(Registered Charity No.1047287)
Ironstone Farmhouse, Milton, Banbury OX15 4HH
Newsletter No. 4, March 1997
This newsletter is designed to accompany -- and supplement -- the Annual Report for 1996. While its main thrust is to look forward to forthcoming events, it also provides an opportunity to menton a few things that have happened since the compilation of the Report.
The 1997 Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Following the success of last year's AGM, we have decided to maintain the format of an all-day meeting with a buffet lunch, again at St Anne's College, Oxford. It will be held on Thursday 15 May. Tickets are available fromn Anthony Kedros. Please indicate your intentions on the enclosed form and send it to him no later than 28 April. Guests are welcome as always.
This year my term of office as Secretary-Treasurer expires. I hereby give notice that I am willing to offer myself for re-election as Secretary but not as Treasurer. There is therefore a vacancy on the Executive Committee fora new member to fill that office. I myself shall be proposing Mr Stephen Badger, who is willing to serve. Any other nominations for either office should reach me in writing at least seven days before the AGM.
Pilgrimage to Tolleshunt Knights
We have been invited to visit the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex on Saturday 21 June. We plan to arrive in the early afternoon, perhaps after a picnic lunch, and to leave after Vespers. Anyone interested in coming should contact me or Dimitri Conomos as soon as possible, and no later than the end of April, so that travelling arrangements can be made in good time.
Change in the regulations for entry to Mount Athos
Contrary to the procedure described in the Pilgrim's Guide to Mount Athos (p. 8), Mrs. Plessa is no longer able to admit foreign pilgrims without a letter of recommendation from their embassy or consulate (such letters are available from the British Embassy in Athens without charge or from the British Consulate in Thessaloniki in exchange for 10,000 drachmas). A letter from a church or university is not sufficient. Mrs. Plessa is hopeful that the change may yet be reversed; but at the time of writing this is the situation. You have been warned!
FOMA Travel Bursary
Request for Information about Iviron
If anyone knows of the whereabouts of any paintings or engravings of the monastery of Iviron, Derek Simons (Edge View, Birds Barn Lane, Wolverley, Kidderminster DY11 5SG) would be pleased to hear of it.
Sacred relics of St Maximos the Greek
The sacred relics of St Maximos the Greek, Enlightener of the Russians (1470-1556), are to be returned from Moscow to the monastery of Vatopedi in the second week of May. There is great rejoicing among the Fathers at the prospect of this event, which we have been asked to publicize in the British press.
Thessaloniki -- Cultural Capital of Europe
This year Thessaloniki assumes the mantle of Cultural Capital of Europe and presents, among other attractions, a 'monumental and unique' exhibition of the treasures of the Holy Mountain in the Museum of Byzantine Culture from 21 June to 31 December. An area of 1600 square metres will be devoted to a display of Athonite material categorized under four heads: the natural environment, the architectural environment, everyday life and worship, and the holy treasures. This wide-ranging exhibition has taken two years to prepare and is to be accompanied by 'voluminous printed matter'. It will no doubt be of great interest to all members of the Friends, whether or not they have already had the opportunity to see some of the exhibits in situ. A retrospect will appear in the Annual Report for 1997.
Relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate
'A new age is opening in the relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Holy Mountain', according to a report in Kathimerini (15 December 1996) of a meeting between Patriarch Bartholomaios, numerous representatives of the Holy Community, and the new civil governor, Mr Stavros Psycharis, and his deputy, Mr Aristos Kasmiroglou. The 'three strands in the fabric of the Holy Mountain' -- the Patriarchate, the Holy Community, and the civil administration -- expressed their respect for each other and their determination to overcome 'any problems that had recently arisen' in order to 'preserve and strengthen the Holy Mountain as the Ark of Orthodoxy'.
The Patriarch urged the monks to 'preserve unadulterated the authentic monastic character of the Holy Mountain, avoiding by all means whatever might give it a worldly distinction'; he described as 'unacceptable' the presence of vehicles other than those conveying materials for works in the monasteries; he stressed that 'for the Phanar there are no pro- and anti-Patriarchate Holy Monasteries... all have been patriarchal for centuries and will remain so... even Esphigmenou'; he reiterated that he had no wish to become involved in the internal affairs of the Holy Epistasia or of the monasteries, but that he would never divest the Phanar of its spiritual role on the Mountain; finally he expressed the hope that 'there are on the Holy Mountain many souls pleasing to God so that it may be preserved from all manner of danger, both internal and external'.
During the two-hour meeting the following priorities were established:
The report concluded that 'there has opened a new period of co-operation which will rest upon mutual candour, upon dialogue, and above all upon the total clarification of the historical roles each party plays, having as their common purpose the preservation and continuance of the progress of the singular spiritual heritage of Athos.
At the time of writing we have learned that the report of the meeting has been received in a positive and constructive light by the majority of monks on the Holy Mountain.
Amen.
Subscriptions for 1997
Subscriptions for 1997 are now due. The rates are unchanged (£ 10 for individuals, £ 5 concessions). Cheques should be made payable to the Friends of Mount Athos and sent to the Secretary at the above address as soon as possible. Arrangements for overseas members to pay in US dollars remain as before.
Graham Speake
Hon. Secretary