Athos, holy mountain, dohiar monasteries. The history of the founding of Dohiar

In the middle of the path between the monasteries of Xenophon and Constamonite, at an altitude of 30 meters, is the Monastery of Dohiar. At the beginning (10th century), the housekeeper Athanasius Lavrioti Eftimius built a monastery in Daphne and dedicated it to St. Nicholas. When during one of the raids the pirates destroyed the monastery, Efthimios himself with his nephew Patricius Nicholas restored it from the very foundation already in the place where it now stands. Emperor Michael Dukas and his mother Evdokia renovated the monastery.

Later, the monastery was subjected to new attacks by pirates many times, but was again restored in 1570 from the very foundation by Roxana, the wife of the leader of Moldavia Alexander, who bought out his farmsteads. In 1653, the small monastery of Elomposia, located in Vlachia, was attached to the monastery. In 1821, many valuable buildings were lost.

Cathedral temple The monastery is dedicated to the Archangels. He celebrates his day on November 8th. It was built in the 16th century, is quite high and has a large base. To the left of the nave is the grave of Bishop Feofany of Moldavia, who was excommunicated from his metropolis and died a monk here. The frescoes of the Cathedral Church were made in the Cretan school. To the right of the entrance to the refectory and inside the painted small church is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Gorgoy"("Quick Hearers"), Ieria "prosmonarios" (waiting) strictly serves here and receives pilgrims. The monastery has a source of Holy water. According to legend, Theodulus, the builder, found him. Trying to find water, he began to dig very deep. Then the Archangels Michael and Gabriel pointed him to the source of holy water - Ayasmos. The monastery has 6 pareklises (chapels) on its territory and 4 outside. Outside the main entrance to the monastery there is the church of St. Onuphrius, where in the summer, during the harvest, Sunday services are held.

Library The monastery is located on the second floor of the Tower and contains 65 parchment codices (11-14 centuries), 244 codices written on paper (14-18 centuries), 4 packages with church music notes (15-19 centuries), 87 paper codices with church music (15th-18th centuries) and 2000 printed editions.

Among the shrines of the monastery are stored: the Vain Tree, portable icons, objects of worship, holy vestments (robes), relics of 45 saints, etc.

The monastery has 2 cells in Karyes. One of them houses a representative office.

The history of the founding of Dohiar

The foundation of the monastery is associated with St. Euthymius, disciple and friend of St. Athanasius of Athos, during the reign of the Greek emperor Nicephorus Phokas and the nobleman of the Byzantine imperial court Nicholas (in monasticism Neophyte), the nephew of Euthymius. This monastery was originally dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, but later, due to a miracle created by incorporeal forces, it was renamed in honor of St. Archangels Michael and Gabriel. In the autumn of 960, the holy elder Euthymius, with the common consent of the brethren, handed over the monastery to the care of Neophyte, and after some time he himself peacefully passed away to the Lord. By that time, the monastery had grown in numbers, and Neophyte decided to expand the monastery. The money needed for the construction was allocated by the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus Foka.

So, in a short time, a white-pink monastery was erected, called Dohiar. Translated from Greek into Russian, "Dohiar" means "cellar, key-keeper", i.e. manager of edible stocks and stocks olive oil monastery, which was the obedience of Euthymius during his stay in the Great Lavra of St. Athanasius.

Archangels and Miracle in Dohiar

Gradually the monastery acquired its present form. In the 10th century, it experienced a period of prosperity, which lasted quite a long time. But even before the completion of the construction of the monastery, it became clear that there were not enough funds for complete completion. There was only one thing left - a prayer for help to Jesus Christ and the Most Holy Theotokos. And heavenly help was not slow to come. The following legend speaks of this in detail. Opposite the Holy Mountain, in view of Dohiar, was a peninsula called Longos, on which St. Neophyte acquired metoch. Near it from ancient times stood a stone statue of a man. A mysterious inscription was carved on his head: "He who hits me on the head will find a lot of gold."

Many long and zealously beat the statue on the head, but the stone man did not reveal his secret to anyone until the time when the young monk Vasily, sent by the Neophyte for monastic needs, arrived in the city. At sunrise, he went up to the pillar and, wiser from above, struck with a shovel at that place on the ground where the shadow of the stone man's head lay. Under the marble stone, Vasily saw a copper cauldron full of gold coins.
Surprised and delighted, the young man, not tempted by the love of money, buried the treasure and hurried back to the monastery.

