There is a night in which the wilderness speaks. There is a birth after which aged lips, silenced for months, are opened once again — not merely to speak, but to sing praise. Such is this night: the night on which our holy Bigorski Monastery celebrates its solemn feast — the Nativity of the honorable and glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, Saint John, he than whom none greater has arisen among those born of women.
For even before he beheld the world, he already knew the Light: while still in his mother’s womb, he leapt at the coming of the Savior, as a lamb leaps before the springtime sun. And when the days were fulfilled, and the barren Elizabeth gave birth, then the speechless Zacharias found his word again — and the first word of his loosened tongue was not a reproach against silence, but a blessing to God. Behold the whole mystery of this day: barrenness blossoms, silence sings, and in the desert place there is conceived that voice which will soon cry out over the Jordan: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.” A lamp before the never-setting Sun, the friend of the Bridegroom who rejoices at His voice — such is our most beloved Forerunner, and such is our feast.
And just as once the whole people from the regions around the Jordan went out to him in the wilderness, so now, on this blessed night, a multitude of Orthodox faithful gathered in the Bigorski wilderness, to glorify the Nativity of the Baptist with one heart and one mouth.
An all-night, many-hour vigil was celebrated — a prayerful current in which the hours seemed to lose their measure, while hearts were gathered into one single thanksgiving to God and to His glorious Forerunner. In the quiet majesty of the divine service, under the spiritual care and prayerful guidance of our Elder, His Grace Bishop Parthenius of Antania, and with the loving participation of the brotherhood, of our dear guests from Mount Athos, Greece, and Romania, and of the assembled faithful, the Bigorski Monastery once again revealed itself as a house of prayer and a harbor of joy. Above the Bigorski rock, in the home of the Honorable Forerunner, there was felt that grace-filled unity of the Church, in which every guest, every pilgrim, and every person at prayer becomes part of one great doxology, clothed in peace, dignity, and spiritual gladness.
And to our great joy, upon this feast there also descended the blessing of the Queen Mother, through her most blessed Garden. Namely, for the all-night vigil there arrived: the esteemed Athonite Elder Antipas, together with his fellow monk Fr. Theodosios; our dear brother in Christ, Archimandrite Matthaios, likewise from the Garden of the Most Holy Theotokos; together with the esteemed fathers, Archimandrite Prodromos from the Metropolis of Karpenisi and Archimandrite Philaret from the Metropolis of Thebes; as well as the esteemed Protopresbyter Fr. Themistoklis from the Church of Saint Eleutherios in Athens and the esteemed Hierodeacon Chrysostom from Mount Athos.
A special and truly historic honor, as well as a great spiritual consolation for our monastic community, was the presence of the Civil Governor of the Holy Mountain of Athos, and also Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, Mr. Alkiviadis Stefanis, who arrived together with Fr. Antipas. His coming represents an event of particular significance, for the first time in our Monastery — and indeed in our lands — such a high-ranking person connected with the sacred Athonite State, with its centuries-old order, spiritual dignity, and living monastic tradition, set foot here. In his visit one could recognize a bridge of love and respect between Bigorski Monastery and Mount Athos, between the mountain of the Forerunner and the Garden of the Theotokos, between our holy Monastery and that holy land which for centuries has been the heart of Orthodox monasticism. The Monastery rejoiced with the Athonite spirit, so that it seemed as though Athos itself, with its grace-filled elders, guardians, and devout servants, had come as a guest to the Forerunner — one monastic wilderness bowing before another monastic wilderness. Immediately before the beginning of the vigil, our Elder, His Grace Bishop Parthenius of Antania, first addressed those present with a warm and heartfelt word, greeting the distinguished guests with love and respect:
Your Excellency, esteemed Civil Governor of Mount Athos and Archon of the Great Church of Christ and of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, Mr. Alkiviadis Stefanis,
Your Very Reverences,
Most honorable fathers, and beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord,
On this blessed evening, as the Spirit of God leads us into the all-night vigil for the radiant and joy-bearing Nativity of Saint John, the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, the heart of our sacred Bigorski Monastery is filled with special gratitude, compunction, and spiritual gladness. For this night is not merely another gathering in prayer, but a mystical continuation of that joy which began in the house of the righteous Zacharias and Elizabeth, when, after many prayers, silence, tears, and expectation, there was born the voice of the Word, the lamp of the Sun, the Forerunner of the Savior.
