13.51 Sigillion of the Patriarch and Synod (Patriarch Samuel)
July 1768
Chelandari Monastery, Archives
Parchment, 52.5 x 49 cm
Suspended from the bottom of the document on a blue cord is Patriarch Samuel's lead seal.
The Patriarch received a letter from the Holy Athonite Community stating that the Chelandari Monastery once possessed a large fragment of the True Cross, a gift from John Vatatzis. The imperial chrysobull deed of donation was destroyed in the fire that ravaged the Monastery in 1721. Lest this treasure be lost, the Chelandarites have divided the relic into two parts and have offered the Community two crosses (one larger and one smaller), which together were found to be of equal weight with the original fragment. At the request of the monks of Chelandari, an attestation under seal of the Community is submitted to the Patriarch for his confirmation. With this present letter the Patriarch and the Synod confirm the content of the above document.
Bibliography: Actes de Chilandar 1911, I, no. 171, pp. 366-8.