Welcome

We feel particularly blessed and deeply indebted to God that through his love and bounty we were called upon to minister unto Him through our humble powers in this earthly ‘celestial city’ of Holy Meteora. The first monks were drawn here by God’s grace about one thousand years ago. Through the spiritual intuition of their souls they sensed that this place—at once so paradoxical and sublime—is supremely suitable for divine ascent. As the late Metropolitan Dionysos of Tricca and Stagoi, said, who so deeply loved Meteora, and to whom all the monks and nuns owe a debt of gratitude: “On these isolated, rough rock pillars suspended in the air, one can certainly hear the voice of God. Here one ascends. Here one flutters on holy horizons.” The matchless natural beauty of the landscape immediately strikes the visitor, filling one with wonder and awe, nd drawing one’s gaze upwards and one’s attention to the Creator, and making one soar in spirit over all that is earthly and human.

Many things have changed, and yet the monks and nuns maintain their well-established daily routine: the lighting of the sanctuary oil-lamps placed before the old Byzantine icons; and the burning of the incense that ascends along with their prayers to the heavens for the salvation of their souls and of the entire world.

At the same time, day in and day out they provide a warm welcome to large numbers of visitors. The magnetic force of the holy place of Meteora itself is striking. The sweat and the tears of the saints continue to exude not an impersonal positive energy, but the grace of God, that draws in and gives rest to the soul.

It is our sincere hope that that no visitor to this place should depart without tasting this divine grace, and it is in this spirit that we offer this book to the reader.