wisdom; Athanasios of Paros († 1813), a teacher of distinction; Sophronios Vratsis of Bulgaria († 1813); Arsenios of Paros († 1877), a renowned ascetic; Antipas of Moldavia († 1822); Siluan of Russia the Athonite († 1938), well-known from his fine biography; and Savvas of Kalymnos († 1948), the worker of miracles, form an important nucleus of enlightenment, education, and service to God and man. To these names we must add the glorious latter-day Athonite martyrs, who in the 18th and 19th century number as many as 60, of whom we could mention: Pachomios of the New Skete († 1730), Constantine the Russian († 1742), Damaskinos of Thessaly († 1771), Cosmas of Aetolia († 1779), that renowned teacher and founder of churches and schools, Loukas of Stavroniketa († 1802), Gerasimos of Koutloumousiou († 1812), Efthymios of the Skete of Iveron († 1814), Gideon of Karakallou († 1818), Agathangelos of Esphigmenou († 1819), Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople († 1821), Pavlos of Konstamonitou († 1824), and the renowned Athanasios of Lemnos († 1846).

The foundation of the Athonite Academy (1749) was an important point in this modern Athonite renaissance. The distinguished teachers who served there included Neophytos Kafsokalyvitis, its first principal, who was succeeded by Archimandrite Agapios of the Holy Sepulchre, slaughtered by the Turks outside Thessaloniki, Evgenios Voulgaris, that gifted techer, Nikolaos Zertzoulis of Metsovo, Panagiotis Palamas, and Athanasios of Paros, among others. Among those who served as the Academy's trustees and patrons were Gregory V, Nicodemus the Athonite, and Makarios Notaras. Among the Academy's students were the martyrs Cosmas of Aetolia, Constantine of Hydra, and Athanasios Koukaliotis; there were also leaders in the intellectual world such as Iosipos Moisiadax, Sergios Makraios, and Rigas Pheraios, who died for his country. It is an undoubted fact that for the Greek nation then enslaved to the Turks the Athonite Academy lit one more lantern of hope for its survival. The printing-press set up at the Great Lavra by Cosmas of Epidaurus (1755) and the school at the Vatopaidi Monastery also contributed to the awakening of the nation, but unfortunately these were short-lived.

The same period coincided with the lives and work of important men of letters such as Papa-Ionas Kafsokalyvitis, Dionysios Siatisteas, Neophytos Skourteos, Vartholomaios of Koutloumousiou, Pachomios of Tirnovo, Dionysios of Fourna († 1745), the icon-painter and author of the famous book on the art of painting, who lived at Karyes, Kaisarios Dapontes († 1784), a much-travelled writer and poet who was a monk of Xeropotamou, Dorotheos (Evelpidis) of Vatopedi, and Nikiphoros of Iveron.

In the mid 18th century a grave theological debate developed all over the Holy Mountain in connection with the issues of the holding of memorial services for the departed, frequency of Holy Communion, and other matters relating to the exact observance of Orthodox tradition. The starting-point for this prolonged controversy was the building of the kyriakon at the Skete of St Anne (1754). The question arose as to whether the commemoration of the founders and benefactors should be held on Saturday or Sunday, and with what frequency the monks should receive Holy Communion. The debate divided the monks, and those who insisted that the memorial services should be held on Saturdays were mockingly dubbed 'kollyvades'. It seems, however, that, behind their apparent obstinacy, they had a profound knowledge of church tradition and fought hard for its authenticity and for its purification from adulteration. Thus the name of 'kollyvas' became a title of honour and the movement was responsible for a profitable and beneficial regeneration and renewal. Indeed, this devout movement was led by three saints: Makarios Notaras, Nicodemus the Athonite, and Athanasios of Paros, and they numbered among their supporters and sympathizers distinguished scholars such as Neophytos Kafsokalyvitis, Christophoros Artinos, Agapios of Cyprus, Iakovos the Peloponnesian, Pavlos the hermit, Theodoritos of Esphigmenou, and a number of others. Some of them chose voluntary exile and took refuge in mainland Greece or the islands, where they founded scores of monasteries, of which a fair number survive today. Thus we see Makarios Notaras on Chios, Niphon on Skiathos, Dionysios of Skiathos on Skyros, Ierotheos on Hydra, with numerous disciples and friends of that Athonite tradition which has nourished monks and saints. The monasteries which they founded were noted for their vigour and service. The Ecumenical Patriarchate by decisions of the Holy Synod finally put an end to the 'kollyvades' issue, by ruling that memorial services could be held as circumstances demanded and that Holy Communion, with the proper preparation, could be received frequently, and that the life of the substance, and not the aridity of the form, was to be adhered to.

