Visiting Chilandar Monastery |
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The Holy Mountain - Mount Athos - the world’s only monastic state, and the Chilandar Monastery, an oasis of prayer, tranquility and a holy place of Serbian history and spirituality, are relatively easily accessed, but the strong emotions and impressions linger for some time. |
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The Most Holy Mother of God, together with Holy Apostle Paul, came to the Athonite peninsula by ship to preach about the life, suffering and resurrection of Her Son, Jesus Christ, according to a legend told by Athonite monks.
Then, a few centuries later, Emperor Constantine the Great, the first Christian ruler, chose the Athonite peninsula in Khalkidhikí for his capital, but upon learning that this was the land of the Holy Mother of God, he abandoned his intention, and to glorify the Mother of God, he immediately had three temples built and brought the first monks to the Greek Athos. The first of the three temples were built in Karyes, the very center of the Holy Mountain, and the remaining two in the location where the Mother of God, according to tradition, appeared and where her body and soul were subsequently taken up into heaven after her death. |
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Origin
According to some sources, a Greek monastery called Helandarion stood on the site of present-day Chilandar from the tenth century until 1169, when it was abandoned after attacks by pirates. When Grand zupan Stefan Nemanja joined his son Rastko on Mount Athos, or the monk Sava as he was known, they initially stayed at Vatopedi monastery. As it was their wish to establish a Serbian monastery on Mount Athos, father and son turned to Stefan’s father-in-law, Byzantine emperor Alexis III Angelos, to obtain the abandoned monastery.
The emperor granted this wish in 1198, issuing a chysobull to monks Simeon and Sava in which he stated that he was giving Chilandar and Millea (the area surrounding the monastery) as "a gift eternal to the Serbs".
With Stefan’s help, work began that same year, but St. Simeon died the following year. Work on the monastery was completed in 1199. in addition to the Church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God, the great tower (pyrgos) was also built, as well as monastic cells. The monastery boasted some fifteen monks at the time, but their number soon grew to 90.
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| Theodosius I (the Great) continued Constantine’s work and to built the Vatopedi monastery, while his daughter Pulcheria, showing equal commitment to the Christian faith, built the Xeropotamou and Esphigmenou monasteries on Mount Athos. Though she built the monasteries, she could not remain on the Holy Mountain, because, according to the tradition of the Athonite monks, "One day, when she was about to step into the monastery, Pulcheria heard the voice of the Mother of God stop her in her intention". Since that time it has been decreed that no females be allowed on Mount Athos. Women have been banned from setting foot on the holy ground and this rule is strictly obeyed in the monastic state to this day. Thus, even so many centuries after Pulcheria, only men are allowed to come to the Chilandar Monastery on Mount Athos. |
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Before boarding a boat from Ouranopolis to Mount Athos, one must obtain a visa for the monastic state, which can be done either in Ouranopolis or in Thessaloniki. After a one-hour trip, the boat reaches its first stop, a small arsanas called Giovanitsa. Upon disembarking, the visitor steps directly and personally steps into history.
It is a half hour drive, straight uphill in an old off-road vehicle, from the small cove to Chilandar monastery. It is only at the top of the hill that the beautiful site of Chilandar Monastery comes into view. This direct encounter with history is indescribable, especially on the first visit; this is the place where St. Sava and his father St. Simeon (Stefan Nemanja) laid the foundations of Serbian spirituality, culture and literacy.
It is as difficult to explain why the fire of March 4, 2004 caused so much destruction to this Serbian holy place. One soon realizes that the television images depicting the damage pale in comparison to what Chilandar actually suffered. A large fire also destroyed or damaged many of Chilandar’s buildings back in 1772, and renewing the monastery lasted the duration of the 18th century. What happened to the monastery a year and a half ago, however, caused not only material damage, but spiritual and cultural loss as well.
