ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΙΔΙΟ, ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ
When Miguel Angel de la Jara
Higgingson was seven, his mother had a vision. She sensed that her son
would some day leave her for a "far away place, like an island, there
where people of solitude lived who pray all the time and rarely step out
into the world". Even she, however, could probably not have imagined
just how far from his native Peru, both physically and spiritually, his
life's search would take him.
Now he is
Father Symeon the hermit, a Greek Orthodox monk who lives on Mount Athos, a self-administrating, all-male monastic community on the Athos
peninsula - the eastern most of three jutting peninsulas in the northern
Greek prefecture of Halkidiki.
However, it's not just his
Peruvian origins that make Father Symeon such a well-known figure among
visitors to Mount Athos; it's also his radiant presence as an artist,
poet and painter that makes him so sought after, especially by the
young.
His journey began in 1968, when
at the age of 18 he left Peru to discover the world. After travelling
through Europe and Asia for over two years - during which time he was
exposed to eastern philosophies and religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism
and yoga - he finally settled in Paris, where he lived for the next
three years.
It was in Paris that he first
met a Greek Orthodox monk and learned about Orthodoxy, a meeting that
was to have a profound effect on him. For the next two and a half years
he studied hagiography (icon painting) with Leonide Ouspensky, while his
interest in Orthodoxy deepened.
He first visited Greece in 1972,
where he accepted the Orthodox faith, before returning to stay in 1973,
originally joining the Monastery of Agios Georgios (St George) on the
large Greek island of Evia. When, in 1974, the entire monastery
relocated to Agios Gregorios (St Gregory) on Mount Athos, Symeon
followed, living at the Agios Gregorios Monastery until 1987. He
subsequently became a hermit, moving to the old hermit's cell of Timios
Stavros (Honorable Cross) near Stavronikita Monastery, where he built a
new dependency and formed a complex.
On first meeting Father Symeon,
one is struck by his youthful passion and joy - qualities which, as he
says, "one cannot hide". A compassionate listener and gentle speaker, he
responds to questions with spontaneity and rigour, without ever
becoming dogmatic or distant. Behind his piercing eyes is an inquisitive
mind, forever seeking ways to express the love and joy he wants to
share with others.
After 24 years in Greece, Father
Symeon declares a profound love and admiration for Greek culture and
language, saying he prefers writing in Greek to even his native Spanish.
To his extensive travels he owes a rich and varied experience, as well
as a love of French Surrealism, tatami mats, Japanese food and Chinese
art. And to his Peruvian family he owes his love of art.
According to Symeon, it is the
need to tap into the inner joy in all things which has led him to art
and prayer; that has been the predominant force in his life. Through
poetry, paintings, photographs, prayers and lectures he has reached out
and tried to touch people's hearts beyond the borders of the Holy
Mountain.
Lemon in Silence (Hieromonk Symeon, 1992) |
He has several published works, including his 1985 lecture Nifalios Methi (Sober Drunkenness), the 1983 publication The Holy Mountain Today brought out by Alexandria Press in London, and the poetry collection Simeon Mnema, published in 1994. A new book of poetry, titled Me Imation Melan (In Black Cloth), is due to be released shortly by Agra Editions in Athens.
An artist in solitude as much as
a solitary, a monk in the midst of art, his poems and his paintings
have both the freshness of the "here and now" and the depth of eternity,
and are of a striking immediacy and poise. They make one wonder what
the difference between the artist and the hermit is - or even if there
is one at all.
Click:
Three girls of July
"Let the mouth become basil and a rose": St. Sophia the Righteous, the "Ascetic of the Panagia"
A Deer Lost in Paradise
Two Deaths
LOVERS OF TRUTH: THE LIFE OF HIEROMONK SERAPHIM ROSE
Lover of Truth: St John, The Wonderworker of San Francisco
Orthodoxy's Worship: The Sanctification of the Entire World
Lover of Truth: St John, The Wonderworker of San Francisco
Orthodoxy's Worship: The Sanctification of the Entire World
St Anthony's orthodox monastery in Arizona
Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist - Essex
Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist - Essex
Orthodoxy in the Heart of Africa - in the Ends of the Earth!
The Invisible Naked Ascetics of Mount Athos
Eugene Ionesco and the Elder On Mount Athos
The Invisible Naked Ascetics of Mount Athos
Eugene Ionesco and the Elder On Mount Athos
Extraordinario, conocer por las calles de Atenas, a Symeon. Lo descubrió uno de mis dos hijos que estaban conmigo, Martin de la Cruz, llamándole la atención su actitud de contemplación y brillo.De inmediato sentí querer conocerlo, y así fue como terminamos hablando con el mis dos hijos y yo, en la calle. Su simpleza, paz, brillo, humor refinado y sutil, sumado a la plenitud espiritual nos lleno el espíritu. SER EXCEPCIONAL, Gracias a la vida por habernos dado tanto..., cómo el dijo, parafraseando la canción de Violeta Parra, y que como Argentinos la conocemos cantada, popularmente por Mercedes Sosa. GRACIAS!!❤️✨🙏🏼
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