Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the Skete of Saint Anna on Mount Athos

The Synaxis of the Saints who lived gloriously in asceticism on the lavra skete of the holy grandmother of the Lord, Saint Anna, relies on the Divine Office that accompanies the Encomium to them, and is well known on the Third Sunday of Matthew, i.e. the Sunday after the Synaxis of All Saints of Mount Athos. The purpose why this explicit day was chosen for this celebration must be – aside from the truth that this present day has additionally been chosen by different holy establishments for the frequent celebration of their native Saints – thought of an extension of the commemoration of the Synaxis of All Saints of Mount Athos held the earlier Sunday.The creator of each the Divine Office and Encomium was written by the monk Iakovos of New Skete, who reposed in 1869.

The Encomium has a prolonged Prologue and concludes with an Epilogue, and in between begins by praising the Venerable Fathers Gerontios, Dionysios, Metrophanes and Sophronios, then within the second part turns to the Venerable New Martyrs Makarios, Nikodemos, Kosmas, Luke, Hilarion, Niketas, David and Nektarios.

At the start of the Encomium, within the type of a preface, the creator speaks of the life and actions of the Saints, inside God’s pre-eternal plan for the salvation of “fallen” man in order that he could ascend “to the diploma from which he fell.” It justifies the reward of the Saints and their honor “in annual rites… and in hymns of reward”, since in keeping with Saint Gregory the Theologian “reward to the saints, and the respect given to them, is the wages of advantage.” In addition, the expression of honor to the “excessive state of the venerable Fathers” exhorts the devoted “to non secular salvation” and “relieves the burden of conscience.”

The creator interprets the the reason why it was deemed vital to determine the joint celebration of the Saints of the Skete of Saint Anna, as, aside from the well-known Saints, “most of them are fully unknown with their names and deeds and achievements” resulting from “the vagaries of time, and of the varied anomalies and raids.”

Then he begins the “narration of every one in chronological order, from essentially the most historic to the newest one, how, and in what place and by what martyrdom they ended.” He concludes by exhorting his listeners to mimic the venerable Fathers who struggled in the identical place they’re struggling, in repentance and excellent love for the Lord from the guts.

The Divine Office and Encomium was revealed with sure additions within the 12 months 1929 by the monk Haralambos and the hieromonk Constantios and his brotherhood, from the Hermitage of the Dormition of the Theotokos, in addition to the monk Dionysios Agiannanitis.