Up into the mountains

I wonder if you’ve heard of Simoen Stylites? He was a Monk of the Syria who, as part of his spiritual discipline, lived at the top of a ‘tower’. Having been sought out over many years for his spiritual wisdom, but desirous of time and space to continue to deepen his relationship with God, living atop a tower was the place for him to gain the distance he needed. It may well seem an odd existence (an indeed a quite mad one one!) to many people in our own age. Spiritual discipline that invites/requires forms of asceticism that mirror our forebears in faith is not something explored much today. If it is explored, it is seen as ‘foreign’, ‘strange’, anachronistic and ‘of another age ‘.

Even though asceticism may not be something explored by many in the way in which they practise their faith (and no, giving up chocolate doesn’t really count as asceticism!), I think it would be fair to say that for many there is an interest, a fascination even, with people whose faith does have some form of external expression of note. Priests in clerical collars may be stared at – as are Monks and Nuns in habits (I know this from personal experience as, in both my habit when I was a Nun and when wearing my clerical collar travelling in Israel and Turkey, I have had people stop me to take my photograph!) In similar fashion in which Uniforms are noted – Police, Nurse, Air Steward – people notice religious ‘dress’, and even more so the places in which people of faith reside/practise their faith.

Cathedrals, Mosques, Synagogues, Temples are all places many Tourists will visit when travelling abroad. St Paul Cathedral in London, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, the Temple in Neasden – as well as countless places across the globe, are visited by those who want to see, to experience, to understand something of what these places have been in the past, and are now. The wise will stand/sit/kneel/wander and simply gaze in wonder at what each place holds – of beauty and of prayer. Some may ask questions such as, Why this place? Why here? Why then? Why still now? And, of course, the question, “What can I learn?” should always be in the mix somewhere. (I say so, anyway!)

A visit to the ‘City of Meteora’ is one such place to which thousands flock – fascinated by the Monasteries that sit atop slender rocky formations. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the six Greek Orthodox Monasteries are reached by perilously winding roads that weave their way round the surrounding mountains – rising increasingly higher with each bend. The mountains used to be under the sea many, many thousands of years ago. It was a quite amazing feeling to realise that what we were looking at used to be part of an under-water world and there are structures like these under water now – ones that, perhaps, have never and will never be seen in my life time.

The views from the coach windows were breath-taking (and nausea-inducing for those of us who don’t ‘do’ heights! The sheer drops from the sides of the roads were more marked than the drive up to the Monastery of John the Forerunner as these were sheer drops with little that would have saved us. Oh my!) Across the yawning gaps between the mountains were glimpses, first far in the distance and then coming closer, of buildings seeming to stand amidst one another, only to be revealed as individual buildings each atop its own needle-like rock pointing up to the sky.

 

Each one is quite stunning to look at, not only for the way in which each building seems to grip to top of its needle, but also for the way in which is causes one truly to wonder at the ingenuity of the countless generations of faithful people who have, quite literally, made their home here. Beginning by making makeshift shelters, perhaps in natural caves our rocky outcrops, now each Monastery has running water and electricity. The line that has been going through my mind over these past days is, Necessity is the mother of invention. The desire and the call to be alone with God brought men and women to these amazing places of natural solitude and isolation, and here they created these place of wonder. Quite wonderful. Quite amazing. Quite stunning.

We visited two of the Monasteries: St Stephanos and Holy Trinity. After the coach ride, St Stephanos is reached via many, many steps on staircases open to the elements – apart from one small ‘corridor’ cut right through the rock. It’s was a good work out for the legs – and heart – with any need to pause and catch ones breath being met by virtue of a small ‘balcony’ in which housed a lovely ‘grotto’ on which were placed the ubiquitous coins and curios of various pilgrims (and tourists) to this place.

 

 

Continuing on up, the entrance to the Monastery was reached via a small door which opened into a ‘corridor’ in which there was a kiosk for someone to take our money to enter (3 euro). There was also the other end of the cable car system which is used by the community for transporting heavy items, as well as members of the community who are unwell. I should also mention the basket of wraps for women wearing trousers – so that they would seem to be wearing a skirt instead. (I am saying nothing…)

Moving onwards and upwards takes the visitor past the old Carpentry Shop, the Catacomb (more anon) and up to the Church, surrounded by other buildings such as the Museum and Gallery – as well as, presumably, the Community areas.

