The Wondrous Appearance of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr on Mount Athos

The wonderworking icon of Saint Stephen which is in the chapel of the same name in the konaki of the Monastery of Dionysiou in Karyes, on the Holy Mountain.

Saint Stephen, the Protomartyr and Archdeacon, is celebrated on December 27th and is especially honored on Mount Athos at the Sacred Monastery of Konstamonitou, whose katholikon (central church) is dedicated to the Saint.

He is also celebrated in Karyes by the representatives of Dionysiou Monastery, where there is a beautifully renovated chapel dedicated to Saint Stephen in their konaki (place of residence or monastic cells).

The Professor Emeritus of the School of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Mr. Antonios Tachiaos (1931-2018), recounts the appearance of Saint Stephen to a Russian deacon, when he was called to officiate in the Chapel of Saint Stephen in Karyes.

This incident took place in the 20th century and was recounted to the Professor by a monk from Mount Athos, during his first visit to the Holy Mountain, in 1951. Professor Tachiaos, who taught the History and Literature of the Slavic Churches, recorded this incident in his 2016 book In the Shadow of Athos.  

The Cave of Saint Kosmas of Zographou in Mount Athos

 

 

The cave of Saint Kosmas of Zographou is located in the location of Gerakofilia, about half an hour away from the Holy Monastery of Zographou in Mount Athos.

The Saint is considered the greatest ascetic to emerge from Zographou. His cavernous cell became the place of struggle with demons. There he was buried and from there he departed for the joy of his Lord. The admirable thing is that forty days after his burial the monks looked for his relic, but did not find it.

Gerasimos Smyrnakis (1903) mentions that the cave was also used as an observation post for forest rangers.

The First Monastic Cell of Saint Paisios the Athonite at Iveron Monastery

 

How Mount Athos Monks Greet Each Other on the Feast of the Ascension

"During this period we are celebrating the Divine Ascension. The Holy Fathers called it the foremost of the Despotic Feasts. For this reason we greet each other along the road with this beautiful phrase: 'Christ has ascended!' (Αναλήφθηκε ο Χριστός) and the Christian replies: 'I also have ascended!' (Αναλήφθηκα κι εγώ)."

- Archimandrite Gregorios Archipelagites,
Abbot of the Monastery of Docheiariou

 

 

The Oldest Surviving Depiction of the Holy Neomartyr Kyranna of Thessaloniki

The oldest surviving depiction of the Holy Neomartyr Kyranna is found in a fresco of the second half of the 18th century (1765-circa 1800), in the kyriakon church of the Skete of Kavsokalyva of Mount Athos.

The depiction is particularly important, since its painting is placed in the first decades after the martyrdom of the Saint, which took place in 1751. Saint Kyranna is depicted as a bust at the north window, together with Saint Michael Mavroudis from Granitsa, Agrafa.

Three Miracles of Saint John the Baptist to Monks of Dionysiou Monastery

 

 

 

The late Monk Lazarus Dionysiatis (+ 1974) is well-known for his book Dionysian Narrations in which he records the valuable memories of those Dionysian Fathers of Dionysiou Monastery at Mount Athos. Among these are various tales of miracles and visions of Saint John the Baptist, who is the patron saint of the Monastery. Below are three examples:

1. I will now tell you a true story that happened to a young monk, who, taking courage in me, confided it to me, very confidentially:

"The Honorable Forerunner, who is depicted in a strict form in the shrine located inside the Katholikon of the Monastery of Dionysiou, in front of the right column, you obviously know him! Every time I talk to him and look him in the face, it seems to me that he is alive. Inside me, I feel like a child talking to his father. When, for the first time, on Monday night, I was reading Compline and the Salutations of the Saint, as I was a sexton and I was standing in front of this Icon of the Honorable Forerunner, with much reverence and love, when I arrived at the words of the Salutations: 'I am sweetened in praising your virtues, O Forerunner, but I hesitate since I cannot find the words. Grant to me the ability to do this.' Then - O your wonders, my protector, Honorable Forerunner! - I felt supernatural grace within my heart, and it seemed like the Honorable Forerunner lifted up my entire body, high above the earth, filling my entire being with unspeakable joy and rejoicing."

On Covid 19 (Archimandrite Alexios of Xenophontos)

 

 On Covid 19

January 2022
 
By Archimandrite Alexios,
Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Xenophontos, Mount Athos

I consider the Covid 19 pandemic, regardless of its origins, an ordeal God has allowed to visit the human race. To allow does not mean to wish, but to tolerate.

