Page 97 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(2) (2024)

ity had kept us all night in church, seduced by
the Russian service’s pomp, by the song’s beau-
ty, by the strange types of this multitude which
went up to the altar praying for the Tsar, like an
army marching to conquests. All night long….’,
and ‘the pale flock of monks,’ as the poet notes,
‘standing under the dying light of the candles,
had chanted to the vigils without one being able
to read on these mystical faces any concerns oth-
er than those of heaven. We went to bed at dawn
and early we were awakened by the sound of
bells’ (De Vogüé 1894, 327).
37
In a subsequent account, De Vogüé provides 97
an exceptional observation of a ritual he initially
perceives to be the enthronement of the new ab-
bot of Saint Panteleimon. However, he soon real- Figure 5: François Augiéras (1925-1971), portrait taken
izes it is, in fact, a funeral procession for a caloy- in 1954, Eyzies de Tayac, France (Augiéras 1994, 9);
er he had observed succumbing to illness in the © Fata Morgana Publisher
monastic hospital. He describes the scene with
evocative detail: ‘The bells [which] rang out in ly evident in religious rituals, which serve as a
slow volleys, a procession of monks, their heads backdrop for olfactory descriptions.
covered with the mourning veil while holding On the 18th of August 1956, Augiéras
candles in their hands, lay down on the square wrote: ‘The chapel shone with a thousand lights.
chanting sad litanies. All these pomps have a fu- Among the monks, I saw children aged 13 to 14,
38
neral character at Athos’ (De Vogüé 1894, 329). dressed in black robes, with long girly hair, with
wild and gentle looks. The monks sang, burned
What about fragrances? incense, the children lit the candles, only to ex- Perceptions of a ‘Journey to the Past’ in Some Viatical Stories at Mount Athos
tinguish them almost immediately, and relight
The representation of perfumes and olfactory them among the songs: they were playing in Par-
experiences in travel literature is notably sparse. adise, they were angels and prophets among the
However, examining the correspondence be- seraphim and the constellations. Then they be-
tween the writer François Augiéras (1925–1971, gan to recite the litanies of the Saints, of the
fig. 5) and his friend Paul Placet (1928–2023) re- martyrs of the beginnings of Christianity, those
veals a significant shift. This shift is particular- of the children tortured under Tiberius, under
37 ‘ la curiosité nous avait retenu toute la nuit à l’église, sé- Nero, flogged to death, burned alive. More songs
duit par la pompe de l’office russe, par la beauté du chant, of incredible sweetness, heartbreaking melan-
par les types étranges de cette multitude qui montait à l’au-
tel en priant pour le tsar, comme une armée marchant à des choly, cries of joy, love, sobs, and sometimes the
conquêtes. Toute la nuit, ‘le pâle troupeau des moines », murmur of voluptuousness. My turn came to
comme dit le poète, debout sous la clarté mourante des ci-
erges, avait psalmodié les vigiles sans qu’on eût pu lire sur be praised; I bowed in silence and breathed in
ces faces mystiques d’autres soucis que ceux du ciel. Nous the pungent scent of incense. Some old monks
nous étions couchés à l’aube et de bonne heure nous fûmes looked like my uncle’ (Augiéras 1994, 21–22).
39
réveillés par le son des cloches.’
38 ‘les cloches [qui] s’ébranlèrent à lentes volées, une proces- 39 ‘La chapelle brillait de mille feux. Parmi les moines, je vis
sion de moines, la tête couverte du voile de deuil en tenant des enfants de 13 à 14 ans, vêtus de robes noires, aux longs
des cierges à la main, s’allongea sur le parvis en psalmodi- cheveux de filles, aux regards sauvages et doux. Les moines
ant de tristes litanies. Toutes ces pompes ont un caractère chantaient, encensaient les enfants allumaient les chan-
funèbre à l’Athos.’ delles, pour les éteindre presque aussitôt, et les rallumer