As I prepare for another round of monastery travel and photography, I thought it might be inspiring for you (as well as for me!) to revisit some of my early posts on this website, which try to sketch out the contours of "Why" I am undertaking this two-year pilgrimage, "What" it means to me, and …
Category: Monastic Calling
An Exhortation to Newly-tonsured Monks
Featuring photographs from my first pilgrimage to Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville NY, November 2016. Full gallery to follow soon... Orthodox Life, Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville NY, January 4, 2017: On the eve of December 20th, 2016 (o.s.), the first day of the Forefeast of Nativity and the feasts of St Ignatius the God-bearer and …
Advice to Monastic Seekers
Insightful and practical guidance from Archbishop Mark (Arndt) of Berlin, Germany (ROCOR). Advice to Potential Monastics, an interview with Archbishop Mark of Berlin; Pravoslavie, August 5, 2013: Why do people now go to monasteries not from an impoverished life but from a life of comfort, how can one find the right monastery, which of the holy fathers should …
‘Souls to Match the Mountains!’
Fr. Seraphim Rose and the call for a North American Thebaid Two brief passages from Fr. Seraphim's monastic life and writings make clear how he longed for an American Thebaid to flourish in his homeland, as it had in Orthodox lands in preceding centuries: As at the beginning of his monastic path he had drawn …
Doubt and the Monastic Journey
"To the reader, it will hardly sound surprising that the evil one is far from thrilled to hear that a man or woman wishes to profess monastic vows. If we imagine the whole body of the Church as an army of the faithful here on earth regarding the spiritual life, monks and nuns are like …
The North American Thebaid 