Saint Panteleimon Monastery

Saint Panteleimon Monastery

Saint Panteleimon Monastery (Russian: Монастырь Святого Пантелеймона; Greek: Μονή Αγίου Παντελεήμονος, Moní Agíou Panteleímonos), known as Rossikon (Russian: Россикон, Rossikon; Greek: Ρωσσικόν, Rossikón) or New Russik (Russian: Новый Руссик, Novyy Russik),

The Holy Monastery of Saint Panteleimon is located in the middle of the SW side of the Athonian peninsula, in an uneven coastal location a few meters above the sea and is ranked nineteenth (19th) in the hierarchical order of the twenty monasteries of Mount Athos.

The wealth it acquired from the middle of the 19th century until the First World War, from sponsorships of the Russian government and offerings of the pious, is witnessed by the magnificence of the buildings. The building complex, which is developed in successive levels and multi-storey buildings, vividly captures the Russian penchant for the majestic, heavy and lofty, while the intense cold colors give it a character of worldliness. Outside the precincts of the Monastery there are other huge buildings of various nature and purpose. One of them currently houses the mansion, which until the last fire in 1968, with the magnificent reception hall of the tsars, was an excellent example of the luxurious aesthetics of tsarist Russia.

Abbot: Eulogius (Ivanov)

History

The history of the Monastery is connected with three changes in its location, from the Monastery of Xylourgos, first to the Monastery of Thessaloniki and then to the Monastery of Agios Panteleimonos.

The Monastery of Xylourgos

The first monastery, the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos of Xylourgos (or of Rous), is identified with the present-day Vogoroditsa hermitage (it is located 700 meters above sea level near Pantokratoros Monastery). According to tradition, it was founded by Saint Vladimir the Apostle (949–1015) shortly after his baptism in 998.

The first surviving signature of the abbot of the Monastery belongs to Gerasimos, who signed the statute of 1016.

In 1143, the Monastery was granted by the decision of the First to Serbian monks from Rausio, today's Kotor in Montenegro. The assumption that the Monastery already during this period had a Russian character is mainly based on the fact that during the recording and delivery of all movable objects and books to the new abbot Nikiforos, some are characterized as being of Russian origin. The Monastery is mentioned in a series of documents from the years 1030, 1048, 1070. In all these documents and any others signed by its representatives, it is referred to by the Greek name "Xylourgou" (Carpener) and they use the Greek language. Nowhere is it called "of the Russians" and nowhere is it mentioned that Russians lived in it, even until 1169.

Soon, as a result of the increase of the Serbian monks of the Monastery and after the request of the abbot Lavrentios in 1169, they were granted the Thessaloniki Monastery, where today the so-called Paleomonastir, and its "cells in Karea" were granted.

The Monastery of Thessaloniki

The Monastery appears for the first time in a document of the Vatopedi Monastery of 998, signed by the abbot "Agiou Panteleimonos" Leontios of Thessalonica. For some time the nickname "of Thessalonica" prevailed, but in documents from the 11th century it now appears as "Saint Panteleimon of Sfrentzis of Thessalonica", which indicates that Sfrentzis was called either the founder or a new abbot.

At the time of the transfer from the Carpenter's Monastery, based on a relevant document, issued by the Holy Synaxis and the First of John, it was a ruined monastery, once crowded and with a primary position among the non-royal monasteries. As can be seen from the signature of Abbot Lavrentios, the new monastery is dedicated to Saint Panteleimon. Here, the monastic brotherhood will complete seven centuries of presence, with alternations of prosperity and poverty.

Initially the monks are mainly Greeks. During the 14th century, however, there is a difficulty in determining its national character. The signatures of its representatives are sometimes Greek and sometimes Slavic. Its reinforcement by Serbian monks during the Serbocracy (1345–1371) could not give it a clear Slavic character. From the third decade of the 15th century, monks from Russia began to arrive, who from 1497 onwards now outnumber them. Then it acquires a more Russian character, which it will maintain until 1740.

During this period, among others, the following happened:

In 1192/93, Saint Savvas, archbishop of Serbia, became a monk here.

In 1307 it was set on fire by Catalan gangs (its tower remains intact), but its progress was not interrupted. Its reconstruction is supported financially by Andronikos II Paleologos and Serbian rulers, as from 1345 the monastery depends on the Serbian king Stefanos Dusan. The monks even recognize the latter as "king of Serbs and Greeks".

Stefanos Dusan visits Mount Athos in 1349 and particularly favors it, due to the tonsure of the ancestor of Saint Savva. In 1366, he appointed the Serbian scholar monk Isaiah as abbot, as evidenced by a document of the Monastery.

In 1363, the monudrium of Katjaris was attributed to her.

It was favored by the emperors John V (1341–76) and Manuel II Paleologos (1391–1425) and by Helen Paleologina in 1407.

In 1422, the Monastery built a "cargo station" and a "warehouse" in Kaliagra, where today is the border between the Koutloumousiou and Stavronikita monasteries.

In 1497, after the expulsion of the Mongols from Russia, Paisios, abbot of the Monastery, is in Moscow, together with three monks, where he met with Grand Duke Ivan III (1440–1505) and received financial support.

In 1509, at the request of the widow of King Stefanos, Angelina, who had become a nun, the Russian prince Basil Iovanovich (1505–1533) placed the Monastery under his protection.

Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible (1530–1584), grandson of Ivan III, also supported the Monastery in every way, which now gained a reputation as a center of knowledge and learning. In fact, in 1554 Ivan IV wrote the following to the young M. Grekov, who had sent Patriarch Dionysius II to Constantinople to learn Greek with Adrianos Chalkokondylis as a teacher: "If you find it difficult to study under the patriarch, then I can help you send to the monastery of Agios Panteleimon in Athos".

