Category Image A Visit to St. Anthony's (Mostly a Slide Show)




This past weekend, my eldest and I took the part of pilgrims. We went to the Arizona desert and visited St. Anthony's Monastery . It was quite an adventure, traveling through the Sonoran desert

The Monastery depicts itself as an oasis in the desert. That is really quite an understatement.

It is also a spiritual oasis, with the opportunity to have your confession heard, and receive counsel from, one of two elders. Elder Ephraim is the founder of this monastery as well as 16 others in the U.S. He is the former abbot of Philotheou Monastery on Mount Athos . The story of his bringing Athonite Monasticism to the U.S. is fascinating. Unfortunately, I don't know of a good site on the story off the top of my head. He is extremely hard to see, although we did get an opportunity to receive his blessing several times. We did get to meet with Elder Paisius, the abbot of St. Anthony's. I've had my confession heard several times over the years, and our current parish priest is a great confessor. However, nothing quite compares with meeting with an Elder. He didn't say a whole lot, but did offer some good advice, and merely being in the presence of such holiness was refreshing. Just based on our short time together, I feel the urge to change a number of things about my current practices and behaviors. I'm not sure if he is effectively our spiritual father, or if that needs to wait for a bit to see how things go, but I do intend for him to be mine.

Most of the photos, I've posted here . I took photos of the interior and exterior of most of the Churches and chapels on the grounds. I didn't get pictures of the inside of St. George, because originally I thought I'd have time after the Liturgy on Sunday (which is usually held at St. George), but then found out we would be going straight to a formal breakfast with the monks (cold scrambled eggs, fries, and feta cheese - quite tasty after 4+ hours of Church). My favorite chapel was St. Seraphim, which was a pretty little open air chapel. If we had room at our house, I'd want one in the back yard as a place to pray and meditate.

The schedule of the Monastery is roughly this: Confessions from 2:30 to 5, Vespers from 4 - 5, Dinner from 5 - 5:30, Compline until 6, Free time until 7:30, then quiet time. Usually, we all head off to bed as we need to be up early. A monk comes by the rooms at about 2 a.m. to awaken everyone for the Midnight Hour followed by Orthros (Matins). This usually lasts until about 3:30. Then we have Divine Liturgy until around 5, off to breakfast, then quiet time for three hours (aka sleep). Lunch on weekdays is at 12:30 with the Monks. Sunday is somewhat similar, except that Orthros lasts longer, and breakfast is with the Monks (during the weekdays, breakfast is mostly a continental type thing). Also, there is no lunch on Sundays.

The Guesthouse has a common area which is well stocked with snacks and drinks. Most of the snacks are prepared by the Monks (including a fresh baked peach pie while we were there). When one stays a bit longer, it is normal for the Monks to ask you to help out with various chores around the Monastery. Joshua is looking forward to helping with the vineyard the next time we're out.

The Monks are all wonderful. Very friendly, but very quiet and contemplative. As they move about the grounds you often hear the soft "Kyrie eleison" as they do their prayer rule. I always expect Monks to be stern and somewhat aloof, but all of these Monks are really not like that at all.

I'll close this post with a picture of the Arizonitsa, a special Icon commissioned just for St. Anthony's. All of the necklaces, etc., are gifts and offerings left by the faithful over the years.

Joshua is already asking when we can go back. I'm hoping its soon. It was interesting to note how utterly foreign the outside world felt as we departed the Monastery. I much preferred the world inside.

Posted: Monday - July 09, 2007 at 06:58 AM          

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