Preserving & Promoting Understanding of the Monastic Holy Land of Mount Athos

Who We Are

The Mount Athos Foundation of America (MAFA) was founded by a group of American members of The Friends of Mount Athos (FoMA) who wanted to establish a US non-profit, public benefit corporation to support the monastic community of Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain. Many of our volunteers come from the American membership of FoMA. Our patrons and donors come from all over the United States. Working together, we strive to:

  • PROTECT this monastic holy land as a pilgrimage site for all branches of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and all people seeking the spiritual renewal to be found there
  • SUSTAIN everything that makes this UNESCO World Heritage Site unique
  • FOSTER study, understanding, and appreciation of the history, religious culture, arts, architecture, natural history, and literature of the monasteries and monastic dependencies

 

We support the monks of Mount Athos, people who have devoted their entire lives to God, people who seek only to inherit the kingdom of Heaven through prayer, fasting, selflessness and an ethical life, imitating Christ’s example. Orthodox monks bring both practical and spiritual value to their own communities, to pilgrims, and to the wider world. They may engage in specialized works such as icon painting, the copying of manuscripts, the gathering of medicinal herbs and production of sacred products such as prayer ropes and holy oil.

For believers, however, the spiritual intercession monastics provide through prayer is their greatest gift to the world, on both individual and collective bases. Monks provide wise spiritual counsel and listen to pilgrims’ questions about both daily life and theology. Monastics thus provide an important, if unrecognized, function for pastoral care, and provide good examples for an ethical and principled life.

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Our Mission

MAFA aims to advance an understanding of, and provide benefit to, the monastic community of Mount Athos, located in northeastern Greece, in a variety of ways:

  • restoration and preservation of historic monuments and artifacts
  • fostering knowledge and understanding of the monastic communities
  • supporting the operations of the 20 monasteries and their dependencies in times of need

To succeed in our mission, we depend on our patrons, donors, and volunteers.

Book Prize

The best scholarly work on Mt. Athos or a topic related to the Holy Mountain and its rich historical, ethnocultural, literary, theological, architectural, and iconographic traditions will be honored by a panel of scholars.

The Orthodox monks of the Holy Mountain engage in constant prayer for the salvation of the entire world, and for individual pilgrims and others who specially request it. Aside from this pastoral function, Athos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a very unique repository of objects reflecting over 1,000 years of constant spiritual life, with priceless art, architecture, valuable manuscripts and protected wilderness.

 

In addition and unfortunately, the self-supporting monasteries and their dependencies are susceptible to natural disasters such as earthquakes and forest fires; often triggering emergency recovery needs. Even for those people who never visit, supporting the Athonite monasteries is valuable as it allows the monks to focus on their spiritual labors and daily duties, and so to preserve this spiritual heritage, one deriving ultimately from the Desert Fathers of ancient Christian Egypt.

Donate

The Orthodox monks of the Holy Mountain engage in constant prayer for the salvation of the entire world, and for individual pilgrims and others who specially request it. Aside from this pastoral function, Athos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a very unique repository of objects reflecting over 1,000 years of constant spiritual life, with priceless art, architecture, valuable manuscripts and protected wilderness.

 

In addition and unfortunately, the self-supporting monasteries and their dependencies are susceptible to natural disasters such as earthquakes and forest fires; often triggering emergency recovery needs. Even for those people who never visit, supporting the Athonite monasteries is valuable as it allows the monks to focus on their spiritual labors and daily duties, and so to preserve this spiritual heritage, one deriving ultimately from the Desert Fathers of ancient Christian Egypt.