MOUNT ATHOS – Easter

Easter at Mount Athos is something special. Spring comes and the entire Holy Mountain is covered with various colors. Nature wakes up, the plants bloom and people experience spiritual flourishing. Huge grace is pouring, at Easter time.

We decided to celebrate Easter at the monastery of St. Athanasius, the oldest monastery of Mount Athos, also known as Great Lavra. It was founded in 963, by St. Athanasius the Athonite. This monastery is the first, in the hierarchy, at the Holy Mountain.

In a previous travelogue, about Mount Athos, I have described, in details, the process of obtaining visa, arrival and entry at Athos, so I will not repeat it here.

On Saturday, before Easter, at 8:00, we get on board, on the boat Micra Agia Anna and sailing to Daphne. From Daphne, we went to Karyes by bus. We visited the hermitage of St. Sava, Protatos, skete of St. Andrew and Koutloumousiou monastery.

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Before Great Lavra, we decided to go to the Romanian skete Prodromos, which is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. Skete is at one hour of walk, from Great Lavra. The Romanians don‘t have their monastery, at Mount Athos, but they have this skete. Nearby is the trail, which leads to the cave where St. Athanasius lived.

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We are walking toward Lavra. After 45 minutes, we arrived. We went to the church and venerated the relics of St. Athanasius. We are in the church which is more than thousand years old!

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We went to the monastery port, called Mandraki.

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Next morning, a bus took us to the monastery Karakallou. We stopped by the well of St. Athanasius. At this place, St. Athanasius had a vision of Holy Mother. She told him to hit the rock with his stick. Athanasius hit the rock and the water flowed!

We arrived at Karakallou. Monks are resting. They had an Easter service all night.

We continued our walk, toward monastery of Philotheou. Philotheou is about hour away, from Karakallou. Our goal, for today, is monastery Iviron. We should overnight there. The path to Philotheou is easy to hike; it goes by the main road and through the woods.

We are at Philotheou. The monks are in their cells, resting. We are welcomed by monk Elysios. Elysios is a German, who accepted Orthodoxy and became a monk, at Philotheou. Elder Ephraim of Philotheou, perhaps one of the last great spiritual fathers, made him a monk. Elysios talked about elder Ephraim, with so much love. Elder Ephraim was a prior of the monastery, from 1973. till the mid-nineties. Then he went to America, where he founded 17 monasteries, in ten years! There is a story, that the devil appeared, in an elders dream, with a question: ” Why did you come here, in my kingdom, to pray?”

Elysios talked with us and showed us the photos of elder Ephraim, monasteries and other monks. He told us the story about St. Christopher, whose fresco, with the face of a dog, is painted in the church. St. Christopher was a thief and a murderer, so ugly, that his face reminded on a dog face. Later, he became a Christian and deeply repented, and become the saint. That’s why he is sometimes painted with the face of a dog, instead of a man. St. Christophers fresco tells us how great is the beauty of the human soul and that we should not pay attention to exterior look. Fresco of St. Christopher, with a dog head, can be found in Serbian monastery Sukovo, near the town of Pirot.

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We continued to Iviron and arrived after hour and a half.

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We venerated the miraculous icon “Portaitisa” and then continued toward Stavronikita. We have enough time to visit this monastery, before the evening service at Iviron. Stavronikita is the smallest, but one of the most beautiful monasteries at Mount Athos.

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Next day is the first day after Easter. We are walking from Iviron to Karyes. From Iviron to Karyes, it takes about an hour and a half of walk. Along the way, we visited Panaguda, a cell where elder Paisios lived.

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It is an ancient custom that, on the first day after Easter, procession, with the icon “Axion Esti”, goes from Protatos to Koutloumousiou monastery. Large number of pilgrims came, to attend this extraordinary event.

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At 13:00, bus drives us to Vatopedi monastery. Departures, by the buses, from Karyes, to all monasteries on the east coast, are around 13:00.

We joined a group of Serbs, who came on a pilgrimage to Chilandar and Vatopedi. We are listening very interesting stories, of a monk, who is our tourist guide, at this occasion. In the church, we venerate the Holy belt of Mother of God. Monk – guide told us story about the monastery and the miraculous icons and events related to them. He told us a story, about the visit of Holy Mother, which happened in 2009. While the monks were preparing the dining room, for lunch, Holy Mother suddenly appeared and passed between the tables, like she was checking if everything is in its place! Lot of monks saw this, so this is not someone’s fantasy. We visited the grave of elder Joseph of Vatopedi, who died in 2009. His death was a miracle! The elder died quietly and monks stitched him, in the mantle. He died with his mouth half open, so monks had to put a scarf, under his chin, in order to close them. When they came to take the final blessing of an elder, they opened the mantle and saw father Joseph with a closed mouth and a blissful smile on his face! This picture went around the world, by the Internet, and this event has indicated that Vatopedi will get another saint, in the future.

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We had time to visit the skete of St. Demetrius, which is an hour away from Vatopedi. Skete is abandoned and very beautiful. I hope it will be restored soon.

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Tomorrow, we joined the procession around the monastery.

In the afternoon, bus took us to our last stop, monastery Chilandar.

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We had a plenty of time, so we went to Esphigmenou. Near the monastery of Esphigmenou is a cave, where St. Anthony lived. He is the father of Russian monasticism. He founded the famous Kiev Pechersk Lavra, in 1051.

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On our way back to Chilandar, we stopped at the coast and take a look of the church of St. Basil. Unfortunately, the church was locked. We could only enjoy in the beautiful view, from the shore.

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We climbed king Milutin`s tower.

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It’s completely different experience, when you overnight at Chilandar. You can feel the atmosphere; you feel that you are a part of the family. You feel like you are at home. Of course, the liturgy is in Serbian language and guests are mostly Serbs. All of that, brings joy to your heart.

The last day came; the day of our departure from the Holy Mountain. As always, we catch the ferry in the opposite direction. We want to visit the Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon.

Mount Athos is the only place I’ve visited twice, in a period of six months. The great boon and piece, of this place, just pulls you back. I’m sure I will return soon, to this holy place.

On the way back, we stopped at Kakovo, property of the monastery Chilandar. Kakovo is outside Ierissos, right next to the main road. Ask, at the pump, for the exact location, because the signpost is not very noticeable.

That’s all, for now. Since God keeps coming us back to this place, I am sure I will write a new travelogue, about Holy Mountain, soon.

April 2011.