Photographs of the interior of the Church are not allowed, alas. This is no bad thing though as not being able to take photographs means a) the crowd move a bit faster and, more importantly, b) you have to take more care in looking in order to really ‘see’. Although it was relatively dark inside the main body of the Church, the images of the life of Jesus and the depictions of the Saints on the walls could be seen quite clearly, and the gold which adorned each of them created delightful adornment to what was already a spiritual and artistic feast to the eye. The Church was crowded, but there was a hush amidst us all. Our Guide explained the various painting we could see, and the importance of the way in which they were configured – with Christ Pantocrator above all, moving on to the Angels in all their Orders, the Saints, Creation, perhaps… and the inclusion of a form of Doom Painting was there too – with the ‘beast’ of temptation drawing souls away from Christ and into the fiery furnace. There was much graphic detail in the torture and deaths of many Saints in the Narthex, and the vividness of representation continued on into the main body of the Church. The faithful, the curious, the artist, the tourist – all are gathered together with necks craned upwards, surrounded by serried ranks of angels, Saints, sinners. Some of these were just like us, we mirror one another – with the hope and promise of redemption held out to us all.

Following the visit to the Church there was time to explore the Monastery a little further: there were rooms filed with illuminated manuscripts and papers from many, many centuries ago. There were vestments with beautiful embroidery – and also, quite bizarrely, a Gallery of Propaganda Art relating to the Second World War. And then there was the Catacomb.

 

To those who follow his Rule, St Benedict offers the injunction, Keep death daily before your eyes. Well, here in the Monastery, they don’t follow the Rule of St Benedict, but they could easly have lifted this injunction from it. Stored in a room for all to see as they pass by, are the skulls (and other bones, I think) of all the members of the Community from across the centuries. It feels more than just a bit weird to see them lined up on shelves, I have to say but, as the Monasteries are high up on the rock formations, no burials are ever going to possible. The bodies of the deceased are placed into a safe place until the flesh has gone, and then the bones are placed into the Ossuary/Catacomb. They are there, waiting for Jesus to come again and for their body’s to be restored.

We moved on to the second Monastery – dedicated to the Holy Trinity. This is a Monastery for women, and the Sisters were in greater evidence than the monks at St Stephens. (I think I saw the back of one Monk in the distance at St Stephanos.) Again, the Church is a place of beauty. Again, there was the hush of the Pilgrim and Tourist alike as we gazed in wonder at the beauty that surrounded us, and wondered too at how it was possible to even begin to imagine living in such a place. How did the first Monks exist out here? How were the materials for the first dwellings found here, or transported here? When did the first women come here and were they welcomed and accepted? How is electricity brought here? How do those who live here now cope with the sheer volume of visitors and maintain a life of prayer and spiritual discipline? How do these independent Monasteries develop their life of prayer alongside one another, work alongside one another, learn alongside one another, offer the ministry of hospitality alongside one another? So many questions but, alas, no opportunity to ask them as we had no opportunity to speak with anyone from any of the Communities. I can understand this – given the number of people who visit each and every day (even in the snow flurries which we enjoyed!) Speaking to the visitors who come would be more than a full time task and would impinge terribly on the life of solitude that is sought. Some of the questions we might have wished to ask (such as those above) are not the important ones though. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, so finding ways to overcome electricity, the transport of building materials etc. etc. is not the important stuff of this existence – it is more to do with: What do you doing here? What difference do you make by being here? Why do you want to be here, stay here, pray here? What is God revealing to you in this place, in this time, in this now? These are the questions I was asking as I journeyed round these places, and they seem good ones to ask of myself as I end this entry, and begin the next part of the journey.

What are you doing here?
What difference do you make by being here?
Why do you want to be here, stay here, pray here?
What is God revealing to you in this place, in this time, in this now?

It's been a 'Wow!' kind of day

Wow!

Today I stood in the river where the first baptism in Europe took place. (Yes, I know it was all Holy Roman Empire then… but it is still amazing!) The wonderful Lydia of Thyatira, for whom I have a real sense of admiration, came to know of Christ and was baptised just outside Philippi, and we visited the area where her baptism took place this morning – along with Philippi itself.

The river was very fast-flowing today – a sign of the water running off the surrounding snow-capped hills and mountains, I guess. I can vouch that it was also quite chilly (although not as chilly as I expected it to be). Yes, I did indeed put my feet into the water! I didn’t wear my sandals especially in order to be able to take them off and stand on the steps into the river, but wearing them meant it was a whole lot easier to do so. I was the only one, sad to say – but it has been a rather cool and grey day for the most part, and everyone else is obviously rather more sensible!

 

The church that stands close by the river is quite lovely. Built in an octagonal shape (which, apparently, means that it is built to mark something significant having happened on a particular site), it is a feels quite modern – and the mosaics on the walls are quite lovely. Central to the building is the baptistry which is full to bursting when a child is brought for baptism. The iconostasis is rather smaller than some I have seen on my travels in recent months, and it is certainly a lot smaller than the ones of both the Church of St Nicholas in the middle of Kavala and the Church of St Mary that stands in the middle of the Old Town.

We learned here that the colour ‘we’ think of as royal purple is apparently quite incorrect as the colour Lydia produced was rather more red in tone. Thus it is that icons of Lydia, as well as those of the Virgin Mary, portray them in what appears to us as red.

