The Island of Patmos
«On the previous day, shortly after midnight, “I was in the isle that is called Patmos”. As dawn was about to break, I was high up in Chora. The sea, immobile like metal, bound the surrounding islands. Not a leaf stirred in the strengthening light. The peace was a shell without trace of a crack. I remained nailed to the spot by the force of the place; then I felt I was whispering: “Come and see…”»
George Seferis, I Apokalypsi tou Ioanni (preface to Seferis’ translation of the Revelation of St John), Athens, Ikaros, 1966
Patmos, like a paradise on earth, awaits its guests to reveal them all of its beauty that derives not only by its nature, but also by one Supreme Power that may determine its fate and destination.
The Island of the Apocalypse and the Jerusalem of the Aegean – as Patmos is called worldwide – the island where Saint John the Theologian was exiled to become a hermit and then to write in 95 AD the sacred book of Revelation, is one of the most important religious and atmospheric destinations, without lacking the cosmopolitan air of an Aegean island or the cultural tradition.
The multifarious indented coastline, ten times larger than the coastline of Greece in relation to its size, creates unique bays and beaches, some pebbly, others with sand or rocks and caves that make Patmos an ideal destination of peace, tranquility, mysticism and leisure, embracing with its aura every visitor.
The medieval town of Chora, with Kastromonastiro (castle-monastery) of St. John the Theologian, which dominates like a crown at its peak, the picturesque and labyrinthine alleys and mansions that surround the Monastery, and the unique architecture of the settlements, offer the visitors the unique opportunity to experience a world whilom and modern at the same time, a world that combines tranquility with the unpretentious cosmopolitan element and culture.
The Greek State, recognizing and accepting the specificity and thus the sacred side of this site, proclaimed Patmos in 1981 as “Holy Island” by law of the national parliament, while Unesco in 1999 placed the Chora(town) of Patmos, the Monastery of St. John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse in the World Heritage Monuments, noting once again the importance and unspoiled beauty and charm of this island over the centuries. Alongside, Patmos belongs to the network COESIMA, as one of the seven most important sites of pilgrimage in Europe. .
Patmos is the island ,witch with its devoutness and its original beauty consisted a source of inspiration not only for the Nobel-laureates Greek poets Seferis and Elytis, but also for the German lyric poet Friedrich Hölderlin, who shocked by the natural beauty of the island wrote:
(…) On the sea’s uncertain plain, shadowless roads enough
Though my seafarer knows the islands. And since I had heard,
That among those near at hand was Patmos,
Much I desired to put in there and be close to its dark cave.
For not like lordly Cyprus, with its abounding waters,
Nor like any other island does Patmos dwell,
But still hospitable in her poorer house is she,
And if a stranger comes from shipwreck or grieving
For his lost homeland or distant friend
She listens, and her children,
Voices of the hot thicket, a trickle of sand,
Earth splitting in a field, her sounds,
They hear him and a loving echo flows from his lament.
Thus did she care once for the god-beloved Seer
Who in his blessed youth had walked
With the Son of the Highest, inseparably (…)
Friedrich Hölderlin (1803), trans. Robert Huddleston
“I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches.”
Revelation (1:9) , Apostle John
(Bible, King James Version (KJV))
According to Christian tradition Patmos is one of the two places in the world that the voice of God was heard. More specifically in the “Holy Cave of the Apocalypse”, which still exists, John the Evangelist spoke with God and He recited the holy book of Revelation that John recorded with the help of his student Prohoros. This book has caused admiration and awe among the faithful Christians who find it prophetic and come from the ends of the world to visit and worship this place.
The “Island of Apocalypse” or “Jerusalem of the Aegean” -which attracts thousands of visitors and worshipers from all corners of the world- with the Greek state law was declared in 1981 “Holy Island”, while in 1999 the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization of the United Nations («UNESCO») listed Chora of Patmos, the Monastery of St. John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse among the World Heritage Monuments.
Patmos is a place blessed by God,with natural beauty and rich cultural and especially religious heritage. It is a spiritual beacon radiating over the world, calling the worshippers to come and experience the unique divine and mystical aura.
The small island of Patmos, part of the Dodecanese complex in the central Aegean, is known, above all, as the location where John the Apostle received his visions and recorded them in the Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament. An impressive monastic complex, dedicated to him, was founded there in the early 11th century.
The monastery stands on the site where Saint John is believed to have written his Gospel, including the Book of Revelation (also known as the Apocalypse); it is also located near the grotto where the apostle is said to have received his Revelation, hence called the Cave of the Apocalypse. Both the Monastery and the Cave, along with the rest of the historic centre of the island’s Chora (main town) have been declared a joint World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999 as an "exceptional example of a traditional Greek Orthodox pilgrimage centre of outstanding architectural interest".