Saint Neophyte, having learned about the find, gave glory and thanksgiving to the Lord, and at dawn, without saying anything to the rest of the brethren, he sent three monks together with Basil to Longos.
The sent monks carried the cauldron with the money to the boat and went home. But the closer the boat sailed to the Holy Mountain, the more Satan darkened the unstable souls of the monks with the seductive brilliance of gold. And, finally, the unclean one inspired them to take possession of the treasure, and to drown the unfortunate young man.

On a dark night, the accompanying monks tied the sleeping Basil, tied a marble stone around his neck and pushed him into the sea.

When in the dark they sailed to the monastery, each of them buried his part of the gold in a secluded place on the shore and lay down to sleep until dawn.

As soon as Basil was thrown into the sea, the archangels Michael and Gabriel, shone with heavenly light, immediately appeared and in the blink of an eye transferred him to Dohiar.

When the time came for the morning service, one of the monks opened the temple, which was locked for the night, and, seeing on the floor in front of the Royal Doors the sleeping Basil, bound hand and foot, immediately ran after the Neophyte. Awakened by the abbot, Vasily told the truth about what had happened. But why he did not drown and how he ended up in the temple, he did not know. He only vaguely remembered how unknown golden-winged eagles picked him up.

St. Neophyte understood who these sparkling eagles were, but ordered to leave Basil in the same position in which he was found, and not to tell anyone about what had happened. In the morning, the monks accompanying Vasily, interrupting each other, began to tell the abbot that Vasily had made up everything about the treasure, and, ashamed of his lie, he fled in an unknown direction.

St. Neophyte, pretending to believe their words, said: “Blessed be God! Let's go to church and pray to God. And He, as good and strong, will send us His rich mercy by the destinies known to Him.

All the brethren entered the temple and saw Vasily bound on the floor. Fear and horror seized the monks darkened by the demon, and when the young man repeated in front of everyone what had happened to him, they fell down on their faces with tears, bitterly repented of their sin and told where they hid the gold that had killed them.

The hegumen and the brethren praised and thanked the Lord and glorified the Archangels. In gratitude for this supernatural miracle, the brethren decided to dedicate the Cathedral Church of Dochiar to the divine archangels Michael and Gabriel.

The holy abbot imposed a strict penance on the monks who had sinned, and as blasphemers, murderers and liars, he drove them out of the monastery for five years. Having spent this long period without communion, in tears and repentance in the cell of All Saints, which is located on the shore between Dochiar and Kostamonit, the abbot again accepted the monks into the brotherhood of the monastery, where they betrayed their souls to the Lord who forgave them.
The found gold was spent on the completion of construction, the painting of temples and other monastic needs. The place on the floor where the bound Vasily lay was marked with a black stone, and the whole wonderful story of finding the treasure was captured on the frescoes of the cathedral. Subsequently, Vasily was tonsured a monk with the name Barnabas and became abbot of Dochiar after Neophyte.

Decline and renewal of Dohiar

Pirate raids of the 13th-14th centuries interrupted the development of Dohiar. And despite the fact that in the XIV century the monastery received help from the Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos (1332-1391) and King Stefan Uros IV Dusan (1308-1355) of Serbia, the decline of the monastery continued.

In the 16th century, the priest Fr. George from Adrianople, who came to the monastery, gave the monastery all his property. He managed to find support from the sovereign of Moldovlachia, Alexander, and his wife Roxandra (1568), who bought the monastic possessions captured by the Turks and returned them to the monastery. And in 1578, the ruler Alexander began the renovation of the monastery.

Then other patrons appeared who sent large sums of money to the monastery and gave it significant land holdings, thanks to which the monastery was able to rise somewhat. At the same time, its southern part was built and the high tower was restored (beginning of the 16th century).
During the 18th century, a belfry was built and the northeastern part and almost all other buildings of the monastery were completed.

