Monday, September 13, 2010

Esphigmenou monks meet with Russian clergy

For some background on the Esphigmenou Monastery controversy see previous articles here, here, and here. You can also read a bit about it from Wikipedia here.


(mospat.ru) - On 11 September 2010, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Moscow Church of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist at the Chernigov Patriarchal metochion. Attending the service was a delegation from the Athonite Esphigmenou monastery headed by archimandrite Chrysostomos. The delegation visited Moscow en route from Greece to Valaam Island.

Fr. Chrysostomos heads a newly elected monastic community of Esphigmenou. It is recognized by the Patriarch of Constantinople and by the Holy Community of Mt. Athos unlike the self-constituted fellowship of the so called ‘zealots’ which uses the monastery premises at present. The canonical community is accommodated at the Esphigmenou metochion in Karyes, administrative centre of Mt. Athos.

Metropolitan Hilarion met with the delegation after the Divine Liturgy. The pilgrims told him about the difficult situation in which they find themselves because of the irreconcilable stand taken by the old monastic community and about the efforts they undertake for normalization of the situation.

Archimandrite Chrysostomos presented the DECR chairman with a documentary film (in Russian) about the Holy Mountain and the situation with the Esphigmenou monastery.

That same day the delegation from Greece departed for the Valaam Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The pilgrims will take to Mt. Athos a particle of relics of St. Antipas of Valaam (1816-82), who once lived at the Esphigmenou monastery.

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