The Cave of the Apocalypse
The island of Patmos was first settled by Dorians and then by Ionians. When it became part of the Roman Empire, it served as a place of exile, along with other small islands of the Aegean.
John the Apostle, traditionally identified by the Eastern Orthodox Church with John the Evangelist, and referred to as "John the Theologian", is considered to have been exiled to Patmos during a time of persecution under the Roman rule of Domitian in the late 1st century. According to tradition, while residing in a cave on the island, he received a series of prophetic visions which he recounted in the Apocalypse, the last book of the New Testament (a word coming from the Greek apokálupsis, "unveiling, revelation"); he is hence also known as John of Patmos and John the Revelator.
Mosaic above the entrance to the Cave of the Apocalypse (by Njaker via Wikimedia Commons)
The site of the revelatory visions, known as the Cave of the Apocalypse, is situated halfway along the road linking the port with the Chora (main town), which sits on top of the island’s mountain. The Holy Cave of the Apocalypse has been transformed into a place of worship, where visitors can see the dent on the wall of the cave, where the Evangelist was said to lay his head; according to tradition, the Voice of God could be heard coming from a cleft of the rock, which is also still visible today. The southern part of the cave has been turned into a church dedicated to Saint John the Theologian, while later a Chapel of Saint Anne (mother of Mary) was added, incorporating the cave, which is now entered through the chapel.
The Monasteryof Saint John the Theologian
In the 7th century, Patmos was ravaged by raids of Saracen pirates and remained virtually uninhabited for the next two centuries. In 1088, Abbot Christodoulos Latrinos (now known as Saint Christodoulos the Blessed of Patmos), who had already founded monasteries on Leros and Kos, presented himself at the court of emperor Alexius I Comnenos in Constantinople, proposing a plan to repopulate Patmos by creating a monastic community; Alexius indeed granted sovereignty over the deserted island. In 1091, Christodoulos began the construction of the monastery Saint John the Theologian, over the ruins of a fourth-century basilica also dedicated to Saint John.
Interior of the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian (by Thanasis Christodoulou via Wikimedia Commons)
The monks were chased off by pirates in 1093 but returned a few years later to resume the works, bringing with them the relics of Christodoulos, who had died on the island of Euboea. The monastery was heavily fortified for fear of pirate attacks; through the years, it received various contributions from the emperors Alexius and Manuel Komnenos. Following its establishment, the repopulation of the area was encouraged, with a settlement evolving around the monastery’s walls. In 1204-1261 the monastery was affiliated with the Empire of Nicaea and acquired many territories in Asia Minor.
Inside the monastery, the main church features impressive icons and frescoes, while the Chapel of the Virgin, outside the main courtyard, has the oldest frescoes. The monastery houses an extensive library of 330 manuscripts (267 on parchment), including 82 manuscripts of the New Testament; it also houses important relics, including the skull of Saint Thomas the Apostle. Asteep flight of forty-three steps leads from the monastery to the Cave of the Apocalypse.
According to UNESCO, "there are few other places in the world where religious ceremonies that date back to the early Christian times are still being practised unchanged"; this includes the Byzantine ritual of Niptir ("Maundy"), a reenactment of the symbolic event of Christ washing his disciples’ feetahead of the Last Supper, which takes place on the Thursday of the Holy Week (also called Maundy Thursday). In accordance with this 4th-century ritual, after the Divine Liturgy takes place at the monastery, a solemn procession leads to the town hall square, where the monastery’s abbot (hegumenos) washes the feet of 12 priests.
Interior of the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian (by Yiannis Theologos Michellis via Wikimedia Commons)
The Chora
The Chora (main town) of Patmos, located 4 km from the small port of Skala, has continuously evolved since the 11th century, when the founding of the monastery transformed it into an important place of pilgrimage. In its centre, on the mountaintop, the imposing monastery of Saint John the Theologian with its grey fortified walls dominates the area. According to UNESCO, it is among the oldest and best preserved main townsof the Aegean islands, and is also the only example in Greece of an organised settlement which has developed as a supporting community around a fortified monastic complex. Still today, the Chora is a quaint town with white-washed houses, narrow arched streets and some picturesque small plazas.
UNESCO also cites as an important criterion for the inscription of the site the fact that Patmos’s Chora "is one of the few settlements in Greece that have evolved uninterruptedly since the 12th century", adding that "the authenticity of the settlement is also ensured by the retention of its morphological features and its building techniques with the use of similar or even the same, as far as this is possible, traditional methods and materials in building new constructions".
