Pilgrimage to the Mount Athos
Between 20-25th October, a group of parishioners from St Sava’s Church in London went on a pilgrimage trip to the Mount Athos.
The group was led by Fr. Dragan Lazić. In large part, this expedition had all the hallmarks of a pilgrimage. The pilgrims were introduced to a spiritual wealth – holy shrines of the Orthodox Christian faith on the Holy Mount and to the cultural and historical heritage of the Serbian people in this peninsula. In addition to the Month Athos, devotees also visited several sights of Thessaloniki.
Upon arrival at Thessaloniki Airport, on 21st October, the faithful set sail from Ouranoupolis to the Mount Athos. The first destination was the monastery Hilandar, the most holy of Serbian shrines.
At Hilandar, the faithful first bowed their heads to the miraculous icon of the Trojeručica (the three-handed Mother of God) whose authentic facsimile is at the Church of Lazarica in Birmingham and at the tomb of St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming (Stefan Nemanja, founder of the monastery and father of St. Sava).
The group beheld the vine of St. Simeon which miraculously emerged from his grave. Grapes from this world’s oldest vine are known to help childless couples conceive a family. They also visited the whole monastery complex and its most important sights: the Milutin Tower, Emperor Dušan’s cross, monastery ossuary, etc.
The following morning at 3am, the faithful attended Matins and Holy Liturgy. The euphonious chanting of the monks by candlelight in the monastery church was a special spiritual experience.
After lunch at the monastery’s refectory, the devotees left the monastery Hilandar and continued their journey to Karyes, the administrative headquarters of the Mount Athos.
In the afternoon, they visited Vatopedi Monastery, where they kissed the miracle-working Cincture of the Theotokos, a belt held to be the actual belt of the Theotokos, and several of the monastery’s icons. It was at this monastery that St. Sava and his father St. Simeon stayed during the construction of Hilandar Monastery. There is also a fresco at the entrance to the church where they are depicted.
On the third day of the trip, the devotees visited Paterica, a small church near Karyes where once was kept St Sava’s staff of office an abbot which he had received in the Holy Land from the monastery of St Sabbas the Sanctified in 1229. Today it is kept in the Monastery of Hilandar, next to the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary Trojeručica. They were greeted at the Church by Father Trifun with whom they spent two hours in wonderful conversation on various spiritual topics.
Afterwards, the pilgrims visited Iviron Monastery, happily situated right on the seafront. According to tradition, it was founded by Georgians, but is now a Greek monastery. It houses a wonder working icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is considered to be the oldest icon on the Holy Mount. That same afternoon, they also visited St. Sava’s cell in Karyes, where he wrote the famous Karyes Typicon. Here in the small church, devotees attended the Vespers and then venerated Mlekopitateljnica, the miraculous icon of the Holy Mother of God, also brought there by St. Sava from a journey through the Holy Land.
The next day, the group left the Mount Athos from Daphne harbour and returned to Ouranopolis by boat, then headed for Thessaloniki. Along the way, the devotees visited the Kakovo, a small, adjunct monastery of Hilandar and arrived in Thessaloniki by the evening.
In this city with a rich historical heritage, on the last day of the trip, the pilgrims first headed for the Serbian Military Cemetery “Zeitenlik”. More than 8,000 Serbian soldiers were buried in that cemetery, along with thousands of Allied soldiers killed in the Great War. They were greeted here by the famous guardian of this cemetery, Đorđe Mihailović, who is now 91 years old, and has kept this cemetery for 59 years. In the cemetery chapel of St. George, Fr. Dragan paid tribute and performed memorial service to the Serbian soldiers who were buried therein, and then the group visited the memorial ossuary. This is the largest Serbian military cemetery outside our homeland.
The road continued towards the famous church of St. Demetrius, patron saint of Thessaloniki. Here the faithful kissed his holy relics, on the day before the celebration of St Demetrius according to the new calendar. There were a large number of believers in the church who were patiently waiting in line to pray before the life of this great saint.
After the church of St. Demetrius, the group also visited the small church of St. Nicholas, known as “Orphanos”, because there used to be an orphanage for children in the complex of this church. This church was built by Serbian King Milutin in the early 14th century. The church houses beautiful frescoes that have been preserved from that time.
The group left Thessaloniki in the late evening and returned back to London, with unforgettable impressions made in their memories and a longing to visit Mount Athos once again.
By Fr. Dragan Lazić