In the 3rd Typikon of Mount Athos, the Monastery held the 5th place in the hierarchy.

In the middle of the 16th century, the Monastery was severely tested and there are periods of time where it was left without monks. In 1582 it temporarily closed its gates. The 500 rubles sent by Tsar Ivan IV Vasilievich in 1584 do not find a recipient. Expedition leader Ivan Meseninov left a description of Mount Athos that he had written during his trip.

The same situation will continue in the next century. In a letter of the patriarch Kyrillos Lukari (1620) it is noted that "the Monastery fell into loss and debt; he pledged the church's vestments, the monastery's essentials and other properties...; and as the debts increased and thus (the monks) they were imprisoned and are running around in prisons. The church and the walls of the monastery were demolished. Fathers are deprived of all means...'.

In 1661, due to bankruptcy, he was exempted from the fixed contribution of the monasteries for the maintenance of the Holy Community in Karyes. In 1693 it closes for the second time and the Holy Community includes it in the monasteries under guardianship. The recovery began in 1708, with a donation from the ruler of Wallachia, Michael Rakovitsa, but to no avail, since "in 1730, in May, they chased the monks from the Monastery, the so-called Mega Rossi, and settled among the Ismailites and built a minaret in the church».

All this time the Russian element is significantly reduced due to the state of war between Russia and Turkey. The Russian monk Vasilios Barsky (Βασίλειος Γρηγόροβιτς Μπάρσκι (Vasilij Grigorovich Barskij), on his first trip (1725/6) found only two Greek and two Bulgarian monks, while on his second trip (1744) he found none. He also mentions that the Monastery is poor and dilapidated, but also idiorrhythmic. In 1744, of course, the ruler of Moldavia Ioannis Nikolaou Mavrokordatu set an annual grant of 100 grossia, which in 1750 was increased to 150 by Konstantinos Michael Rakovitsa. This grant was also ratified by the following rulers until 1796. Among them is Ioannis Callimachis (1758–61), who, among other things, finances reconstruction projects.

In 1760, shortly before the donation of Skarlatos Ghikas, the brotherhood began to move from the Thessaloniki Monastery to the seaside location where it is still today. The Thessaloniki Monastery is renamed Paleomonastir and, without being abandoned, it becomes a part of the now dominant new Monastery. In the following century, when Russians began to multiply, the attachment expanded to include buildings and occupants.

The Monastery of Agios Panteleimonos

- current location

The Monastery was moved to its current location in 1765, during the patriarchate of Samuel I of Khandzeris.

In August 1803, with the seal of Kallinikos V, it was transformed from a idiorrhythmic into a communal monastery, with the first abbot, Savvas the Peloponnesian, who was an ascetic in the Skete of the Xenophon Monastery. Savvas initially hesitated to assume the abbotship, but after a letter from Patriarch Kallinikos (3.8.1803) he was convinced. He would remain abbot until his death in 1821, leaving behind an excellently organized brotherhood.

During the period of Savva's abbotship, it is noteworthy that the Monastery was financed by the ruler of Wallachia, Skarlatos Callimachis (1807–1810, 1812–1819), who had been miraculously healed by Saint Panteleimon when he was the interpreter of Mahmut II (1808–1839). ). For this reason, Kallinikos IV of Constantinople with his seal (1806), determined that the monastery should now be called "an authentic community of the Kallimachids... abolished the Russian intercession"

At the same time, the Catholikon of the new monastery, which is dedicated to Saint Panteleimon, began to be built. It was started in 1812 and completed in 1821.

After 1821, most of the monks, as happened in other monasteries, left Mount Athos because of the brutality shown by the three thousand armed Turks who entered the area in February 1822. When the monks returned in 1829, they found a monastery destroyed and with heavy debts, as the sultan's excessive financial demands for reparation were impossible to meet, and grants from the Danubian dominions had ceased.

After the death of Savvas and at his suggestion, Gerasimos, the last Greek and the best known abbot of the monastery, was installed as abbot. During his abbotship there were great reshuffles because of the Russians who reappeared after a century of absence. In 1834, the monastery received Russians who were cloistered in the cells of Kapsala. In 1840 it continued with an influx of monks from Russia and with the tsars financially supporting the Monastery. Thus, in 1869 there were already 250–300, against 190 Greeks.

The condition of the Monastery was constantly improving. From 1840 to 1866, debts were paid, even estates that had been sold were bought back, while at the same time an intense building activity began.

In 1875, a Russian abbot was elected for the first time, Makarios, who died in 1889.

The Greek monks did not manage to stop this development. The learned monk Daniel, a brother of the monastery since 1865, played a leading role in preventing its complete Russification. With this purpose, he went with a group of monks to Constantinople, where he was not only disobeyed, but arrested, by order of Patriarch Joachim II, and exiled to the Monastery of Agia Anastasia near Thessaloniki.

In 1895 the monastery had over 1,000 Russians and in 1909 they reached 1,446. The debt to the Sultan was reduced by one million piastres.

The ever-increasing number of Russian monks caused intense disputes in the Monastery, while at the same time the central administration of Mount Athos resented the demand of the Russians to be able to elect a compatriot as their abbot. The dispute was stopped by the Ecumenical Patriarchate by issuing a decision in favor of the Russians, where at the same time it was defined that the services should be held in both Greek and Russian languages. The monastery was now named "Russian Community of Saint Panteleimon".

In the following decades, the Monastery of Agios Panteleimonos became a tool of Russian expansionist policy. The tsars had large sums of money available for the expansion of the Monastery, but also of many hermitages of Mount Athos, where Russian monks lived.

