Ecclesiastical Arts - Work Activities

At the Monastery of Chrysopigi sisters cultivate a range of traditional ecclesiastical arts. Their work activities (diakonimata) are the painting of portable icons and frescoing, the ecclesiastical goldwork embroidery, stone carving, book publishing, the preservation and restoration of old icons and books, and book-binding. Other activities include bee-keeping, candle-making, incense-making and soap-making, as well as the cultivation of the land using the principles of organic farming. The Monastery is also carrying out a wide-ranging programme of environmental education for schoolchildren of all ages.

These arts and crafts, enriched with prayer and ascesis within the life of the sisterhood, reveal and manifest the sacredness of the world and of the human life, as this is understood and experienced in the Orthodox tradition.