1st hiking-catechesis with Father Dionysius

🇬🇧 This event was held in English (Father Dionysius does not speak Romanian)

With the Lord’s help, on Monday, 6 June 2022 (a public holiday in Switzerland), Nepsis Switzerland organised a hiking-catechesis in the Alps, and we had with us Hieromonk Father Dionysius, the spiritual father of the Romanian women’s monastery “The Protection of the Mother of God” in Switzerland.

Our choice for the hike was the Niesen summit (2,362 m), a 40-minute drive from Bern. We can say that this outing was a real success, as we had more than 25 participants of all ages and of several nationalities, from every corner of Switzerland (and even one participant who came especially from Italy!).

Father Dionysius, a great lover of the mountains (and with an enviable level of fitness!), together with two Nepsis members, set off at the crack of dawn and walked the whole route on foot, starting from the village of Mülenen (a total elevation gain of 1,700 m). Along the way we met, at times arranged in advance, part of the group at the intermediate station of Schwandegg (1,669 m), and everyone else at the summit at 12 o’clock, where we had lunch together (a picnic). At the top we were glad to see, between the clouds, Lake Thun and various peaks of over 4,000 metres in the area.

Then we withdrew to the ridge of the mountain and all sat down around Father Dionysius, who spoke to us about God’s will and man’s will, with direct references to the Old Testament (the fall of Adam, Noah’s ark and Abraham’s calling to the Promised Land).

If you would like to get to know Father Dionysius from a distance, you can access the recordings of the catecheses he holds regularly on the monastery’s YouTube channel “Monastere Sciernes”.