Monks

It is about time I talked a bit about the monks and not just the monasteries.  Most come from Greece, but some are from other parts of the world, even occasionally from the US.  They are celibate; in the case of Mt. Athos, they do not even come into contact with women except when they leave the peninsula on some business.  Many become monks in their teens, but you can become a monk at any age, as in the case of a sixty-something widower I met.  Monks spend about six or seven hours a day in church, not counting special occasions, when they spend much more time.  On an ordinary day in summer, the first service is at 4 am, the next as 6 am, the third at 9 am, and the fourth at 6 pm.  The rest of the time, they take care of their regular duties in the garden, kitchen, guest house, painting studio, woodshop, business office, etc.  In the early afternoon, by necessity, most take a siesta. Taking care of pilgrims has come to take up a lot of their time: as one monk, a deacon, said, "I spend a lot of time just cleaning toilets in the guest house."

Unlike Frank, who is a well-loved, known, and (dare I say) tolerated figure, I refrained from taking many pictures of the monks and don't feel really comfortable sharing his on the internet too freely, but here is one requested by the large monk beside him and readily participated in by the others.  The one on the left is in full robes, such as worn in church during most of the service by non-priests, during meals, and on special occasions.  The "veil" he wears symbolizes his commitment to removing himself from worldly distractions.  Monks usually wear some sort of head covering, but, as you can see here, not always. Obviously, all their clothing is black, though some of the work clothes of those who spend a lot of time outdoors are so faded that they look light blue.  You can also see that they don't shave.  In fact, most don't cut their hair either, but some have such thick and long-growing hair that they have to trim it a bit.

Here is a photo I took of the painter of icons at Pantokrator.  He is also involved with taking care of pilgims, so, like all monks, he is a very busy man. You will notice that he is smiling.  In fact, nearly all the monks are quite cheerful and seem generally happy.  I think that too many outsiders believe that individuals become monks and nuns because they cannot fit into the regular world due to some personality or character defect.  I saw no sign of that.  Rather, I saw energy, commitment, and deep faith.

Here is Frank with Fathers Nikita of Pantokrator (left) and Philemon of a related skete (a semi-independent but connected smaller site and brotherhood).  Fr. Nikita had just driven us to the skete after having carted us about over the very steep, rough dirt roads of Mt. Athos the previous day to see some small cells removed from the main monastery.  Like nearly all the monks in the monasteries where we stayed, Fr. Philemon was thrilled to see "Mr. Frank," greeting him with a great hug and kisses on both cheeks and warmly welcomed "Mr. Gene" as his good friend.  In general, he and others were very pleased to do things for us.  Because Frank had made so many visits to the monasteries, joined into the work life of the monks when he was younger, attended two of the church services nearly every day (despite being Protestant), and made regular monetary donations, he took this for granted, but I was sort of uncomfortable and made requests sparingly.

I will stop here, but more images of monks will when I write on dining, church services, and other topics.