HISTORY OF THE IVERON MONASTERY

My beloved brothers and sisters in Our Risen Lord, God, and Savior JESUS CHRIST,

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!

HISTORY OF THE IVERON MONASTERY

Holy Tradition tells how the Ever-Virgin Mary Theotokos departed Palestine, but a violent sea storm forced her vessel off course. The Theotokos, together with Christ’s beloved Disciple, John, and others, who reverently accompanied them, set sail for Cyprus and Saint Lazarus. The year was A.D. 52, It happened that, after a time at sea, a violent sea storm raged and the sailing vessel was forced off course. By Divine intervention, as the storm abated, they found themselves outside the port of Klemes (Klementos) on Athos. At that time, Athos was inhabited by pagan tribes. Agapios the Cretan writes that when the ship carrying the Ever-Virgin Mary approached Athos, a statue of Jupiter (Zeus), at the top of the Mountain, fell shattered to pieces in a thunderous noise.

It is said that they came ashore close to the present Monastery of Iveron. There, the Holy Virgin rested for a while and, overwhelmed by the beauty of the place, she asked her Son to give her the Mountain, despite the fact that the inhabitants were pagans. A voice was then heard saying, "Let this place be thine inheritance and garden, a paradise and a haven of salvation for those seeking to be saved." Thus, Athos was CONSECRATED AS THE INHERITANCE AND GARDEN OF THE MOTHER OF GOD, it immediately acquired the name HAGION OROS OR HOLY MOUNTAIN, BECAUSE OUR LADY THE THEOTOKOS CHOSE THIS MOUNTAIN AND PLACED IT UNDER HER PERSONAL PROTECTION. Upon asking and receiving Athos as a heavenly gift, in that moment, the ground shook and the pagan statues in all the temples fell prostrate and broke into pieces. Then, even the trees of the peninsula bent forward, as though offering veneration to the Theotokos who had reached the port of Klemes.

On the peninsula there was also a great temple and shrine to Apollo. Diabolic works such as fortune telling, divining, and witchcraft took place here. All the pagans greatly honored this place as one chosen by the gods. In fact, people from all over the world gathered there to worship. Therein, they would receive answers to their questions from the diviners. Therefore, when the Mother of God entered port and all their idols collapsed, shouting, confusion, and uproar were heard from the idols inhabiting Athos. Cries could be heard, saying, "Men of Apollo, get ye all to the harbor of Klemes and welcome Mary, the Mother of the Great God Jesus!" Thus, all the demons inhabiting the idols, forced against their will, could not resist the power of God, and they proclaimed the truth.

Consequently, all the inhabitants of Athos hastened from all parts to the port. Once there, they welcomed the Theotokos. Meeting her with honor, they escorted the Theotokos, Saint John, and all their fellow passengers to the common hall (called the Synagogeion), a kind of meeting house or assembly room). They then asked her, "What God didst thou hear and what is His name?" Opening her divine lips, she explained, in detail, to the people everything about Christ. The natives diligently posed questions concerning the mystery of Providence in the Divine Incarnation. They even wondered at how she, a Hebrew woman, explained everything to them in the Greek language. As a result of all the excellent and supernatural occurrences attendant with her arrival, they believed. Upon being catechised by her teaching, they accepted the Christian Faith. They then fell down to the ground and worshipped the God Who was born of her and showed great respect to the Virgini who bore Him in the flesh. The Mother of God also worked many miracles on the Holy Mountain. After they were baptized, she appointed a leader and teacher for the newly-illumined from among them that were in her traveling party.

Most pleased with the place, she prayed for it and said, "My Son and my God, bless this place, this lot of mine. Poor Thy mercy upon it and keep it free from harm till the end of this world, together with them that dwell therein for Thy Holy Name and mine. And, through their little fatigue and through the struggle of repentance, may their sins be forgiven! Fill their lives with every good and necessity in this age, and with eternal life in the future age. Glorify this place above every other place and show Thy miraculous power in every way. Fill it with men from every nation under the sky, who are called by Thy name and extend their habitation in it from end to end. Exempt them from everlasting punishment. Deliver them from every temptation. Rescue them from visible and invisible enemies and from every heresy. Fortify them in right worship (Orthodoxy).

After praying for the new flock on the Holy Mountain, the Theotokos and those with her, entered the ship with joy and set sail for Cyprus, she found the holy Lazarus in great sorrow, for he feared that her delay had been caused by a storm. He was unaware that Divine Providence had brought her to Mount Athos. However, her arrival speedily changed his sadness into joy.

Tradition goes on to inform us that, later, this same haven was visited by Clement, Bishop of Jerurusalem. He preached Christianity and founded a small cloister, calling it after his name. In the 7th century, the place was completely ruined by pirates, but rebuilt by Emperor Constantine Pogonatos. It was this site where the Georgian courtier and Byzantine dignitary John Tornikios founded the Iberian Monastery. After the 10th century, the Iberians increased in number gradually. For many years, the monastery was the spiritual center of Iberia.

In 1356, it was established by the Athonite Protos Arsenios and by the Patriarch Kallistos I of Constantinople that the Greek language was to be spoken, since the Greek monks outnumbered the Iberians. In the 14th century, a number of the monasteries were annexed to Iveron Monastery lying within its bounds. After armies of hte UNIONISTS (WITH THE PAPACY) and, in the early fourteenth century, the Gatalan mercenaries devastated Iveron, the Palaiologoi Emperors, Serbian ruler Stefan IV Dushan, and especially Gorganis, ruler of Georgia, and their heirs, from the 15th century onward, contributed to the restoration of Iveron Monastery.

In the 18th century, Iveron Monastery flourished. In 1821, during the Greek Revolution, it made many loans to poor monasteries. There was a serious fire in 1845 that was followed by one in 1865 that reduced the holy monastery to ashes. Presently, the Katholikon with frescoes painted by various iconographers of the 16th and 19th centuries. The most acclaimed is that of PORTAITISSA, because of the Wonderworking holy icon of the Theotokos. In addition to the katholikon, the are 16 small chapels within the enclosure. Outside the monastery are 11 kathismata, 13 kellia in the direction of Karyes, another three toward Philotheou, and ten more in or near Karyes.

The great Monastery of Iveron lies a the mouth of a large mountain torrent, amid verdant landscape. In the Typikon of Monomachos (1045), the Iveron Monastery occupied the third place in the Athonite hierarchy. It has held this place ever since the 11th century. [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in Our Risen Lord, God, and Savior JESUS CHRIST,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George