Monthly Archives: Μάιος 2020

Among the personalities of the Monastery, it is worth mentioning the scholarly monk Chrysostomos, who has served as a librarian of the monastery for many years and has been an excellent codewriter.
We should also mention the late Archbishop of Australia, Kyros Ezekiel, who fell in love with the Holy Athos and especially the Xenophontos Monastery, so that after his resignation he settled there, in the cell of St Tryphonus, which he refurbished from the ground up.

The monk Gregorios, the secretary of the Monastery, was also an important presence. A descendant of the well-known, influential Mavrokordatos family, the monk was a friend of Gregory VI, with whom he corresponded. Their correspondence is preserved today in the archives of the Monastery.
Prior to 1827, the well-known scholar and Hieromonk Prokopios Dendrinos resided at the Monastery for a short time. He wrote or issued many books on theological subjects, and was the first teacher at the seminary which operated on Poros by order of Ioannis Capodistrias, the first Governor of the independent Greek state.
Finally, Nikiforos Kalogeras, who later became the Archbishop of Patra and Ileas and a professor at the Theological School of the University of Athens, was tonsured as a monk at the Monastery. He dedicated sacred vestments to the Monastery.

Among the numerous scholars who resided at the Monastery during the late-Ottoman era was the Archimandrite Leontios Kaisareus, who was connected with the Monastery since 1832. Being the friend of the Patriarch Gregorios VI, he practised at the Great Church of Christ and served the community of the faithful in Konstantinople, and also worked in Thessaloniki as a teacher and preacher. He participated in the Central Ecclesiastical Committee of the Patriarchate, where in Konstantinople in 1843, he edited the patriarchal edition of the corrected Μηναίων (monthly calendar of religious feasts), a valuable, monumental work. Upon arriving at Mt Athos, he originally resided at the St Panteleimonos Monastery, and moved to the Xenofontos Monastery from there, where he resided until his death in 1852. He left a part of his library of important manuscripts to the Monastery as a legacy.

An important part in the history of the Monastery was played by the Metropolite Samakovios Filotheos of Lesbos, whose presence at the Monastery after his resignation from the throne in 1819 is connected with his obtaining economic support for the construction of the new cathedral in a variety of ways. In 1821, Filotheos was among the Xenofontian fathers who ‘took to the road’ after being forced to relocate to the metochi of the Monastery on Skopelos. He died there either that same year, or the one following.
It likely that the scholarly monk Theoklitos Karatzas the Byzantine resided in the Monastery. A descendant of the well-known family of Konstantinople, he was mainly known for the collection of legal canons he wrote. His works are contained in a number of manuscripts, two of which are at the Xenofontos Monastery.

After the particularly difficult period for Mt Athos during the Greek Revolution, the leadership of the Abbot was assumed by Nikiforos of Evia, who directed the Monastery for 41 years, taking on the demanding task of completing the new cathedral and its interior decoration with the unique marble accoutrements which decorate the entire central nave.

Apart from the significant figures of the original holy founder of the Monastery and its second founder, Symeon the Blessed, during the Byzantine era, important luminaries also resided there during later periods of the historic life of the Monastery, playing key roles in both its spiritual and general development, as well as increasing the Monastery’s presence both within and outside of Mt Athos.
Among the important personages, the first place – together with the first founders of the Monastery – is held by the Leader of the Community and new founder, Paisios Kavsokalyvitos of Lesbos.

The Monastery also has pieces of holy relics of the New-martyrs Theodoros of Byzantium and Theodoros of Mytilene; the Holy-martyrs Efthimios, Ignatios and Akakios the Athonite; St Ignatios of Mithimnis; St Gregorios of Assos; the newly-canonized Martyrs Rafael, Nikolaos and Eirini; the New-Martyr Georgios of Ioannina; St Nektarios of Pentapoleos; a vertebra of St Nifon, the Patriarch of Konstantinople; the Holy Gerasimos Makrinitis, and the Holy Simeon the Barefoot and ‘Threadbare’; pieces of relics of St Theonas, archbishop of Thessaloniki, Epifanios of Cyprus, and Alexios the Man of God; a piece of the cranium of the Saint and New-Martyr Argyris, and the Saint and Hieromartyr Serafeim, Bishop of Fanario, a vertebra of the Great Methodias of Kimolos, and others.

The list continues with a vertebra of the St Lazarus the Just, pieces of the sacred relics of the Three Hierarchs, of St Athanasios of Alexandria, of the Saint and Hieromartyr Eleftherios, of St Mina of Egypt and St Mina of Kallikelados, of St Ignatios the Theoforos, St Ioannis the Merciful, St Paraskevi and St Ermolaos, St Barbara, St Ioannis Damaskinos, the Holy Pavlos the Simple, the St and Great-martyr Iakobos of Persia, and the St and Great-Martyr Theodoros of Stratilatos.

Some indicative examples of the Monastery’s collection are: The existence of a number of cross-shaped reliquaries which contain pieces of the Holy Cross; pieces of the right hand and the cranium of St Georgios; blood from the Holy Precursor and St Dimitrios; a large piece of the cranium of the Great-martyr Stefanos; the right hand of St Marina; relics of St Xenofont the Senator and the lower jaw of his son, the holy Arkadios; a piece of the sacred relics of the apostles Sts Andrew, Filippos and Bartholomaios, and St Varnava; a piece of the cranium of St Anna the Theopromitoros (‘Grandmother of God’), and the foot of St Theodoros of Tironos.

In the Xenofontos Monastery, there are a significant number of treasured sacred relics, which are ceremoniously exhibited on the feast day of each saint in order for the faithful to venerate and honor the saint. The sacred relics of the saints are exhibited for viewing by visitors, and are considered to be priceless treasures of the Church since through their incorruptibility, the sweet fragrance with they often emit, and their miraculous abilities, they pass down the blessing of the Holy Spirit to those who with reverence and faith honour them.