Posts in category: Η Ιστορία της Μονής 4 – Ξενοφώντος

The outbreak of the unsuccessful revolt of 1821 in Macedonia, in which the Xenofontos monk Gedeon was actively involved, lead to the halt of the important construction projects in progress at the Monastery, while after the defeat of the rebels, the Monastery paid a heavy price: At least four monks – Chrysanthos, Neofytis, Isaak and Xenofon – were martyred. Ottoman soldiers occupied the Monastery, forcing the majority of fathers to abandon it and to seek refuge in Skopelos, taking with them the heirlooms of the Monastery.

A catastrophic fire on 24 February 1817 totally destroyed the newly-built southwest wing where the archives and library – among other things – of the Monastery were housed, resulting in the loss of a large part of the documents and other valuable artefacts and manuscripts which were the witnesses of the historical course of the Monastery.

The Monastery functioned under an idiorhythmic system until 1784 when, at the request of the fathers of the Monastery, the Ecumenical Patriarch decreed its return to the cenobitic system. This was a significant milestone not only for the historical course of the Monastery, but for all of Mt Athos, because it was the first instance of the restoration of the original cenobitic system of communal life in an Athonite monastery. As regards the most suitable person to lead the monastery, the proactive hieromonk Paisios Kausokalybitis was selected.
Under his leadership, the Monastery flourished. Paisios ‘energized’ the Monastery in many ways, renewing its spirituality and initiating its restoration. The Monastery managed to resolve its debt problem, and the successful example it set of the return to cenobitic life was followed some years later by other idiorhythmic monasteries.