"There is nothing here, at the Cell – no golden domes, no beautiful lakes, no trees to shelter and soothe. Bare earth, bare sea, bare sky – the skeleton of God’s creation, the naked bones against which all else seem un-necesary details..." When I stumbled onto this blog post by Fr Seraphim Aldea it reminded …
Category: Monastic Writings
Books for Monastic Seekers: ‘Recollections of Mount Athos’
A warm and inspiring first-person account of the author's journey to the Holy Mountain as a young man, his experiences with different monasteries, counsels received from various monks and elders, and how the Lord directed his steps and helped him grow in his early days as a monk. Published in the early years of St …
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Books for Monastic Seekers: ‘The Arena’
A classic manual on the Christian spiritual life, by Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov, this is the second in this series of posts. See post 1 here. The Arena: Guidelines for Spiritual and Monastic Life By Ignatius (Brianchaninov) Translated by Lazarus (Moore) Foreword by Kallistos (Ware); Holy Trinity Publications, Jordanville NY. From the publisher's description: This is one …
Books for Monastic Seekers: ‘Letters to a Beginner on Giving One’s Life to God’
For the first of a new series of blog posts, I would like to share a thin but extremely weighty and important book which was recommended to me several years ago when I was preparing to test the monastic life: Letters to a Beginner on Giving One's Life to God by Abbess Thaisia of Leushino, …
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The Elder Ephraim of Arizona: His contribution to North America
Here is a wonderful spiritual reflection on Elder Ephraim of Arizona and the significance of his establishing 17 monasteries in North America in the Athonite tradition. You can learn more about St Anthony's Monastery in Florence AZ here, which relates the story of Elder Ephraim's monastic life and how he began establishing monasteries in America …
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The North American Thebaid 