Monks and Monastaries

Here are my notes on monks and monasteries. I don't know why. I think they're cool. They're real. They're righeous duds!

Titus 2:11-14

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What's With Monks?

Monks are not crazy.

They're not hiding.

They separate themselves because they seek to be holy.

They are obedient to the scripture verse:

Anyone who does not give up all he has cannot be my disciple.


Netflix: Into Great Silence (2005) provides a glimpse of what it's like to live in the austere Grande Chartreuse monastery of Germany. The soundtrack has no dialog since monks don't talk. Yet, director Philip Gröning's documentary was awarded a Special Jury Prize winner at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

Amongst White Clouds ~ Chinese Buddhist hermit monks

BBC2 first broadcast (on 15 May 2005) a four-episode reality series A Tiger Aspect Production that ended July 2004.

Jonathan Petre of the UK Telegraph reports (on 29 May 2004) "Reality TV In Monastery Changes Five Lives Forever" and a 22.04.2005 press release

Five men, ranging from an atheist in the pornography trade to a former Protestant paramilitary, have found their lives unexpectedly transformed in the latest incarnation of reality television - the "Monastery".

The five underwent a spiritual makeover by spending 40 days and 40 nights living with Roman Catholic monks in Worth Abbey, near Crawley, West Sussex.

The experiment, which was shown on BBC 2 [May 2004], was designed to test whether the monastic tradition begun by St Benedict 1,500 years ago still has any relevance to the modern world.

Although participants were not required to vote each other out, they faced the challenge of living together in a community and following a disciplined regime of work and prayer. By the end, the atheist, Tony Burke, 29, became a believer and gave up his job producing trailers for a sex chat line after having what he described as a "religious experience".

Gary McCormick, 36, the former Ulster Defence Association member, who spent much of his early life in prison, began to overcome his inner demons.

Peter Gruffydd, a retired teacher, regained the faith he had rejected in his youth and Nick Buxton, 37, a Cambridge undergraduate, edged closer to becoming an Anglican priest.

The fifth "novice", 32-year-old Anthony Wright, who works for a London legal publishing company, started to come to terms with his childhood traumas.

The three-part series called The Monastery shows the five abiding by the monastery rules, with a strict timetable of instruction, study, prayer, reflection and work duties. They are also shown holding intense and often painful sessions with their religious mentors, individual monks assigned to guide each of them on their spiritual journeys.

At the end of one of these sessions, Mr Burke, his voice breaking with emotion, confessed his feelings in a video-diary entry. "I didn't want this to happen," he said. "But something touched me, something spoke to me very deeply. It was a religious experience. "When I woke up this morning, I didn't believe in this but, as I speak to you now, I do. Whatever it is, I believe in it."

The participants, none of whom was a Roman Catholic, shared meals with the monks, worked in the grounds and joined in the daily office, from early morning Matins to Compline. They were also obliged to follow the monks' rules of silence, obedience, and humility.

At the start, the new arrivals were sceptical and discipline did not come easily — two of them were reprimanded for leaving the monastery "looking for virgins and cigarettes".

By the end, they all conceded that the experience had made a profound impression on them.

Fr Christopher Jamison, the Abbot, said that the monastery had been delighted with the results.

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.

A Coptic (Egyptian Christian) Monk. Photo courtesy of the Scriptorium Center for Christian Antiquities

A Lonely Minority: The Modern Story of Egypt's Copts (April, 2000) by Edward Wakin Kathleen Norris, in the Cloister Walk (Reprint April, 1997) reminises about how as a Protestant poet living at a U.S. Benedictine monastery for two years allowed her to find the rythmn in her life and fill the gap in her soul.

Brother Benet Tvedten, in The View from a Monastery, describes his experiences (living with a shaved head) at the same Benedictine community (Blue Cloud Abbey in South Dakota) Kathleen Norris writes about. Tvetden was influenced to take up monastic life after reading
The Seven-Storey Mountain (first published in 1949) by Thomas Merton, a most prolific author on the eremitic life.

According to the Webster's Dictionary

Charism is a miraculously given power, as of healing, speaking foreign languages without instruction, etc., attributed to some of the early Christians.

the word "eremitical" means
a person bound by monastic vows, or sequestered from secular concern, and devoted to a life of piety and religion; a monk or friar; a nun.

The Latin word friar means “brothers”

"Self flagulation" —hitting oneself with a whip until blood appears — has biblical basis in Hebrews 12:4-13 "We have not yet resisted temptation to the point of shedding blood."

A Way of Desert Spirituality: The Plan of Life of the Hermits of Bethlehem, Chester, New Jersey by Father Eugene L. Romano, who also wrote In the silence of Solitude

Benedictine Life

Willa Cather

On recommendation by Claudia Aug 2005:
The Hawk and the Dove (Crossway Books, February 1, 2000) by Penelope Wilcock a triology with The Wounds of God (1991), and The Long Fall (1993).

Completely Christ's (2007) DVD on NetFlix: "Is the consecrated life for you? Here, you'll meet men and women who have heeded Christ's call and entered into a lifelong mission of service. Discover how to find, follow and fulfill God's unique plan for you. Father Benedict Groeschel, Father Mitch Pacwa and others relate their ultimate journey to serve God and convey what it takes to engage in this most radical and challenging relationship."

