Athos Holy Mount

Greek Documents	13.62 Patriarchal and synodic arbitrament (Patriarch Sophronios) May 1866 Skete of St Anne, Archives Parchment, 87.5 x 72.5 cm
	The monks of St Anne's have petitioned the Synod in the following matter: according to the ancient use and custom of the skete the occupancy of a kalyva, on the demise of the monk to whom it had been assigned, falls successively to those who shared it with him, upon payment to the mother foundation of 10 piastres for the change of statute and 5 piastres for the registration of the occupants. For several years now, after the sigillion issued by Patriarch Anthimos in 1847, not only has this free and unimpeded succession been disallowed, but excessive financial demands have been made. The Patriarch and the Synod, desirous both of satisfying the monks of the Skete of St Anne and of defending the sovereign rights of the Great Lavra, summoned Archimandrite Benjamin, one of the superiors of the Great Lavra, who happened to be in Constantinople, to mediate with the Monastery in hopes of reaching a compromise with the brothers in the skete. This was refused, and the Synod undertook to resolve the issue. The brotherhood of the skete produced a document issued by Patriarch Kallinikos and the Synod in 1806 according to which the monk replacing a deceased brother in a skete paid the sum of 10 piastres only, while 5 piastres were chargeable for registration as a companion occupant. On the basis of this document, the Patriarch and the Synod decided that the successor to a deceased brother should pay the monastery the sum of 100 piastres. Since the sigillion issued in 1847 had modified the formulary of the monastic homologon, the brotherhood of the Skete of St Anne requested that the ancient formulary be restored. The Synod resolved the following: a) The serial succession of the companions of the occupant of a kalyva should remain free and unimpeded. After the death of each occupant, his successor should be recognised by the Lavra and be registered in the foundation's homologon. b) For each such registration of an elder, the sum of 100 piastres should be payable to the monastery. For each registration of a companion, the sum payable should be 5 piastres. c) Monastic homologa should henceforth be drawn up according to the ancient formulary. Those issued before 1847 should be deemed to conform to this type.
	Bibliography: Unpublished.
	K.Ch.
	Index of exhibits of Skete of St. Anne 19th century

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