During the years of the National Liberation Revolution of 1821-1829, the monks of Dohiar took part in armed resistance, becoming part of the thousandth Svyatogorsk detachment. After the defeat of the uprising in Northern Greece, in order to receive an amnesty, the monastery was forced to send Fr. Gabriel, to pay double taxes for the time of the uprising and to support the Turkish garrison stationed in the monastery at their own expense. Since Dohiar was unable to pay a salary to the head of the garrison, he was forced to sell the farmstead in Ermilia in 1832. Of the 150 monks who lived in the monastery before the uprising, only 38 remained. And during the Turkish invasion, Dohiar lost all the valuables that were not exported (silver shrines and reliquaries), the farmsteads were plundered, and the cattle were taken away.

Monastery Cathedral: unique frescoes

The plan of the monastery is an irregular quadrangle. It is surrounded by high walls with a tower, in the upper part of which there are cells. Cathedral Church of Sts. Archangels (Byzantine style) is located in the lower part of the courtyard, near the western wing of the monastery facing the sea. The columns of the temple, which took on all its weight, are made of marble. Windows and doors are also lined with marble. In the center of the temple is a statue of a huge double-headed eagle, the symbol of Byzantium. Temple utensils and lecterns are in abundance inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and ancient graceful stasidia are located along the walls. In the vast vestibule of the cathedral, which leads to the refectory, the faces of the holy founders of Dochiar are depicted on the wall: Euthymius, Neophyte and Barnabas.

On the right pillar, in front of the kliros, there is a ktitor icon depicting the Cathedral of Sts. Archangels, and on the left - the former ktitorskaya icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

The most complete cycle of fresco painting in all of Athos is concentrated here. The frescoes have pronounced features of the classical Cretan art school of the painter Giorgi (1568) and are interesting both in terms of iconography and artistic style.

The carved wooden iconostasis of the temple was created in 1783. The canopy over the Holy Altar can be considered the same outstanding work of art of woodcarving.

In this cathedral, to the left of the vestibule, there is the tomb of the Bishop of Moldovlachia Theophan, who, having lost his cathedra, arrived here and died, being a monk of the Dohiarsky monastery.

Chapels and icons of Dohiar

The monastery has 12 more chapels on its territory and 3 outside. The most significant of them is the chapel of the Mother of God of the Quick Hearing, opposite the entrance to the cathedral, on the right at the entrance to the altar. The chapel received this name from the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary located here, which is considered one of the most famous and revered icons on Mount Athos. Few people know, but the miraculous icon of the Quick Hearing One is not written on a board, but is a fresco and painted on the wall in the passage between the Cathedral Church and the refectory of the monastery. There is a legend associated with it.

In 1664, the Most Holy Theotokos ordered in a dream vision to the monastery cellar Nil not to pass by the icon with a torch, so that the icon would not turn black from smoke. But the monk did not obey and was punished by unexpected blindness. All the brethren of the monastery prayed to the Mother of God for the return of sight to the monk Nilus. And his sight after repentance was returned. From that moment to the present day, one of the monks takes care exclusively of this miraculous icon. In 1873, an elegant silver-gilded riza, made in Moscow through the efforts of Russian benefactors, was placed on this holy icon.

Other chapels

Other chapels: Assumption Holy Mother of God, the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God of the Quick to Hearing, St. Archangel Michael, Three Hierarchs, Sts. 40 martyrs, Sts. indefinitely Cosmas and Damian, St. mch. Nikita, Rev. Onuphrius the Great and Peter the Athos, St. vmch. George.

Monastic shrines

Inside the monastery, in the southwestern corner of the Cathedral Church, there is a well called "sacred". It is believed that he is miraculously inexhaustible nourished and supported by Sts. Archangels. And the first mention of it dates back to 1300 in the reign of Emperor Andronicus II Palaiologos the Elder (1260–1332).

Of the regalia, in addition to the icon of the Mother of God the Quick to Hearing, the monastery has a part of the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross of the Lord, many parts of the relics of saints, sacred robes and utensils, as well as gold-woven fabrics, wooden and wire crosses, disc potires, etc.