The Monastery acquired the dimensions of a city. In addition to its 1,000 monks, it could accommodate even 2,000 visitors. A huge space was set up as a galley. In 1888, a new large church was built on the fourth floor of the wing with the monks' cells in the Muscovite architectural style and with luxurious decoration, dedicated to Agia Skepi and Saint Alexander Nefski. At the same time, workshops were created with modern steam-powered machinery from Vienna, a hospital and a bell tower, where, along with the other 33 smaller bells, is the giant bell built in 1897, a gift from the tsar. The Trapeza, which was built west opposite the entrance of the Katholikos in 1892, has a capacity of 1,000 people. Between the Catholicos and the Trapeza is the peculiar architectural Fiale without dome and peristyle, with 4 relief basins on different levels. A photographic workshop, a boarding school for pilgrims, warehouses, and a printing house were also created, whose prints were also distributed in Russia. Furthermore, the Monastery had in its possession a steam boat, a sailboat, barges, while it was also equipped with fire pumps.

The decline of the Monastery began in 1913 with the strife of the "name-worshippers", - who believed that the chanting of the name of Christ sanctifies the one who utters it - among the Russian monks. This was followed by the condemnation of the nominalists by the Holy Community and then the military intervention of Tsar Nicholas II and the violent transfer of 833 nominalists to Siberia, because they refused to commemorate him in their services.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the arrival of new monks from Russia stopped and their number gradually shrank noticeably.

In 1953, a group of pilgrims who visited the Monastery described the situation as follows: "Magnificent buildings for a thousand monks now lie deserted, and the remaining 100 rosaries are not even sufficient for guarding... We admire... the magnificent halls with the indescribable luxury and the opulence of Rousse. Some shadows of Elders bear witness to the still presence of the Rassos so that with them the last trace of the Rassos will disappear" [See Bibliography, Karapas].

In 1968 it suffered a huge fire disaster.

From 1989 with perestroika and Gorbachev's liberal attitude towards religion, the settlement of Russians and (mainly) Ukrainians in the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon began again.

Vladimir Putin is the first Russian President to visit the Monastery (September 2005).

Since October 2016, the Abbot of the Monastery is Evlogios Ivanov.

There are 36 chapels scattered throughout the spacious grounds of the Monastery, many of which have the characteristic Russian domes. Two of the cells of the Monastery are in Karyes and from its Skites, the ruined Nea Thnvaida (or Gourounosketi) and Chromitsa (one of the oldest monasteries on the Mount, 980 AD), today is the vineyard cultivated by the Tsantali family , while the Dormition of the Virgin or Vogodoritsa, near Pantokratoros Monastery, is now inhabited by Bulgarian monks. The Russian Skete of Saint Andrew in Karyes was never part of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon.

Sacristy

. The sacristy is located in a two-story building adjacent to the north side of the Trapeza. Reliquary cases, vestments, crosses, silver and gold sacred vessels are kept. We mention the Gospel and the Chalice that Grand Duke Konstantinos Nikolaevich donated in 1845, when he visited the Monastery.

Library

.
The Libraries of the Russian Monastery on Mount Athos.

The library of the Monastery of Xylourgos

For the Monastery of Xylourgos we have no information about its library. The only evidence we have so far is a delivery-receipt record (December 1142), where all the movable objects of the Monastery are recorded and handed over to the new abbot Christopher. This record is published by Paul Lemerle (Archives de l'Athos 12 -Actes de Saint-Pantéléèmôn, Paris 1982, 7, 73–76). It also includes some printed books, but mainly liturgical ones: "Russian books; apostolii ev, liturgies ii, octaves iv, ermologi iv, synaxaria iv, proverbs 1, minai iv, paterika iv, psalters iv ΄, Saint Ephrem, Saint Pangratios, clocks ΄, nomocannḥon ΄".

Modern researchers believe that when the inventory was compiled, the monastery had a copying workshop. This claim is based on the fact that in most liturgical books multiple copies are recorded, as for the liturgical needs of a monastery such a thing would be unnecessary.

From the classification work carried out in the new Monastery of Panteleimonos (2007–2009), 33 manuscript codices originating from the Monastery of Xylourgos were identified.

The library of the Monastery of Thessaloniki

The Catalan raids on Mount Athos (1307–1309) proved extremely destructive to the monasteries. Daniel II, archbishop of Serbia, then abbot of Helandariou Monastery, tells how in 1309 he visited the monastery of Agios Panteleimon to meet his spiritual father. While he was in the monastery, the Catalans arrived and began to attack with ferocity. They broke through the gate of the Monastery and set fire to the Catholikon and its cells. All the buildings of the Monastery were burned, only a stone tower was saved, where some monks took refuge together with Daniel. During this fire, all the relics of the Monastery were burned, manuscripts, forms, sigils, letters, etc. Only eight acts (acta) in Greek from 1030 to 1169 were saved. Apparently these documents were in the tower.

This loss is confirmed by Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282–1328), who in 1311 writes that the monks lost the ancient chrysobulla in a fire, such as that of his father Michael VIII (1261–1282), as well as other documents, for they ask him again for the issuance of a chrysobullus so that the real property of the Monastery is secured.

The tradition of copying manuscripts as well as the translation activities were continued by the Serbian monks of the Monastery. Among the scholars known today is the abbot Isaias (ηγούμενος Ησαΐας, who in 1361 translated the works of the pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite, which he accompanied with an introduction.

In 1560 the abbot Joachim wrote an essay where he describes the way of life of the Athonite monks. This work was compiled at the request of the Russian Metropolitan Makarios (1528–1563).

The famous copyist hieromonk Mattheos (1550–1624), protosigelo of the Great Church and later Metropolitan of Myron, is also connected with the Monastery. Matthew was in Moscow from 1596 to 1597, where he was mainly engaged in writing books. One of his manuscripts, the Liturgical (1599), is in the library of today's Panteleimon Monastery (Lampros 2, No 426).

