The Sacred Spring of the Monastery of St. Michael, Thassos, Greece

There is a very famous Monastery of St Michael on the island of Thassos in Greece, to which there is a reference in a document of 1287. A monk, Luke, built a church where there was a sacred spring. When the Ottomans wished to defile the spring, it dried up, only to reappear in a cave down by the sea, which I walked to with my wife recently.

You head down a path marked by metal poles topped by red-painted bottles to a pebble beach. This part is fairly steep. Then you clamber over rocks by the sea, through narrow passes, rock archways and over a wooden bridge, always being directed by red arrows painted on the rocks and crosses in more difficult places. To your right, the green Aegean and Mt Athos in the distance, the only spectators a pair of goats and some slender birds.

After an hour and a quarter, having climbed Golgotha and gone past Scylla and Charybdis, you reach your destination, a trickling spring and in a cave you can only enter by wriggling like a worm a quiet pool of water, where we prayed for those we know under the Archangel’s watchful and merciful gaze. To humble oneself before God, wriggling like a worm, is not only appropriate, it is strangely uplifting.

Orthodoxy is smell, and on the way back we kept getting wafts of fragrant candle wax. A blessed experience.

 View of the Aegean from below the Monastery, with Athos in the distance View of the Aegean from below the Monastery, with Athos in the distance   

A sign painted on the rocks: ‘Pros agiasma’ (‘To the sacred spring’) A sign painted on the rocks: ‘Pros agiasma’ (‘To the sacred spring’)   

The path with metal poles topped by red-painted bottles The path with metal poles topped by red-painted bottles   

The pebble beach where the path meets the sea The pebble beach where the path meets the sea   

Steps built going down to the beach (thank God for the workers!) Steps built going down to the beach (thank God for the workers!)   

The ‘path’ as it continues from the beach The ‘path’ as it continues from the beach   

A goat watches our progress A goat watches our progress   

More boulders to cross with red arrows pointing the way More boulders to cross with red arrows pointing the way   

The view from the rocks to Mt Athos The view from the rocks to Mt Athos   

More boulders! More boulders!   

A rock archway you must pass through A rock archway you must pass through   

The view from inside the archway The view from inside the archway   

A wooden bridge over a gap in the rocks A wooden bridge over a gap in the rocks   

Golgotha, a climb up the rocks Golgotha, a climb up the rocks   

A metal rail to give some stability! A metal rail to give some stability!   

A narrow pass through the rocks (I am holding an icon of St Michael from the Monastery) A narrow pass through the rocks (I am holding an icon of St Michael from the Monastery)   

Scylla and Charybdis (every time we passed this way, I made the sign of the Cross, and we always made it across without being touched by the waves):

 A solitary tree on top of the cliff A solitary tree on top of the cliff   

The approach to the sacred spring The approach to the sacred spring   

The entrance to the cave The entrance to the cave   

Inside the cave, where there is just about enough space to sit up (note the icon of St Michael in the top righthand corner) Inside the cave, where there is just about enough space to sit up (note the icon of St Michael in the top righthand corner)   

The view from inside the cave The view from inside the cave   

The icon of St Michael with the pool of water underneath The icon of St Michael with the pool of water underneath   

In front of the Greek flag! In front of the Greek flag!   

Jonathan Dunne

10/11/2021

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