One of the many fruits that have matured from the ancient Byzantine rituals of the daily Athonite worship is the treasure of chant, "I shall sing praises to God as long as I have being" (Psalm 103:33). The long hours of daily services, but especially the many all-night vigils that characterize the Athonite life, are witness to the emphasis the fathers of the Holy Mountain have given to these words of the Psalmist.

This present recording is an invitation to the pious listener to share in this rich hymnology, and to partake in one of the most significant events in the recent history of Mount Athos.

On the weekend of 24-25 October 1998, the monastery celebrated the anniversary of its millennium in an atmosphere of great festivity. Presided over by His All Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, a host of church hierarchs, political dignitaries, fathers from all parts of the Athonite peninsula, along with a multitude of pilgrims, assembled to venerate Our Lady the Theotokos, and to pay tribute to all the founders and fathers of the holy monastery who came before us.

Recorded live in the monastery’s main Katholicon (church) during the services of Great Vespers on Saturday evening and the Patriarchal liturgy celebrated on Sunday morning, "Millennium" has captured this one-time gathering of the most notable chanters from all of Mount Athos in all its authenticity. The choirs consisted of Athonite fathers from the monasteries of Vatopedi, Simonopetra, Gregoriou, Xenophontos, and from the brotherhoods of the Danielai, Thomades, and Gerasimos the Hymn-writer.

The production of these recordings is a commemoration of this historical celebration. In addition, it is a humble offering to the fathers who have cultivated and continue to preserve the Tradition of the characteristic Athonite style (ephos) of chant, and to all those who love the chant of the Eastern Orthodox Church. But above all, it is a tribute to all the men who have dedicated their lives to God on the Holy Mountain, and a witness to the spirit of Athonite monasticism that has been fostered for more than ten centuries in this unique place, the Garden of the Panagia.