Also, Archbishop Elassonos Arsenios (1550–1626), in 1620 sent from Moscow to the Monastery the edition of the 1538 Basil of Paul of Aeginites "Medici optimi, libri septem", which he had acquired in 1613: "ἐν ἔτη ζρκη΄": 1620: Humble Archbishop Arsenius of Suzdel and Tarusia of the great Russia, and formerly of Elassos and Demonikos, of the second province of Thettals, I send this medical book to the holy great monastery of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon in the holy mountain of Great Muscovy ». (έκδοση της Βασιλείας του 1538 του Παύλου Αιγινήτη Medici optimi, libri septem, που είχε αποκτήσει το 1613: «ἐν ἔτη ζρκη΄: 1620: ταπεινὸς Ἀρσένιος ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Σουζδελίου καὶ Ταρουσίας τῆς μεγάλης Ρωσίας, καὶ πρώην Ἐλασσόνος καὶ Δημονίκου, τῆς δευτέρας τῶν Θετταλῶν ἐπαρχείας)

The library of the Monastery was enriched by Abbot Varlaam, who already in 1705 had printed his Memoirs in Ukrainian. The first money and books he saved were in 1707, when he visited Tsar Peter I and informed him about the poverty of the Monastery. 1712 was the second time he went to Moscow and again received money and books.

His successor Barlaam Kyprian also visited Moscow in 1720 and returned with money, church utensils and many books.

In 1744, Barsky accuses the Greek monks of deforesting the monastery's library. He says that the library has very few manuscript codices and printed books, while the Greek monks have a lot of them, and even those who live in the Monastery are ready to sell every last piece.

The library of Agios Panteleimonos Monastery

In the courtyard of the Monastery, in an independent two-story building, is the library. Despite the fires of the past centuries, a large number of loose documents, manuscript codices and printed books are preserved in the library.

In 1844, according to the Russian philologist Viktor Grigorovich (1815–1876) who visited the Monastery, it had only 60 manuscript codices and 500 printed books: “Its library, placed in a separate building, is new, recently assembled, but adapted to the needs of the monks. It contains up to 500 books, including old editions of the Church Fathers and Byzantine historians. The manuscripts reach 60, they are of a general theological content, for example they preserve the writings of Theophylactos, Dionysios the Areopagite, Basil the Great, etc. There are only six Slavic manuscripts.'

A year later, in August 1845, Porfirios Ouspensky arrived at Mount Athos. In eight and a half months he visited all 20 monasteries, seven hermitages and some cells. In his writings he describes in detail his work on manuscripts and images and considers that the publication of many codices is capable of changing science. In a letter to Alexander Tolstoy (1801–1873), dated 4.10.1858, he mentions the following regarding the library of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon: "Up to this day in Esfigmenou and Russian I have fully studied 80 ancient Greek and Slavonic manuscripts and I have carefully compared the various versions of parts of the Old Testament contained in the 14th century Greek Minaeus manuscript, the current printed editions of the Minaeus, Greek and Slavonic, and Tischendorf's edition of the Bible (1850)'. From this text we get a dim idea of the liturgical books of the Monastery of Agios Panteleimon.

During his second visit, Ouspensky noted in his diary: “April 23, 1861. Easter. At the Panteleimon Monastery. During Vespers, 20 monks read the canonical passage from the Gospel, extending in a straight line from the Altar to the western doors of the church. Each of them held in their hands a printed Gospel covered with velvet and silver and gold images. Russian monks are rich!'

However, this wealth was limited to mainly printed books and indeed of the last years. The assessment of the contents of the library regarding manuscript codices and chrysobulls is disappointing: “The library of the Russian monastery is very poor. In the past due to disturbances that touched Mount Athos, and during the temporary desolation of the monastery, most of the books and manuscripts were looted, but... the best and most valuable, the holy relics and more than 50 royal and other letters were saved, including 4 letters of Russian tsars, Theodore Ioannovich (7100, September 5), Mikhail Feodorovich (7134, July 29), Alexei Mikhailovich (7168, February 29), John and Peter Alexeevich (7198, May 31) and one of Patriarch Job of Russia (7099, March 6).

In the following period, with Leonidas Kavelin (1822–1891) as the protagonist, a series of documents of the Monastery were published. A part of the documents was published in 1867 in Историческое обозрение Руссика (Херсонские епархиальные ведомости). Then, in 1868, in the 24th volume of Glasnika, a total of 18 letters (15 Serbian and 3 Vlach rulers) were published. Finally, in 1873, in Kiev, at the expense of the Monastery itself, the "Acts of the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon in Saint Athos" (Акты русского на Святом Афоне монастыря Saint Panteleimon) were published, 86 records in total. The publication was made at a high scientific level: the Greek and Romanian texts had parallel translations into Russian, many of the documents were accompanied by explanatory notes, and at the beginning of the book there was a short history of the Monastery.

During the period of the abbotship of Makarios (1875–1889), the Monastery carried out extensive educational and publishing activities, distributing to the faithful millions of leaflets, brochures and books of religious and moral content. From this period we have the testimony of a pilgrim: “The Library makes a pleasant impression with its cleanliness and order, where long bound rows peek out from behind the glass. There are printed books for all branches of human knowledge. The manuscripts section is less extensive and interesting than in other monasteries of Athos. It is probably a result of the disputes that happened recently between Greeks and Russians. However, in recent years, realizing the great value of ancient written monuments, the monks are willing to buy manuscripts if they are offered for sale by other monasteries of Athos. I just don't know if such purchases are successful, especially since there are no experts at all who could evaluate a purchase. We met a librarian, Father Mattheos, who seems to know by heart all the catalogs and titles of the library books entrusted to him" [For the librarian Mattheos a separate chapter follows].

