Mount Athos is, above all, a full-grown spiritual meadow. In its half-lit cloistered catholicos or chapels, the incomparable Byzantine chants that come from deep, from the heart, deposit a Balsam in the soul of every tired person, detach him from the vanities of this world and raise him on "wings of winds", bring him to " heaven's gate". The austerity that distinguishes Orthodox worship and the preservation of the Byzantine standard contribute to this.

Anxiety about the afterlife is the main characteristic of the monasticism of Agioritei. Everything is sacrificed for her and everything is tolerated for her. Material and physical privations, "perpetual rape" of human nature, ceaseless worship, exercise and prayer, endless fasts...

The Virgin Mary and Mount Athos: Stavronikita, Iberon, Karakallos, Philotheou, Megistis Lavra: Glossary, bibliography