I got the boat to the Simonos Petra landing. A merchant in Daphni gave me a bag of fish to bring along and a letter. Fortunately, he said to leave the fish at the dock. The climb, over a thousand feet straight up in the noonday sun, with my bag on my shoulder, was a real workout – purgatory on the way to heaven.
The monastery itself is quite cool, catching the mountain breezes. It is very well kept. I received a cheerful welcome from the guest-master, Father Theologos, and was given a room that looks out on the courtyard and the katholikon, the main church of the monastery. I hope I will be able to stay here. Silence reigns here except for the birds, the wind and the water.
Contemplative silence described in O Holy Mountain! – Journal of a Retreat on Mount Athos by Fr. M. Basil Pennington (1931 -2005), who was a Trappist monk at St. Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts, as well as a spiritual writer and teacher.
Fr. Basil Pennington’s book O Holy Mountain! is out of print. But it appears to have been republished under the torturous title, The Monks of Mount Athos: A Western Monk’s Extraordinary Spiritual Journey on Eastern Holy Ground.
See also nr. 471. More parts of this book here. Thanks to On an overgrown path
hv
About distances the story goes like this: a group of pelgrims asks a monk how long it will take before they reach their goal. And the monk says: and You want me to know that? The pelgrims disapointed walked away. After some 40 meters they heard the voice of the monk: when You walk like that You will need 2 hours and 20 minutes…Conclusion: trust only the kilometers, the time depends of your own. See keliotes 439, http://agioritikesmnimes.pblogs.gr/
Wim,
I think the Papadopoulos map is very interesting !
Could you make a good scan of it (very high resolution) and post it here or send it by email to anybody interested ?
Thanks.
Fremaki
I will publish a better version of this map, first I’ll have to scan it.
Wim
a short text from this book, translated into Romanian language. The pages that evoke the meeting with Father Emilianos Simonopetritis. – https://sfantulmunteathos.wordpress.com/2019/05/24/gheronda-emilianos-in-jurnalul-athonit-al-unui-calugar-catolic-trapist/