In 1880 the codices reached 264, and in 1895 Spyridon Lambros recorded 1,027, with 99 of them parchments. This increase came mainly from purchases of the Monastery by various celtic monks, mainly Greeks, who sold the parchment codices for 10-30 pounds, as well as "from various other vile Monks", as Gerasimos Smyrnakis (1862-1935) characteristically says.

At the beginning of the 20th century the codices reached 1,500 thanks to the efforts of the librarian Matthaios. On 31.7.1908, in a letter to Matthew, Petit informs him about the books he bought for him in Florence and plans to send them with French pilgrims.

During World War I, the Monastery was isolated from Russia. There is a brief testimony of this period from the Scotsman Sidney Loch, who visited the monastery library in those years: "several Slavic parchments, dozens of Slavic church books written before the 19th century and a significant proportion of modern theological literature".

At the end of the 20th century, in addition to the 25,000 printed books, 1,920 manuscript codices (1,320 in Greek and 600 in Slavonic) were counted, of which 110 were parchments.

In April 2007, the gathering into a single repository and the cataloging of the library stock (print and manuscript) began, which was completed in April 2009. It was a systematic task of searching, collecting and then systematizing the archival material by a working group led by Hieromonk Makarios (Makienko).

During the fires and various natural disasters of the past, the monks who rescued the documents and books scattered them in various parts of the Monastery. Thus, their thematic classification and chronological order was completely broken. Therefore, the material gathered in 2007 was a huge mass of documents. Every book and every document was cleaned with modern processing methods to get rid of insects and larvae, while at the same time a special space was built, equipped with modern bookcases and document cabinets, where a constant temperature (18° C) and humidity (about 55%) were ensured. . At the same time, the heterogeneous material was systematically classified: description of the material, dating, cataloguing, digitization of particularly valuable and sensitive manuscripts and creation of a database were carried out.

Today, these works have been completed, while a relevant catalog of 543 pages with rich illustrations was published (Каталог архивного фонда Русского Свято-Пантелеимонова монастыря на Афоне, 2015).

Based on this study, the manuscripts of the Monastery now amount to 2,399 titles and the printed books to 42,640 titles.

Library-Archive

The archive of the Monastery contains unique evidence that testifies both to the sanctity of its food, and to the combination of the Greek with the Slavic Christian and monastic tradition.

In particular, it contains a collection of documents that capture the operation and activity of the Monastery mainly over the last 300 years. However, there are also documents from earlier times, with the oldest dating back to 1030.

The printed Catalog of the Archive includes 60 sections. The most important for the history of the Monastery is section 10 which includes an extremely large number of documents (278 files). Based on the archival documents included in this section, the problems of the Greco-Russian disputes of 1874–1875, nomenclature, property relations with other monasteries, etc. can be studied.

The history of the Monastery for the period 1030–1814 is also completed with section 16, which contains the notes of the library of the Azaria Monastery from the 1860s and 1870s, published in 1873. This document is still almost the only source for the study of her story.

Two sections present all the publishing works of the Monastery in the last 150 years. Section 50 contains the publishing archive of the Monastery for the years 1860 to 1991 and section 51 archival documents relating to the library for the years 1840 to 1980.

It is also worth mentioning section 11, where diaries, letters and notes of Hieromonk Vladimir (Владимира Колесникова) for the years 1889–1918 have been registered. Vladimir Kolesnikov kept a diary throughout his monastic life and left behind 39 notebooks with an almost photographic description of the daily life of the monastery. He was also for 40 years the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Душеполезный собеседник" (Soul Interlocutor), published by the monastery.

Library-Manuscript Codices

After the classification work, the manuscripts of the Monastery (2,399 titles) were included in the general electronic catalog of the forms, while preserving the older catalog numbers.

During the course of the work, uncatalogued manuscripts were also identified. The numbering of the newly discovered manuscripts continues the numbering of the monastic stock formerly used in the catalogs of Greek manuscripts. Thus, in addition to the record, over 750 previously undescribed manuscripts were added to the general catalog. At the same time it was found that 50 already cataloged codices (20 Greek and 30 Slavonic) had been lost.

In total the catalog currently includes 1,494 Greek codices, 494 Slavonic, 366 Russian, and 45 in other languages.

During the cataloging, about 175 codices were added to the Greek manuscripts, compared to the older catalogs. Some of them date back to the 19th century, while others are older. Many of them are rare examples of calligraphic art and contain a large number of miniatures and decorative elements. These are mainly functional texts.

From the Greek manuscripts we highlight the following four:

1) The parchment codex 2, one of the most important of Mt. It is a Byzantine evangelion of the 11th century, decorated with precious stones, which contains representations of the three synoptic evangelists, five representations from the cycle of the Twelve and many scenes from the work of Christ.

2) The 11th century parchment codex 6 preserves 16 discourses of Gregory, decorated with 29 exquisite miniatures chronicling themes related to the text, panteleimonos2 while decorated with titles and initials.

3) The parchment codex 99.2 (052 in Gregory-Aland numbering), dating to the 10th century. It includes part of the Apocalypse of John along with the interpretation of Andrew of Caesarea. The text is two-style, in capital letters, with 27 lines per page.

4) Parchment codex 28 (1093 in Gregory-Aland numbering), dating to the 14th century. It preserves the four Gospels in microscript, together with their commentary. The text is single-column, with 25 rows per page.

The Slavonic manuscriptsalso include those of the Monastery of Xylourgos and the old Monastery of Agios Panteleimon. Due to the fire in the Monastery of Xylourgos, the archive of the Monastery and part of the library have been destroyed. 33 manuscripts were saved, which were included in the main body of ecclesiastical manuscripts, keeping here also their original catalog numbers.

