Pilgrimage to Patmos

Mosaic of St John defeating the magician Kynops. Image: Anne Dunhlll

Before Covid, I used to go on pilgrimage every year and came to love the spiritual dimension of the pilgrimage, that never failed to enhance even the most familiar destinations. For at least a year I had been longing to go to Patmos, the small Dodecanese island which my favourite apostle, John, had been exiled to in 95AD and where, in his eighties, he wrote the extraordinary Book of Revelation. On googling Pilgrimages to Patmos, it became clear that JC journeys was the way to go. A family company founded by Jane and Cassian Roberts in 2001, it was the only tour company that spent a leisurely week in Patmos visiting the holy sites rather than a mere day's excursion off a cruise ship.

My husband Zdzislaw, who I married at the height of the pandemic in 2020, had completely lost all urge to travel. I'm still not sure how I managed to persuade him to come with me - I think prayer had a lot to do with it - but we found ourselves setting off to Heathrow together on a cold morning at the end of September to meet our fellow pilgrims at Terminal 2.

JC journeys were at all times a delight to deal with. They offer two pilgrimages a year to Patmos, in June and September. I'd originally hoped to travel in June, but was dismayed to discover I needed abdominal surgery. The company was totally unfazed and told me to come in September instead. Zdzislaw's passport was due to expire in November, but they told us we had plenty of time to renew it before travelling. We were sent luggage labels and a detailed itinerary and invited to join a WhatsApp group called Patmos Pilgrims. All we had to do was get ourselves to the Terminal to check in at 10am for our 12.15 flight to Athens. We ordered a cab for 9 and were utterly dismayed to find ourselves at 10 stuck in a horrendous traffic jam somewhere near Putney Bridge. I texted the group in panic and received a wonderfully soothing message in return. After that the traffic seemed to melt away and we arrived at the meeting point at 10.45 to be greeted by two guardian angels, Jane and her colleague Flavia, joined later by the lovely Imogen, who proceeded to print our luggage labels, check us in and direct us to the departure gates. By the time we boarded our flight to Athens, we were fully relaxed, knowing we were in safe hands.

We spent the first night in Athens at the Titania Hotel, where we met our fellow pilgrims for a welcome drink in the rooftop bar, complete with a spectacular view of the floodlit Parthenon. The following day we visited the splendid Acropolis Museum, completely refurbished in 2009 and, after a delicious lunch, caught an afternoon ferry to Patmos arriving about 10 pm to walk to the nearby Skala Hotel where we would be spending the rest of the week.

We woke the next morning to brilliant sunshine and a large and beautiful garden full of secluded alcoves for our companion priest, Fr Nick King, to say Mass in, or conduct his daily talks on The Book of Revelation. There was also a large seawater pool, surrounded by a high hedge dripping with purple bougainvillea. After breakfast, we generally set out by bus at about 10 on excursions to the celebrated Christian sites, the Cave of the Revelation, a tiny grotto, exquisitely decorated with religious icons, where St John experienced the visions he recorded in Revelations, and St John's Monastery, founded in 1088, and, like the cave, a UNESCO world heritage site. On these trips we were accompanied by Margherita, our charming and knowledgeable local guide. One of my favourite excursions was to the Koumana Convent. Founded by Saint Makarios between 1782 and 1793, it stands at the top of a mountain looking towards Skala and the port, and features a striking bell tower and a luminous blue cross which can be seen from the harbour at night. All the nuns have left, but it's beautifully looked after by caretakers. After Mass in one of the courtyards, we visited the little church and sat in the garden for an hour or so. Silence was recommended, which produced a wonderful meditative state. Zdzislaw told me in wonder that it had cured his tinnitus.

All too soon our time in Patmos was up and we made our journey in reverse, spending our last night on the ferry in a private ensuite cabin. A storm was threatened at 5am, but didn't materialise. How could it? We were under the protection of a saint.

LINKS

JC Journeys: www.jcjourneys.com/

email: enquiries@jcjourneys.com