Leaving the wonder that was St. Dionysios I hike several hours in the heat over the folding mountainside and round the bend to be greeted by the most formidible monastic stronghold of St. Simon-Peter. The most architecturally famous of Athos’ monasteries, St. Simon-Peter is a cluster of several ancient buildings crowned by one monolithic tower standing more than ten stories high on a tremendous solid rock outcropping 400 meters above the shoreline below. There I had a chat with Father Macarios following him around as he did his duties closing up the modern fireproof library and learned a bit about the Science of Sciences, Heart of Hearts.

The origin of the word “Tradition” means “transmitted” and also ‘way of life ’comportment’ method of life and ‘life ethic’" he said and continued, "there are many Churches, many demoninations in the world today but only in the Orthodox Church has the sense of ancient Christianity been preserved."

This agreed with my impressions of the Orthodox way of worship and ceremony - the monks looked more like Orthodox Jewish Rabbis than anything else; they had long services done standing up the entire time as an aesetic act, all seemed permiated with a sense of timelessness and reverence. He continued "the seclusion of Athos, the monastary, the monkhood in general is to keep the monk’s mind free of externalities" he paused to gather his thoughts and proceeded in excellent English "out in the world a great amount of distraction from growing nearer to God comes from:

- unstructured relationships
- Family worries, financial obligations
- Politics, global information"

He moved on to the subject of continuity as we circled though the naturally lit stairways and corridors back towards the main courtyard "the Orthodox Church has an unbroken flow of relationship to God, knowledge, experience." Stopping on the stairway for a moment he added "Sources of tradition in Christianity are:

- The Holy Bible
- Oral traditions passed down within the Church
- Other writings created by Saints
Life on Mt. Athos has continued for 1000 years without interruption" he added.

The light in the courtyard seemed blindingly bright after being in the bowels of the old mammoth stronghold. His shoes clacked on the flagstones as we reached the central area. Ducking under some scaffolding he spoke “Meditate on the Church” he concluded shaking my hand in farewell “discover what this continuity means.”

Back in the office I changed my from the nice ironed shirt I had worn to lunch clothes to my less presentable hiking gear underneath a picture of Hagia Sofia, the long lost great cathedral of Constantinople. As I prepared to leave I met a very charming monk named Father Ioanicios stopped sweeping the floor to speak with me in fluent English clearly marked with an educated Brooklyn accent. Father Ioanicios lived in NY and went to NYU for university before coming to Athos. He made the very lovely gesture of presenting me with a compact disk of their choir as a parting gift. That CD was sent on to Shane Wolfsmith (see “supporters” section on the Home page) in NY.

Recommended reading:
“The Ladder of Devine Ascent” by Saint John Climacus, printed by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Bost Publishing
“The Ways of The Russian Pilgrim”