Sts Nicodemus the Athonite, Makarios Notaras, and Athanasios of Paros are the typical representatives of the renaissance on the Holy Mountain, and of the spirit which prevailed. They were the authors of widely circulating books which had their effect on the souls of the enslaved Greeks, and their works continue to be re-issued even today. The seal was set on the Athonite theological spirit of the time by the publication of the 'Philokalia of the Ascetic Fathers' (1785), a publication which was a landmark in theological literature.

In a difficult period such as that of Turkish rule, the Holy Mountain kept its lamp perpetually burning, and was able, moreover, to hand on the flame to the peoples of the Balkans and the North. Thus the exchange of visits and the sojourn of many on the Holy Mountain of Athos gave rise to an important spiritual and cultural movement. The quiet of Mount Athos acted as a school of superior philosophy in which not only asceticism and vigilance, but also study in its rich libraries, the translation of rare texts, concern for art, and the transmission of a spirit of service and self-sacrifice were cultivated. The work of the starets Paisius Velichkovski, the reformer of monasticism in Romania and Russia, after his departure from Athos, was particularly inspired. Similar work was carried out by his disciple the Blessed Georgios of Tsernika († 1806) in the monasteries of Moldavia, where hundreds of monks were his spiritual children, by the Blessed Sophronios Vratsis († 1813) in Bucharest, while the Blessed Antypas († 1882) from Moldavia went to Jassy and finally reached the Monastery of Varlaam in Finland. The Russian Saint Silouan the Athonite († 1938) continues to teach through his much-translated biography by Archimandrite Sophronius († 1993) even after his blessed death. Yet again the illuminating influence of the universality of the Holy Mountain is apparent.

The Athonite monastic community has never kept the fragrance of the blossoming of its virtues all for itself. In spite of the harshness of enslavement to the Turks, penury, the difficulties in travelling and the many perils, the Athonite monk in his humble cap went everywhere in the Greek world, to bring the sober preaching of salvation, of redemption, of consolation, of support, and of hope - fiery missionaries like Cosmas of Aetolia, who crowned his long preaching mission with martyrdom, the Blessed Anthimos Kourouklis, who travelled the islands and built churches and monasteries, the Blessed Makarios Notaras, who on the islands of the Aegean created real centres of refreshment and aspiration, while similar work was carried out by his companion Blessed Athanasios of Paros, Arsenios of Paros, and Savvas of Kalymnos, to name but a few. The Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V the Martyr and the company of glorious latter-day Athonite martyrs still teach more strikingly today after their martyr's end and strengthen the hearts of the people.

In our own century the Holy Mountain has continued its hidden service to mankind which makes known the lofty spirituality and life of Orthodoxy and its benign influence beyond its boundaries by continuing to produce ascetics and figures of great spiritual and theological stature. In a world which thirsts and seeks in anguish for authenticity, discipline and truth, it gives its testimony of the experience of the Orthodox spiritual life and the salvation of the soul. The many young pilgrims today may not always be fired with enthusiasm, but they are set thinking by this way of life of asceticism, abstinence, simplicity, and quiet of the monks. Thus often a pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain is a turning-point in their lives. The humility and sanctity of Mount Athos play a role of spiritually alerting the Church and the people.