Here are parts of the relics of the following saints: St. Charalambius, St. mchch. Mina, Kirika, Mercury, St. John Chrysostom, St. Nile the Myrrh-streaming, St. Peter of Athos, St. Achilles, St. vmch. Panteleimon, St. David of Thessalonica, St. Philotheus, part of the relics of St. John the Baptist, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Dionysius the Areopagite, St. Mina Kallikelad, St. vmts. Marina, St. mch. Archdeacon Evil, St. Jacob the Persian, St. Paul of Thebes, St. app. Andrew, St. vmch. Theodore Stratilates, St. Dionysius of Olympus, St. Theodore the Inscribed, St. Basil of Amasia, St. Cosmas infinity, St. John the Merciful, St. Theodore Tyrone, St. mts. Paraskeva and others. A part of the stone with which the novice Vasily was thrown into the sea is also taken out for display.

The library, located on the last floor of a high tower, contains 545 manuscripts, 62 of which are parchment. Among them, some illustrated manuscripts stand out, and especially Monthly Books with wonderful miniatures. In this library, in addition to the department of manuscripts, there are also more than 5,000 printed books, among which some archetypes and paleotypes stand out.

Not far from the monastery is the source of the Archangel, called "Agiasma".

In Karey, the monastery has a cell of All Saints, where its representative office is located. The refectory adjoining the western side of the monastery is considered one of the most spacious on Mount Athos (its length is 27 meters). It was built by Archbishop Prokhor of Ohrid and frescoed in the 17th and 18th centuries.

. monastic vows is he received from Elder Amphilochius of Patmos, a well-known ascetic of piety. He revived the Dohiar Monastery, which had fallen into disrepair, and was elected hegumen. AT last years endured the torments of a severe incurable disease without grumbling. Speaking about himself, the elder humbly asked to pray for the “robber Gregory.”

Maxim Klimenko - historian, screenwriter, translator from Greek, Orthodox publicist, personally knew Geronda Gregory, for 30 years he repeatedly visited him on Athos.

– By the great mercy of God, I was fortunate to know Elder Gregory from the Dohiar Monastery for almost 30 years. Communication with him made an indelible impression on everyone: both those who were close to the Dohiar monastery and can rightfully consider themselves children of the newly deceased Geronda Gregory, and those who at least once met him. I have watched this so many times.

I myself first saw Geronda Gregory like this. In 1989 or 1990 I come up, I remember, to the Dohiar monastery. I was then a subdeacon, and I had a blessing to wear a cassock, which, of course, I had relatively new and tidy. And suddenly I see a man in a completely shabby form: his entire cassock consisted of only patches (I'm not exaggerating), and on top of this, one might say, rags, he also put on a black apron, also completely decayed. This strange-looking man was very busy: he was polishing a bronze candlestick with a special tool.

On Mount Athos, all monasteries try to polish church utensils to a shine before big holidays, so that the temple meets the holiday, especially if it is a patronal celebration, in all its splendor. Glare from the lights of candles and lamps plays especially beautifully on these polished surfaces. But, as a rule, novices and younger brethren are engaged in this hard and tedious work of bringing shine, for whom there was never a shortage in Dochiar under Abbot Gregory ...

- Bless! - I appeal to the worker (on Athos, blessings are asked from all monks, not only from priests).

“God bless you,” he answers me, without looking up from his work.

“I would like, if possible, to see the Father Superior,” I say.

- And why do you need an abbot? - still working hard, he clarifies.

“And who are you to be?” - asks me and starts a conversation that is more like an interrogation ...

And when he found out everything he was interested in, then, still not postponing his work, he suddenly puzzles me:

- Well, I am the abbot. Come on, get up and help.

We all remember the lives of St. Sergius, we remember something similar from the examples of ancient patericons. But here it was not what is called a "repetition of the reception." Everything was somehow very everyday, ordinary, natural. Not playful or theatrical. This is how I first saw the old man.

Everyone notes its simplicity and accessibility, but for all that, he was not a simpleton

Everyone, of course, notes its simplicity and accessibility, but for all that, he was not a simpleton! That's the problem. He, as we know, brilliantly graduated from the theological faculty of the University of Athens. He studied and throughout his life later, communicated and became close friends with people who made up the flower and pride of Orthodox theology not only in Greece, but throughout the Orthodox world. Very learned people came to him, with many degrees and regalia, again from afar, and everyone found it interesting to communicate with him. It was not such an illiterate "peasant in a cassock." No.