Experts say nearly two-thirds of Chilandar monastery - the cornerstone of Serbia’s spiritual, religious and national existence - perished in the flames. Fortunately, or by the grace of God, the main church (katholikon), the refectory, the treasury, the library, St. Sava’s Tower, the many side chapels, the phiale, the grapevine of St. Simeon and the famed monastery cypresses all escaped damage.
The fire’s searing scars and devastation are still evident today, after a year and a half. Steel structures now support what fire had spared, and visitors cannot but notice two towering construction cranes as soon as they arrive. Beyond the monastery walls, workers are busy building new monastery dormitories, while the Serbian army has sent construction equipment, generators and other materials.
Only a portion of the charred ruins have been cleared. The extent of work ahead is great. It will be a long road to renew and re-build the monastic complex, and assistance is highly regarded and most welcome. Nonetheless, the monks believe that with determination, hard work, forbearance and prayer, the imperial lavra will shine again with the brilliance of St. Sava and St. Simeon, and that Chilandar, once rebuilt, will continue to serve as our beacon.
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The Sound of the Semantron in the Night |
Despite the great tragedy that befell them, the monks of Chilandar have managed to proceed with their daily devotions to God. In their daily hesychasm and prayers — having taken vows of obedience, repentance, forgiveness, humility, mercy and love, poverty and chastity — they, as they themselves point out, strive to fill their lives with virtues so that we, whose lives are not consecrated, will take after them and mend our ways, insofar as the labyrinth of urban, instant civilization allows.
Perhaps this is another reason why Chilandar is so unique, other worldly, mystical and timeless. Behind the now charred external walls, and what is left of the monks’ cells, it’s as though biblical or Byzantine time has stopped.
As it has done for eight long centuries, the sound of a wooden semantron calls the Chilandar monks to liturgy in the middle of a warm summer night. Liturgy lasts from three to nine-thirty in the morning on Sundays in the monastery’s Church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God (in the Temple). In church, in liturgy and in making specific monastic reverences, time passes as if it were from another world. In the presence of the famous and most treasured Athonite icon, the miracle-working Tricherousa, the monks chant in low voices, candle flames flicker, and Chilandar frankincense gives its special scent; in the presence of the reliquary of St. Simeon and the always empty cathedra (seat of the monastery elder) — because the abbess of Holy Mountain, Chilandar monastery included, is the Most Holy Mother of God — time passes here as if it were otherworldly.
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St. Simeon’s grapevine
At the southern side of the katholikon one can see a towering and elaborate grapevine climbing its pergola. It emerges from the church wall at about a half metre above the tomb of St. Simeon, who was buried within the church walls.
According Chilandar tradition, seven years after the death of St. Simeon, St. Sava came to Chilandar from his hermit’s cell in Karyes to transport his father’s relics to Serbia, and with this to reconcile his feuding brothers. The Chilandar monks wept inconsolably over St. Simeon’s relics. It was then that St. Simeon came to abbot Methodius in a dream and told him that it was necessary for his relics to be transferred to Serbia, but "as a token of consolation to the monastery’s brethren a grapevine would grow from his empty tomb, and, as long as it bore fruit, his blessing would be upon Chilandar".
The grapevine indeed appeared, as a miracle of God, and remains there to this day. In addition, it has born fruit abundantly for eight centuries without fail, although, as the monks say, no other attention is paid to it except regular pruning. This grapevine is known not only for the wonderful story behind its naissance, but possesses one more quality: its fruit successfully solves the problem of infertility of married couples, who through prayer and faith accept this miraculous remedy. Many examples testify to this…
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After service, the monks and their guests leave for the frescoed refectory, to have lunch. This is the way it has always been here.
No words, no metaphors, no description or conveying of an impression, not even photographs, can describe the timelessness that can only be felt and experienced in person in Chilandar. One must admit that this is reason enough to return to the monastery, and experience this again… and perhaps to come to understand why it is precisely here that our spiritual roots lay and why Chilandar has been and remains throughout the centuries a symbol of eternity... of a nation, of a spirit, of a time, of a faith…
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