"There is no Church without monasticism." Fr. Josiah Trenham, p. 24 "Rock and Sand"
Fr. Seraphim Rose, who himself established a skete / monastery in the "desert" of Northern California and knew well the challenges and trials of reestablishing the ancient monastic traditions in the decadent West, translated and wrote a lengthy introduction to St. Gregory of Tours' Vita Patrum, a collection of lives of the fathers who were some of the early pioneers of eremitism and monasticism in Western Europe. Fr. Seraphim did not translate this work merely out of historical interest, but because he found the lessons and experience set forth there so relevant to the situation and experience of strugglers in the modern West who aspired to a monastic ideal.
Fr. Seraphim's lengthy introduction to that work ends with a section titled "Orthodox Monasticism Today in the Light of Orthodox Monastic Gaul", in which Rose discusses the three general situations that "the aspirant who wishes to undertake the monastic life today finds before him". and the challenges, pitfalls and temptations specific to each such situation. I previously quoted from that chapter in a comment to the post that Mother Maria references above -- "The way forward is through the desert" -- so I won't re-paste it here. But I highly commend that book, and Rose's Introduction in particular, for people interested in the question of how to revitalize monasticism in the West. The book is hard to find used, but it is available online if you search sites like Scribd.
There are also some other early pioneers and thinkers who are worth looking into in this regard, some of whom are more well known and revered in the East than in Western, Roman Catholicism. John Cassian's Institutes and Conferences are highly relevant: there would have been no Western "desert" as described in Vita Patrum, nor any Rules of St. Benedict, without Cassian's work. Also, some of the later fathers who continued the tradition of "desert living", such as St. Isaac the Syrian and St. Symeon the New Theologian, are highly worth consulting.
The monastic tradition is still very much alive in Eastern Orthodoxy -- on Athos, in Russia, and even in the new monasteries established in the United States (although they no doubt are subject to the challenges detailed by Rose mentioned above: none of us can entirely escape our situation of being moderns) -- and any project to revive the spirit of monasticism would do well to absorb the still-living wisdom and tradition that is available in the East.
The reason I know anything about what you call Orthodox monasticism is that the monks of Norcia base their monastic life on these sources and have passed them along to their oblates. Though I can't handle the complexities of Cassian - I leave that to the Abbot and Fr. oblate Master - I am a great fan of Dorotheos of Gaza, and all his pals. To the Norcia community, there is no distinction: ancient monasticism is just monasticism; we share the same sources. No need for the qualifier. I've felt for some time that I've got all the theology I need in this life from the Patristic sources. The first thousand years is plenty to be getting on with.
This post is so welcome. We all have no idea how much the world depends on cloistered monastics praying the psalter each week and observing a life of self-denial. Someone once told me that these monastics - monks and nuns - hold the world together with prayer. And the fact that the traditional monasteries are thriving and bursting at the seams has got to nettle the modernist clergy. I often wonder if these folks even believe in God, period. Please post as often as you can anything from Mother Marie! I will try to help with my feeble prayers...
> stating simply that he never wanted any nuns of any sort in his diocese.
His loss I guess. I can think of bishops in the history of the US who have written to the appropriate authority to ask "please send me some contemplative nuns" with the understanding that they are the powerhouse that fuels the activity of others.
It boggles the mind, doesn't it? But this is the Italian episcopate. They're quite open about being there just to shut things down. Last one out turn off the lights.
I look forward to hearing more from Mother Marie.
Looking for a monastery to become an oblate. Keep us informed.
Wonderful and very inspiring.
"There is no Church without monasticism." Fr. Josiah Trenham, p. 24 "Rock and Sand"
Fr. Seraphim Rose, who himself established a skete / monastery in the "desert" of Northern California and knew well the challenges and trials of reestablishing the ancient monastic traditions in the decadent West, translated and wrote a lengthy introduction to St. Gregory of Tours' Vita Patrum, a collection of lives of the fathers who were some of the early pioneers of eremitism and monasticism in Western Europe. Fr. Seraphim did not translate this work merely out of historical interest, but because he found the lessons and experience set forth there so relevant to the situation and experience of strugglers in the modern West who aspired to a monastic ideal.
Fr. Seraphim's lengthy introduction to that work ends with a section titled "Orthodox Monasticism Today in the Light of Orthodox Monastic Gaul", in which Rose discusses the three general situations that "the aspirant who wishes to undertake the monastic life today finds before him". and the challenges, pitfalls and temptations specific to each such situation. I previously quoted from that chapter in a comment to the post that Mother Maria references above -- "The way forward is through the desert" -- so I won't re-paste it here. But I highly commend that book, and Rose's Introduction in particular, for people interested in the question of how to revitalize monasticism in the West. The book is hard to find used, but it is available online if you search sites like Scribd.
There are also some other early pioneers and thinkers who are worth looking into in this regard, some of whom are more well known and revered in the East than in Western, Roman Catholicism. John Cassian's Institutes and Conferences are highly relevant: there would have been no Western "desert" as described in Vita Patrum, nor any Rules of St. Benedict, without Cassian's work. Also, some of the later fathers who continued the tradition of "desert living", such as St. Isaac the Syrian and St. Symeon the New Theologian, are highly worth consulting.
The monastic tradition is still very much alive in Eastern Orthodoxy -- on Athos, in Russia, and even in the new monasteries established in the United States (although they no doubt are subject to the challenges detailed by Rose mentioned above: none of us can entirely escape our situation of being moderns) -- and any project to revive the spirit of monasticism would do well to absorb the still-living wisdom and tradition that is available in the East.
The reason I know anything about what you call Orthodox monasticism is that the monks of Norcia base their monastic life on these sources and have passed them along to their oblates. Though I can't handle the complexities of Cassian - I leave that to the Abbot and Fr. oblate Master - I am a great fan of Dorotheos of Gaza, and all his pals. To the Norcia community, there is no distinction: ancient monasticism is just monasticism; we share the same sources. No need for the qualifier. I've felt for some time that I've got all the theology I need in this life from the Patristic sources. The first thousand years is plenty to be getting on with.
This post is so welcome. We all have no idea how much the world depends on cloistered monastics praying the psalter each week and observing a life of self-denial. Someone once told me that these monastics - monks and nuns - hold the world together with prayer. And the fact that the traditional monasteries are thriving and bursting at the seams has got to nettle the modernist clergy. I often wonder if these folks even believe in God, period. Please post as often as you can anything from Mother Marie! I will try to help with my feeble prayers...
I think the desert is already here--it has been for quite some time. Or, maybe, though we tried hard to leave it, it never left.
> stating simply that he never wanted any nuns of any sort in his diocese.
His loss I guess. I can think of bishops in the history of the US who have written to the appropriate authority to ask "please send me some contemplative nuns" with the understanding that they are the powerhouse that fuels the activity of others.
Classic example, the Edmundites' mission asking for some Discalced Carmelites back in the day https://carmelmobileal.com/about-us/
It boggles the mind, doesn't it? But this is the Italian episcopate. They're quite open about being there just to shut things down. Last one out turn off the lights.
A lovely mission. God bless the contemplatives who devote their lives to the faith.