Source: Ukrainian Orthodox Heritage on Holy Mount Athos
June 22, 2016
During the research expedition organized by the charity fund “Ukrainian Orthodox Heritage on Holy Mount Athos” for the shooting of an historical documentary, not far from the Pantocrator Monastery was found the kellia of Sts. Constantine and Helen, Equals-to-the-Apostles, built at the end of the seventeenth century. There in the mid-seventeenth century the native of Poltava, great ascetic, and translator of the Philokalia, Venerable Paisius Velichkovsky received the monastic tonsure.
“Our research group managed to find another holy site on Mt. Athos that bears great significance for the historical legacy of the Ukrainian people on Mt. Athos. Many centuries ago our fellow countryman Paisius Velichkovsky, who made a great contribution to the history of all Orthodoxy, precisely at this spot received his monastic tonsure and assimilated himself into the angelic life. Today we are studying how the kellia was during the time of St. Paisius Velichkovsky—it’s appearance, furniture, and so on, in order to rekindle in it the unquenchable flame of monastic podvig,” stated the founder of the “Ukrainian Orthodox Heritage on Holy Mount Athos” fund, Dimitry Vorona.
Unfortunately, the church and buildings of the kellia have not survived to our day. Only the church foundation, parts of the wall of the cells and the retaining wall remain. The well, where the resident brothers collected rainwater for their needs, is located not far from the corpus.
The kellia of the Holy Equals-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen is witnessed to in the “Omologa” documents of 1779 and 1797 of Pantocrator Monastery dealing with debts, and the notes of the monastery benefactor from 1697.
This is yet one more discovery connected with the historical heritage of Ukraine on the Holy Mountain.