Once we were talking, and the conversation turned to the interpretation of some question by the ancient philosophers Plato, Eutychus and Aristotle ... And then suddenly the elder began to cover this topic so encyclopedically broadly and in terms of meaning deeply from the point of view of the mystical experience of the Church and Orthodox spirituality, that everyone who participated in this conversation was simply amazed by his reasoning. One can be a reader, or one can comprehend a corpus of knowledge, and this, of course, in him amazed those who were inclined to see in this old monk such a “simple-fool”. He really came from a large poor family, but he himself acquired a lot inwardly. Among the Athonite abbots, Elder Gregory is very authoritative. Not every abbot on Athos has such weight. And it's not just about some "tables of ranks" ...

Let me tell you a story that happened to me personally. I call it a miracle. Because I have no other explanation for what happened. Some time ago, knowing that I regularly visit Mount Athos, the abbot of the Ioninsky Monastery in Kyiv, then not yet a bishop, but an archimandrite, called me and said:

– If you will soon be on Athos and you don’t have a lot of things with you, could you deliver a small parcel for Father Gregory to the Dohiar Monastery?

To the question:

- What is it?

“Yeah, that’s bullshit,” he replied. – The elder ordered something, we have fulfilled the order, but we need to urgently deliver it, because they will now have a big holiday, and this is for the holiday ... We must hurry. We are looking for an opportunity to transfer this to Athos as soon as possible.

As soon as I agreed, a young man immediately met with me (later I found out that he was a very talented jeweler, a master of goldsmiths). Then he handed me a package without explaining anything. When I opened it at home, I was horrified! There, in a special trunk, was a set of liturgical vessels. But not just liturgical vessels - they were rather impressive copies of the Byzantine bowl and diskos, which we have in the Armory! They were made of silver with gilding and decorated with precious and semi-precious stones! And I already knew that in order to export such things, you need to collect a huge package of documents from the Ministry of Culture, etc. This is not for you to hang a silver or gold cross around your neck and go through customs ... I was shocked. Didn't know what to do! I had to fly the next day. Tickets on hand. The suitcases are packed. While mentally scrolling through the most unpleasant situation I could find myself in, I dialed the number of the Dohiar monastery. Elder Gregory himself picks up the phone. Confused in words, I try to explain to him what awaits me ... And then he suddenly abruptly and authoritatively interrupts me:

"Don't be afraid - take it and take it!"

– What are you wearing?! This is complete nonsense! Rave! We're celebrating. Feast of the Mother of God. The Mother of God is waiting for these vessels! The Mother of God is waiting for them for the holiday. Do not be afraid - take it and take it !!

Friends advised me:

“Listen, do you have something completely ugly, an old bag or an ancient suitcase?”

Since childhood, I have found such a cloth suitcase with a zipper, with which earlier, in the distant Soviet past, children were sent to pioneer camps. Thank God, Korf entered there as if it had been created for him. Still, to be honest, I went to the airport not without some trepidation. “The elder blessed me, we need to take them,” was all I kept repeating to calm myself. And what happened?

In some surprising way, the customs officers in Moscow saw nothing. The same thing happened in Greece. I put the suitcase on the tape, and as if at that moment someone closes their eyes. I already understand that this is something incredible, except that only through the prayers of the elder, it happens. As if on wings, I fly to Dohiar. I give this transmission to Elder Gregory. He immediately takes me to the altar, shows me the temple, which is already all ready for the festive service, and, placing these essential liturgical attributes on the throne, says with satisfaction:

- All! Finishing touch. We waited!

And then, turning to me:

- For your courage, for your boldness, that you listened to my blessing, you will be inscribed for eternal remembrance in our monastery! Every day, when we serve a liturgy, we will remember you.

Greater joy for yourself, of course, and it is impossible to imagine! And then, in order to somehow bring me down from heaven to earth, the elder, in his usual joking manner, clarifies one point:

- Just please, when you die, do not forget to tell us so that we can already remember you for the rest!

This whole story very accurately characterizes the old man.

AT recent times Father Grigory himself was already very ill: diabetes mellitus, insulin dependence ... And recently we learned with horror that with restoration work the old man, suddenly finding himself alone, fell into a construction pit. He just miraculously survived, having received, of course, fractures and bruises. We thought, the old man, at such an advanced age, with a bunch of serious illnesses, would not survive this. But the Lord showed His miracle and returned the elder to us for some more time.

