I spent a lovely time before going to sleep watching the Monks of Mount Athos, The Island of the Mother of God before going to sleep. I don't want to romanticise Athos too much. The monks tend to be intensely anti Catholic bigots and the most resolutely schismatic of all. In addition they are in a state of Great Schism amongst themselves currently with Russia and other Eastern Euopeans going to bat against the Greek Orthodox and others. Also of course like all monks everywhere they have their spiritual ups and downs. I visited one Monastery in the Troodos mountains in Cyprus and was very far from being impressed with what I saw there. However Mount Athos has produced a abundant fruits of holiness up to the present with a huge crop of saints and mystics up to the present. Reading the lives of the saints is a wonderful way to encourage holiness in ourselves because we wish to emulate them. These modern tube videos are the same. One thought occurred to me watching them is many old men have been monks for the longest time and have only achieved a certain holiness. On the other hand we see young people become true saints whilst in the world even as children, teens and their early twenties. How can this be? I think the key thing is humility. The young saints though of God as carrying them. Many old monks perhaps think of themselves as carrying God. The young saints though of grace as a gift whilst perhaps think of grace as being earned.
Words from Jesus to Staretz Siluan my favourite monk of Mt Athos. Seems very relevant to our times. “So Siluan asked: Lord, how can I become humble? And the Lord replied: Keep your mind in hell and do not despair. Understand two thoughts, and fear them. One says, "You are a saint," and the other, "You won't be saved." Both of these thoughts are from the enemy, and there is no truth in them.”
This reminds me of two things. St John Bosco had a dream one time in which he he was in the Vatican. He looked towards the statues of the saints standing there and lo and behold there was a statute of St John Bosco standing there. It must have given him a great shock!! But his dream was right there is a statue of St John Bosco standing in St Peters. I checked the last time I visited. Also in the books, 'The last conversations of St Therese' her sisters report that Therese knew before she died and told them she would be canonised after her death. I don't think its that common but I do think a few saints knew they would be raised to the altars of the Church before their deaths. It's not common but it does happen. I notice sometimes when Our Lady appears to folks she tells them secrets, personal things, just for themselves not to be shared. I have the feeling that they are sometimes, not always, told about their future canonisation and their deaths. For instance the little children at Fatima and Bernadette in Lourdes. There is an incident in the Life of St Tereasa of the Andes not long before her death were Our Lady seems to have appeared to her down at the Grotto in her Carmel. I firmly believe she was told she was about to die, but I also strongly suspect she was also told she would be declared a saint one day. https://stpetersbasilica.info/Statues/Founders/JohnBosco/John Bosco.htm
“When the soul loses humility, she loses grace and love for God at the same time, and ardent prayer is extinguished. But when the soul stills her passion and grows humble, the Lord gives her His grace, and then she prays for her enemies as for herself, and sheds scalding tears for the whole world.” From Saint Silouan the Athonite by Archimandrite Sophrony, pp 292-297
I know some doctors want to investigate they monks because theyre all healthy until old age and reach a high old age. I think mt athos and okinawa are the most longevity places in the world today.
Maybe it's just a very creative fantasy of mine, but I can imagine that after the reunification of the churches, the College of Cardinals will be replaced by a monastic structure that will work with prayer, contemplation, and discernment.
There are many things that are attractive about Mount Athos. It is just so very, very beautiful. So different, gorgeous really. The buildings are so ancient and attractive all the nooks and crannies. The artwork is so beautiful . I was in a recently built Catholic Church the other day. Very much Novus Ordo. Very minimalist, like a huge white and oak barn. But to me it had a cold feel to it. When I look at older Catholic Churches they are much more prayerful. The same with older Orthodox Churches. I think when you have saints praying in the same place for generations they kind of paint the place with holiness. Holiness sticks. Also looking at a few of the monks holiness kinda peeks out from time to time. I noticed a few of them going into ecstasy from time to time. In Catholic spirituality we would describe this as the Prayer of Union, the 5th Stage of prayer. Generally called very rare and High.
I was lying there staring at the ceiling for an hour or so there dealing with pain and unable to sleep when I burst out laughing. The reason why I started to laugh was suddenly realising how sorry I was feeling to myself. This gave me great comfort for in the ability to laugh at myself showed the closeness of God. The angels wings whispering by. I was thinking of heading off to hospital but there is very often an 8 hour waiting time and I just can't face it. So I will wait to talk to the Doctor in the morning. The pain is not really I think so bad just uncomfortable and sleepless. But God and Our Lady seem so very, very close. Like a little child pain forces us to hug and stay close to God which is no bad thing. It must be a truly terrible thing to have pain and illness and have no Faith. To see such things as random and meaningless. They are not. In fact to travel through them is to experience the very apex of the Spiritual Life. It is in fact a true experience of the Transcendent. It is to touch the face of God, to walk , for a while at least on heavens hills. TO hug God and rest like a little baby in God's Arms.
I find it fascinating that Orthodox monks with their long beards cause a certain feeling of spiritual timelessness as they remind us of the church fathers, who mostly had this physical characteristic, in addition to having a certain similarity in the wisdom of the teachings.
As far as I recall the last three Monks in the Monastery died of cancer, the last one being in his 40's. There was a vegetarian diet and there was no smoking or drinking of course and no processed meats. But the cooking was truly horrible. The cook was more than a little mad and used to ask the grocer for the vegs that he was going to throw out. It was quite usual , for instance to cut open a potato and find it black inside. Insane. But I notice the monks eating loads of salads with loads of olive oil and fresh bread. Also vegetarian. Also home grown wines. Loads of vitamin D from the sun. I heard one commentator saying there was almost no cancers there and the resident physician monk had almost nothing to do. Also there life is far from stressful, regular hours, manual work, plenty of exercise.
I see that Orthodox monasticism throughout the world is an immense source of wisdom and spiritual edification, not just on Mount Athos. I wonder if the church, in the end times, after Christian reunification, will present a centralization of monastic life for the shepherding of all the faithful and to help the pope govern the church.
I think many Catholic prophecies for our times speak of the Papacy and the Church coming to an end. But by this they don't mean the Church ceasing to exist but ceasing to exist in the form it is in. So things like the Vatican will cease to exist. As Pope Benedict said the Church will be very poor, humble and hidden. A Church that has returned to the Catacombs. I think people who are poor and humble are much less likely to argue and disagree with each other as we will all be in the same grim, horrible mess.
I think the ethiopian church isnt orthodox but I like the Bhaitwai, hermit monks who quite literally live in "holes in the ground", little mountain caves, very small hollows. sadly many people mistake them from rastafari which is a different religion
I dont know much about this; difference between oriental orthodox and eastern orthodox, or if copts are either. Hopefully someone can explain. According to this article, copts themselves are oriental orthodox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Orthodox_Churches
