The Skete of Timiou Prodromou

The Skete of Timiou Prodromou

The Skete of Timiou Prodromou (Romanian), part of the Megisti Lavra monastery, is located to the southwest of the monastery, at a distance of less than an hour and at an altitude of 250 meters above sea level, in a desolate and rocky place, called Vigla.

History

In 1810, the Moldavian spiritualist Iustinos bought from the monastery of Megistis Lavra the Giannikopoulos cell, which was located in its southwest, built in a barren rocky area in Akrathos. It was an old building, which had been renovated in 1660 by the spiritual Philotheo, while later (1772) ascetics from Chios lived in it. Justinus decided to expand the cell, in order to develop in it a large brotherhood. He traveled back to his homeland in order to find money to rebuild it and to seek manpower to man it. During this journey he died, but he had managed to enroll in his cell two fellow monks, Patapius and Gregory. These two monks arrived at Mount Athos and in 1820 secured permission from the dominant monastery, the Lavra, to set up a "communal hermitage of the pious family of Moldovans". After the agreement with Lavra, they left immediately in order to "build a stable resource". However, due to the events that followed due to the Revolution of 1821, they remained in the monastery of Neamtsu in Moldavia, from where they never left. Their cell on Mount Athos, as is the institutional practice, was returned to the Lavra, which then made it available to various ascetics

New interest in the cell of the Holy Forerunner was expressed from Moldova after 30 years, this time from an official source. In the Neamtsou monastery, the agreement signed with the Lavra by the two ascetics Patapios and Grigorios was found by chance. This agreement was brought to the attention of the ruler Grigorios Ghikas (1849–53, 1854–56) and the metropolitan of Moldavia Sophronios, who "both assumed a zealous zeal in favor of the establishment of the abandoned Moldavian skete". For its reconstruction they chose the monks Nifonas and Nektarios and in a letter they begged the Lavra to give the relevant permission according to the type of the old agreement. Thus, in 1852 a new agreement was drawn up, by which the older articles were ratified and new ones were added. The number of ascetics was set at 20 and any need to increase them needed the prior consent of the monastery. Also, the seal of the skete was approved with the bust of the Prodromos in a drawing and with a Moldavian inscription: "Seal of the Moldavian Skites of the Holy Prodromos of Lavra 1852". In addition, the hermitage was appointed to offer the monastery 1,000 grosci per year for the use of the site and for timbering. The administration was taken over by Nifon as the rightful one, with Nektarios as his assistant.

During this period, the hermit became involved in the tribal nationalist spirit, which had already developed among the Romanians. After three years, in 1855, Grigorios Ghikas issued a gold bullion with which he secured the financial resources for the operation of the hermitage as its builder. He also requested the ratification of all previous decisions regarding the hermitage by the patriarchate, a validation that took place in 1856 with the issuance of a seal by Patriarch Cyril VII.

In 1857 Nifon laid the foundations of the new catholicon of the hermitage, dedicated to the Baptism of Christ, which was completed after nine years, and inaugurated in 1866 by the Metropolitan of Bucharest. Around the catholicon were erected the wings of the cells, which formed a four-sided walled building.

The period 1867–1882 is characterized by great disorder in the hermitage, with many quarrels and intrigues among its monks. After the union of the two Danubian hegemonies and the prevalence of the common name Romanians, the Romanian government asked the Scythian leadership to use a common name as well. However, Nifon and Nektarios, loyal to the Moldavian and pro-Russian tradition, disagreed. Together with 20 monks they left the hermitage and settled in Iasi trying to prevent the change or to hand over the hermitage to the Russians. They returned to the hermitage without succeeding in accomplishing their purpose.

The bearer of the nationalist Romanian sentiment was a foreigner, the ruler Charles I (1866–1881), of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who in a deed in 1871 arbitrarily named the hermitage "Romanian Commons" and designated "Seal of the Romanian Commons" , omitting the words "of the Lavra", thus pointing out that the institution is a monastery, and even an independent one, and not a hermitage. This action caused a triple reaction. First from the Moldavian monks of the hermitage who did not want the change, second from the Great Lavra, and third from the patriarchate. Finally, with the issuance of a seal by Joachim II (1876), the institution is explicitly called a hermitage, but Romanian and not Moldavian, while the mention of the Lavra is also omitted: "Seal of the Genovian Romanian Hermitage of Mount Athos".

The order was restored in 1882, with a document that explicitly defined the sovereign rights of the Great Lavra and the obligations of the hermitage. Later, in 1889, Joachim III abolished the seal of his predecessor and a definitive agreement was concluded between the monastery and the hermitage. The hermitage is now called Romanian and the rule of the Lavra is fully recognized.

During the socialist regime in Romania (1945–1989), the hermitage faced problems similar to those of the Russian foundations after the October Revolution (1917). In 1976, when monks from Romania arrived at the hermitage, they found about ten elderly and infirm monks. These new monks started repairs on the buildings, which were completed in 2006. Today the hermitage is experiencing a new prosperity, with the number of its monks reaching 25, all of Romanian origin.

Library-Manuscript Codices

Today, the Romanian hermitage of the Holy Forerunner, housed in the eastern wing of the building, has around 200 manuscripts. Some come from Romanian monastic libraries and some are written by monks of the hermitage.

Among the manuscript codices, a special mention should be made of the History of the Holy Monasteries, compiled by the monk Irinarchos Sisman (1845–1920), and spanning a total of ten volumes. It is a story of Athos and his monasteries, decorated with various decorations and images. The particular interest of the content lies in the highlighting by the editor of the Romanian buildings of each monastic complex.

Library-Print Books

A catalog of the hermitage's publications has not yet been published, but in total its treasured books amount to 5,000, mostly in Romanian, with several antiquities among them. The main source of enrichment of the forms are the donations of monks from Romania. Apart from the liturgical forms, the content of the rest is mainly theological, but a large number of church music books and door-to-door correspondence are also found.

Among the Romanian archetypes we note Barlaam's Kazania [=Sermons] (1643), The Seven Mysteries (Jasio 164), Stefan Simion's New Testament (Alba Iulia, 1648), and the Canon of Govora (1652).

Thomas Papadopoulos in the Libraries of Mount Athos (p. 18), the first Greek edition he has located in the Skete of the Holy Forerunner dates to 1560, and it is To theion and Holy Gospel, printed by Christoforos Zaneto in Venice.

https://www.aboutlibraries.gr/libraries/handle/20.500.12777/lib_4528

The Skete of Timiou Prodromou video

Lumină între cer și mare - Schitul românesc Prodromu din Sfântul Munte Athos