The basis, which lives and the church, and the society itself - is the tradition of .Much in our life is subject to traditions: a person is baptized, crowned, passes a certain maturity, receives education and education .And, despite the difficult periods in the life of people and society as a whole, traditions continue to be observed .What does the word tradition mean? It's a very simple $$ .Tradition is historically formed and transmitted from generation to generation forms of activity and behavior, as well as associated customs, rules and values .This is the basis of any travel undertaken by pilgrimage services and travel companies on religious tours .
From time immemorial the pilgrimage to holy places was one of the most revered and important traditions of our people..Even in antiquity, many people went on a long journey to worship especially important Orthodox shrines..For what? To receive a blessing or just to see relatives and friends living in the monastery .That is, pilgrimage trips were not just an abstract tradition, but an important part of the life of Orthodox people..The current material we want to devote to pilgrimage trips to Greece, and not without reason: many spiritual traditions to this day connect us with this country .
Greece has always been not only the guardian of ancient culture, but also the stronghold of Orthodoxy .About 98% of the country's population - Orthodox Christians .There are many holy places for orthodox pilgrims in the country .In addition, it is Greece - the country where the first Orthodox churches began to be built and where the Orthodox faith began to spread, including to our land..Now, after many centuries, Russian pilgrims, traveling on modern Greek land, are surprised to discover how closely the ways of our peoples are still intertwined .Let us dwell in more detail on those places that primarily seek to visit the Orthodox pilgrims in Greece .
Virtually no trip to the country can not do without visiting Athens - the personification of Greece. There are the ancient Byzantine church of St. George on Mount Likavittos, as well as the famous hill Areopagus: from this place the Apostle Paul delivered his first sermon.
Just 14 km from the city of Loutraki at an altitude of 700 meters above sea level stands the majestic working convent of the Blessed Potapia, built in honor of St. Potapius, who dedicated his life to serving God. In his monastic cells there are now about 40 nuns.
Corinth - an ancient city, whose history begins before the birth of Christ. In this city the apostle Paul preached the word of God from the oratorical pedestal, which has survived to our time. Here pilgrims usually first visit the Cathedral of the Apostle Paul and the exceptional monastery of Daphni.
On the way from Corinth to Kalavritu there is a monastery Mega Spileon, one of the most ancient monasteries in Greece..The monastery is known in many respects thanks to its miraculous icon of the Mother of God, created, according to legend, by the Apostle Luke of wax .Surprisingly, with the huge number of fires and destruction that the monastery suffered, this icon has survived to the present day .And right next to the town of Kalavryta is the Holy Assumption Lavra .The main shrine of this monastery is the honest head of the Sv..Alexia, donated to the monastery during his heyday by the Emperor Emanuel Paleologue .
| Monastery of Rusan in Meteora |
| Mosaic in the Monastery of St. John the Theologian on Patmos |
| Siana - Church of St.Panteleimon, Rhodes |
In the town of Egio not far from Patras, one of the most revered shrines in Greece is stored - the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Tripity .Next to the cave in which the icon is stored, the temple is built .In the same city of Patras, in the Cathedral of St. Andrew the First-Called, the honest head of the Apostle Andrew and the cross are kept, on which, according to legend, he was crucified .Since ancient times, the Apostle Andrew is considered the patron saint of the city, and the Day of the city is traditionally celebrated on December 13, the day of the memory of the saint .In addition, the cathedral is the cathedral church of the Metropolitan of Patras, one of the most authoritative and respected hierarchs of the Greek Church .
Speaking about the Christian sanctuaries of Greece, we can not fail to mention the Meteors and Meteor monasteries, which, justifying their name ("meteo" in Greek - air) seemed to be frozen between heaven and earth. These monastic places were chosen by the monks for prayers as early as the 13th and 14th centuries, and the monk founded the monk from Afon, a faithful disciple of the hesychast fathers, the Reverend Athanasius.
In Thessaloniki, the relics of the holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica are preserved: "The Canon of Demetrius of Thessalonica" was the first composition in the Slavic language of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius after the creation of the Slavonic alphabet. Many of the earliest monasteries in Kiev, Vladimir and Moscow were laid in honor of this saint. In addition, the city has preserved the places associated with the sermon of the Apostle Paul when he was in Thessaloniki on his missionary journeys.
On the island of Corfu, pilgrims visit the place of the victory of the Russian fleet over the French under the command of Admiral Theodore Ushakov, canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. The relics of St Spiridon of Trimiphunt are buried there.
On the island of Evia, the travelers worship the relics of our compatriot, the righteous John of Russia, a Christian who fell into Turkish captivity and is famous in the Muslim land for his holy earthly life and many miracles of death.
The island of Patmos is certainly known to every Orthodox Christian. It is there that the cave of the Apocalypse, in which the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian was the Voice of God, and it was there that the Book of Revelation was written by the Apostle.
And, of course, we can not fail to mention St. Athos - the only Orthodox monastic republic in the world with a thousand-year history and with exceptionally male population. It occupies the territory of the third "finger" of the peninsula of Halkidiki. Today there are 20 monasteries in St. Athos, including one Russian, one Bulgarian and one Serbian. At the time of his glory, St. Athos was a home for 180 Orthodox monasteries.
Thank you for your help in preparing the material for the Pilgrimage Service "Radonezh".
| All articles on the theme "Pilgrimage Tours" |
|