Mount Athos

As soon as the Mother of God approached the shore, all the idols cried out with a loud voice: “Men, seduced by Apollo, go quickly to the port of Clement and meet Mary, the Mother of the great God Jesus!” The demons who lived in the idols were forced by the power of God against their will to speak the truth. The people, having heard the words of the idols, were amazed and hastened to go to the shore. When they saw the ship and the Mother of God in it, they greeted her with great reverence and asked her how she gave birth to God, and what his name was. She told the people everything about Jesus Christ. Then everyone fell to the ground and worshiped the God born of her, and they paid her great respect, believed in the Savior and received baptism. The Mother of God performed many miracles there, after their baptism. She left them one of the Apostles who were with her as a teacher, and joyful in spirit she said: “Let this place be my lot, which is given to me by my Son and God.” Then she blessed the people and said again: “May the grace of God abide in this place and upon those who dwell here with faith and reverence and who keep the commandments of my Son and God. They will have everything necessary for earthly life in abundance and will acquire it with little effort. And heavenly life will be prepared for them, and the mercy of my Son will not cease towards them until the end of the ages. I will be the advocate of this place and an ardent intercessor for it before God.”

Having said this, the Mother of God blessed the people a second time and set out for the island of Cyprus. In the 8th century, the Mother of God again honored St. Athos with her visit and appeared to the Athonite hermit, the Venerable Peter, whom she called her lot. In the life of the Venerable Peter of Athos it is mentioned that this hermit, before entering the Athos forest, had St. Nicholas as his patron. Once he was deigned to see in an ineffable light the Mother of God and St. Nicholas, who stood before her servilely and asked her to show Peter a place for monastic residence. The Most Holy Virgin Mary answered him:

“His rest will be on Mount Athos – this is my lot, given to me by my Son and God. Breaking away from worldly talk and possessing spiritual feats, those who call on my name with faith and love will spend their temporary life there without sorrow and will receive eternal life because of their God-pleasing deeds. I love this place very much and I want to multiply the monastic order and the mercy of my Son and God; those who serve there will not be ruined forever and will observe the saving commandments. I will spread them in this mountain to the south and to the north, and they will possess it from sea to sea, and their name on the sunny mountain I will create and protect those who will patiently devote themselves to fasting there.”

The peninsula was formed as a monastic community in 963, when the monk St. Athanasius founded the Great Lavra monastery, which is still the oldest of all 20 monasteries on Mount Athos. The monastery enjoyed the patronage of the Byzantine emperors, which contributed to its rapid growth and increase in its wealth and possessions.

During the Fourth Crusade in the 13th century, Mount Athos had new Catholic masters who forcibly forced the Athos monks to accept the patronage of Pope Innocent III. This continued until the restoration of the Byzantine Empire. In the 14th century, Catalan mercenaries plundered the Athos monasteries. When the Byzantine Empire fell in the 15th century, Mount Athos came under the Islamic rule of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans inflicted heavy blows and plunder on the monasteries, but later left them alone. The number of monks and the wealth of the monasteries decreased dramatically in the following centuries. However, they managed to survive until the beginning of the 19th century, when the monasteries began to be visited more and more often by pilgrims and to accept new monks from Orthodox countries such as Russia, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. Each of these countries sent generous donations to the Athos monasteries and had one “of its own”. So until 1912, when there were two Bulgarian monasteries on Mount Athos – the Zograph and the Hilendar monasteries.

In the same year, 1912, during the Balkan War, the Turks were expelled and after a brief diplomatic dispute between Greece and Russia over the sovereignty of the Monastic Peninsula, which formally became part of the Greek state after World War II.

According to the Greek constitution, Mount Athos (Holy Mountain, Ιερά Κοινότης Αγίου Ορους) is an autonomous administrative-political entity, which has 20 monasteries with the right of self-government, which is exercised by the “Holy Community” governing the autonomy). The capital and administrative center is Karya (Καρυές), which is the seat of the governor as a representative of the Greek authorities. Spiritually, Mount Athos is under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople (Istanbul). Along with the monasteries, there are 12 skete (smaller monasteries) and over 600 cells, kalivs and kathismas.

All persons living on Mount Athos became Greek citizens without any formalities after they accepted monasticism. Any male pilgrim could visit Mount Athos, but only after receiving special permission. Visiting Mount Athos by women was forbidden by imperial edict in 1060. Even female animals could not be brought into the monastic republic, with the exception of cats and hens (the latter because of their eggs, which were needed to make the paints used in icon painting).

The twenty monasteries on Mount Athos are arranged in a strict hierarchy:

1) Great Lavra Monastery , Ι. M. Μεγίστης Λαύρας – founded in 963, cinema (dormitory) since 1980.
Throne Feast Day July 5/18, the day of St. Athanasius of Athos
Other holidays: October 1/14 – St. John the Baptist and St. Gregory the Domestic.

2) Vatoped Monastery , Ι. M. Βατοπαιδίου – founded in 972, cinema since 1989.
Throne feast 25 March/7 April, the day of the Holy Annunciation; others: The Council of the Vatopedi Saints (10/23 July), the feast of the Honorable Belt (Αγία Ζώνη) of the Most Holy Theotokos (31 August/13 September)

3) Iviron Monastery , Ι. M. Ιβήρων (Iver) – founded in 980, cinema since 1990.
Throne feast August 15/28, Assumption of the Virgin Mary; also Epiphany (January 6/19).

