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M Dorobantu Master Thesis Draft Hesychasm, the Jesus Prayer and the contemporary spiritual revival of Mount Athos - Master’s Thesis - Candidate: Marius Dorobanțu Supervisor: Dr. Thomas Quartier Radboud University Nijmegen 2016 Table of contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 1. Athos, hesychasm, the Jesus Prayer and the 20th century decay .............................................. 7 1.1. Athos from its foundation to the 20th century .......................................................................... 7 1.2. Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer ................................................................................................. 10 1.2.1. Hesychasm .................................................................................................................................... 10 1.2.2. Hesychia and the Jesus Prayer .............................................................................................. 13 1.3. 20th Century Decay ............................................................................................................................. 16 1.4.1. Economic loss ............................................................................................................................... 16 1.4.2. Human loss .................................................................................................................................... 17 1.4.3. Social context ............................................................................................................................... 18 1.4.4. Desolating landscape ................................................................................................................ 20 2. The contemporary revival ....................................................................................................................... 22 2.1. History of the revival ......................................................................................................................... 22 2.1.1. The figures ..................................................................................................................................... 22 2.1.2. The external wave ...................................................................................................................... 23 2.1.3. The internal wave ...................................................................................................................... 24 2.1.4. Chronology .................................................................................................................................... 27 2.2. Manifestation of the revival ............................................................................................................ 28 2.3 External causes ..................................................................................................................................... 30 3. The seeds of revival: Elder Joseph the Hesychast and the ethos of his brotherhood .... 33 3.1. Biography ............................................................................................................................................... 33 3.2. Particularity .......................................................................................................................................... 36 3.2.1. Jesus Prayer .................................................................................................................................. 37 3.2.2. The private vigil at night ......................................................................................................... 38 3.2.3. Praying aloud ............................................................................................................................... 38 3.2.4. Bold and goal-oriented prayer ............................................................................................. 40 3.2.5. Transfer of grace ......................................................................................................................... 40 3.2.6. Fasting and the mechanics of divine grace ...................................................................... 43 3.2.7. Frequent communion ............................................................................................................... 44 3.2.8. Obedience and humility ........................................................................................................... 46 3.2.9. Charismatic eldership ............................................................................................................... 47 4. The touch of hesychasm: towards a new kind of cenobitism ................................................... 50 4.1. Internal causes: the charismatic elders and the conversion to cenobitism .............. 50 4.1.1. The charismatic elders ............................................................................................................. 50 4.1.2. The conversion from idiorrhythmy to cenobitism ...................................................... 51 4.2. Mutated cenobitism ........................................................................................................................... 54 4.3. The achievability of hesychia and mystical experience in cenobitic life .................... 55 4.4. The hesychast program: from the desert to the cenobitic monasteries ..................... 59 4.4.1. Monastic routine and the import of the Jesus Prayer ................................................. 59 4.4.1.1. Jesus Prayer in the cell .................................................................................................... 60 4.4.1.2. Jesus Prayer outside the cell ......................................................................................... 64 4.4.2. Frequent communion and the rediscovered joy of liturgical celebration ......... 66 4.4.3. The role of the spiritual father .............................................................................................. 68 4.5. The camp of the realists ................................................................................................................... 73 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................... 77 Referrence list .................................................................................................................................................... 80 1 Introduction The monastic peninsula of Mount Athos1 in Northern Greece is today one of the most vivid spiritual sites in the Eastern Orthodox world. Its history, according to tradition, stretches back to the beginnings of Christianity. For more than a thousand years2, the peninsula has continuously hosted monastic life. Meanwhile, outside the Holy Mountain, the Eastern Orthodox Church has experienced quite a tumultuous history, including a schism with Rome, the fall of the Byzantine Empire, almost 500 years of Turcocracy3 (except for the Russian Church), the emergence of national orthodox churches, two World Wars, persecution from communist regimes and, to some extent, secularization. During all these centuries, men4 continued to come to this place in search for stillness and spiritual perfection. Athos is today, alongside Jerusalem, the most popular destination for orthodox pilgrims. This is very much due to the overwhelming historical, artistic, and spiritual richness of the site: one can find true Byzantine fortresses there, hosting chapels that are architectonical masterpieces, with beautiful frescoes and numerous holy relics and miracle-working icons. The charm of Mount Athos doesn’t only come from the past, but also from the present; it is not so much caused by old buildings and relics as it is by people. More than two thousand monks, mostly young men, populate the peninsula today, living either in one of the 20 monasteries or in one of the many sketes5 and countless cells6. It is their choice for an absolute way of life that makes everything about Mount Athos so special and spectacular. It is the monks’ ability to offer pilgrims impeccable hospitality, while not losing focus on their own spiritual progress, which attracts hundreds of people to the Holy Mountain every day. Contemporary Athos is truly bursting with spiritual life. With all these positive remarks, one may be tempted to believe that things have always been like that. Interestingly enough, only fifty years ago, the state of affairs was quite the opposite: Mount Athos was dying rapidly. The total number of monks had declined from more than 7000 to a little over 1000 in the span of just a few decades, reaching a minimum of 1145 in 1971. Not only had the monks grown fewer, but they had also grown older, becoming less able to work and support themselves. With many houses closing down and being deserted due to shortage of personnel, the landscape 1 Various terms are employed in literature and throughout this paper to designate the same monastic peninsula: Mount Athos, The Holy Mountain, Holy Mount of Athos, The Mountain, Athos. 2 The official foundation of the first monastery, the Great Lavra, is dated in 963, but tradition places the beginnings of religious life on Athos as early as the first century. 3 Turcocracy: the period of Ottoman (Turkish) rule. 4 Women have traditionally been prohibited from entering Mount Athos, for both pilgrimage and monastic
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