Russian Monks on Mount Athos: The Thousand Year History of St Panteleimon's
16439-BKS
$38.95
This is the first detailed history of the Russian presence on the Holy Mountain of Athos that traces it back over one thousand years. It will be invaluable to both historians and the general educated reader. The text is complemented by a timeline, glossary, comprehensive bibliography, index, full-color illustrations and photographs.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 280
— About the Book —
The Holy Mountain of Athos is a self-governing monastic republic on a peninsula in Northern Greece. Standing on the shores of the Aegean Sea is one of the twenty ruling monasteries that comprise the republic, that of St Panteleimon, known in Greek as the Rossikon. Its building, fully restored in recent years, can accommodate up to 5,000 men, reflecting the scale of the settlement at its apogee in the nineteenth century and prior to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 the monastery has experienced a strong revival and is now among the most numerous of the twenty. But the vast buildings that can be seen today are a reflection of only the past two centuries. That the Russian presence on Athos goes back more than one thousand years is much less well known.
This book is the first comprehensive account in the English language of this millennium of history. The author has been able to draw from previously inaccessible archival materials in gathering the wealth of information he shares in this work. The history of the community is not described in geographical isolation but shown as interacting with the much wider worlds of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and the modern nation state of Greece, together with that of the Russian homeland whose political character is constantly evolving. There are shown to be three distinct phases in this history:
- from the tenth to the twelfth centuries when Russian Athonites inhabited the ancient Russian Lavra of the Mother of God, also known as Xylourgou;
- then the six hundred years from the mid-twelfth to the mid-eighteenth century when the ancient Monastery of St Panteleimon was the Russian house on Athos, more commonly referred to as Nagorny or Stary Rusik;
- the most recent 250 years, that are naturally covered in greater depth thanks to the wider availability of sources.
Amongst the themes explored in the book are ethnic relations, the Pan-Orthodox ideal, the role of money and political pressure, sanctity and heroism in adversity, and the importance of historical memory and precedent. The author seeks to arbitrate fairly between often strongly opposing ethnic viewpoints.
It examines in detail the fluctuating fortunes of the monastic community of St Panteleimon during the past 250 years, when its ethnic identity was frequently questioned. St Panteleimon's is a history that has been blighted by Greek-Russian quarrels, mass deportation of dissenting brethren, troubles in the Caucasus, and even tangential implication in the present-day dispute between the Ecumenical and Moscow Patriarchates over Ukraine.
This text will be invaluable to both academic historians and the general educated reader who does not possess specialist knowledge. It is complemented by a timeline, glossary, comprehensive bibliography, index, full-color illustrations and photographs.
— Author Biography —
Nicholas Fennell holds a MA in Modern and Mediaeval Languages from Trinity College Cambridge, where he was a Senior Scholar, and a PhD from Southampton University. He is a member of the Friends of Mount Athos and of the Institute of the Athonite Legacy in Ukraine. The author of three previous books on Athonite Russian history, he has been researching and visiting Mount Athos since the 1980s.
— Contents —
Introduction: The Russian Monastery on Mount Athos
1 - The Monastery’s Early History: from Xylourgou to the Old Mountain Rusik
2 - From Abbot Savvas to Abbot Gerasim
3 - The Return of the Russians in the Reign of Abbot Gerasimos
4 - The New Spiritual Father and Leader of the Russian Brotherhood is Chosen
5 - The Crimean War
6 - The Greek and Russian Brotherhoods at Loggerheads
7 - The Reign of Archimandrite Makary
8 - Makary’s Successors: Abbots Andrey and Nifont 1889–1905
9 - Archimandrite Misail
10- The Name of God Dispute
11 - From 1913 to Abbot Misail’s Death in 1940
12- The Next Four Abbots: from Iustin to Avel´ (1940–1978)
13 - From Abbot Ieremiya to Abbot Evlogy
Conclusion
Timeline
Acknowledgements
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
You May Also Like...
300 Saying of Ascetics of the Orthodox Church
$6.00
Paperback: 96 pages
In this book over three hundred sayings of Orthodox saints from twelve different countries are collected. Their words express spiritual experience tested by the ages. Their words contain many answers about what happens with us and those near to us. The saints show that divine righteousness is joined to our everyday life. This righteousness of God has transfigured millions of people around the world, and has brought many of them to holiness and perfection.
A Beacon of Hope: The Teaching of Father Ilarion
$15.00
Author: Kopyttseva, Natalia Mikhailovna
Form: Paperback
Pages: 240
This book is the ideal companion to the previously published Champion of Good: The Life of Father Ilarion (Holy Trinity Publications, Jordanville, 2011). All who have already encountered Father Ilarion through his life will be equally engaged by his words. Those who meet him first through his preaching will want to go on to read his life. Together, they convey a potent message of the possibilities that open to the human soul that turns to God with singleness of mind and humility. The sermons are grouped by subjects. One index lists the sermons in church calendar order and the other index lists the sermons in chronological order for those who wish to see what was preached in an historical context.
Copyright Holy Trinity Monastery
A Champion of Good: The Life of Father Ilarion
$20.00
Author: Kopyttseva, Natalia Mikhailovna
Form: Paperback
Pages: 216
In Father I saw a person who lived for God…. In all life’s situations, Fr Ilarion maintained a grace-imbued state of spirit, the fruits of which were love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and the other virtues that made it impossible to be near him and not feel glad just to be alive.
Many lovers of literature are familiar, through Dostoyevsky’s works, with the concept of the Russian "Staretz," or spiritual elder. This biography offers a vivid portrayal of an authentic Staretz of our own day, Father Ilarion—a monk of the renowned Glinsk hermitage in modern-day Ukraine, who spent much of his life as a parish priest in a village in the Novgorod region of Russia. His life offers a vision of a simple Christian life in the contemporary world that will captivate the reader and awaken or rekindle a desire to live a life centered on the love of God and neighbour rather than on the pursuit of material wealth.
It also presents unique insights into the Orthodox Church in Russia under communism and in the immediate post-communist period, demonstrating how the Faith was kept alive after the closure of so many churches and monasteries and the exile or execution of clergy and believers. The account of the life of the Glinsk hermitage is particularly detailed. With many first hand contributions from Father Ilarion’s spiritual children, this history also provides a glimpse into contemporary Russian culture and religious perspectives.
The book includes an eight page glossy photo insert.
Copyright Holy Trinity Publications
A Faith Encouraged: A Devotional Guide to Being Orthodox on Purpose
$20.00
In the style of his beloved podcast, Fr. Barnabas Powell offers reflections for each workday of the year to inspire us to live out our faith in the real world every day. Read these brief, pithy thoughts for a shot of encouragement to live each day as Orthodox on Purpose.
Format: Paperback
Page Length: 272 pages