Was drafted by the GEN. Dir. Catechetical Schools, Protopr. Petro Marago
In a magical area of Andros, between heaven and earth, overlooking the endless blue of the Archipelago, is the Holy Monastery of Panagia ton Tromarchia, where one of the camps of our Holy Metropolis is hosted, for children from Andros, boys and girls, aged from 12 up to 15 years…
After breakfast followed the prayer in the monastery's catholicon, then responsibilities and responsibilities were defined, cleanliness, sweep, washing… The Rev. Pi. Iakovos Stefanou, the heart of the Camp, arrives daily at 9 a.m. and the journey to knowledge and entertainment begins. Our important stations where we were guided were the Holy Monastery of Panahranto, with the sweet-smelling chariot of Agios Panteleimonos.
The Elder Abbot Evdokimos together with the Fathers of the Monastery, Hieromonks Aetio and Filareto are waiting for us at the entrance of the Monastery. They accompany us to the catholicon and guide us through the centuries-old history of the Monastery. The elder has provided a sumptuous lunch and gifts-blessings to all the children since we left.
In the Holy Byzantine Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs, which also functions as a Museum, we admired the wonderful Byzantine icons and vestments. At the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chora of Andros, we visited the exhibition of Byzantine Icons themed: “recounting the transcendence, from the Byzantine tradition to modern art”. We were ecstatic by the beauty of the works.
Our next stop is the Maritime Museum, with model ships, from Andriot shipowners in the square of "Afani Navtis". Sweets and refreshments were waiting for us at the Episcopate of Andros, and they talked to us about road safety rules at the Police.
At the Archaeological Museum of Paleopolis we admired the exhibits of the area and at the pool of the "Holiday Inn" hotel we held a competition for the best dive. Every day after lunch, we would return to our Camp and in the afternoon full of energy we would run on the field of the area. Basketball, football, voices, laughs…
The evening, he found us in our little monastery. Dinner, discussions, hagiographic stories, discussions, comments, account of the day. Our evening ended with "Dinner". The cicadas are the last to stop their song... The lights go out and the flickering candles in the candlesticks will accompany the all-lone moon for another night.
On Saturday, of my return, it dawned…. Under the thick shade of the plane tree that all these days listened to our stories and voices, we promised to meet again next summer in the arms of our Virgin Mary, in Tromarchia. Our eyes were a little red... I don't know if it was from the sun or from the excitement. Deacon Nikolaos Gavalas receives the keys for the remaining days...
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