The property is protected by the provisions of the Archaeological Law 3028/2002 "On the Protection of Antiquities and Cultural heritage in general", and by separate ministerial decrees published in the Official Government Gazette. Protection and management are carried out by the Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs through the responsible regional service (Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese). Effective site management is also achieved through cooperation between secular and ecclesiastical authorities in all areas of common concern, to ensure that the character of the settlement will not be tainted by tourism.
Read also via Greek News Agenda: The Monastery of Daphni: retracing the city's Byzantine past; The historic Sumela Monastery in Trabzon; The medieval ghost town of Mystras; Early Christian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki
N.M. (Based on an article published on Punto Grecia; intro photo: Chora of Patmos and Monastery of Saint John the Theologian [by Valeria Casali via Wikimedia Commons])
The Letters of Saint John the Apostle & Evangelist (September 2): “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him”
The first letter of Saint John is the simplest and deepest exposition of the Christian faith that exists. Its clarity concerning the Holy Trinity and the Christian life of truth and of love in communion with God makes it understandable without difficulty to anyone who reads it. It is the best place to begin a study of the Christian faith generally, and the Bible in particular.The first letter begins in the same way as Saint John’s gospel to which it is most similar in its entire content and style.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life . . . we proclaim also to you, so that you may have communion with us; and our communion is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete (1.1–14).
The first letter of Saint John proclaims that Jesus is truly “the Christ,” the Messiah and Son of God who has come “in the flesh” to the world as “the expiation of our sins, and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (2.2). Those who believe in Christ and are in communion with Him and His Father have the forgiveness of sins and the possibility not to sin any more (1.5–2.12). They “walk in the same way in which He walked” (2.6) being the “children of God” (3.1, 5.1). They know the truth by the direct inspiration of God through the anointment [chrisma] of the Holy Spirit (2.20–26; 6.7). They keep the commandments of God, the first and greatest of which is love, and so they are already recipients of eternal life, already possessing the indwelling of God the Father and Christ the Son “by the Spirit which He has given us” (2.24–3.24).
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God has sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation of our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His own Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him (14.7–16).
The hatred of others is the sure sign that one does not love God (4.20) and is “in the darkness still” (2.9–11). The one who hates his brother is “a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (3.15). Those who love God are hated by the world which is in the power of the evil one” (5.19, 2.15–17).
The first letter of Saint John is part of the Church’s lectionary,
with special selections from it being read at the feast of the apostle
John.
The second letter of Saint John is addressed to the “elect lady and her
children” which is obviously the Church of God and its members. Again
the truth of Christ is stressed and the commandment of love is
emphasized.
And this is love, that we follow His commandments; this is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you follow love. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win a full reward. Anyone who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; he who abides in the doctrine has both the Father and the Son (6–9).
The third letter of Saint John is addressed to a certain Gaius praising him for the “truth of his life” (3) and “urging him not to Imitate evil but imitate good” (11). “No greater joy can I have than this”, writes the beloved apostle, “to hear that my children follow the truth” (4).
The Holy, Glorious All-laudable Apostle and Evangelist, Virgin, and Beloved Friend of Christ, John the Theologian was the son of Zebedee and Salome, a daughter of Saint Joseph the Betrothed. He was called by our Lord Jesus Christ to be one of His Apostles at the same time as his elder brother James. This took place at Lake Gennesareth (i.e. the Sea of Galilee). Leaving behind their father, both brothers followed the Lord.
The Apostle John was especially loved by the Savior for his sacrificial love and his virginal purity. After his calling, the Apostle John did not part from the Lord, and he was one of the three apostles who were particularly close to Him. Saint John the Theologian was present when the Lord restored the daughter of Jairus to life, and he was a witness to the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor.
During the Last Supper, he reclined next to the Lord, and laid his head upon His breast. He also asked the name of the Savior’s betrayer. The Apostle John followed after the Lord when they led Him bound from the Garden of Gethsemane to the court of the iniquitous High Priests Annas and Caiphas. He was there in the courtyard of the High Priest during the interrogations of his Teacher and he resolutely followed after him on the way to Golgotha, grieving with all his heart.
At the foot of the Cross he stood with the Mother of God and heard the words of the Crucified Lord addressed to Her from the Cross: “Woman, behold Thy son.” Then the Lord said to him, “Behold thy Mother” (John 19:26-27). From that moment the Apostle John, like a loving son, concerned himself over the Most Holy Virgin Mary, and he served Her until Her Dormition.