This collection contains manuscripts from the 11th to the 19th century, with additions from the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. These are mostly hymn texts. Many are excellent examples of calligraphy and, in addition, are equipped with beautiful decorations and miniatures.

The Russian manuscripts contain works by the monks of the monastery and various Russian writers of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. These are mainly theological and historical texts.

The fourth part of the codices includes manuscripts in various languages (in 10 European and Oriental languages). The oldest manuscript is an Abyssinian parchment Gospel of the 7th century.

Library-Print Books

By cataloging the forms, 42,640 titles, 88,272 volumes have been registered, along with another 40,000 copies of various pamphlets related to the Russian pre-revolutionary period.

Also, the library contains 792 publications with dedications by their authors or other famous people.

The printed books start from 1492 and are classified into three main groups: a) 1492–1917 (24,679 titles), b) 1917–1991 (5,945 titles) and c) 1991 onwards (11,952 titles). Editions from 1494 to 1799 are classified as rare and placed in a special section. These are 1,200 editions, including unique archetypes. The systematic acquisition approach is evident and is mainly due to the contribution of the Matthew library.

The forms section was divided into two areas. The first is the Church Slavonic books, which, among other things, include 7 unique editions, valuable for the history of Church Slavonic typography.

1. "Missal. Divine service book of the Catholic Church, containing in itself the rites of the Mass". 400 pp. (a.k.a. L011379)

The Synopsis, a pamphlet containing church services, was probably printed at the end of the 15th century. in Istria, in the monastery of the Benedictine order. It is one of the first in the history of Glagolitic editions in the South Slavic language.

2. "Oktoih". 356 pp. (a.k.a. L038231)

1510 edition, published in Cetinje by Hieromonk Makarios, the publisher of the first Slavic Cyrillic book, the Cetinje Psalter. Oktoichos was printed in folio form and in the same printing house as No. 1, by order of the voivode of all Hungarian Wallachia Io Vlad. [see Bulgakov, Illustrated, p. 178.].

3. "Служебник. Liturgiarion". 480 pp. (a.k.a. L034203)

The "Diakoniko-Liturgical" is an edition of 1519, printed in Venice by the famous printer Božindar Vuković from Podgorica. It is the first publication in the Church Slavonic language printed in Venice. It is in 4vo format, with 240 leaves, 19 lines per page, and publisher's medallion. The copy of the Monastery is a stub (388 pp.). [see Bulgakov, Illustrated, pp. 175-176.].

4. "Oktoih". 448 pp. (a.k.a. L034803)

1539 edition printed in Pristina by Dimitris (Serbo), in folio form, with 224 leaves, 27 lines per page, with a woodcut depicting the Catholicos of the Gračanitsa Monastery (in the Panteleimonos Monastery copy the woodcut has fallen off) . [see Bulgakov, Illustrated, p. 180.].

5. "Apostol". 536 pp. (a.k.a. L034429)

Edition of 1547, printed by Logothetis Dimitrios during the reign of the governor of Ugro-Wallachia Io Mircea (Ио Мирча), in 4vo, on 268 leaves, 22 lines per page (sometimes 23). At the beginning of Acts woodcut with the voivode's coat of arms. The copy of the monastery is a stub (370 pp.). [see Bulgakov, Illustrated, p. 176.].

6. "Servant". 280 pp. (a.k.a. L034477)

Diakoniko is a 1554 edition, printed in Venice by Vikenti Vuković (Викенти Вукович), son of Božindar, the first printer and publisher of Serbian books in Montenegro. The book in 4th volume, on 240 leaves. This is a reprint of the "Служебника" of 1519. The copy of the Monastery is a stub (146 pp.). [see Bulgakov, Illustrated, p. 179.].

7. "Приодь Постная". 256 pp. (a.k.a. L032625)

The Triodium together with the Lenten liturgies is a 1561 edition, printed in Venice by Vicentio Vukovich. The text extends to 30 lines per page, with images of saints and symbols of the evangelists. [see Bulgakov, Illustrated, p. 179.].

In addition to the above forms, Church Slavonic typography is represented by several editions of Russian typography, the oldest of which is The Interpretation of the Gospel by the Guardian of Bulgaria ("Толкование Евегалия Феофилактом Болгарским"), printed in Vilna in 1600 and extending in 786 pages (a.k.a. L028912).

The other large part of the rare book section consists of archetypes and later editions in Latin, Greek, French and German.

We highlight: a) the Liber Regulae Pastoralis of Pope Gregory I in Latin, printed on 56 sheets in Venice on 13.12.1492 by the printing house of Hieronymus de Paganinis (a.k.a. L025975), b) the edition of Letters of Basil the Great , sophist Livanius, Platonist Chionas, etc., in Greek, March 1499, printed in Venice by Aldo Manutius (a.k.a. L031501).

The first Greek edition that Thomas Papadopoulos has located in the Libraries of Mount Athos (2000, p. 8) dates back only to 1520, and it is a work by Gennadios Scholarios "Περὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς σωτηρίας ἀνθρώπων".

The oldest printed version of the Holy Bible in Greek is from 1518 ("Always the books called above all, theias i.e. the Old and New Scriptures"), printed in Venice, in aedibus Aldi et Andreae Soceri.

The oldest version of the Bible in Slavonic is the synodical version of 1751 (St. Petersburg).

It is worth noting that in the periodicals section the library has all the church and Christian periodicals of pre-revolutionary Russia. In addition, the section with periodicals published by Russian emigrants in various parts of the world is not insignificant, as their publishers considered it their duty to send copies to the monastery.

Scholars

.

