No. 55 March 2004

CHILANDAR IN FLAMES

The greatest of Serbian Orthodox holy shrines, the monastery of Chilandar on Mount Athos in northern Greece, was engulfed by a catastrophic fire in the early hours of March 4th. More than one third of the monastery complex was destroyed in the fire. Fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries among the monks. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
‘The fire broke out between one and two o’clock on Thursday morning on the roof over the library, which is right next to the large dining room. It spread with lighting speed across the rooftops of connected buildings and destroyed a large part of the monastery complex as far as St. Sava Tower. The northwest part of the residence hall, built in 1821 and recently completely restored, was destroyed. The fire also devoured the northeast residence hall or so-called White Dormitory, built in 1598, which was undergoing a general restoration,’ said Jugoslav Vukadinovic, the General Consul of Serbia-Montenegro in Thessalonica.
Twenty-five Serbian monks were joined at dawn by a fire fighting team from Karyes, the administrative seat of Holy Mount Athos, as well as fire fighters from Polygiros, a town on the Halkidiki peninsula, who rushed to their aid. After hours of battling the flames, the fire was extinguished on Thursday afternoon.
‘Abbot Mojsije and the monks are in complete shock. They fought the fire all night in tears. At dawn Greek fire fighters with cisterns ran to their assistance; however, airplanes were not included in fire fighting efforts because the Greek Ministry of Culture believed that huge water jets from the sky would further damage Chilandar,’ said Mr. Vukadinovic.
He added that Serbia-Montenegro citizens living in that part of Greece (northern Macedonia and Thrace) began to arrive at dawn to help the Chilandar monks, and that representatives of the Republic of Serbia's Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and senior officials of state were on their way to Chilandar.
Among the parts of the monastery destroyed was a medieval church next to St. Sava Tower, where the fire destroyed the iconostasis and frescoes from the 17th and 18th centuries. Luckily, in spite of the tragedy, the fire did not spread to the Church of the Holy King Milutin, the monastery treasury, the archive or the library, all of which contain priceless treasures, despite the fact that they are connected with parts of the monastery destroyed by the fire.
Bank accounts for donations with blessing of the Serbian Patriarch
Upon the request of many faithful people who wish to help Chilandar, Patriarch Pavle of Serbia has blessed the opening of a bank account for donations.
The account is at Privredna Banka Beograd D. D. (Belgrade Commercial Bank), foreign currency account no. 5428-0588005.
Patriarch Pavle has sent his personal thanks to all those who have the wish, need and ability to help with the restoration of this ancient Serbian laura.

AN UNUSUAL PILGRIMAGE TO NORTHERN RUSSIA
(Late August/early Sept 2005)

George Guest writes:

When Irina von Schlippe, [Director of the St Gregory Foundation –ed.] gave a talk at the 2002 Fellowship Conference she was asked if she could arrange a visit to Russia to see some of the persons and places she had been talking about. She asked me if I would organise the UK end of this - hence this notice. The timing of the trip in the late summer is mainly because the mosquito season has more or less finished and winter has not yet started - and it gets very cold in the North of Russia!

Whilst the trip does some 'tourist' sights you will see it includes places not on the tourist round and a number of places and institutions supported by St Gregory's. The intention is to stay at non tourist hotels, or in some cases in accommodation arranged by the local priests. Meals may include some at local churches.

The provisional programme:
Day 1Fly British Airways to St Petersburg
Day 2 Sight seeing: the Strelka, the beautiful embankment and summer garden, St Andrews Cathedral (for these could be substituted a visit to the Hermitage) Then the Brotherhood of St Anastasia and children's asylum ‘Dom Miloserdia’ - Church of the Annunciation.
Day 3 Coach to Novgorod and tour of that city. On the way back stop at the parish of Fr Ioann Sotnikov in Rogavka.
Day 4 Well Mother Well Baby Clinic, the Foundation's centre at Fontanka, St Alexander Nevski Lavra, and then night train for the North.
Day 5 Travel to Solovki by train, ship and ferry - we will be joined by Fr Lev and Mother Julia - the priest at Kondopoga and his wife.
Day 6 Solovki - visit to the main island. The Solovetski Islands are in the White Sea and the monastery was a very important religious centre from the 16th century onwards. Under Stalin it was used as a concentration camp.
Day 7 Visit to the smaller islands.
Day 8 Travel by coach to stay in either Medvezhergorsk or Segezha (local priests will arrange accommodation and food but this will be very basic)
Day 9 Visit of local sites and current work.
Day 10 By coach to Kondopoga
Day 11 Visit to see Kondopoga work including offshoots in Girvas and Shuia, where new priests are starting communities.
Day 12 Kizhi & Petrozavodsk
Day 13 Around Kondopoga - then evening train to St Petersburg
Day 14 Flight home in afternoon.

As you will see this is an exciting opportunity to see Northern Russia from the inside guided by people who know what life is really like there. I have not yet got any prices but my guess is that the full cost will be in the region of £1200. I expect the number of places will be limited - we will probably do some travelling by minibus.

I have previously taken two parties to St Petersburg and Kondopoga and the visits have been of considerable interest. This trip visits a number of places which are well off the normal tourist track.

To see whether the trip is viable I need to know who are seriously interested. If you wish to be considered please send me a reservation fee of £5 (refundable). Make the cheque out to G. Guest and send it to me at
32 Wood Rise Pinner HA5 2JE.

ICON WRITING WORKSHOP IN THE HEART OF SNOWDONIA

An icon workshop is being organized at the Orthodox Church of All Saints of Wales in Blaenau Ffestiniog, from 13- 18 APRIL 2004. The course will offer a total of: 36 hours (6 hrs / 6 days) teaching time. No special artistic background required, and first-time students will paint the icon of the Archangel Michael.

The fee for the course is: £287 (or €410) for the whole course, including all material and tuition fees, but excluding accommodation. Discounts are offered for students, clergy and the unemployed

The course, organised by the Prosopon School of Iconology, represents the study of the ancient ‘floating’ technique of icon painting in the Byzantine-Russian tradition, which reached its height in the XV and early XVI centuries. Students will become acquainted with the preparation of an icon board, learn gold leaf application by the bole method, study the horizontal "floating" technique of egg tempera, and will be instructed how to finish the icon with boiled linseed oil. As in antiquity, natural materials are used, and the iconographic method is characterized by a multi-step process in which the succession of steps is concrete and definite, as in the liturgical services of the Church. Students are introduced to iconology, both the practical and the theoretical part of the ancient iconographic tradition: explanations of iconic symbolism, and the theological and philosophical basis of each step of the process is presented in parallel with the technical instruction. However, the Prosopon School does not hold the preparation of professional icon-writers as its foremost purpose (although such a possibility is by no means excluded). Rather, the main goal of study is to uncover the world of one's inner life and the principles of God’s Image and Action in it and in all of creation through the study of the symbolic, ‘reverse perspective’ language. Thus, emphasis is placed on personal spiritual discipline and growth through a study of Christian Church teachings and principles.

For enquiries and applications, please contact Mrs Irina Paert
19 Cilfodan terrace, Bethesda, Bangor LL 57 3SL
Tel: +44 (1248) 602884, +44 7780697987
E-mail: i.paert@bangor.ac.uk

For more information on Prosopon school if iconology, visit www.prosoponschool.org

We wish all of our members and friends
every blessing in the coming Holy Week,
and for the Paschal Season.

We venerate Thy Cross, O Master,
show us also Thy glorious Resurrection!