Mt. Athos

[WickedServant]

Out of curiosity, has anyone here ever visited a monastery there? I was curious when I heard about it before from a few friends, and then I read Mountain of Silence... and decided I have to go there. :yum:

Apparently it's an extremely holy place.

Bless me

[Dust and Ashes]

I would love to go myself and spend a few months there but my wife would never go for that.

[Happy Orthodox]

Apparently it's an extremely holy place.

It's called the Garden of the Virgin (Mary), because it is her real estate :D When she was on this earth, she came to that peninsula, which at the time was a center of pagan worship and was covered with temples and everything. And when Her most pure foot stepped on the shore, all the temples were ruined at once. Some of the pagans, or most of them, converted. She saved that land for Her and said it would be a land good for spiritual labor and salvation of many souls. Indeed, it is a very holy place!

I haven't been there, but I have heard many stories. Here are two.

One my good friend went to Mount Athos when he was converting to Orthodoxy. He had a bad brain damage (I wonder how he was able to be thinking about religion!) and he was impossible to live with. He couldn't laugh, think, remember, decide, he lost his sense of orientation, etc. He went to Mound Athos and one old monk healed him by rubbing the side of his head and repeating that the Mother of God loves us all.

Another story occured with a far spiritual relative of mine. A group of atheists came to Mount Athos and started inquiring him about his faith. They were asking, why does he believe in God when today's science shows that there is no God, why does he need to labor so much for nothing, for a blind faith in something that doesn't exist? And he answered: "Well, I can't tell you anything, but he will," -- he pointed at a lizard that wandered into the room. The lizard got up on its two hind legs, and said: "I belive in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen" and crossed itself... Spooky :eek:


On the Mount Athos, you'll see the summit of Orthodoxy and perfection of the Gospel. However, perfection cannot be seen by worldly eyes, but by the heart. You need to truly hate your sin in order to see how much love there is in some of those monks... If you sense a fragrance from some of them, don't think that they were dealing with fragrant oils or something. It is the flesh when it is purified and becomes holy emits a heavenly perfume. The relics of Saints also have this perfume. That is a sensible sign though, and it is from God. I cannot imagine how you can be given this gift and still stay humble and not get puffed up (I smell myrrh! and guess what, loser, you do not!).

[prodromos]

I have been to a few of the monasteries on Mt Athos over the last few years. It really is a place conducive to prayer :). I can't wait until my son grows a little older so I can take him with me when I visit in the future.
Oblio has also been (on his way back from Jerusalem!) as has Iacobus.

It is not what it once used to be. In the past there were only donkey trails between the monasteries and some were really only accessible by boat. The monasteries were without power and of course had no refrigerated food storage. Now there is a network of roads used by vehicles (albiet a limited number), most monasteries have solar power while a growing number have their own power generators. A large number of monks now also have mobile phones. Of course much of this change has been driven by the increasing number of visitors to Mount Athos. Whereas a century ago the visitors would have already been accustomed to living under harsh conditions, very few of todays visitors would be able to cope. I do hope they keep the number of visitors restricted and also limit the extent of modernisation on the mountain. Most of the monks residing at the monastery of Simonopetra are already refugees from Meteora, forced to flee when their silence was shattered by the huge influx of tourists who visit each year.

John