The exhibition was opened in the presence of His Eminence the Archbishop of America Elpidophoros, the new Consul General of Greece in Boston Mr. Symeon Tegos, the Metropolitan of Pittsburgh Savvas, the Bishop of Nazianzus Athenagoras, the Director of the Theological School’s Archbishop Iakovos Library, the Bishop of Amisos Joachim, the School’s President Mr. George Cantonis, and the vice chairman of the School’s Board of Trustees Protopresbyter John Magoulias. Also in attendance were the hieromonk Loukas Xenophontinos, who represented the Holy Community of Mount Athos, Mr. Anastasios Douros, the Director of the Mount Athos Center in Thessaloniki, Mr. Robert Allison, President of the Mount Athos Foundation of America, a number of clerical and lay professors from the Theological School, Mrs. Anastasia Merkel, the mother of a monk on Mount Athos, the Director of the Maliotis Cultural Center Mrs. Chrysoula Kourkoundi, and various other priests and visitors from Boston and other parts of the USA.

In his address His Eminence Elpidophoros said, amongst other things, that: ‘Mount Athos – the Garden of the Virgin Mary – is a unique manifestation of the Church in the world. For over a thousand years the fathers of Mount Athos have laboured in the deepest ways to connect with God, as well as with one another’. At another point in his address he stated that: ‘Mount Athos is indeed the Ark of Orthodoxy, which preserves intact all those elements of the spiritual life that can be experienced by anyone in the world who is willing to delve into the depths of their soul’. Finally, the Archbishop thanked both the Mount Athos Center and the Mount Athos Foundation of America and added that: ‘This exhibition, which presents the twenty monasteries of Mount Athos, represents a wonderful introduction to the Mountain’s spiritual, aesthetic, cultural and human values. Not everybody can go to Mount Athos because they are prevented from doing so by the abaton – the seal of monastic obedience. And even fewer will have the opportunity to go there. Nevertheless, the wisdom and experience of Mount Athos can be brought into the world by such exhibitions as this, and by inviting these monastic traditions into our hearts and minds by reading the great spiritual texts that are preserved there, and by cultivating the arts of Athos in the new world.’                       

In his address on behalf of the Holy Community of Mount Athos, the hieromonk Loukas Xenophontinos said that: ‘The Orthodox tradition, which we inherited from those before us, provides a harmonious balance between the material and the spiritual, the visible and the invisible, the sensible world and the transcendent world, the created and the uncreated. Through this prism, the monastic life can become a theology and doxology of the triune God, who gave us strength, inspiration and enlightenment, as well as a vision of unity transcending all races and languages that is mystically and perpetually fulfilled in the Holy Garden of our Blessed Lady the Mother of God… Congratulations are due to the organizers of this event, to the ’Mount Athos Foundation of America’ for highlighting and promoting the cultural heritage of Mount Athos in America, and also to His Eminence Metropolitan of America Elpidophoros for his general support and inspiration, which he gives so generously.’                          
 
The Director of the Mount Athos Center, Mr. Anastasios Douros, began his address by conveying the greetings of the Mayor of Thessaloniki and President of the Mount Athos Center, Mr. Constantine Zervas, and also of the other members of the Board of Directors. He went on to talk about the foundation of the Mount Athos Center and its work, and its collaboration with the Mount Athos Foundation of America and their future activities together. He also spoke of his joy upon the Center’s first visit to America, stating that: ‘The Holy Mountain is a great blessing for us all, indeed for the whole world. We who serve it derive great joy from doing so and it is this joy that we wish to share with you through the event we have organized today. The exhibition that we are opening today, together with the events which are to follow later, is one of the most important activities that the Mount Athos Center has organized to date. In the past we have organized many events in countries outside Greece but this is the first time that we have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and find ourselves on hospitable American soil and I must admit that this development gives us particular satisfaction. We are sure that this event is just the beginning and that many more will follow.’

In his address Mr. Robert Allison, President of the Mount Athos Foundation of America, talked about the foundation of the Mount Athos Foundation of America and also related some of the experiences he had had in his research and exploration of the texts in the library of Philotheou Monastery.
The opening of the exhibition was immediately followed by a series of other events, the first of which was a lengthy presentation of the art of the Holy Mountain by the hieromonk Loukas Xenophontinos. This was followed by a talk by Mrs. Anastasia Merkel on her experience of being the mother of an American monk on Mount Athos and then a talk by Elias Morest, a student at the Holy Cross Theological School, about his experience of visiting Mount Athos last summer. Those assembled then attended a service of vespers at the church in the Theological School and then the evening session began with a presentation by Alice Sullivan, a professor at Tufts University, on the relations between the rulers of Moldowallachia and Athos, which was followed by a presentation of the archive on Mount Athos at Princeton University (photographs and audiovisual material) by Julia Gearhart and Maria Alessia Rossi of that university.

The Mount Athos Center of Thessaloniki presented the Archbishop of America, His Eminence Elpidophoros, with a portrait of himself executed by the painter Giorgos Taxidis.

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The exhibition will remain open at the Maliotis Cultural Center until the end of November and then it will travel to other cities in America.             
Exhibition curator: Anastasios Douros, Director of the Mount Athos Center
The exhibition will be held until 30 November 2022
Venue: Maliotis Cultural Center, in the Hellenic College – Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, 50 Goddard Avenue, Brookline, MA 02445 (www.hchc.edu/maliotis-cultural-center)
Mount Athos Center | Τ. 2310263308 | www.agioritikiestia.gr | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | www.eshop.agioritikiestia.gr


Mount Athos Center | Τ. +30 2310 263 308 | www.agioritikiestia.gr | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | www.eshop.agioritikiestia.gr