, Brepols, 2020 Hardback, 304 pages, Size:300 x 240 mm, Illustrations:25 b/w, 130 col., 1 maps b/w, Language: English. ISBN 9782503589114.
Summary Mount Athos, the home of Orthodox spirituality and monasticism, has been in existence for at least 1200 years. Home to over 2,000 monks, in twenty glorious monasteries filled with treasures, the peninsula is undergoing a transformation and renewal of faith. In 1956 there was a proposal to build hotels on Mount Athos. Today it hosts up to 1,000 pilgrims every day! Why? This book will help explain this extraordinary place, the current resurgence, the growing population of monks, the sense of purpose, the love and affection that are so much part of the environment. This wonderful story, with a preface by HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, is told through the recollections of the Friends of Mount Athos, an organisation that has, for thirty years, provided support for the institutions, landscape and people. Here are the stories of enchantment from over forty people of different nationalities, customs and beliefs. In addition to the text, there are a collection of special photographs and a map. TABLE OF CONTENTS Front Matter Table of Contents Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales Peter Howorth & Chris Thomas - Introduction Part One - Before Robert Byron - Simopetra (Simonos Petras) Sandy Thomas - Monoxylites, 1941 Peter McIntyre - Citations, A visit in 1944 John Warrack - The Diary Michael R Bruce - Athos Revisited Sydney Loch - The Capital Town, Karyes Joice Loch - The End Part Two - Encounters John McCormack - Athos Forty Years Ago Scott Cairns - A Short Trip to the Edge. A Pilgrimage to Prayer Fr Richard Edwards - God's Reason for a Pilgrimage to Mount Athos Nicholas Shakespeare - Journey's End Nicholas Talbot Rice - Holy Mount Athos, Station of Faith Neil Averrit - The Single Gospel John Campbell - Wandering Trevor Curnow - Athos in 1985 Trevor Curnow - Pantokrator and Me Ben Martin - My Recollections of Mount Athos, and an Encounter on London Bridge Shaun Leavey - Two Rather Different Pilgrimages Roumen Avramov - The Holy Mountain - Personal Fragments Robert W. Allison - The Bumblebee Chris Thomas - Impostor Syndrome John Mole - The King's Wine DJ Caso - The Mountain Veronica Della Dora - From Space Graham Speake - 'The highest place on earth': Climbing the Mountain Alastair Sawday - Travelling Light: Mount Athos Daniel Eriksen - Visits to Mount Athos Kallistos Ware - Fifty-Four Years as an Athonite Pilgrim Doug Patterson - Mount Athos: The Artist Andreas Chrysanthou - A Visit Douglas Dales - Ad Limina: On the Boundary Artur Scholtes - My First Visit to the Holy Mountain Derek Simons - How I got lost and met a Saint Jonathan Dunne - Athos Diary Bart Janssens - A Catechumen Colin Whorlow - Nineteen Ninety-Eight Christopher Deliso - Twenty Years of Gratitude: Lifes since Athos Terry Swehla - A Family Affair Thomas Stoor - Waves of Eternal Praise Anna Conomos-Wedlock - An Athonite Childhood Part Three - FOMA Foothpaths Project John Arnell & Trevor Curnow - Early Days Dimitris Bakalis - Not on My Shift Dominic Solly - The First Lopper? Andrew Buchanan - Brotherhood on The Holy Mountain David Holloway - Reflection David Stothard - Surprise, Grace and Serenity John Mole - A Lopper's Diary John Mole - Brotherhood of the Loppers David Bayne - Mount Athos over Fifty Years John Andrews - An Orthodox Pathclearer Part Four - Back Matter Leslie Currie - Food: Mount Athos May 2019 Peter Brian Desmond - Athonite Iconography and the Patriarch Oliver Rackham - Our Lady's Garden: The Historical Ecology of the Holy Mountain Philip H. Oswald - From the Shore to the Summit: The Vegetation and Flora of the Holy Mountain Dimitri Conomos - Two Syndesmos Sagas Peter Howorth - The Map Peter Howorth - Monastic Medicine Trevor Curnow - A Brief Introduction to the Monasteries of Mount Athos Trevor Curnow & Chris Thomas - The Diamonitirion Author Biographies Book List Glossary List of Illustrations