This spiritual portrait of Athos has to show in our own times many figures who vie with those of earlier eras, whose spirit they transmit, while at the same time providing a starting-point for the carrying on of their work in the future. Among those Abbots known for their great love for the Holy Mountain, for their monasteries, for their spiritual children, for the Theotokos and for God, lovers of virtue and hard work, were the now departed Archimandrites Symeon of Gregoriou († 1905), Neophytos of Simonopetra († 1907) - who were re-founders of their monasteries -, Kodratos of Karakallou († 1940), Athanasios of Gregoriou († 1953), Ieronymos of Simonopetra († 1957), Philaretos of Konstamonitou († 1963), who wore themselves out in the service of their monasteries and their monks, Seraphim of Agiou Pavlou († 1960), Vissarion of Gregoriou († 1974), Gabriel of Dionysiou († 1983), who successfully worked together to promote the common interests of the Holy Mountain, Haralambis of Simonopetra († 1970), and Ephraim of Xeropotamou († 1983).

Apart from these distinguished figures, the following, now at rest, were excellent and discreet spiritual counsellors and confessors in our own century: Savvas († 1908) and Gregorios of Little St Anne, Ignatios Koutounakiotis († 1927), Chariton Kafsokalyvitis, Kaisarios, and Mikhail the Blind († 1952) of the Skete of St Anne, Neophytos, Gabriel († 1967), Efstathios ( 1981) and Elpidios († 1983) the Cypriots, and Spyridon († 1990) of the New Skete, Gregorios of Dionysiou, Maximos of Karakallou, Nikodemos of Crete of the Koutloumousi Skete, among others.

Of widely acknowledged sanctity were the departed Elders Hatzighiorghis († 1886), renowned for the severity of his fasting, Daniel the Romanian, the cavedweller, of Kerasia, Avimelech of Crete and Gerasimos († 1991), the hymnographer of Little St Anne, Kallinikos († 1930), the ascetic and Hesychast and Daniel of Smyrna († 1929) of Katounakia, Gerasimos Menagias († 1957), the wise hermit, Avvakoum († 1978) the Barefoot, of the Lavra, Isaak († 1932), the best of coenobites, and Lazaros († 1974) of Dionysiou, Joseph the Cave-Dweller († 1959), the great ascetic, and Theophylaktos († 1986), the lover of the saints, of the New Skete, Gerontios († 1958) of St Panteleimon, Athanasios of Iveron († 1973), known for his humility and devotion to the Theotokos, Evlogios († 1948), the great faster, and Enoch († 1978), the delightful Romanian, at Karyes, Papa-Tychon († 1968), the great Russian ascetic of Kapsala, Porphyrios († 1992), an elder of Kafsokalyvia with pre-vision and insight, who for years carried the blessings of Athos into Attica, and Paisios († 1944) the Athonite, who gave rest to many who approached him with reverence. Many have written many worthy accounts of all of these.

The last two to be mentioned above were widely known for the grace which was given them. Elder Porphyrios was one of the most important figures of our times: he had the authority of authenticity, he had the experience of the Holy Spirit, he was truly humble, his simplicity was thoroughgoing; in him childlikeness was interwoven with holiness. He was a discerner of souls, a teacher and a guide to many, who, greatly moved, will tell of their meetings with him. Elder Paisios was also an experienced, patient and persistent physician of souls and a guide to a host of people with great needs. His joyful discourse, his example, his counsels reached people, and infected them with his peace, the joy of blessing, the refreshment of the spirit.