Saint John is the one who stands at the boundary between the old and the new, between the shadow and the fulfillment, between longing and manifestation. He is the desert-dweller who made the wilderness a temple, the silent one who became the strongest voice, the ascetic who kept nothing for himself, but transformed his entire life into a pointing toward Christ: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Therefore, our Monastery, which from its very foundation has lived under his protecting blessing, tonight gives thanks to God with particular trembling and awe for all His mercies and providential gifts.
And one of these gifts, undoubtedly, is this blessed continuation of the joy which the Lord has granted us in these holy days. After having had yesterday the honor and blessing of welcoming to our Monastery our dear and ever-beloved father and brother in Christ, Archimandrite Matthaios, as well as with the esteemed fathers, Archimandrite Prodromos, from the Metropolis of Karpenisi, and Archimandrite Philaretos, from the Metropolis of Thebes, and likewise our dear Protopresbyter Fr. Themistoklis from Athens and our dear hierodeacon Chrysostomos, today yet another priceless joy is granted to us: your presence among us, esteemed Mr. Alkiviadis Stefanis.
For our monastic community, this represents great spiritual consolation, a visit of profound significance, and truly a historic honor. For the first time, in this holy Monastery — and we may say, in these lands of ours as well — there sets foot such a high-ranking person, directly connected with the sacred Athonite State, with its centuries-old order, with its spiritual dignity, and with the living monastic tradition which there, like an inextinguishable vigil lamp, has burned for more than a thousand years.
Your coming, together with our beloved brother in Christ, the esteemed Athonite elder, Geronda Antipas, we experience truly as a great and blessed sign. In it we recognize a bridge of love, respect, and spiritual kinship between Bigorski Monastery and the Holy Mountain of Athos; between the mountain of the Forerunner and the Garden of the Mother of God; between our humble Monastery, nestled in these mountain embraces, and that holy land which for centuries has been the heart of Orthodox monasticism, a school of repentance, a workshop of prayer and holiness, and a quiet sanctuary of universal Orthodoxy.
Of your devotion and love for Mount Athos, esteemed Mr. Stefanis, we have heard with respect from Geronda Antipas, as well as from other Athonite fathers. Yet, by God’s providence, we also had the opportunity to be personally assured of this love of yours, of that sincere zeal for the Garden of the Most Holy Theotokos, when we heard your address at the symposium dedicated to the blessed memory of Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra, held in Athens on May 9 of this year. There we clearly felt that your service to Mount Athos is not merely a duty arising from an entrusted responsibility, but also an inward attachment, reverence, and spiritual love for its holy tradition.
Mount Athos has never been merely a geographical place. It is a spiritual condition, a liturgical breath, a grace-filled mystery of the Church. There, beneath the protection of our Most Holy Lady, the Theotokos, and under the blessing of the First-Throned Ecumenical Patriarchate, peoples lose their divisions not because they cease to be what they are, but because they become what they are called to be: one body in Christ, one heart in prayer, one soul in repentance, one holy communion in the Chalice of the Lord.
Precisely there, in the Athonite tradition, the profound meaning of Romiosini is revealed with particular clarity: not as a narrow ethnic or political belonging, but as a supranational, ecclesial, and spiritual identity of the Orthodox; as a mode of existence in which different peoples, languages, and cultures are gathered into one faith, one Divine Liturgy, and one conciliar consciousness. All languages and all peoples, throughout the centuries, have learned there that true belonging does not abolish the homeland, but sanctifies it; it does not humiliate a people, but raises it toward the catholicity of the Church.
The monks who were nourished by that Athonite spirit, when they returned to their own lands, did not bring with them ideology, but peace; they did not bring human pride, but grace-filled humility; they did not bring divisions, but the experience of unity. So it was throughout the centuries, and so it was with us as well. The blessed Elder George Kapsanis, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Gregoriou, in a time that was very difficult, unfavorable, and burdened with political and social prejudices, opened the gates of his heart to several monks from our country. He did not look upon us through the prism of earthly divisions, but with the eyes of the Church, with the gaze of a spiritual father, who in every person seeks the image of God and the possibility of resurrection.
From him we received not only Athonite hospitality, but also a spiritual testament. When the time came for us to return to our homeland, he blessed us and reminded us that monasteries must be open to every person; that the people thirst for living monasticism; that monastic communities must not be closed fortresses, but embraces of the Church, places where a person finds himself once again in God. The Elder had the opportunity to know the circumstances here, and therefore his word to us was not a distant lesson, but a prophetic direction, a fatherly blessing, and a foundation for the work which afterward, by the mercy of God, began to be built.