Geronda was incredibly in a hurry to finish all the work on the beautification of the monastery. People who have been to Dohiar were amazed at the speed with which amazing changes are taking place there:

- How?! In such a short time, the monastery could literally rise from the ruins and be so transformed?! - could escape even from very restrained gentlemen.

In addition to the monastery itself, the elder took care of the beautification of the monastery territory, built some separate ones there, as they are called on Athos, kathisma and hesychasteria, these are cells where monks can prayerfully retire for some time. Questions: “Why are you doing this? You don’t have so many brothers, and the monastery is huge... For whom are you building all this?” - the elder, in his usual manner, with a cunning squint, answered: “You still do not know that I will no longer be, and Athos will be filled with monks. The time will come when there will simply not be enough monasteries to accept everyone who wants to labor here.” Apparently, something was revealed to him.

Bang! - and a cancerous tumor in your soul is cut out with a scalpel without anesthesia

I will at least touch on the main thing, which, I think, needs to be said. Now many people remember the sacrificial love of the geronda, his fiery faith, etc. I would like to especially emphasize the quality that struck me the most in him. With his life, he embodied the words of the Apostle Paul from his epistle to the Corinthians: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the understanding of the prudent. Where is the sage? where is the scribe? where is the questioner of this world? Has not God turned the wisdom of this world into folly? (1 Corinthians 1:19-20). The old man was a fool. Everyone who knew him and at least once communicated with him can testify to this. But this was not ostentatious foolishness, as some of our clergy or monks like to play the old man, a sort of holy fool, in order to add to themselves some kind of "spiritual" flair. No, it was foolishness, as they say, according to the Hamburg account. This foolishness is akin to the “foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor. 1:21) of the ancient blessed ones, who directly denounced those in power and, regardless of rank, could arrange that thrashing. Such almost paterikovic sessions of shock therapy in Dohiar were practiced incessantly by his abbot. These were very sudden turns of spiritual experience for those who benevolently contemplated only a minute ago this kind smiling grandfather, wandering, it would seem, with open arms towards them, and along the way, affectionate and courteous even with animals ... And then: bam ! - and with a scalpel without anesthesia, a cancerous tumor is cut out in your, as you thought, beautiful soul. I have seen these virtuoso operations many times!

In order not to be unfounded, I will tell a couple of cases. These are by no means the most eccentric healings (I will not dare to publicize some of them at all). Once I brought to Athos one very close person to me. Before that, he had already managed to visit, as secular people say, “centers of spiritual power”: in Tibet, in some ashram in India, etc. “And so, they say, why not add to this our piggy bank Athos ... "- so, probably, he could reason, but then it began ...

By the way, he didn’t immediately agree to go to Mount Athos, as if he guessed that you would never return from here the way you were before ... I escort him to Elder Gregory. And this man, I will say right away, smoked almost from adolescence, and a lot and quite strong and expensive cigarettes. I knew this, as I also knew that Elder Gregory was an implacable fighter against this passion - smoking - but I had not yet had time to think about what would happen if I brought them together ... When suddenly I see - the elder is already walking with a firm step towards my friend...

– Do you have cigarettes? he asked him.

He immediately obediently pulled out a started pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to the interested person. Pilgrims of Dohiar know how many there, right in the temple, at the icon of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear", there are packs left by those who have healed from this addiction. “Here,” I think, “the elder has replenished his collection,” but before I had time to formulate this thought to the end, the sound of a delicious slap in the face suddenly reached my ears!

“That’s it, you won’t have any more cigarettes,” the elder announced to the one whom he so unexpectedly “thanked” for the opened pack.

“Grandfather is weird,” the only one who chuckled inwardly was the one who still had a block of exquisite cigarettes hidden in his sybarite chic suitcase ... Once again alone with them later, he took out one cigarette, tried to smoke it and did not understand what was happening: his head began to spin, some kind of disgusting nausea began. He threw away that cigarette and took up another - the same thing! He became persistent, and he vomited! He never even tried smoking again. Although before that he was a heavy smoker for over 30 years!

Geronda was harsh, but these were forced measures by an experienced doctor who sees all the perniciousness of the disease

Yes, the geronda was harsh, but these were the forced measures of an experienced doctor who sees all the perniciousness of the disease that gnaws a person and understands that it is impossible to act differently here.

