How is a day on Mount Athos, that is, what is the Liturgical Cycle of the monasteries.
The night and the starry sky hang over the monastery buildings. It is a time of prayer, vigilance and uplifting of the soul towards the divine decorations.
At 7:30 Byzantine time, the church official will mark the first talent, light the candles, the lanterns, the lanterns and the lanterns of the Catholic. At 7:45 it means the second talent and at 8:00 the third. The vicar puts on the rosary and the Midnight Mass begins. This sequence brings alertness to the restless soul that awaits the Bridegroom Christ at midnight.
It is a dividing point between the darkness of error that the Christian and especially the monk left behind and the life of light that is expected to rise the next day. As “Amomos” begins, the parishioner offers penance to the Abbot and hits the beater and the daily iron in turn.
After the third consecration trope the ecclesiastic opens the Royal Gate. The priest enters the main church and chants “Blessed” standing in front of the icon. During the reading of “I obey you..” he will incense the temple. “Hexapsalmos” will be read by the Abbot. At the end of the sixth Ode, the Synaxari of the day is read and the churchman will again strike the iron. In the ninth Ode, “Tin Timiotera”, the priest incenses the temple, while the monks undress and descend from their pews. An attitude that eloquently reveals the special honor that the monks pay to the Virgin Mary. Towards the end of the Orthro it means a talent in three positions around the temple. Dismissal takes place and they go to the chapel where the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated.
There the third and sixth Hours are primarily regenerated. In the “Glory” of the sixth Hour the ecclesiastical means the brace. At about that time the priest will ring the bell of intention and the fathers, unhooded and having come down from their pews, secretly remember the names that each one carries in his memory, living and sleeping. After a while, the priest lights the dragons from the iconostasis of the chapel and the Divine Liturgy follows. The doors remain closed to be opened only at the two entrances and at the time of Holy Communion. In the third antiphon, the small entrance is made under the priest carrying the gospel and preceding the congregation with a lit entrance. Next are the readings, the Apostle and the Gospel.
Shortly after the cherubic hymn is sung, the grand entrance takes place where the Sacred Gifts are presented by the Intent to the Holy Altar. The Liturgy and the requests of the priest create a divine tension reaching the Sunday prayer. Before Communion, the monks greet the icons. Next comes the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, the center of the life of the monk and every Christian. Next comes the layoff. The antidote is distributed and upon exiting, the sanctification is also received, which is kept in a special container in the almshouse.
Then, if it is not a fast day on which the morning meal is absent, they enter the Bank. Prayer begins, and while those present eat the reader reads extracts from patristic texts or lives of saints. The vicar, if the abbot is absent, means the end of the meal with a wooden whistle and blesses the leftovers, thanking God. At the exit of the bank the priest blesses the outgoing ones and the ministers bending their loins ask for forgiveness from the brothers for any mistakes and omissions. A two- or three-hour rest precedes the return of the monks to the deacon appointed for each.
Just as a small community in order to live needs a proper distribution of tasks, so too a communal monastery, or hermitage, or cell survives and progresses and fulfills its saving mission by entrusting the various ministries to the monks who leave there. The nobleman waits to offer rest to the newly arrived pilgrims, serve them the classic tray of water, raki and Turkish delight, and settle them in their rooms. Other brothers deal with the lay workers who work there, take care of the elders, look after the animals, make bread and prepare the food in the kitchen.
The church leader manages the temple, while others are employed in rosary weaving, iconography, woodcarving and silversmithing, incense making and rarely sewing and bookbinding. The elders who await their transition to the highest bliss mingle in spiritual conversations, turn to memories of the past and the future, while the surrounding space insists on perpetuating an unshakable peace that illuminates the domes, the crosses, the flask and the fountain that adorn the natural surroundings.
At 8:30 Byzantine Time the church official will mark the first talent, at 8:45 the second and at 9:00 the third. Then in the field of frugality it started