After the Dormition of the Mother of God the Apostle John went to Ephesus and other cities of Asia Minor to preach the Gospel, taking with him his own disciple Prochorus. They boarded a ship, which floundered during a terrible tempest. All the travellers were cast up upon dry ground, and only the Apostle John remained in the depths of the sea. Prochorus wept bitterly, bereft of his spiritual father and guide, and he went on towards Ephesus alone.
On the fourteenth day of his journey he stood at the shore of the sea and saw that the waves had cast a man ashore. Going up to him, he recognized the Apostle John, whom the Lord had preserved alive for fourteen days in the sea. Teacher and disciple went to Ephesus, where the Apostle John preached incessantly to the pagans about Christ. His preaching was accompanied by such numerous and great miracles, that the number of believers increased with each day.
During this time there had begun a persecution of Christians under the emperor Nero (56-68). They took the Apostle John for trial at Rome. Saint John was sentenced to death for his confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but the Lord preserved His chosen one. The apostle drank a cup of deadly poison, but he remained alive. Later, he emerged unharmed from a cauldron of boiling oil into which he had been thrown on orders from the torturer.
After this, they sent the Apostle John off to imprisonment to the island of Patmos, where he spent many years. Proceeding along on his way to the place of exile, Saint John worked many miracles. On the island of Patmos, his preaching and miracles attracted to him all the inhabitants of the island, and he enlightened them with the light of the Gospel. He cast out many devils from the pagan temples, and he healed a great multitude of the sick.
Sorcerers with demonic powers showed great hostility to the preaching of the holy apostle. He especially frightened the chief sorcerer of them all, named Kinops, who boasted that they would destroy the apostle. But the great John, by the grace of God acting through him, destroyed all the demonic artifices to which Kinops resorted, and the haughty sorcerer perished in the depths of the sea.
The Apostle John withdrew with his disciple Prochorus to a desolate height, where he imposed upon himself a three-day fast. As Saint John prayed the earth quaked and thunder rumbled. Prochorus fell to the ground in fright. The Apostle John lifted him up and told him to write down what he was about to say. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8), proclaimed the Spirit of God through the Apostle John. Thus in about the year 67 the Book of Revelation was written, known also as the “Apocalypse,” of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. In this Book were predictions of the tribulations of the Church and of the end of the world.
After his prolonged exile, the Apostle John received his freedom and returned to Ephesus, where he continued with his activity, instructing Christians to guard against false teachers and their erroneous teachings. In the year 95, the Apostle John wrote his Gospel at Ephesus. He called for all Christians to love the Lord and one another, and by this to fulfill the commands of Christ. The Church calls Saint John the “Apostle of Love”, since he constantly taught that without love man cannot come near to God.
In his three Epistles, Saint John speaks of the significance of love for God and for neighbor. Already in his old age, he learned of a youth who had strayed from the true path to follow the leader of a band of robbers, so Saint John went out into the wilderness to seek him. Seeing the holy Elder, the guilty one tried to hide himself, but the Apostle John ran after him and besought him to stop. He promised to take the sins of the youth upon himself, if only he would repent and not bring ruin upon his soul. Shaken by the intense love of the holy Elder, the youth actually did repent and turn his life around.
Saint John reposed when he was more than a hundred years old. He far outlived the other eyewitnesses of the Lord, and for a long time he remained the only remaining eyewitness of the earthly life of the Savior.
Icon from here
When it was time for the departure of the Apostle John, he went out beyond the city limits of Ephesus with the families of his disciples. He bade them prepare for him a cross-shaped grave, in which he lay, telling his disciples that they should cover him over with the soil. The disciples tearfully kissed their beloved teacher, but not wanting to be disobedient, they fulfilled his bidding. They covered the face of the saint with a cloth and filled in the grave. Learning of this, other disciples of Saint John came to the place of his burial. When they opened the grave, they found it empty.
Each year from the grave of the holy Apostle John on May 8 came forth a fine dust, which believers gathered up and were healed of sicknesses by it. Therefore, the Church also celebrates the memory of the holy Apostle John the Theologian on May 8.
The Lord bestowed on His beloved disciple John and John’s brother James the name “Sons of Thunder” an awesome messenger accompanied by the cleansing power of heavenly fire. And precisely by this the Savior pointed out the flaming, fiery, sacrificial character of Christian love, the preacher of which was the Apostle John the Theologian. The eagle, symbol of the lofty heights of his theological thought, is the iconographic symbol of the Evangelist John the Theologian. The appellation “Theologian” is bestown by Holy Church only to Saint John among the immediate disciples and Apostles of Christ, as being the seer of the mysterious Judgments of God.
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