Miracles are a large part of Orthodox beleif. It seems to me that in Orthodox Christianity there is a beleif in a kind of spirit power or presence of spirit that exists around the person of Saints (who are the Orthodox equivalent of fully enlightened beings) and can remain as residual energy after death in their physical body, places they lived or any objects they came in regular contact with when alive.

For at least this reason the island is full of relics from the saints and Jesus Christ himself. Jesus and Saints who ascended to heaven (such as The Virgen Mary) cannot, by definition, leave behind parts of their bodies, only objects. For example objects from the life of Jesus held on Athos are pieces of the true cross and the gift boxes brought by the three kings at Jesus` birth.

Saints who did not ascend to heaven can leave parts of their bodies as relics. Mt. Athos has many of these: the foot of Saint Anne, the right arm of St. John the baptist, etc. These relics are each housed within the different monastaries or skiti dedicated to them and are brought out and presented to visiting pilgrims each day so that the pilgrims may `venerate` them which basically means viewing, appreciating and often kissing them, thereby sharing a sense of union with the saints and benefitting from the residual devine energy in that relic. Most of the body parts are encased in glass or gilded metal boxes.

There are many miracles assocaited with these relics. Many of the body parts are said to remain miraculously warm or fresh, emit the strong smell of frankinsense (a precious insence), and not decompose (despite preservatives or embalming methodology not having been used).

There is also a beleif in the holy ghost as a real living force and the virgen mary as a constant intercessor between a lost mankind and the devine being. Both of these forces (and/or the strong faith in them) can be felt in some of the rituals and services.

Miracles reported to me (for the Orthodox there are MANY living miracles) included:

° That on Mount Athos the bodies of all the monks do not experience rigor mortis. That means that unlike bodies out in the world that once dead become stiff and clenched up in every joint, bodies on Mt. Athos remain totally soft and as flexible as they were in life. I beleive that should probably be true since many of the monks handle the bodies of their brethern after death and therefore have verifiable direct experience with this phenomenon. They say it is because 'God`s love has entered the body and made it soft.'

°One man entered the Kimiterio building where the bones of the departed are stored after they have been made white in the ground for three years. He said the greeting of Athos: ``Christos Anesthi`` (meaning ``Christ is risen``) and all the skulls at once replied ``Alithos Anesti`` (meaning ``he is truly risen``). This is, of course, impossible to verify. Several of the monks I talked to at Saint Anne Skiti said that they heard this (and I beleive they said it was quite loud).