The Worship

Prayer is the most important aspect of Athonite existence. To my knowledge, the monasteries at Athos complete the entire Orthodox cycle of services. Each day at Iveron prayers started at 3:30am with the Midnight office, followed by Orthos (Matins), the First Hour, and the Divine Liturgy. In the evening we served (I believe) the Ninth Hour, Vespers, and a service called the Paraklesis. The prayers were all in Greek and relatively difficult to follow (despite my rudimentary knowledge of Greek), but it was beautiful to constantly greet and dismiss each day in prayer.

This is a picture of the Katholikon (central church) where most of the services were held. To read a description of one of the services from my journal, click here.



I found this picture on the Internet, since we were not permitted to take pictures inside the places of worship. I couldn't find a picture of the inner katholikon at Iveron, but this photo (from Gregoriou monastery on Athos) will give you an idea of what it looked like. Notice the large "choros" (circular chandelier) in the center. At Iveron this stunning ornament was about 15 feet in diameter and encircled with candles and icons. There was also a large golden chandelier in the middle as well as one to each side of the choros. There was no electricity in the katholikon, so all the lighting was with candles. At the back is the iconostasis (the screen with the icons which separates the nave from the altar.



This is the famous wonder-working Portaitissa ("Gatekeeper") Icon, one of the most important pilgrimages on Mount Athos. You can read about this icon, as well as its "Canadian" connection here. If you would like to read a little bit more about the Orthodox tradition of icons, click here).



This is a picture of the katholikon at Vatopedi (from the internet). It gives you an idea of what the church looks like when the candles on the chandelier are fully lit. While I was at Iveron, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a festal service commemorating the monastery builders. To read about this breathtaking experience (complete with swinging chandeliers), read the excerpt from my journal here.

Prayer is by nature dialog and union of man with God. Its effect is to hold the world together. It achieves a reconciliation with God. – St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

Who, then, is the faithful and wise monk? It is the man who has kept unquenched the warmth of his vocation, who adds fire each day to fire, fervor to fervor, zeal to zeal, love to love, and this to the end of his life. – St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent.