Trip To Mt Athos

Simono Petra Monastery I have never been much of an adventurer ( my friends from my younger days may say otherwise!), usually preferring to stick around the house puttering in the garden.  While many of my friends traveled the world over the years I’ve been content to hold up here on the "rock" (Vashon Island) with my family and gardening projects.

Back in the fall I half heartedly (that is the safest method) mentioned to my Orthodox friend Patrick that we should make a trip to Mt Athos sometime.  Of course, not thinking that my proposal would amount to anything I forgot about it.  In early December he dropped me an email indicating that something was in the works via a priest friend in Thessalonki, Greece.  Leave it to Patrick to really move on such things, if it were up to me to organize it would never happen.  Forced to make a decision I procrastinated awhile, tried to find reasons not to go, and finally put the brakes on my "do nothing" inertia and made a flight reservation (quite a reasonable one I might add, $738).  It helped that another friend, Gregory, was excited to go along too. 

Truth be told this is the trip of the lifetime.  One can go to Rome or Paris at anytime but Mt Athos is something special.  With over 20 monasteries and many smaller sketes (small groups of monks) and hermitages (yes, there are even hermits living in caves and tiny dwellings on the cliffs) the isolated Athos peninsula of Chalkidiki it is a spiritual oasis, a throw back to a different era.  In Greek it is called "Agion Oros" or "Holy Mountain".  Athos has been a monastic enclave for more than a millennium.  The first official monastery was the Great Lavra founded in 983 by St. Athanasios.  At its peak in the 15th century Athos had 40 functioning monasteries with 40,000 monks.

The Apostle Peter
12th C. Mt Athos is not a tourist destination.  Access is tightly controlled with permission required to enter and stays usually limited to four days (we are staying a week).  Non-Orthodox are allowed but in small numbers.  No women are allowed anywhere on the penisula.  Accommodations for pilgrims I’m told are simple but comfortable (although not much hot water!).  Hospitality is a fundamental monastic virtue, so guests are treated with great respect. 

The great monasteries of Athos resemble mediaeval cities with large fortified walls often perched precariously on steep mountain cliffs.  Architectural influences are varied from Greek. Russian to Ottoman.  As one would expect the church or Katholikon is the central focus.  Many priceless ecclesiastical treasures of the Orthodox Church including icons, codecs, and relics of saints are housed within their walls.  One of the goals of any pilgrimage to Athos is to see the great treasures and venerate holy objects.  The frescoes, mosaics and iconography on Mt Athos represent all the major "schools" of Orthodox iconography throughout the centuries. 

Of course, simply being in a place where monastics have prayed and worshiped for centuries, where many of the spiritual giants of Orthodoxy live and have lived is spiritually uplifting in itself.  We will try to stay at at least three monasteries and will visit several others weather permitting.  Getting around Athos is not easy.  One typically walks between monastaries on trails or primitive roads.  Since it is winter, conditions can be quite foul and travel difficult.  After all I’m 50… we shall see.  At any rate, we will be attending services and adapting ourselves to life on "Byzantine Time".  Mt Athos is on the Julian or "Church Calendar", thirteen days behind the civil or Gregorian calendar.  Time is calculated based on sunset which is always 12 PM.  Daily life is structured around the 24 hr cycle of services. 

We will be fortunate to be there for a major feast day of the Church, Theophany Jan 6/16 (Orthodox Epiphany; the date is shown Julian/Gregorian).  Although I’m not sure of the service schedule I believe there will be an All-Night Vigil which will start early evening (3am Byzantine time about 9pm) and run all night.  If the monastery is close to the sea the service will eventually end up down at the shore for the "Great Blessing of Waters".  I’m sure it will be exhausting and totally "mind-blowing"!

History of Mt Athos

History of Orthodox Monasticism

The Monasteries of Mt Athos