Benedict

, left during the revolution, taught at the priestly school of Poros founded by Kapodistrias, returned to the Monastery, where he died in 1840. The sequence he wrote on the icon of the Virgin of "Axion estii" was published. There are anecdotes and other works of his, sequences and eulogies.

Procopius Dendrinos

followed the same course. He left during the revolution, taught at the school of Poros and returned to his Monastery to die in 1848. In 1814 he printed a new edition, at the expense of the Monastery, of Thekaras (Θηκαρᾶς περιέχον Ὕμνους τε καὶ Εὐχάς) in Iasion.

In 1831 in Aegina the Guide, or Introduction to the Holy Scriptures...

In 1832 in Nafplion the Egolpion hieron, That is, the study of Evidence from the Holy Scriptures...

In 1835 in Constantinople the Reconstruction. Almost verbatim, the Anti-origin Original Sin Unseen Booklet...

In 1841 in Athens a catechism with the title Christian Teaching, i.e. Holy Catechism of the correct doctrines...

Ioannis Symeonidis

, from the Macedonian country of Tarlizi, and former Teacher of the School in Megalo Turnovo, published in Pesti in 1840, in Greek, the work Kipos Polyanthis, which contains plants of various kinds...

Azarias

printed in Constantinople in 1861 in a bilingual edition (Greek and Russian) "Ἀνωτέρα ἐπισκίασις ἐπὶ τοῦ Άθω, ἤτοι διηγήσεις περὶ τῶν Ἁγίων καὶ Θαυματουργῶν καὶ ἐν Ἄθω δοξασθεισῶν Εἰκόνων τῆς Θεοτόκου καὶ ἄλλων Ἁγίων", Anotera episkiasis on Athos, That is, stories about Saints and Miracle Workers and Icons of the Virgin Mary and other Saints glorified on Athos.

Hieronymos Solomegov

Around 1840 settled in the Monastery, set up a printing press and devoted himself mainly to the printing of enlightening leaflets about Mount Athos and especially about the Monastery of Agios Panteleimon, which were widely distributed in Russia, which contributed to the massive attendance of monks from there.

Dionysios Agiartemitis

Calligrapher in the 19th century in Penteleimonos.

Mattheos Olsanski

. The librarian of the Monastery From about the last third of the 19th century until the beginning of World War I, the library and the librarians of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon began to play a huge role in the development of the humanities. At that time, a huge number of Russian scientists came to Athos, many of whom then corresponded with the monks of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon. Some of these letters are addressed to the librarian of the Matthew Monastery.

Matthew was born in Kharkiv. He became a monk in Optina at the age of 19. In 1863 he came to Mount Athos, to Panteleimonos Monastery, and became an assistant to the then librarian Azarias until 1874. In the following years he was in Constantinople and the Holy Land. In 1878 he assumed the position of librarian and held it until his death in 1911. At the same time he was secretary of the Monastery and responsible for official correspondence.

Matthew collected information about the manuscripts and rare antiquities that could be purchased not only on Mount Athos, but also from other areas, such as from the Monastery of St. John the Theologian in Patmos, the Holy Land, Macedonia, Constantinople, Saint Petersburg etc. His interest centered on liturgical manuscripts.

At the same time, he collected copies of texts he needed for his research. One of his collaborators was the metropolitan of Pilousi Amfilochios, whose letters are also kept in the archive of the Monastery. Matthew bought a lot of new books from Russia and Europe and was generally informed about the new editions.

In the archives of Panteleimonos Monastery, dozens of letters from his correspondence with well-known French and Greek Byzantine scholars (Emile Legrand, Louis Petit, Gabriel Millet, Manuel Gideon, Athanasios Papadopoulos-Keramea, Spyridon Lambros) are kept. Legrand e.g. gathering material for the compilation of the Greek Bibliography (Bibliographie Hellénique) , he works closely with Matthew. Their correspondence begins on 26.10.1891, where Legrand needs data for the third volume of the 17th century. Matthew sends a list of print titles. Legrand even mentions Matthew's name in the following books of the volume: 179, 285, 286, 351, 484, 485, 486, 494, 495.

Continuing his work in the fourth volume of the Bibliography of the 17th century (1896), Legrand seeks Matthew's knowledge of the description of an Anthology of 1697, which he knew only from the brief description of Andreas Papadopoulos-Vretos.

On January 19, 1897, Legrand begged "if it were possible to photograph or at least to copy faithfully and unalterably the frontispiece of the Works of Michael the Voivode, Ἀνδραγαθειῶν τοῦ Μιχαὴλ βοεβόδα (no. 218 of Esphigmenou)". "Unfortunately, however - Legrand continues - the said copy is incomplete, and very likely there is no photographer in the monastery of Esphigmenou, which is far from your monastery". In the same letter he also mentions the edition of the Myths of Georgios Aitolos which he made before Spyridon Lambros and with information about the author unknown to Lambros. [Published in the Bibliothèque Grecque vulgare. The edition of S. Lambros: Myths and passages of Spaneus, now the first published under Spyr. P. Lambrou (Athens 1896)] ( Μῦθοι καὶ ἀποσπάσματα τοῦ Σπανέα, νῦν τὸ πρῶτον ἐκδιδώμενα ὑπὸ Σπυρ. Π. Λάμπρου (Αθήνησιν 1896))

In addition to these publications, Mattheos mentions that the monastery's library also keeps the autographs of well-known scholars of the 16th century (more than thirty), such as e.g. of Maximus Margounius to David Hoeschel, as Cod. Pants. 750. Legrand is particularly interested and asks for copies: "As for the letters of Margunius, I would appreciate them, not only those to D. Aeschelion (Δ. Ἐσχέλιον), but also those to others, and even if, as you inform me, these letters are autographed." Their collaboration with copies of letters and other works of Margounius will continue for many years. In his letter of 24.10.1901 Legrand thanks Matthew for the bibliographic note on Maximus Margunius' translation of St. John's Scales. Legrand's last letter is on 16.6.1903, the year of his death.

