By the grace of God and the blessing of the Most Holy Theotokos, we were greatly blessed to welcome, for the first time, the abbot of the Holy Monastery of Esphigmenou on Mount Athos, His Very Reverend Archimandrite Bartholomew, along with monks from his monastery and accompanied by the Very Reverend Archimandrite Nikanor from the Monastery of the Holy Unmercenaries in the city of Pernik. At the solemn and official monastic reception (ipodochí), our Elder and Abbot, His Grace Bishop Parthenius of Antania, gifted the Athonite Elder an archimandrite’s cross, commemorating the thousand-year anniversary of Bigorski Monastery. According to monastic tradition, the esteemed guest and his companions were led into the Church of the Forerunner with hymns and bells, where a fitting prayer service was offered. Our Elder, Bishop Parthenius, warmly greeted Archimandrite Bartholomew with a heartfelt welcome, emphasizing the favor and love of the Abbess of the Holy Mountain, the Most Holy Lady Theotokos. Following the reception of our Church into liturgical unity by the Most Holy Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the All-Pure One has filled us with joy through the arrival of our honored brethren from Mount Athos:
Your Very Reverend and Holy Abbot,
This blessed event brings us great joy, especially as you are the first abbot from Mount Athos to visit our monastery officially since the proclamation of the liturgical and canonical unity of our Church by the Holy See of the Mother Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. For us, as for all Orthodox Christians, Mount Athos holds deep significance. Everything you see here in our monastery, this brotherhood, is thanks to the Mother of God, who once graciously illumined the venerable Elder George Kapsanis to open the doors of his heart and his monastery to the first monks from Mount Athos from our land. Thus, with the blessing of the Most Holy Theotokos from her sacred Garden, and through the holy Elder of Gregoriou Monastery, everything began—the renewal of communal monasticism. This has always been the case throughout history. The grace-filled streams of Athonite spirituality have continually enlightened our monks and our people.
The noble influence of Mount Athos on our land and people has been immense throughout history. Our people have always revered that sacred Garden of the Most Holy Theotokos. Everything that comes from there is regarded with the greatest reverence, as something most holy. Therefore, we see your presence today as a special blessing from our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, and we greet it with great joy. You have brought the blessing of Mount Athos here, just days after the arrival of the good news from the radiant center of Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Our honor and joy are even greater because we have heard of your love for the Mother Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and especially for His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew—a patriarch whom we can freely call great. Indeed, he has become for us a second Photius the Great, like the first who sent Saints Cyril and Methodius to bring the light of the Gospel to the Slavs. Through the person of Patriarch Bartholomew, and by his gracious reception of us into the fold of the Church and the family of the Orthodox, we have experienced a second enlightenment. By his prayers and efforts, reconciliation with the Serbian Orthodox Church was achieved, officially sealed by the recent concelebration in Belgrade. We sincerely hope that from today onward, a greater cooperation will begin between us and the monastic community of Mount Athos, with you and with other abbots and monks of the Garden of the Mother of God. Once again, we warmly welcome you and thank you for the heavenly joy you have brought us.
Christ is risen!
Deeply moved by what he had seen, heard, and felt, Elder Bartholomew of Esphigmenou Monastery responded warmly, testifying that he felt like a part of our monastery’s brotherhood:
Your Grace, Holy Abbot, together with your blessed companions, the faithful, and the pilgrims who have come here to the Monastery,
Please forgive my excitement. A secret desire that I have had for many years is now being fulfilled in a most wondrous way. It was not in our plans to come here to the Monastery, for our mission was to take the relics of Saints Cyril and Methodius, kept in our monastery, to Sofia for veneration. Archimandrite Nikanor from the Monastery of the Holy Unmercenaries in Pernik is a brother of our Monastery, and we also consider his monastery as our own. It was he who devised and realized the plan for us to come here today. Within me, I felt great joy because I had heard of, seen, and felt the presence of your Monastery. And now, I see and feel this joy, being physically present in your Monastery. By the grace of God, we are living through historic moments during this time, and each one of us becomes a small part of the history that is being written. We cannot offer anything but thanks to the all-good God, who allows such wondrous events to occur in our lives, even amidst the dead-ends that seem to dominate our existence. Where man reaches a dead-end, God opens all the doors. We are living in the grandeur of God’s grace. After the lifting of that schism, which for so many years troubled the Church and Orthodoxy, we now witness the miracle of us all being together in the same place. Therefore, let me say, as I come to your Monastery for the first time: Thank you for welcoming me to my Monastery. I truly feel like part of your community, like one of your fathers. This is the grace of God and the grace of the Theotokos, who blesses the whole world, especially us monks. Our blessed Elder Chrysostomos used to say: ‘We monks do not fully understand the reality we live in. We are the princes of this world!’ If we truly understood the magnitude of the blessing we live in, being monks in a monastery, we would be overwhelmed with joy. Yet that joy comes mysteriously, filling our hearts despite distances, despite language barriers—communication of the heart unites people and makes us all brothers equally. As you rightly and wisely said, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is a wise hierarch, a man of God, sent at the right moment to fulfill God’s plan, which is nothing other than God’s love for mankind and unity among us. His All-Holiness is making a mark on history, and we are in the midst of that history, rejoicing and tasting its joy. And we wish this joy upon all the fathers and all the pilgrims of this Monastery! May it fill and overflow your hearts, and may God’s grace protect Orthodoxy, the Church, You, Your Grace, as Abbot of this Monastery, and your Church as well, which is taking its first steps out of schism, that it may be blessed and preserved, and become a beacon of Orthodoxy throughout the world, which is so desperately needed. Darkness prevails everywhere, but we must remember that despite the difficulties, the injustices, the pain, and death, and despite the absolute darkness that seems to rule the world, the Crucified One is always victorious. And we are children of the Crucified, and through that Cross, we taste the Resurrection. Therefore, from my heart, I proclaim ‘Christ is risen,’ not merely as a customary expression, but as a cry, a prayer to the all-good God, giving thanks for everything He gives us. We feel resurrected!
Christ is risen!
May the Lord God, through the prayers of the Most Pure Theotokos, continue to bless us with many such joyful and blessed events!