4) Hilendar Monastery , Ι. Μ. Χιλανδαρίου , Serbian (Manastir Hilandar) – founded in 1197, renovated in 1990.
Throne feast November 21/December 4, Presentation of the Virgin Mary; also January 14/27 (the day of St. Sava of Serbia, founder of the holy monastery).

5) Dionysiat Monastery , Ι. M. Διονυσίου (Dionysiou) – founded in 1375, cinema from 1805.
Throne Feast: June 24/July 7, Nativity of St. John the Baptist.
Others: January 7/20 (St. John the Baptist), June 25/July 8 (St. Dionysius – founder of the monastery), August 11/24 (St. Niphon – founder).

6) Kutlumush Monastery , Ι. M. Κουτλουμουσίου – founded at the end of the 13th century, the cinema from 1856.
Throne Feast: August 6/19, Transfiguration of the Lord.

7) Pantokrator Monastery , Ι. Μ. Παντοκράτορος – founded in 1363, renovated in 1992.
Throne feast: August 6/19, Transfiguration of the Lord. Other feasts: October 15/28 (Holy Fathers of Pantocrator), December 2/15 (the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Gerontissa” (Παναγίας της Γερόντισσας))

8) Monastery of Xiropotamou , Ι. Μ. Ξηροποτάμου – founded in the 10th century, canonized in 1981 by the Holy Empress Pulcheria, daughter of Emperor Arcadius.
Throne feast: March 9/22, on the day of the Holy 40 Sebaste Martyrs, and September 14/27 – Exaltation of the Cross.

9) Zograf Monastery , Ι. Μ. Ζωγράφου , Bulgarian – founded in the 10th century, cinema from 1850.
Throne feast: April 23/May 6 – the day of St. George the Victorious, also September 22/October 5 – the feast of St. Cosmas of Zografski, and October 10/23 – the feast of the 26 martyrs, and November 3/16 – the consecration of the renovated church of St. George in the city of Lida and the feast of St. Pimen of Zografski.

10) Dochiar Monastery , Ι. Μ. Δοχειαρίου – founded in the 10th century by the 1980s.
Throne feast November 8/21, on the day of Archangel Michael, and October 1/14, in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “The Quick-Hearer” (Παναγία Γοργοεπήκοος).

11) Caracal Monastery , Ι. M. Καρακάλλου – founded at the end of the 10th century, cinema from 1813.
Throne feast June 29/July 12, the day of St. Apostles Peter and Paul; also December 30/January 12 – the day of St. Gideon.

12) Philotei Monastery , Ι. M. Φιλοθέου – founded in 990, cinema since 1973.
Throne feast March 25/April 7, Holy Annunciation, and August 24/September 6 – Rev. Cosmas of Aetolia.

13) Simon Petra Monastery , Ι. M. Σίμωνος Πέτρας (Simonopetra) – founded in 1257, cinema from 1801.
Temple feast December 25/January 7 – Nativity of Christ, July 22/August 4 – St. Mary Magdalene and December 28/January 10 – Rev. Simon Myrrh-Bearer (founder of the monastery)

14) Monastery of St. Paul , Ι. M. Ag. Παύλου – founded in the 10th century, cinema from 1839.
The feast of the Throne is February 2/15 – The Presentation of the Lord, and July 28/August 10 – the day of St. Paul of Xiropotamus (founder). Also April 23/May 6 – the day of St. George the Martyr.

15) Stavronikita Monastery , Ι. M. Σταυρονικήτα – founded in 1541, cinema since 1968.
Throne Day 6/19 December – the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

16) Xenophon Monastery , Ι. Μ. Ξενοφώντος – founded in the 11th century, cinema from 1784.
Church holiday April 23/May 6 – the day of St. George the Victorious, also November 3/16 – the consecration of the renovated church of St. George in the city of Lida. On the first Sunday of October, they celebrate the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Odigitria” (Παναγία Οδηγίτρης, Guide).

17) Gregory Monastery , Ι. M. Γρηγορίου (Grigoriou) – founded in 1345, cinema since 1840.
The feast day of the Throne is December 6/19 – the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Also October 29/November 11 – the day of St. Anastasia of Rome, and December 7/20 – Rev. Gregory (founder of the monastery).

18) Monastery of Esphigmenos , Ι. Μ. Εσφισμενου – founded in the 11th century, canonized in 1797. Feast of the Holy Ascension of the Lord.
The monks in the Esphigmeni Monastery do not commemorate the Patriarch of Constantinople and are not in canonical communion with the other Athos monasteries, but with the Greek Old Style monks.

19) Monastery of St. Panteleimon (Rossiko) , Ι. Μ. Αγ. Παντελεήμονος (Ρωσσικόν), Russian – founded at the beginning of the 10th century, moved to the seaside in 1765, renovated in 1803.
Throne feast July 27/August 9 – the day of St. Pantaleon, also October 1/14 – the Protection of the Virgin.

20) Konstamonite Monastery , Ι. M. Κωνσταμονίτου – founded in the 11th century, cinema from 1818.
Throne Feast December 27/January 9 – the day of St. Protomartyr and Archdeacon Stephen. Also May 21/June 3 (St. Constantine and Helena) and August 2/15 (Transfer of the relics of St. Stephen)