Moreover, the old man was impartial not only in relation to visitors. Once the famous Vatopedi Monastery did something unheard of for the Holy Mount Athos - it set up something like a checkpoint halfway to the monastery. It was a barrier, and with it the guards who checked the availability of reservations, that is, permission to visit Vatopeda (despite the fact that there is also a general admission to enter all monasteries). It is clear that Vatopedi took this measure involuntarily, wanting to somehow regulate the flow of visitors, so that everyone would have a place to stay and everyone would be fed... Geronda Gregory was informed of this, he ironically asked again:

“So you put up a barrier?” Yeah ... And, of course, they installed a cash register, right? What, do they issue checks?

Greater mockery, in the context of the entire Svyatogorsk tradition and the opposition of the Athonites to the norms imposed by the European Union, cannot be imagined.

Thus, with one biting phrase, he made it clear that it is not always necessary to introduce on Athos what is accepted in the “progressive” servile-minded world. This can serve as a temptation, which, in fact, happened. As a result, Vatoped himself was not happy with this innovation of his. The voice of the geronda is the voice of denunciation given to our time, with which earlier, like a scourge, only the chosen prophets shook off society from filth.

Elder Gregory had the gift of clairvoyance. Some things he secretly predicted. I don't have any doubt about it. As a human being, all of us who knew the elder and consider ourselves his admirers grieve over his departure, but at the same time we know that the Lord has a new prayer book in Heaven, an intercessor for all of us.

Let us also, especially in these days, when his soul is still saying goodbye to this world, pray for the newly-departed Schema-Archimandrite Gregory.

The holy monastery of Dohiar is located in the southwestern part of the peninsula, between the monasteries of Zograf and Kostamonit, on a steep slope of a hill descending to the sea.

The monastery was founded in the 10th century by a disciple of St. Athanasius of Athos, St. Euthymius, a former cellar (Greek - dochiaris) of the Great Lavra. First, St. Euthymius founded a small monastery in the name of St. Nicholas. At the beginning of the 11th century, under the new abbot, under pressure from pirates, the monks moved to a new place, where the monastery is now located. Here the monastery received a new name in honor of its founder - Dohiar. A little later, the cathedral of the monastery was consecrated in honor of the Archangels.

Difficult times came in the XIV century, but Emperor John Palaiologos V and the Serbian sovereign Stefan Dusan provided various assistance to the monastery. In the next century, the monastery experienced a period of the most severe decline. In the 16th century, with the help of hegumen Alexander, the Moldo-Valakh ruler, and his wife, the monastery was revived after the Turkish pogrom. During the Greek uprising against Ottoman Empire the Turks not only brutally tortured the monks, but also plundered all the monastery values.

Among the attractions of the monastery is the 16th-century cathedral, built at the expense of the Moldavian ruler Alexander and his wife Roxandra, was painted by the artist Tsorzis, a follower of the Cretan school.

Dohiar has 15 temples and a cell of All Saints in Karey. The most famous temple - the chapel of "Gorgoipisus" stands near the entrance to the cathedral. The icon of the Holy Mother of God of the same name is kept here, one of the most beloved and revered icons of the Holy Mountain. The history of this icon is as follows: once in 1654, the steward of the monastery passed by the icon with a lit candle, illuminating his path in the dark. The candle burned brightly and smoked. Suddenly, from the side of the icon, someone’s voice was heard: “Never go here again, smoking on My image with your smoky torch!” The monk did not take this seriously, thinking that one of the brothers decided to play a trick on him. A few days later he again walked past the icon with a smoking candle. This time, the voice that spoke to him was more stern: “O monk, unworthy of this name, how long will you so insolently and irreverently smoke on My image?” And at the same moment the offender became blind. Kneeling down, he begged the Mother of God to forgive him, and She answered: “Your prayer has been heard, and you will be able to see again, as you wish. Tell the rest of the monks too ... let them continue to fall to Me in grief and sorrow, and I will readily listen to them, as well as to all the right of believing Christians who resort to Me, for they call me the Quick Listener.

The monastery also stores: a particle of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, the relics of St. John the Baptist, St. Mary Magdalene, St. David of Thessalonica, St. Charalambius, St. John Chrysostom.

Today Dohiar has 30 monks.