FRIENDS OF MOUNT ATHOS
(Registered
Charity No. 1047287)
The notice of this
yearÕs AGM is enclosed. As usual, the proceedings will be chaired by His
Eminence Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia. We hope that the programme will
prove to be interesting and that it will attract a good turn-out.
The
first speaker is Fr Enzo Bianchi, Prior of Bose Monastery in northern Italy. After
studying economics at the University of Turin, Fr Enzo moved to Bose in 1965
with a view to starting a monastic community. In 1968 he was joined by the
first brothers and sisters, and forty years later the community numbers eighty
members with both men and women coming from six different countries. Since the
start of his monastic life Fr Enzo has combined his life of prayer and work in
the community with an intensive programme of preaching, study, and research.
This activity led him to preach retreats, to publish books, and to give
lectures and conference papers in Italy and abroad. Bose itself runs a regular
programme of international conferences and also has its own publishing house,
Edizioni Qiqajon.
Bose
is a monastic community of men and women belonging to different Christian
churches. It is a monastic community seeking God in prayer, poverty, celibacy,
and obedience to the Gospel. It is a monastic community living in fellowship
with men and women at their service.
For
more than ten years now the monastery at Bose has been a meeting place for
Christians from East and West wishing to discuss aspects of Christian
spirituality. They are Christians belonging to the Orthodox, Reformed, Roman
Catholic, and Anglican churches, and these encounters have been and will
continue to be essentially an occasion for listening to each other.
Over
the years Fr Enzo has developed close contacts with many Athonite elders. These
contacts form the basis of a his address to the Friends.
The
second speaker is Fr Romilo, a monk of the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos. Four years ago
Hilandar suffered a devastating fire that destroyed more than 50 per cent of
its buildings. The Friends was just one of many organizations to launch an
appeal for funds to assist in the rebuilding of this great monastery. With the
proceeds of our first tranche of donations the monastery was able to build a
new bakery. With the proceeds of our second, launched in spring 2008, it aims
to build a new library of printed books.
Fr
Romilo, the librarian of the monastery, will give an illustrated presentation
of what has been achieved so far in rebuilding Hilandar and what remains to be
done. The determination of the brotherhood to restore the monastery to is
former glory is truly inspiring.
Between
the two talks, and after lunch if you choose to take it, we shall conduct the
official business of the AGM itself and as usual there will be elections. Four
members of the Executive Committee have reached the end of their term of office
and will tender their resignation: Metropolitan Kallistos (Chairman), Simon
Jennings (Treasurer), John Arnell, and Dimitri Conomos. All for have indicated
their willingness to stand again. Any further nominations for these positions
should reach the Secretary in writing at least one week before the meeting. The
AGM will be followed by a Special General Meeting on which a separate paper is
enclosed. Guests are welcome to attend both the AGM and the SGM but may not
vote at either.
After
tea there will be an opportunity to join the Orthodox community at 1 Canterbury
Road (five minutesÕ walk from St AnneÕs) for a service of Vespers at 5 pm. Both
Orthodox and non-Orthodox members and their guests are warmly invited to attend
this service which will last for about an hour.
Attendance
at the AGM is free. The charge for attending the rest of the day (including
morning coffee and afternoon tea) is £10.00 each (students £5.00); and there
will be a buffet lunch costing £15.00. Completed forms and cheques (payable to
the Friends of Mount Athos) should be sent as soon as possible to Jeremy Black
at Proffitts House, Millers Lane, Hornton, Oxfordshire OX15 6BS.
This spring another expedition, the eighth, will be dispatched to the Mountain for a fortnight in May. The list for this year is already full and there is a waiting list, but the project leader, John Arnell, will soon be assembling a team for next year and any members of the society who wish to volunteer their services are encouraged to contact him (John@thearnells.org).
This yearÕs pilgrimage will run from 25 October to 2 November and will spend four nights in Sinai, chiefly at St CatherineÕs, and a further four nights in Cairo from where excursions will be made to the Wadi el-Natrun and the Red Sea Mountains. The cost of the tour, which is being led by Metropolitan Kallistos, is approximately £900 per person. Anyone interested in joining the group should contact Dimitri Conomos (dimitri.ec@btinternet.com) as soon as possible.
Applications are invited from suitably qualified graduate students working for a higher degree or diploma at institutions of higher learning in the UK for the Friends of Mount Athos Travel Bursary. Applicants may be drawn from any discipline but should be already engaged in or willing to become engaged in a project with a specifically Athonite context. The value of the award is £500. Applications, accompanied by the names and addresses of two referees, should be addressed to the Secretary, Dr Graham Speake, Ironstone Farmhouse, Milton, Banbury OX15 4HH. The attention of applicants is drawn to the fact that women are never admitted to Mount Athos.
Electronic mailing
We shall continue to send out mailings by post to those members who prefer to receive them by that means, and of course the Annual Report and Directory of Members will remain as print publications for the foreseeable future, but it would make for a considerable economy of both labour and costs if we could send out notices and other text communications by e-mail. We have no intention of publishing e-mail addresses, but if you would be happy to receive such mailings from the Friends electronically, please indicate this by sending an e-mail to Alasdair Cross (alasdairx@mac.com) or, if you are resident in the Americas, to Robert Allison (rallison@bates.edu).