And behold, today, after three decades, as this Monastery, with self-sacrifice and love, strives to be an open home for every person, a hospital for wounded souls, a harbor for the young, a consolation for the elderly, and a witness to the faith and love of Christ in an environment often tested by various hardships, we experience your presence among us as an acknowledgment of that Athonite blessing. Not as an acknowledgment of our human merits — for everything good is from God — but as a testimony that the seed sown by the prayers of the Athonite fathers, by the tears of our predecessors, and under the protection of the holy Forerunner, has indeed borne some fruit.
Therefore, esteemed Mr. Stefanis, we thank you from the depths of our heart for graciously consenting to be with us tonight. Your presence is a great honor for our Monastery, but also a joy for all who love Mount Athos and see in it a spiritual mother, who unobtrusively, without noise, without earthly authority, and without vanity, has for centuries preserved the deepest dignity of the Orthodox person: prayer, repentance, obedience, liturgical unity, and love for Christ.
We also thank you very much, beloved Geronda Antipas, for enriching this evening with your Athonite presence and for bringing to us that fragrance of the Athonite desert, where silence speaks, where night becomes light, where man, stripped of everything, is clothed in the grace of God.
From our heart, we also thank the members of the choir “Nektarios Protopsaltis” from Bucharest, who, together with their spiritual guide, our beloved Father Ioan, with love and great self-sacrifice traveled especially from distant Romania, in order to enrich our monastic feast and this holy vigil with their prayerful and compunctionate chanting. Their presence tonight is yet another testimony that Eastern Orthodox chant transcends borders and languages, and that in common doxology we all become one choir before the face of God.
May this all-night vigil become our common thanksgiving to God, our common prayer to Saint John the Forerunner, our loving embrace toward Mount Athos, and our humble supplication for the unity of all Orthodox Christians. May the Forerunner of the Lord, who sought nothing for himself, but gave himself entirely to Christ, teach us also to live not for our own glory, but for the glory of God; not for divisions, but for peace; not for ourselves, but for the Church of God.
Welcome to the Home of Saint John the Baptist. May this vigil be blessed for you, may your prayer be peaceful, and may all of us together, on this holy night, feel the gentle touch of the grace of God. Amen.
To this address by the Elder, with equal honor, dignity, and sincere gratitude and love, responded the Civil Governor of the Holy Mountain of Athos, Mr. Alkiviadis Stefanis:
Your Grace, Bishop of Antania, holy Abbot of the Sacred Monastery of the Honorable Forerunner, Kyr Partenij, bless!
Thank you very much for your kind words, but I would like to point out that the honor is mine to be here. For a very long time I had wished to come to your monastery, having heard so many exceptionally good things about you.
What should I mention first? The restoration from the ashes of this wonderful place? The exceptional woodcarvings of the iconostasis? The holy icon? Your spirituality and the way in which you guide the young?
May the Holy God keep you well, so that you may continue to offer and serve in this wonderful place.
I would like to say two things, holy Elder, and then I will conclude.
The first: I was impressed by the dignity, faith, and reverence of the faithful who are here in the church. And above all, by the way in which they express their love for you.
And the second: I was glad to see children from the Athoniada here, who came and spoke with me. We on Mount Athos are very proud of the children of the Athoniada who come from here, and we congratulate their parents for the wonderful beings they have brought into the world.
I am also glad, Elder, because I see here many monks, respected monks from Mount Athos. Therefore, we feel that we are now on Mount Athos. After all, you too are an Athonite.
In closing, I want to say this: when I am on the Holy Mountain, people ask me which monastery is my favorite, and I answer that all twenty monasteries are my favorites. From now on, I will say that twenty-one monasteries are my favorites, adding this holy Monastery here as well.
My Elder, your blessing. I love you very much!
The vigil was adorned and made heavenly by the beautiful Byzantine chanting of the choir “Nektarios Protopsaltis” from Bucharest, who, especially for the feast of Bigorski, together with their spiritual leader, the devout presbyter Ioan, traveled the long road from Romania in order to lay their gift — their voice — at the feet of “the Voice crying in the wilderness.” Together with them resounded also the beautiful chanting of our brothers, with the choir “Metropolitan Kozma of Prečista,” so that in one single doxology the distant and the near, the foreign and the familiar, were joined together; for in Christ there is no longer anything distant or foreign.
Thus, in the home of the Honorable Forerunner, this blessed night remained as a radiant witness that the Church speaks most deeply when she prays, that the wilderness becomes paradise when doxology is heard within it, and that the joy of Christ’s friend, Saint John, even today gathers hearts in peace, gratitude, and love.