Amongst the men of letters of our time whom the Holy Mountain has produced are the priest-monk Theodoritos of the Lavra, Gerasimos of Esphigmenou (Smyrnakis), famed for his fine book on the Holy Mountain, the deacon-monk Cosmas of Agiou Pavlou (Vlachos), similarly, the priest-monk Christophoros of Docheiariou (Ktenas), the author of a host of works on the Holy Mountain, the Lavra Elders Paneleimon, Chrysostomos, Alexandros (Evmorphopoulos), Spyridon (Kambanaos), a doctor, Pavlos (Pavlidis), also a doctor, Alexandros (Lazaridis), Evlogios (Kourilas), subsequently Metropolitan of Korytsa, Ioakeim of Iveron, Theophilos, Nikandros, Iakovos and Arkadios of Vatopaidi, and the Xeropotamou Elders Pavlos, Chrysanthos and Evdokimos, Athanasios of Pantocrator, Zosimas of Esphigmenou, Neilos (Mitropoulos) of Simonopetra, Savvas of Philotheou, Varlaam of Gregoriou, Theodosios of Agiou Pavlou, and Ioakeim (Spetsieris) of New Skete.

The work of the saints, the abbots, the spiritual fathers, and the scholars of the Holy Mountain, of yesterday and today, radiates outwards and has a beneficial effect upon the world - because Athos, over and above its priceless material treasures, is the guardian of treasures of living virtue, which is of greater importance; it can provide a way of life to cope with the harshness of everyday life, its monotony and loneliness. Thus the Holy Mountain has been justly called by Prof. A. Stavropoulos "a school of spiritual fatherhood and counselling", through offering hospitality to many and through those monks who are able to go out into the world for confessions, conversation, and mission. The audience for their advice includes bishops, priests, monks, nuns, university and school teachers, and 'the least of the brethren'. As has been rightly said by J. Lacarriere "in the person of these few men who remain isolated in their kalyva or cave one can see the guardians, the trustees, the 'athletes' of a wisdom and a science of man which we hasten to admire when it comes from India or Tibet, but which we ignore when it is practised next door to us".

The words of Elder Paisios about Hatzi-Georgis, the subject of his biography, apply equally to himself and to many others of those whom we have spoken of and describe their noble fight for the well-being of the world. "He advises each one appropriately, with discretion, and comforts their souls and aids them with his prayers of the heart. His face is radiant with the holy life that he lives and brings divine grace to anguished souls. His reputation has spread everywhere and people hasten from every quarter to derive spiritual benefit. From morning till night he deals with the pain of the anguished and warms their hearts with his spiritual love, which is like the spring sunshine".

Elder Avimelech of Little St Anne used to say when asked what he was doing, "We are keeping alert". The blind Elder Leontios of Katounakia used to reflect that "now I see everything better, I experience everything better; God has given me more powerful light than that which I had when I had my health". Elder Mikhail of Kafsokalyvia with a perpetual smile on his lips used to converse with the saints. The Konstamonitou bibliophile Elder Modestos would say: "If we do not feel that all our brethren are ours and that we are theirs, the Holy Spirit will never dwell in our hearts. Our behaviour towards them should not be regulated by their spiritual quality". Elder Philaretos of Karoulia, a most strict ascetic, used to say: "My brethren, everybody strives for his salvation, except me, a sinner". A Koutloumousiou elder who suffered ill health for years on end would say that "it is the divine will and it is profitable that the body should be ill so that the soul should be saved". Another wise elder of our own times would often stress that "natural quiet helps towards inner peace. But if it doesn't exist, you must stick patiently to whatever you find before you, and God will give you the greater gifts. And look to see why you do not have peace". He also said, "you should be sad so that you may be glad", and "it's better to have difficulties than to think that you are doing fine; by means of difficulties you become more mature, more beautiful ...." In one of his books, Elder Mitrophanis of Hilandari says of the service which monks perform that it is "the heartfeltness of prayer, love which goes as far as sacrifice, forgiving humility, and the enthusiastic love of mankind".

It is a marvellous thing for holiness to be accompanied by skill with words. When on the Holy Mountain today there continue to be such figures, it is an unexpected blessing for the world.


Monk Moses the Athonite