 

 

The remains of the City of Philippi stand close by and, just as it is when journeying through the Holy Land and Turkey, so it is here – the sense of wonder at following in the steps of the Disciples and Apostles. How wonderful to be journeying through the same countryside, viewing the same hills, rivers and seas, worshipping the same God, praying and praising in words that they used – passed on by those who had known Jesus or heard of him directly from those who knew him. And then there is Paul and his companions – Roman Citizens who travelled freely through this land, unless sent on their way by those who would not hear the Word of God that was being shared with them. At Philippi, Paul was imprisoned and we saw the place that Tradition reputes to be the jail.

The remains of the city are relatively extensive, to include a Theatre, two Basilica, the Agora, a Business area, as well as an area that served as a sort of ‘Bishop’s Palace’. Here there are lovely floor mosaics that remain, as well the toilets for the Bishops and their guests!

Back in Kavala (Biblical Neapolis) a scoot around the town revealed the wonderful mosaic monument that marks where Paul took his first steps on land here, which stands next to the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas.

 

Heading up onto the peninsula, one passes the very fine remains of the aqueduct, as well as the Castle high on up the hill. A Mosque has been built on the remains of a Basilica, with the foundations of the Church sensitively laid open for visitors to see. Further on lies another Church – with the most wonderful candelabra and silver-enhanced icons. A service was taking place here, with the wonderful Orthodox chanting that is so deep and resonant. The congregation was hidden behind a curtain so we didn’t go in, but simply remained in the body of the church, listening and praying, whilst taking in the beauty around us.

It is such a ‘Wow!’ feeling to be here in this land. Not only to be here journeying through the same countryside, viewing the same hills, rivers and seas, worshipping the same God, praying and praising in words that they used but also to have an increased sense of awe for the amazing determination of these men. The distances they travelled, the means by which the travelled – countless miles of land and sea – all to share the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. I come as a pilgrim, to see where they travelled and through this I am encouraged in my faith (and challenged too). Paul and the other Apostles came not to follow anyone else’s footsteps, nor to see where other heroines and heroes of faith had been before them. They came to blaze the trail, as well as send the Gospel message even farther afield. How amazing to be here and to visit places of which I have only read before. Wow!

In (some of) the footsteps of St Paul through Greece

It’s been a very long day. It began with the alarm clock going off at 4 o’clock this morning, ahead of a 4.45 departure from the hotel to get to Gatwick in time for a 7.25 take-off. A long wait at our Check-in Gate was eventually brought to a close by the announcement that our plane was to be upgraded and we would, therefore, be ‘bussed’ to our plane. A long and relatively scenic drive later, given that it was an airport (I think we were taken to a different terminal) brought us to a larger aeroplane than the original, and so we were able to spread out a bit – with some people having whole rows to themselves. Bliss! (Have you ever noticed how people become much more protective of their ‘personal space’ on aeroplanes?!) this made up for most people for what turned out to be a two-hour delay in take-off (and subsequent) arrival.

Over recent years I seem to have developed the skill of being able to sleep pretty much any where at any time – including the opera, cinema and theatre (not yet church though (give it time!) Thus it is that I slept throughout the flight – propped against the window – only waking occasionally to notice the landscape below (which I believe at one point was the Alps…)

Our eventual landing brought us into Thessaloniki Airport where the weather was far cry from the blue skies I am sure many of us were hoping for when we booked this FamTour (Familiarisation Tour for those planning to lead a Pilgrimage to Greece, In the Footsteps of St Paul). Grey skies and a distinct chill in the air meant it was on the fleeces and overcoats with plans being made to purchase hats at the first possible opportunity. As we were so late arriving, the lunch stop which would have been an hour after our scheduled arrival was taken a immediately – at a burger bar. The scenic (not) drive from airport to burger bar took us through the car park of IKEA – I kid you not!

 

 

After lunch, the drive to Kavala took us past two beautiful lakes (Koronia and Volvi) , of which we heard that the depth used to be much greater. The need to irrigate local farmland had given rise to the syphoning off of water over many years but recent eco-studies have sought to develop plans that will maintain the much needed water reserves, alongside providing for farmers in a country where only 30% of the land is available for farming due to the fact that the remaining 70% is mountainous.

The lakes and hills to our right soon gave way to views of the Aegean Sea – with sights of the island of Thassos available too. Mountain ranges shrouded in cloud and mist loomed large over the roadside to our left – Vertiskos, Volvi, Kerdilio and Pangeon. They are truly impressive and very beautiful with some of their peaks still covered in snow.

 

And why this lengthy journeying – which eventually brought us to Kavala? Well, Kavala is the modern name for Neapolis – the ancient port of Philippi – to where Paul journeyed on various of his missionary journeys.

And so, after a supper that was very nicely rounded off with some local baklava, this (very long) day is brought to a close. The view from my room is lovely – more anon!