Sowing at the Hilandar Monastery

On the feast day of Saint John the Merciful, on the monastery estate of Kalica, also known as Kalik, wheat was sown.

Alongside the restoration of buildings damaged in the fire that broke out at the monastery in 2004, the brethren of Hilandar simultaneously undertook the renewal of its economy, as evidenced by the vineyard and winery at Sava’s Field, olive groves with a new oil press, greenhouses and vegetable gardens, as well as a large number of new beehives.

After several decades, thanks to the significantly increased number of monks, conditions were created for the monastery to resume cultivating wheat on its estate, which extends over 8,500 hectares on Mount Athos.

The field lies halfway between Hilandar’s Arsana (harbor) and the border, about 300 meters from the northeastern seashore of the peninsula. On the estate, the remains of a church are visible, and nearby are the ruins of a tower that belonged to one of the small monasteries in the Mileja area, which Domentijan mentions at the time of Hilandar’s founding.

Wheat was sown on eight of the estate’s total 103 hectares. In addition to wheat, the plan includes planting other grains for the needs of the monastic brethren.

At the beginning of the work, the abbot of the Hilandar Monastery, Archimandrite Methodius, offered a prayer for the blessing of the seed and the start of the sowing.

The sowing was marked, in the spirit of Athonite brethren, by the assistance provided by the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon. Since ships had not sailed for several days due to bad weather, the new agricultural machinery purchased by Hilandar could not be delivered. As in many cases when Athonite monasteries help one another, this time the Russian monastery on Mount Athos sent brethren with a grain seeder.

Photo by: monk Teodosije Hilandarac