We have all, therefore, come face to face with the tragic reality of counting numerous deaths on a daily basis, including friends and loved ones.

In an effort to interpret the phenomenon, many voices have been heard, resulting in confusion and division among the people.

The health authorities promptly informed us as to how the virus is transmitted and how it should be confronted.

A Conversation With Saint Paisios on the Existence of the Invisible Naked Ascetics of Mount Athos

 

By Hieromonk Athanasios of Simonopetra,

Hymnographer of the Great Church of Christ

"Elder [Paisios]," I said to him, "I want you to give us a blessing to leave, because it is getting dark and we do not have a flashlight, we will be killed on the road."

"Sit over there, so we can talk. Where will I find company? I've been desperate to see a man!"

Of course, he did not need company, but his purpose was to help us spiritually, and I said to him:

"Okay, we'll sit down. But I want you to tell us something."

"What?"

"I went to Saint Anna the day before yesterday, there in Little Saint Anna, and I heard various stories being said about the naked ascetics."

"Well," he said, "what do you want me to tell you?"

"Elder, do they exist or do they not exist?"

The Story of the Icon of the Panagia Pyrovoletheisa ("of the Gun Shot")

When Mount Athos was occupied by a Turkish guard in April of 1822, a soldier dared to shoot at the icon of the Theotokos located outside the entrance of the Sacred Great Monastery of Vatopaidi. The bullet hit the right hand of the Panagia. As soon as he shot the right hand of the Panagia, the sacrilegious soldier immediately fell down and frothed in front of the gate like a madman, as the historical manuscript states about this event. This soldier, who was the nephew of the captain of the detachment, then went and hung himself on an olive tree in the garden opposite the entrance of the monastery. The danger of retaliation and looting of the monastery would have been certain, if the scene was not witnessed by a fellow soldier who informed his uncle about it. The captain of the detachment then confessed that this was indeed a divine chastisement and ordered that his nephew, the soldier, be cast away dishonorably and unburied. The miraculous icon of the Panagia Pyrovoletheisa ("of the Gun Shot") is located at the entrance of the Sacred Great Monastery of Vatopaidi, and the location of the gunshot on the right hand can still be seen.

The Archangels and the Chickpeas

Father Anthimos of Dionysiou Monastery at Mount Athos testified to the following miracle of the Holy Archangels:

At the time when I was a cook, one Sunday while a vigil was taking place, I took chickpeas from the pot to cook them.

I soaked them and at the time of matins I put them in the cauldron to boil. I boiled them for three hours. After expending two loads of wood those blessed (or better to say excommunicated) chickpeas, instead of softening became more hardened.

You cannot imagine my grief. The fathers who were staying up all night, were they to remain without food?

The Iconography for Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at Ground Zero in New York City Currently in Production at Mount Athos

With the inauguration of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at Ground Zero in Manhattan this week by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Greek program Koinonia Ora on MEGA took the opportunity to interview Father Loukas, perhaps the best iconographer of the Holy Mountain of Athos, who resides at Xenophontos Monastery and is currently working on the iconography for Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine. It will therefore be his iconography which will be displayed at this National Shrine of the United States.

The Hand That Held The Prayer Rope Was Undamaged

 

Recently Fr. Eusebius, who lived in a cell by himself at New Skete of Mount Athos, reposed in the Lord. He had not been seen for 3 or 4 days, so other monks from neighboring cells went to check up on him, and having entered his cell when he didn't answer, they found his dead body.

What astonished them and struck them with amazement, was that although the entire body including his whole left hand was blackened due to sepsis, the right hand that held his prayer rope was completely undamaged. The fathers saw this as a confirmation of the power of the Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."

 

Saint John the Baptist and the Monk Who Sought to Flee from Dionysiou Monastery

The icon of the Honorable Forerunner of the Monastery of Dionysiou (16th century). It is located on the right column of the katholikon of the Monastery.

 

By Monk Lazarus of Dionysiou

On January 13, 1952, while sitting on the balcony outside the pharmacy, I was looking at the dock of the Monastery [Dionysiou Monastery of Mount Athos] where the transport ship that had come from Daphne [the main port of Mount Athos] had stopped.

The newly appointed treasurer Hieromonk Paul, who arrived from Monoxylitis [Metochion of the Monastery of Dionysiou to the west], got out of the boat. Also inside the ship was brother Leontios who was appointed by the Monastery as caretaker, according to the established order, in the recording and delivery of the things of the Metochion, and the former treasurer Dometion, who also returned with his luggage.

