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| This photograph of the Excommunicated corpses was taken in 1932 |
Elder Philotheos Zervakos relates: "I would not refrain to mention something I witnessed myself when I went to the Holy Mountain (Athos) for a pilgrimage. When the Emperor Michael VIII and Patriarch Vekkos who were Pope worshipers went to the Holy Mountain during the period 1270-1300, they were pressing the monks to receive the Papism and to co-celebrate with the papists. Those that had accepted and co-celebrated, their bodies remained incorrupt but give off a foul odor. Those that refused to co-celebrate and were killed by the papists, their relics give off a pleasant odor."
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"When a pilgrim, who was clearly sensitive, came nearby and saw that pitch-black bloated body, the mingled hair, the crooked nails with the eyes bulging open and with mice going in and out of the mouth, he got such a fright that he was utterly shocked and died from a heart attack...
It seems that the aforementioned event also became the reason they moved the excommunicated corpses away from the Narthex of the Cemetery and placed them instead inside a cave farther below, near the coast of the Romanian Skete, by blocking its entrance with rocks and camouflaging the surrounding scenery so that it cannot be easily identified. Apparently, that is where the bodies still remain."
(Hieromonk Gabriel of the Iveritan Cell "Birth of Holy Forerunner and Baptist John" in 1964)
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What follows is the story of the above mentioned corpses:
"The representatives of the Emperor and of Patriarch Vekkos attempted to incorporate the Holy Monasteries of the Holy Mountain in their dark plan of co-officiation with the Papists, initially through diplomacy. However they met a solid resistance from the majority of the Monasteries and as a result they proceeded to criminal actions that make those of the antichristian barbarian pirates seem almost benevolent...
After they burned the anti-unionist monks on the tower of the Monastery of Zographou, they proceeded to "pay a visit" to the Monastery of Vatopedi where they were also checked and proclaimed heretics by the monks. For this reason, after they shackled the Hegumen of Vatopedi in heavy chains, they threw him in the sea where he immediately sunk to the bottom and was drowned, while the other twelve monks were hanged at the place that today is known for this reason as Phourcobunon.
Similar atrocities were carried out in the Monastery of Iveron, where others were lost when their transport boats were sunk deep in the Iveritan Sea, whereas others were taken captives...
At the Monastery of Great Lavra, however, they were formally welcomed and in fact in the company of bells ringing; and this brought God's wrath... Thus, the Hierodeacon Lavriotes who co-officiated burned like a candle thrown in the fire from a terrible illness and died; while the other seven co-officiating Hieromonks, were found to be not fully decomposed after their death, bloated and excommunicated. Their black-as-ebony remains could still be seen inside the Narthex of the Cemetery of the Holy Apostles as late as the end of the 19th century, in public, in order to help the monks learn and be chastised by the past events, but also to encourage the monks and other visiting pilgrims who would face this sight to pray for them, so that God may forgive them and show His mercy upon them, by dissolving their bodies..."
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The testimony of Hieromonk Gabriel concerning these corpses: "I came to the Holy Mountain in 1885 at the age of 20 and I have lived there since. Two years later, it chanced that we were going to bring wheat from the Monastery of Konstamonitou, weighing about 1200 okes. For this reason, we were going by sea in our boat. At the time I was 22 years old and it was September, two days after the Feast of the Precious Cross. In the evening we stopped by the arsanas (port) of Great Lavra planning to continue our trip in the morning. Indeed, that is how things happened.
A little while after we had left Lavra behind, my Elder, Monk Meletios, said: 'Gabriel, my child, farther ahead is the place where the excommunicated bodies are situated, the ones who had accepted the Latin-minded ones in Great Lavra and had co-officiated with John Vekkos and those with him, that I have seen before; but because you are young and it may be the case that in the future some people will say that all these stories are wild, and that there is nothing really there, no one was excommunicated, these are only mentioned to scare off people etc. - for this reason, let us go so that you can see them with your own eyes, so that you do not believe in any words coming from those who doubt - that they may tell you in future, for the Holy Writ says that the eye is more reliable than the ear.'
As soon as my Elder had finished saying these words, we arrived at a bold cliff, where only looking at it one gets a fright; and he said: 'Here they are'. I was scrutinizing the area trying to see something and I responded: 'Are you joking?'
He laughed then and told me: 'What do you think they are, like a Cross or perhaps like Icons, in order for people to look at them and cross themselves? When they have the devil's shape? which you will see and then believe.'
In the meantime, we had come very near the stiff drop and after a lot of effort we managed to get out of our boat and using 'all hands and feet', so to speak, we managed to climb five or six meters; and then I saw a cave.
We entered and a terrible sight greeted my eyes: Three men were placed against the rock, standing up, wearing their clothes, rasa (vestments) and zostika (monk belts), having their eyes open, their hair and beard deeply white and very long, their faces having the color of phouma [smoke, i.e. black]; similarly, their hands were facing down, their fingers were a little turned to the inside, the nails on their hands were up to 2-4 centimeters long, while the ones on their feet could not be seen as they were covered by their socks and shoes.
In fact at the time I wished to touch them thoroughly, to see if their bodies were soft, as it looked like they were, or just dry skin and bones; but my Elder did not let me, warning me: 'Do not place your hand on God's wrath!'
[It has also been recorded that there is a "particularly frightening demonic presence around these bodies."]
In every other respect, however, I put great care; except for my own hand on them. At the time, looking at them did not scare me; now, however, that I recall those events, my soul gets shaken and I can neither sleep, sometimes for days on end, nor eat, sometimes for two or even three days in a row, while at the time the event had not truly registered in my mind."