Gabriel Millet met Matthew on Mount Athos, when he visited (1894), and requested the copying of two treatises on painting.

Louis Petit collaborates with Matthew on the publication of the catechetical discourses of Symeon the New Theologian. In fact, in one of his letters (1.12.1907), Petit writes about the fire in the Turin library, in which the manuscript containing the 24 speeches of Simeon, of which he had made only a few copies, burned. As he himself writes, the success of the publication is based only on the Agioreitika manuscripts and relies on the help of Matthew.

The correspondence with Manuel Gideon covers the years 1884–1909, with the main subject being the publication of Gideon's books, but also on issues related to the policy and the situation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, such as the crisis of 1886 after the resignation of Joachim IV. Some of Gideon's works were published with the funding of the Monastery, e.g. the Monuments of the history of Agioreitis, the Patriarchal paintings, the Byzantine calendar, etc. (Πατριαρχικοὶ πίνακες ή το Βυζαντινὸν ἑορτολόγιον).

However, the contact between the two men also led to the Monastery acquiring some manuscripts, both copies from the stock library of the Holy Sepulcher in Constantinople, as well as originals, but also quite old ones, such as Ioannis Matthaios Karyofyllos, Control of the pseudo-Christian catechism of Zacharios Gerganos (1631), and of Petros Arkoudiou, On Purgatory fire, according to Barlaam (1637).

From 1901–1911, Mattheos corresponded with Athanasios Papadopoulos-Kerameas, where there are references to the publication of the shrines of the Holy Lands and the help requested by the latter in obtaining copies of codices of the monasteries of Koutloumousiou, Grigoriou and Iberi. In his letters there are also many biographical details, such as the death of his father, his sick sister, the story of his transfer to Russia, etc. Furthermore, Kerameus seems to have contributed to the Monastery buying Byzantine manuscripts, such as the collection of Gabriel Destounis, or others.

Matthew also had a close collaboration with Spyridon Lambros, during the preparation of the catalog of the Agioreitika manuscripts.

In addition to the French and the Greeks, Matthew corresponded with a number of Russian scientists. The record of the 210 names is included in the publication of the Monastery Каталог рукописей, печатных книг и архивных материов русского Свято-Пантелеимонова Монастыря на Афоне, Гора Афон 2015, pp. 183–197.

Among the people who met Matthew is Byzantineologist and historian Ivan Sokolov (1865–1939), who visited Athos at the beginning of the 20th century and was impressed by the personality of the librarian and wrote: "We will only write about the librarian Fr. Matthew, whom anyone who comes to Athos for scientific purposes will definitely meet. Fr. Matthew is a wonderful man in many ways. First of all, he is a scientist in every sense of the word. There seems to be no field of knowledge that does not interest him. His knowledge in theology, history, archeology, philology is highly respected. By the way, he has an excellent knowledge of the modern Greek, Turkish and French languages, with which, as the grammarian of the monastery, he carries out the extensive official correspondence of the monastery with the Primate. And Fr. Matthew's knowledge of Greek palaeography is absolutely amazing: not only does he read Greek manuscripts with remarkable skill, but he is also thoroughly familiar with the composition of all the monastic libraries of Athos and can give detailed information to anyone interested in this field . Father Matthew loves his library like a beloved child. Not only did he build it and keep it in exemplary condition, compiling descriptions and catalogs, but he also gradually enriched it with new acquisitions. This last act is worth it

the highest praise. While the libraries of the Greek monasteries remain "consolidated" for decades, Fr. Mattheos adds new codices and new catalogs of precious Greek texts saved in other libraries of Athos to the composition of the library of Panteleimon every year. As a result of this effort, the young library of the Russian Monastery today is in no way inferior in wealth to the ancient libraries of Greek monasteries, and in some respects surpasses them (for example, in terms of manuscripts related to the recent history of the Greek Church ). Fr. Matthew's scientific merits are known to all who are interested in the history of the Christian East and are appreciated even in the West: about two years ago, Fr. Matthew received official recognition from the Paris Academy of Sciences with the honorary title of scientist, having simultaneously received the corresponding class and diploma. What is particularly surprising about this man is that he acquired his extensive knowledge by self-education without prior systematic training. Furthermore, Fr. Matthew is a rare monk in terms of modesty and moral prowess. Despite the fact that in the monastery he is, in a way, "a man of grace", Fr. Matthew, out of his humility, stubbornly refuses to become a hieromonk and remains a simple monk, obeying like a simple monk. His way is only to the temple and the library, and he never goes beyond the walls of the monastery. He spends all his free time obeying his cell, among the codes and statutes, and conversing with visiting scientists, who arrive at the Russian monastery."

Matthew was ordained to the great order of monks on August 27, 1911 and was renamed Matthias. He died on September 3rd.

Currently here are approximately 70 Russian and Ukrainian monks.

Notable monks of St Panteleimonos Monastery

Daniel Katounakiotis,
Silouan the Athonite
Archimandrite Sophrony.

Recommended Books
Russian Monks on Mount Athos: The Thousand Year History of St Panteleimon's, by Nicholas Fennell (Author)
Saint Silouan the Athonite, by St Sophrony (Author)

Video on St Panteimon Monastery

Skete Xylurgu-film

Афон_1часть-Свято-Пантелеймонов монастырь-film



Source
https://www.aboutlibraries.gr/libraries/handle/20.500.12777/lib_105 Informatice article on the library of St Panteleimon monastery.