Monastic Life in America?

Last night the show "60 Minutes" aired a beautiful special about the Orthodox monks who live on Mount Athos in Greece.  It followed them through their daily cycle of worship services, work, meals, and prayer.  Their life is a peaceful and holy life, with about 8 hours of each day spent worshiping in various church services.  If you did not see this episode of "60 Minutes", I highly recommend it.  It can be found (in 2 parts) online.  If you did see it, you may have been struck by the fact that women are not allowed on Mount Athos.  They have never been.  The good news is that we women do have opportunities to be a part of such "doorways to heaven" - even here in these United States. 

Situated in upstate New York, Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery houses about a half dozen humble, wise, and hard-working women with whom I had the priviledge of spending a few days last September.  Like the monks on Mount Athos, these nuns are striving to be self-sufficient.  They have gardens and raise goats for their milk, from which they make delicious cheeses and other dairy products.  They have plans to repair an on-site mill so they can even make their own flour.  Also like the monks on Mount Athos, they awake early each morning to attend the first of several church services throughout the day.  Between services, no hand is idle.  There is plenty of work to be done, from tending the goats, to caring for the gardens, to cooking the meals for the nuns and others who live or visit there.  For visitors, like myself, there is a charming little guest house just down the hill from the Monastery grounds that surrounds a lake.  And, even though the lake house  is a peaceful haven unto itself,  I have to say that I truly enjoyed waking in the morning to become a participant in the Monastic life.  I mainly helped the nuns in the kitchen and found that I eagerly awaited the bells that signaled the start of one of the church services that broke up the continuum of the workday.  I found myself instinctively drawn to prayer, and constantly felt that sense of peace that passes all understanding.  The monks on Mount Athos described their world as a doorway to heaven.  I found this humble Monastery to lack nothing in that regard. 

There are many other Orthodox Monasteries in this country - some housing monks, some nuns.  And I am convinced they are all special places of serenity and worship.  The only other one at which I have spent quality time was St. Gregory Palamas in Ohio and it, too, was a little slice of heaven on earth.  Like the nuns at Holy Myrrhbearers, the monks there were wise in a way that pulls you up short - with a real grip on what really matters here on earth.  Orthodoxy has been called "the best-kept secret" as far as Christian denominations are concerned.  If that is true, then our Monasteries are the gems at the heart of our Faith.

Some of the goats at Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery 

View from the guest house at Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery

Both times I went to Monasteries for extended visits it was because I felt "called" to go.   And both visits left an indelible impression on me.  I can still close my eyes and feel the peace and the holiness that these bits of heaven on earth emit.  I can not visit Mount Athos, but I don't have to go far to get a glimpse of the holiness contained in such a place.  And, for that, I am truly grateful.  Until next time, God bless you all!