From Greek monastery on island cliffside, prayer lift up wonders of the night sky

For more than a millennium, Orthodox Christian monks have woken up in the predawn darkness to start their day with prayer at the Panagia Hozoviotissa Monastery, built high into a cliffside on the island of Amorgos.

The tall, whitewashed complex is a speck about half-way up the precipitous mountain that plunges into the Aegean Sea. Except for a few small chapels scattered among the rocks, no other structure is in sight — and no light pollution to dim the swirl of stars as it increasingly does around the world.

In this picture is seen the cliffside Hozoviotissa Monastery under the starry night sky. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

“Here one is closer to God, and better understands creation,” says Father Spyridon, who’s spent more than 50 years at the monastery as a monk. “All of mother nature is God’s creation. We must learn to love it, to respect it, and to preserve it.”

Nature feels untouched around the monastery that overlooks the open sea. A handful of bushes and small trees hang in the crevices where spring rains bring bursts of poppy flowers, while cats and goats scamper around the rocks.

A fierce wind often blows off the wisps of clouds caught in the mountaintop – as well as a photographer’s tripods.

Hozoviotissa Monastery is seen under the starry night sky during a cloudy night. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Photographic equipment aside, all are mentioned in Psalm 148, which the two monks now living at the monastery and their assistant especially love to pray in the morning:

“Praise the Lord from the heavens … Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created, and he established them for ever and ever.” (AP)