Koms

A kom is a small dwelling monks build outside of the monastery. They generally consisted of just a few rooms and would be the residence of several monks.
• Christ in the Desert Monastary has 25 Benedictine Monks In the New Mexico Desert.
• Monastary Icons by the “Fathers of the Desert” who relocated from Nebraska to the Southern California desert.
• Byzantine Monestery of St. George of Mangana
• Augustinian monestery (now the Augustiner-Museum) in Rattenberg, Austria
• Holy Mount Athos at Agion Oros on the Halkidiki peninsula of the Greek island is the centre of Eastern Orthodox Monasticism. Its 12 monasteries is the only place in Greece that is completely dedicated to prayer and worship of God. So it's full of gilded colorful icons in old buildings -- open only to men who seek solitude, prayer, exercise, obedience, service, and fasting.

Support Your Local Monks

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Monastaries are supposed to be self-supporting. Here are some examples:
• Monestery Fruitcakes from the Holy Cross Abbey at 901 Cool Spring Lane, Berryville, VA 22611

• John Michael Talbot —Catholic music's number one recording artist— is part of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at the Little Portion Hermitage in Berryville, Arkansas.

• Visit these Retreats

This painting is often interpreted as a justification for a contemplative life. While Martha was running around getting frustrated, Jesus said of Mary:

“Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” — Luke 10:41

The Holy Way: Practices for a Simple Life (2003) by professor Paula Huston on how she found peace in solitude and silence in her head. Her contemplations on Catholic saints describe purity and generosity.

About Celibacy

1 Corinthians 7
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. ... 7 I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. 8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. ... 25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord.s mercy is trustworthy. 26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. 27 Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. 29 What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. 32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord.s affairs.how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world.how he can please his wife. 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord.s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world.how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

But Castration?

Origen (c.185 AD-254 AD), a priest from Alexandria, Egypt, (whose First Principles, a comprehensive manual of Catholic theology and practice, became controverial for its inclusion of Gnostic pagan rituals later denounced by St. Jerome) had himself castrated on the basis of this scripture:

“Jesus replied, ..Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” —Matthew 19:11-12

Singing Monks

The June 7, 2002 PBS show Religion News reported that Greek Orthodox Monks from Saint Augustine and Seraphim Sarof monastery -- in the village of Trikorfo, Fokida near the central coastal town of Nafpaktos -- called Eleftheri Eleutheroi in Greek (in English, “The Free”) are making a rock-and-roll tour of the United States this summer. Their website

The band's third album, “By Your Side”, contains songs with English lyrics, including an English-language club remix of their songs “Freedom lies in Heaven” and the anti-globalisation hit song that made them a sensation in Europe: “I learned To Live Free”.

Bearded lead singer Father Panteleimon and about a dozen others in the band appear in black robes on stage under lights flashing to a thumping rock beat. Time magazine called their act “Frock 'n' Roll” Their songs, even though they praise celebacy, touches on modern issues from drug abuse to depression.

The monks, managed by Archimandrite Abbot Nektarios, say they have the blessings of their bishops in the autonomous Cyprus Church. They were quoted as insisting that they're just trying to bring young people into the church.

The monks say proceeds from their American tour will help pay the legal fees of Greek death row inmates in the US.

Song Titles On The Monks' Music CD

16. Hey, Hey, We're The Monks
15. I'm Too Sexy For This Robe...
14. Cyronus Achus Breakus
13. Ain't Misbehavin'
12. What's A Vow Of Chastity Got To Do With It?
11. Red, Red Wine
10. Celebate! Celebate! Dance To The Music!
9. Shock The Monk
8. Give Peace A Chant ala Give Peace a Chance by Aerosmith
7. 50 Ways To Leave Your Monastery ala 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
6. Born To Be Mild ala Born To Be Wild
5. Oh, Sherry
4. Don't Stand So Close To Me
3. Can't Touch That!
2. I Write The Psalms ala Neil Diamond's I Write the Songs
1. Light My Friar ala Light My Fire

Sorry, I forgot where I got this from

A man pledges to a very strict monastic order. This is an order where they commit to a lifetime vow of silence. Upon entering the brotherhood, he finds that there is one exception to this vow. Once a year, there is a dinner held in the great hall of the monastery. And at this dinner a secret ballot is taken. The winner of this secret ballot is allowed to address the assembled group. When the appointed day arrives, there is understandable excitement through the halls of the monastery. The dinner begins and the lots are drawn. A seasoned old monk is chosen and walks slowly to head of the room. He glances about the room at his brothers. And he says, " I think the food here really rots". And a year passes and silence graces the old community. Again it is the annual dinner and again lots are drawn. A blind monk wins the draw this time. He is led slowly to the front of the room. He gathers himself, drawing together his thoughts, opens his mouth and says, "well I think the food is just fine". And not another word passes the lips of the pious monks as fall becomes winter, winter, summer, summer, spring. Finally the annual dinner arrives, and once again the ballot is drawn. One of the animal herds is chosen. He walks slowly up the aisle. The scent of his vocation moves through the room as he does. He gazes placidly upon his brothers, parts his silent lips and says, "Lets Stop This Constant Bickering"