The last one, however, I saw him sitting in the boat, while the other brothers had gone out and had already started going up the uphill road to the Monastery. Seeing all this, I wondered what was happening? Why does the former treasurer of Monoxylitis, after he came with his furniture, remain in the boat and does not take out his luggage on the waterfront?

A Group of Serbians Who Walk from Serbia to Mount Athos Every Year

Every year for the past six years or so, towards the end of July, a group of around 4 to 12 men walk from their homeland in Serbia all the way to Mount Athos for a pilgrimage, and after their visit to the monasteries they return to Serbia towards the end of August the same way they came. With them they carry a wooden cross and icons. They are followed by a van which carries two large icons, one of them being Saint Paraskeva, as well as the supplies they need for their daily living, like sleeping bags and a change of clothes. When they come upon a chapel or church along the way, they go in and venerate the icons and pray.

 

The Humility of the Athonite Monk That Led to the Miracle With the Forest Fire

Panagia Galaktotrophousa at Gregoriou Monastery, Mount Athos

The old Papa-Philotheos of Gregoriou once wanted, with the blessing of his Elder, to burn the branches to clean the olive grove at the "Partheniou" site.

When he lit the fire, perhaps by the concession of God, a strong wind blew and a fire began beyond the branches and the olive trees. The fire then spread to the forest.

Though Papa-Philotheos made every effort, he was unable to stop it. The fire ignited quickly and mightily.

All the fathers of the Monastery ran but were unable to contain it because it had spread too much.

The forest and the olive trees were close to being destroyed.

A Chapel Built With the Blessing of the Panagia Paramythia

Chapel of the Panagia Paramythia in Dromolaxia, Cyprus

The following testimony was written on November 10, 2011 by Protopresbyter Petros Petrou, pastor of the Church of the Honorable Forerunner in Dromolaxia, Cyprus.

It was Sunday and I had liturgized at the large church of the village, at the Honorable Forerunner.

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, having distributed the antidron, a young man approached me and asked me if we were building a church in honor of the Panagia Paramythia. I said to him:

"Yes, my child."

The Legendary Athonite Monk Who Never Saw a Woman

This newspaper clipping comes from the Edinburg Daily Courier, and is dated October 29, 1938. It describes what seems to be a Serbian or Romanian monk on Mount Athos born around 1856, whom some have cited as being the only man to have ever lived a full life without ever seeing a woman. This is due to the fact that he lived at Mount Athos since infancy till his death without interruption, and because Mount Athos holds to the strict avaton rule, that does not allow women on the monastic republic, he never had an opportunity to see a woman, at least not in person.

The Monk Who Pictured Every Woman as an Icon of the Virgin Mary

By Hieromonk Anastasios,

Cell of the Honorable Forerunner and Dionysios of Fourna 

Karyes, Mount Athos

We passed a cell outside Karyes, the cell of Papa-Gregory. He came to Mount Athos when he was very young, about ten or twelve years old, and became a monk.

When we visited he was about eighty-five to ninety, and he had never been outside of Mount Athos.

"Elder, do you remember women?"

"Yes, I remember them."

The "Godlike Personhood" and the "Society of Persons"

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

In a text signed by "Hagiorite Fathers Living in Cells" and sent to the "Revered Sacred Community of the Holy Mountain of Athos" regarding the pandemic and the vaccine (dated 2/10/21) many and various things are written, for which they wrote the various "observations" of the friend of Mount Athos the Reader-Doctor Stephanos Demetropoulos.

However, I would like to comment on a paragraph which refers to the "mask-muzzle" which "allegedly" protects against the coronavirus the "Godlike personhood of man" and by this "abolishes the society of persons."

Watch the Documentary "Athos, the World's Brightest Peak" Now for Free for a Limited Time

Because the 18th San Francisco Greek Film Festival is going on right now, they are offering the 60-minute 2020 documentary by Argyris Liapis titled Athos, the World's Brightest Peak for free to stream online. It is in Greek with English subtitles. As of today, you only have five days to begin to watch it, and from the moment you begin to watch it, you have ten days to finish it. Here is a description of the documentary:

Three monks from Mount Athos, the largest monastic center of Orthodox Christianity, share their thoughts about faith, Monasticism, their decision to become monks, their lives in Mount Athos and the monastic community. The camera travels through the peninsula of Agion Oros, reaches pristine places and the summit of Mount Athos, recording snapshots from monks' every day lives and also images that are unknown even to regular visitors of the Holy Mountain.

WATCH HERE  

 

(Not Available Outside the United States)