At the invitation of the Holy Community of Mount Athos, and with the permission of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, His Eminence Metropolitan Theoklitos of Ierissos, Agion Oros, and Ardamerion came as a pilgrim to the Holy Mountain and presided over the splendid All-Night Vigil of Christmas, according to the Julian Calendar, at the all-venerable Church of the Protaton in Karyes. He was accompanied by his Protosyncellus, Archimandrite Fr Dorotheos Zervas, and Archimandrite Fr Paisios Soultanikas, Abbot of the Holy Church of Saint Stephen of Arnaia.
His Eminence and his entourage were received by the Protos of Mount Athos, Monk Avraam, and by the hieromonk fathers, members of the Holy Epistasia, Chariton, Sisoe, and Gabriel.
The solemn service began at approximately the tenth hour of the evening on Tuesday, Christmas Eve, and concluded at the fifth hour of the morning on the feast day of the great celebration of the Lord.
The renowned and all-venerable holy icon of the Theotokos “Axion Estin”, the great treasure of iconography by Panselinos that adorns this unique abode of Orthodoxy; the grandeur and compunction; the abundance of Byzantine monastic services; the Athonite Typikon; the integrity of Athonite monastic life and habit; and the prayerful participation of the brethren in the Vigil, all offered precious spiritual experiences and, above all, inexpressible spiritual joy.
Finally, the Athonite hospitality, with the common refectory shared by all the celebrants, was offered and bestowed upon everyone, and especially upon the entourage of the presiding hierarch, offering spiritual uplift and the overflowing love of Athonite monasticism.
