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  • Early Christianity: Blessed Virgin Mary John The Evangelist Joppa Cyprus Lazarus

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    Early Christianity on Mount Athos began when, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary sailed to Cyprus but was blown off course to the peninsula. When she walked ashore, she was overwhelmed by the natural beauty and asked for it to be her garden. From that point on, the mountain was consecrated as her garden and forbidden to other women. Historical documents show that monks lived there as early as the 3rd century CE, though they hid during periods of persecution in the 4th century. After an Egyptian monastery was destroyed in the 7th century, many monks relocated to Athos, building simple huts and surviving on wild fruits.

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    Early Christianity

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    Early Christianity on Mount Athos began when, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary sailed to Cyprus but was blown off course to the peninsula. When she walked ashore, she was overwhelmed by the natural beauty and asked for it to be her garden. From that point on, the mountain was consecrated as her garden and forbidden to other women. Historical documents show that monks lived there as early as the 3rd century CE, though they hid during periods of persecution in the 4th century. After an Egyptian monastery was destroyed in the 7th century, many monks relocated to Athos, building simple huts and surviving on wild fruits.

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    12 views1 page

    Early Christianity: Blessed Virgin Mary John The Evangelist Joppa Cyprus Lazarus

    Uploaded by

    testare
    Early Christianity on Mount Athos began when, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary sailed to Cyprus but was blown off course to the peninsula. When she walked ashore, she was overwhelmed by the natural beauty and asked for it to be her garden. From that point on, the mountain was consecrated as her garden and forbidden to other women. Historical documents show that monks lived there as early as the 3rd century CE, though they hid during periods of persecution in the 4th century. After an Egyptian monastery was destroyed in the 7th century, many monks relocated to Athos, building simple huts and surviving on wild fruits.

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    Early Christianity[edit]

    The peninsula as seen from the summit of Mount Athos (40°9′28″N 24°19′36″E)

    According to the Athonite tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary was sailing accompanied by St John the
    Evangelist from Joppa to Cyprus to visit Lazarus. When the ship was blown off course to then-pagan
    Athos, it was forced to anchor near the port of Klement, close to the present monastery of Iviron. The
    Virgin walked ashore and, overwhelmed by the wonderful and wild natural beauty of the mountain,
    she blessed it and asked her Son for it to be her garden. A voice was heard saying, "Ἔστω ὁ τόπος
    οὗτος κλῆρος σὸς καὶ περιβόλαιον σὸν καὶ παράδεισος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ λιμὴν σωτήριος τῶν θελόντων
    σωθῆναι" (Translation: "Let this place be your inheritance and your garden, a paradise and a haven
    of salvation for those seeking to be saved"). From that moment the mountain was consecrated as
    the garden of the Mother of God and was out of bounds to all other women. [note 2]
    Historical documents on ancient Mount Athos history are very few. It is certain that monks have been
    there since the fourth century, and possibly since the third. During Constantine I's reign (324–337)
    both Christians and pagans were living there. During the reign of Julian the Apostate (361–363), the
    churches of Mount Athos were destroyed, and Christians hid in the woods and inaccessible places. [16]
    Later, during Theodosius I's reign (379–395), the pagan temples were destroyed. The
    lexicographer Hesychius of Alexandria states that in the fifth century there was still a temple and a
    statue of "Zeus Athonite". After the Islamic conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, many Orthodox
    monks from the Egyptian desert tried to find another calm place; some of them came to the Athos
    peninsula. An ancient document states that monks "built huts of wood with roofs of straw [...] and by
    collecting fruit from the wild trees were providing themselves improvised meals." [17]

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