Persecution of Mount Athos' Esphigmenou Monastery by the EP

[Revnitel]

I have thought long about Mt. Athos and the closing of monasteries. There were monastic settlements elsewhere like Mt. Athos, on Mt. Olympus, in Asia Minor, etc. Sometimes, God simply moves the monks on to holiness and the Prayer elsewhere. When your landlord is an arch heretic, maybe it is for the best.

As far as the end times stuff, from my understanding, we strive and pray for the end times, all of us, to see God's glory and Uncreated Light. The very word Apocalypse means Revelation. As Christians we are called to theosis which ultimately is a life rooted in living a life of Revelation, or of greeting the "end times".

[Matthew]

Well, I hear what you are saying, but the "landlord" of Athos has never been the EP at the phanar. It has always been the Most Holy Theotokos. That is why Athos is known as "The Garden of the Panagia." And besides, where will a monk go in all of Greece that is not a spiritual exile among the vexatious heretics? All that surrounds us in this world today is anti-christ. The only place where there is any solace left is Athos. God help us when that holy place is brought to an end. It will signal the End of the Age.

[Revnitel]

Our solace is in Christ and we can always find it. In Christ we overcome the world, and if He is within, in our hearts, there is no real antichrist who can harm us. The Panagia respects all gardens we might cultivate for her, I suspect.

[Matthew]

Yes, there is the hope that God will and can meet us where we are at and surround us with his protection, and the Theotokos with her favour as we do our best to draw near to Christ, wherever we are. However, having been to Athos on three occasions, I can safely say that it is a unique place, and it is otherworldly in an extremely palpable way. It is a shame that it is being gobbled up by the EP one monastery, and one skete and hermitage at a time as the zealot fathers die off. I also heard that a couple of years ago about 20 fathers left Esphigmenou over a row about something. Apparently, it actually came to blows. I do not know where they have gone.

[Priest Siluan]

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 18, 2013

ARMED GREEK POLICE PLAN TO FORCIBLY REMOVE PEACEFUL MONKS

MOUNT ATHOS, GREECE – Under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos, the Greek government has deployed armed police to forcibly remove the peaceful and defenseless monks of the Holy Monastery of Esphigmenou from their monastery property in Karyes. Armed police are on the scene and roads to the building have been blocked by Greek Police vehicles in anticipation of the planned assault. The police have given the monks a deadline of today,12pm local time to vacate or face an armed assault.

The Greek government has authorized the use of force to resolve a religious dispute after failing to starve the monks into leaving their monastery during a decade-long blockade. For a number of years they have denied the monks deliveries of food, medicine, heating oil, and access to medical attention while simultaneously subjecting them to a non-stop campaign of official harassment and intimidation.

This waste of taxpayer dollars has continued unabated during the financial crisis that has rocked Greece and crippled social services to the poor and for which the UN has criticized the Greek government for falling behind on its human rights obligations.

Under the Greek Constitution, the Greek foreign minister is responsible for the administration of government on Mt. Athos and has ultimate authority on the orders to use armed police there.

The monks have repeatedly requested dialogue with the Greek government as well as Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul to resolve this dispute. The Patriarch has refused to aid in the peaceful reconciliation of this dispute and has encouraged the government to take action against the monks. In September, 2012 the government deployed special riot police MAT and EKAM to the peaceful monastic community in a failed attempt to remove the same defenseless monks.

Mount Athos is the autonomous spiritual center of The Orthodox Church, where the monks are considered defenders of the faith. The Esphigmenou Monastery established in the first millennium, is where the great St. Gregory Palamas was abbot, and where St. Anthony left for Russia to establish Orthodox monasticism. Its remoteness and rugged natural beauty attracts pilgrims and tourists alike, who come to see the art and architecture of the Byzantine Empire.

For over one thousand years the monastery has provided a place of prayer and peace for those who chose the monastic life. It is now threatened with extinction.

http://www.esphigmenou.com/

[Archimandrit Nilos]

We are living in the last days !