Mt. Athos, August 15, 2018
afonit.info During a pilgrimage to Mt. Athos in 2016, President Igor Dodon of Moldova stated that he would try to visit the Holy Mountain every year. He visited again in August 2017, and he already embarked upon a three-day pilgrimage to the monastic republic in March of this year.
afonit.info The head of state completed another three-day pilgrimage yesterday, during which he visited several of the mountain’s holy habitations, venerated the precious icons and relics preserved therein, and also became the first governmental head in history to ever make his way to the very summit of Mt. Athos, reports Russian Athos.
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afonit.info Pres. Dodon has previously explained that Mt. Athos is very closely connected with Moldova, as many Moldovan rulers of the 15th-17th centuries restored several Athonite monasteries, and Moldovan monks have always lived on the Holy Mountain, founding monasteries and hermitages.
The first stop on the pilgrimage for the president and his entourage on Sunday was Vatopedi, where they were met by the abbot Archimandrite Ephraim and venerated the monastery’s sacred objects. Pres. Dodon has met with Fr. Ephraim several times before while visiting the Holy Mountain. They then made their way to the administrative capital Karyes, where the pilgrims venerated the It Is Truly Meet Icon in the Protaton Cathedral.
afonit.info They also visited Iveron Monatery, the cell of St. Andrew, and the Monastery of St. Paul, which was supported by Moldovan masters in antiquity. The president had the opportunity to venerate the Gifts of the Magi kept there and to meet with the abbot Archimandrite Parthenios. From there the pilgrims made their way to the Skete of St. Anne, where they venerated the incorrupt foot of the ancestor of God St. Anne.
afonit.info From St. Anne’s, the president set out the next morning at 6:00 AM to begin hiking to the summit of Mt. Athos, located 6,670 ft. above sea level. The pilgrims covered the distance of 9 miles in about 5 hours and prayed in the Church of the Transfiguration that awaited them at the very top. No other head of state is known to have ever visited the very peak of Mt. Athos.
Then they decided to descend to the Panagia cell, where the Mother of God herself had visited, at an altitude of 4,920 ft. There, President Dodon donated a copy of the wonderworking Gerbovetskaya Icon of the Mother of God, considered the protectress of Moldova. They returned to St. Anne’s that day by 8:00 PM and stayed in the cell of St. John Chrysostom, where they attended the Divine Liturgy the next morning for the feast of the Procession of the Life-Giving Wood of the Cross.
afonit.info President Dodon then visited the Serbian Hilandar Monastery, after which he departed for the Greek mainland.
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