On Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of this past week I went on excursions, little pilgrimages, if you will. By ‘pilgrimage’ I simply mean a journey to a holy site for the purpose of prayer, for communion with our God and the great cloud of witnesses that surround us, having lived their life as a testimony to the God revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Places are made holy by God’s presence, for He alone is holy. But God never acts alone, and the sanctification of a place always involves the volitional reception of His presence in prayer. So when we travel to holy sites, we are going to places where our predecessors in the faith have labored in prayer, encountering God and His holy ones. Holy places are experientially different; they simply feel different, like the cares and burdens of this world no longer have a grip on us.
Here are some highlights from my little pilgrimages.
Wednesday
On Wednesday I took a ferry, Agia Anna, to the Monastery Dionysiou. On the map below it is the red dot, and my ‘home’ is the blue dot. I happened to be boarding the ferry with new Abbot of Nea Skiti, and he kindly paid my passage.
Approaching Dionysiou on the ferry, it looks like this:
Notice, among other things, the series of terraces cascading down the hillside, where they have their gardens. This scene is ubiquitous here. There is no natural level ground. Looked at from an upper side, the gardens look like this:
But looking straight down from above you get a little more of a feel of the steepness of the slope.
Dionysiou was quiet when I was there and I was able to venerate their relics and spend time praying in a beautiful little chapel to the Mother of God, Panagia of the Akathist. This was a very precious time for me.
Dionysiou is also famous for its 17th century frescos depicting St. John’s Apocalypse (Revelation). Among other things they include the depiction of a mushroom cloud in the sequence of end times images—painted over 300 years before the world experiences it. I was taking photos of these panels when I was politely and firmly told that photography was not allowed. So I won’t include any here, but if you are curious it is easy to google them and see very high-quality images of the frescos.
From Dionysiou I took the one hour hike along the rugged shoreline to St. Paul’s. Beautiful journey. St. Paul’s is a treasure trove of relics, the most stunning and unexpected one for me was the forehead of St. Panteleimon, which exuded an overpowering fragrance of myrrh.
From St. Paul’s I walked the remainder of the way to Nea Skiti, about another 45 minutes, reflecting with joy on the great cloud of witnesses whom I experienced this day. So many faithful who have preserved the living faith in their very bodies, their flesh and bones, the temples of our God, awaiting their resurrection.
Thursday
Within the boundaries of Nea Skiti, about a ten-minute walk from our hut, is the tomb of Elder Joseph the Hesychast—a controversial figure for some, but I’ve always benefited from his life without feeling drawn to some of the practices that are more extreme. So on Thursday evening, I went to his tomb to pray. Here is the little structure it is in:
And here is the tomb.
Friday
On Friday I took a boat, Mikra Agia Anna, to the Monastery Grigoriou. It is the red dot below, a ways past Dionysiou, and home remains the blue dot.
Here’s Little St. Anne:
No one was available to bring out the relics for me, but I was able to go into their main church as well as spend a long time in their beautiful little chapel dedicated to St. Anastasia of Rome.
The three main persons associated with this monastery are St. Nicholas (center below), to whom the main church is dedicated, St Gregory (below right), who founded the Monastery, and St. Anastasia (below left), who has been credited with many miracles.
The entrance to the main church has the beautiful mosaics, of Christ and the four Evangelists:
It’s about a six-hour walk home, I’m told—which likely means 7 or 8 for me, so I opted for a return trip on Mikra Agia Anna. My conviction is that pilgrims should walk, but utilitarian principles won out on this day.
Saturday
On Saturday I took the ferry, Agia Anna, to the near edge of the tip of this holy peninsula, to a place called Kerasia—the blue dot below, where ‘home’ is Nea Skiti.
Beautiful waters!
The path ahead of me.
Looking back down.
A hut at the Skete of Little St. Anne.
Many wonderful views looking up the peninsula. If you look closely at the far end of the land as it bends out to the left (Northwest) you can spot the Monastery Simonopetra.
Here is a hazy close up from the same spot.
After a brief stop at Agia Anna, I descended down the ridge to Nea Skiti. On the way, I met these pilgrims from Russia, including the youngest I’ve seen here. They wanted my picture so I had them return the favor.
A glorious and beautiful day, hiking, praying and enjoying God’s creation.
