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Posted on July 28, 2010 in 2005 Pilgrimage to the Skete of St. Anna, Mount Athos - 0 COMMENTS
THE JOY OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE…AN INITIAL REFLECTION FROM OUR PILGRIMAGE TO MOUNT ATHOS
by Rev Fr Chris Flesoras
I write from the comfort of the Sofitel Hotel at the Athens Airport where Lufthansa has hosted us for the evening due to bad weather in Munich that has delayed our flight for a day. Our trip/pilgrimage to Mount Athos comes to a close as we prepare to depart for the United States. The experiences, the lessons and the opportunities were innumerable as the blessings were equally unimaginable as we received a relic of Saint Anna from Fr. Cheroubim Apostolou of the Skete of Saint Anna. Needless to say, the months ahead will be filled with writings and discussions concerning our trip and the blessings that have come to our parish through the Grace of the Holy Spirit and the good will of a most dear elder and friend at the Skete of our common matron.
As we approach the days of Great Lent, it shall again be a period of fasting, prayer, almsgiving and repentance – a heightened discipline for us in the world, yet the everyday reality for those in the monastic setting. For many of the faithful, the disciplines that define this season are limiting if not just plain tedious. The forty-day period of preparation for the Great and Holy Week of the Church is all but joyous.
Nonetheless, the hymnography that we will both chant and hear as Great Lent commences welcomes us to the joyous season of the fast. As these hymns are the product of an age long passed, it would then seem logical to conclude that fasting by nature is joyous and that we have somehow allowed this discipline to devolve into what we view it as today. It is with this thought in mind that it seems most fitting to begin my writings on the Holy Mount, most specifically on the Skete of Saint Anna with a focus on “joy” as this feeling ought to characterize our entire life in Christ, regardless of season or location.
Prior to our departure, I attempted to prepare my father and my father-in-law for what lay ahead. One thought I shared as we traveled to San Francisco for our departure was that it might be best for both of them to leave their personalities at home. Their humor should be replaced with a somber spirit while their smiles should be replaced with more of a stoic look that better communicated their piety.
Yes, I have met a few monks in the world who have remained congenial, personable and joyful. Yet, from many of my readings, preconceived notions and often misrepresentations of true monasticism, I expected to interact with downcast and mournful personalities who avoided dialogue with those of the world. Simply, I expected the human spirit to somehow be suppressed to such a degree that one’s experience of deification, that is, of attaining holiness, would be somber.
This myth began to be dispelled within the first hours of our travel to Mount Athos on the boat, “Axion Estin”. Upon our departure from Ouranopouli, the port city from which depart the boats that travel to Daphne, a common stop for all pilgrims traveling to any of the monasteries of Mount Athos, we began conversing with a priest, Father Chariton from the region of Vollos, Greece who was on his way to the Monastery of the Great Lavra. He noticed after a short while into our conversation that I was wearing a wedding band and inquired as to whether I was married. After sharing a bit about Krissy and my relationship to my fellow pilgrims I inquired as to whether he was married. He responded, “No, I was married, but my presbytera passed away.” A momentary lull of awkwardness was broken with a sneaky smile and the words, “That’s why I wear black!”
As it turned out, Fr. Chariton was indeed a priest and also a distinguished great schema monk of the Great Lavra. He had no wife to speak of as he was a monk and had been ordained celibate. Instead, he possessed a jovial personality, a keen wit, and a very kind heart as we came to learn and appreciate by the end of our travel to Daphne. His smile, his spirit, and his warmth were unique to his charisma, that is, to the gifts that God gave him. They were not suppressed as he matured in faith, but instead joyously offered to Christ and shared with humanity to the Glory of God.
Of course, Fr. Chariton and a few of the other monks that we met on the boat could have been monastic anomalies. Surely, monastics should fit my ideal and concept of holiness! Thankfully, the Skete of Saint Anna testified against me, as joy was ever present as we prayed, dialogued, and worked with the monks of this Holy Skete.
As we exited our boat, “Saint Basil”, at the base of the Skete, we were greeted by a young boy named Petros (hopefully, this pious, bright and personable 19 year old Romanian boy who has served as an assistant to Fr. Cheroubim for the past year, will relocate to Roseville this summer to live, study, and work, as he pursues the “American Dream”). With a rather cheerful voice he said, “Ah, you must be Fr. Christopher! Father Cheroubim has been expecting you!” His enthusiasm made our climb up the two thousand steps to the Kyriakon (literally, the Church that is used on Sunday) a bit less daunting whether by foot or by mule.
About an hour later as we approached the main buildings of the Skete, which include the Kyriakon, guest housing, the eating halls, the salons for hospitality, and the office. Another monk sitting upon a balcony that overlooked the last set of steps greeted us. A closer look confirmed that it was Fr. Cheroubim, our host and the bearer of the relic of Saint Anna. Enthusiastically, he said as he motioned with his hands, “You’ve made it! Come quickly to the courtyard. We’ve been waiting for you!” This joyous greeting was but only a sample of his warmth, hospitality, and fun-natured spirit that we would come to enjoyed throughout our stay.
Now, I should note that my thoughts, which started off as a few hundred words, have blossomed into well over a thousand and it may seem like I have yet to address the true joy of a spiritual and disciplined life in Christ that is attainable in Great Lent! Joy, though, is the common attribute of the personalities of those whom I have introduced thus far and those whom you will come to know and appreciate through further writings and discussions, who live a Lenten lifestyle on a daily basis.
Yes, fasting challenges our dependency on an overindulgent amount of food and lifestyle. Of course, services celebrated at the various hours of the day and the night are taxing. By all means, almsgiving takes from our creature comforts and makes us live a bit meeker. And, yet, they remain joyous?
I will close my writing with a most fitting dialogue with Fr. Cheroubim, the Dikaios (Custodian or Superintendent) of the Skete, the Elder of the home attached to the Chapel of the Presentation of Mary to the Temple, and the bearer of our relic of St. Anna. It was a late afternoon as my fathers and I sat on his balcony overlooking the Aegean Sea with Fr. Theophilos, and Petro, all enjoying over ripe persimmons and a glass of cold water. After laughing for some time over a particular matter, Fr. Cheroubim transitioned to a thought that each of us ought embrace as we enter the Great Lent and mature in our spiritual exercise whether in the parish or the monastic setting. He said, “After 25 years here at the Skete, I have come to realize that if it wasn’t for our personalities and a sense of humor, the monastic life would be impossible.” A further prodding led him to continue, and I paraphrase, “We can’t become something we are not. We must instead become what we are intended to be, that is, unique creations of God, gifted with unique charismas of the Holy Spirit, given to us unto our salvation. This is what is needful for a life in Christ and by all means it makes us joyous!”
I pray that each and every member of our parish family be granted a most blessed Great Lent. May God, through the intercessions of our matron Anna, now physically present with us in Roseville, grant us every good gift and a joyous spirit, unto our salvation!
