Hosts annual SYNDESMOS Ecology Camp

MOUNT ATHOS, GREECE- The Athonite Spiritual Ecology Camp remains one of the most popular of the annual activities of SYNDESMOS. The annual summer event is unique, not only because - for obvious reasons - it is open only to males, but also because it operates within the architectural, liturgical, spiritual and environmental milieu of Orthodoxy's centre of monasticism: the Holy Mountain
of Athos, the "Garden" of the Mother of God.
The objective of these camps is to provide an opportunity for young Orthodox men from all over the world to spend nearly two weeks at one of the monastic dwellings on the Athonite peninsula. There, they combine pilgrimage and practical service - that is to say, they combine full participation in the monastic devotional life with hard work. During these projects, therefore, a familiarity with the Hagioritic world is achieved both at the spiritual and practical levels. Above all, the SYNDESMOS team comes to pay its respects to the Most Holy Mother of God who shelters the monks beneath her protective veil and supports all who love and tend her "Garden."
The honour shown by the Athonite Fathers to the sacred Mountain - its groves, forests, cliffs and seacoast - is a paradigm of ecological dedication. For the monks, love shown to creation is love shown to the Creator. This is the true and only ecological principle that can save the world from environmental catastrophe.
The fact that SYNDESMOS participants are made up of youth from all parts of the globe reinforces the sense of the Church's catholicity. Inevitably, it also establishes firm, long-lasting friendships. This was clearly the case at this year's camp, whose 14 participants consisted of four Serbs, two Russians, one Romanian, one Belarusian, one Argentinian, one Pole, one Slovak, two Greeks, and one Englishman.
From Thessaloniki to the Russian Skete of the Holy, First-Called Apostle Andrew in Karyes. On Monday, 24 July 2000, the SYNDESMOS team members gathered in Thessaloniki, where they were offered hospitality at the home of former SYNDESMOS President, Dr. Dimitri Oikonomou, and at the Diocesan House of the Metropolis of Neapolis and Stavroupolis. On the following day, the travellers visited well-known churches in the city, including those dedicated to Saint Gregory Palamas and Saint Dimitrios, the city's patron saint, where they venerated the martyr's holy relics. In the evening the group attended hierarchical Vespers for the feast of Saint Paraskeva the Roman, celebrated by His Eminence, Metropolitan Dionysios, who introduced the SYNDESMOS pilgrims to a very large congregation at the Church of Saint Paraskeva in Menemeni. The Metropolitan also invited the group for
a hearty meal in the church hall after the service.
At daybreak on 25 July, the group left Thessaloniki by bus for Ouranoupolis, where they boarded the carrier, Axion Estin, which took them to Athos's port of Daphne. This year the group's destination was not one of the 20 established monasteries, but rather that massive complex of buildings at the entrance to Karyes, the capital of Athos, known as the Skete of Saint Andrew, the first-called Apostle. Since 1841, when two monks from Russia, Vissarii and Varsanuphii, established the first coenobium, this monastic house became a celebrated Russian religious centre. Since that time, however, the skete experienced a serious decline in terms of the number of monks and the ability to maintain the site until 1992, when Father Pavlos and his small monastic family arrived at the skete and expended superhuman effort in restoring the buildings, churches and land of the skete to their former glory.
The SYNDESMOS Task Force. There was clearly much to be done at the skete, and SYNDESMOS' contribution was greatly appreciated. Our time was largely divided between manual labour, the Church, and pilgrimage. Outdoor work for the entire duration of the camp included clearing the skete's firebreak - a gap between the two outer walls of masonry that ran around the rear section of the complex. The Russian builders were wise enough to construct a double wall, approximately four metres apart, to reduce the risk of fire spreading and engulfing the inhabited areas. This space had, over the past 60 years, become so entirely overgrown that it was impossible to detect its original form or purpose. The group's task was to open the area up by cutting through the dense trees, shrubs and wild grasses, disposing of the cuttings, and cleaning the yards. The work was particularly arduous because of the intense heat that overwhelmed Greece during the summer. The group laboured under a blistering
north Aegean sun, wielding scythes, rakes and garden scissors, in temperatures of 43C and over, but no one complained. There was a manly display of commitment and determination to accomplish as much as possible. Other jobs included domestic assistance in the kitchen and technical support in the workshops, while the two Russian participants began to catalogue the neglected mountain of Russian archives. Church services were mainly celebrated in the simple but charming chapel of Saint Peter. On 27 July, the group attended the Vigil of Saint Nikodemos the Athonite.
The group's location near Karyes made it relatively easy to enter a number of local monastic houses, as well as the shops lining the main street. Pilgrimages included two visits to Simonopetra's Annunciation Skete, Koutloumousi Monastery - the site of last year's camp, where the group received a very warm welcome and venerated the relics of Saints Anna, John the Baptist, and Paraskeva. The group also visited the Vatopedi Monastery, where they venerated the Holy Belt of the Mother of
God; the Iviron Monastery, where they venerated the Portaitissa icon; the Stavronikita Monastery; the Bourazeri Skete; and finally the Simonopetra Monastery for the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene on 4 August.
At Simonopetra, the group was welcomed by the Acting Abbot, Father Elissaios, and former SYNDESMOS Vice-President, His Eminence, Metropolitan Ignatios of Dimitrias, who was the invited hierarchcelebrant at the Vigil and the Divine Liturgy.
SYNDESMOS offers its thanks to Father Pavlos and his community at Saint Andrew's Skete. The hospitality was generous: the fathers gave much of their precious time to be with the participants. This year's camp was an unqualified success and, with the blessing of the Mother of God, will no doubt be followed by many more in the years to come.