Frequently Asked Questions

A monastery is a building or group of buildings, most often built in isolated and rural locations conducive to spiritual reflection and prayer, where monks (or nuns, in the case of a nunnery or convent) live and work, following specific religious vows and ascetic practices. In the Orthodox tradition (and as can be encountered on Mount Athos), monasteries are either coenobitic or idiorrhythmic in nature. In the former, religious rituals, work and dining are conducted in common; in the latter, monastic practices are less strictly-organized, with monks living, praying and working in a decentralized fashion.

A monastery is typically a large and self-sustaining brotherhood, often physically larger and housing more monks than the other types. These others are all dependencies of monasteries, as is seen on Mount Athos (which hosts twenty ruling monasteries, and numerous dependencies of various kinds). Sketes, or monastic communities, are typically the largest dependencies, whereas cells (kellia) and huts (kalyvia) are relatively smaller and simple. While answering to the abbot of their ruling monasteries, the brotherhood of sketes, cells, and huts enjoy a semi-independent lifestyle, and are fully devoted to prayer and specialized tasks such as icon-painting or cultivating gardens.

In Orthodoxy, most monks are not priests. Those monks who do go on to become ordained as priests, as well as priests who then take monastic vows, are called Hieromonks. However, note that on Mount Athos, all monks are generally referred to (as are priests) as ‘Father,’ unlike the Catholic use of ‘Brother’ in speaking of monks and friars.

An abbot (Greek, Higoumenos; Slavonic, Iguman/Igumen) is the spiritual and legal head of a monastery. The abbot manages all practical matters of monastic life, oversees discipline, religious works, and (on Mount Athos) relations with the central authorities in the local capital of Karyes. He also oversees whatever dependencies the monastery may own, and the well-being and good discipline of their monks. The Elder (in Greek, Gerontas; in Slavic languages, Starets) performs the same leadership roles on a lesser scale, in the case of leading a skete or cell. The term ‘Elder’ can also be given simply out of respect for elderly monks on individual basis, regardless of their actual rank in the leadership of a monastic house.

In Orthodox monastic tradition, life is devoted entirely to God, and involves the renunciation of the outside world and its temptations and distractions. Monks seek only to inherit the kingdom of Heaven through prayer, selflessness and an ethical life, imitating Christ’s example. Monks make vows of celibacy, poverty, obedience and stability. They do not immediately ‘become’ monks, but undergo a carefully overseen and sometimes lengthy process, beginning as novices. The relevant abbot or elder assesses the novice’s dedication, discipline and humility. The successful candidate undergoes tonsuring (cutting of the hair at four points, to symbolize a cross). The successive stages in Orthodoxy are those of the Novice, the Robe-bearer, and the Cross-bearer. Some, but not all monks, are given a higher degree and distinctive habit; these are known as schema-monks. Their elevation is based on the discretion of the abbot or elder, according to their discretion of the candidate’s spiritual advancement.

On Mount Athos, monks generally wake before 4AM for the daily service of Orthros (Matins/Vespers), consisting of readings from the Psalms and the Gospel and singing of hymns. Orthros is directly followed by the Divine Liturgy. Following Liturgy is the first of two daily meals, conducted quickly (typically, for 15 minutes); during the meal, spiritual texts, such as Scripture and lives or teachings of the Fathers, are also read aloud by a monk. Afterwards, monks follow their individual daily tasks, which can range from cleaning, repairing and farming to icon-painting, library duties, or assisting pilgrims. The afternoon typically sees a shorter Vespers service (which may include services for any saints of the particular day), followed by another short meal, and the brief Apodeipno (compline) service in the church. The monks then retire to their private cells for prayer and sleep, before repeating the process. The (many) feast-days and other spiritual holidays are characterized by more intense prayers, more extended hymnody, and all-night vigils.

Hesychasm is a theological movement and form of prayer with roots in 13th-century ascetic practice and championed in the following century by St. Gregory Palamas, Athonite monk and later Archbishop of Thessaloniki. This is a specifically Orthodox practice of intense inward contemplation of God through continuous prayer. The Hesychast seeks to achieve inner stillness or quiet (hesychia) through ceaseless prayer. The most common prayer used for this purpose by Hesychasts, and by the Athonite monks generally, is the Jesus Prayer. The hesychastic tradition receives its fullest expression in the anthology of patristic and hesychastic writings known as the Philokalia. This collection of spiritual wisdom comprises texts from the 4th to the 15th centuries, and has been translated into English over several decades (see Faber and Faber’s multi-volume editions here).

The Jesus Prayer is a commonly-recited prayer in Orthodoxy, designed to be recited in repeated fashion. The actual prayer can have small variations and abbreviated forms, but the most common one is: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The shortened version (“Lord have mercy”) is the oft-heard Kyrie Eleison. Considered since Byzantine times as a ‘prayer of the heart,’ the Jesus Prayer is used by monks to help attain a state of inner stillness or hesycheia.

Orthodox monks bring both practical and spiritual value to their own communities, to pilgrims, and to the wider world. They may engage in specialized works such as icon painting, the copying of manuscripts, the gathering of medicinal herbs and production of sacred products such as prayer ropes and holy oil. For believers, however, the spiritual intercession monastics provide through prayer is their greatest gift to the world, on both individual and collective bases. Monks provide wise spiritual counsel and listen to pilgrims’ questions about both daily life and theology. Monastics thus provide an important, if unrecognized, function for pastoral care, and provide good examples for an ethical and principled life.

The monks of the Holy Mountain engage in constant prayer for the salvation of the entire world, and for individual pilgrims and others who specially request it. Aside from this pastoral function, Athos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a very unique repository of objects reflecting over 1,000 years of constant spiritual life, with priceless art, architecture, valuable manuscripts and protected wilderness. As such, the self-supporting monasteries and their dependencies are susceptible to natural disasters such as earthquakes and forest fires. Even for those people who never visit, supporting the Athonite monasteries is valuable as it allows the monks to focus on their spiritual labors and daily duties, and so to preserve this spiritual heritage, one deriving ultimately from the Desert Fathers of ancient Christian Egypt.

Yes. All pilgrims, whether Orthodox or not, must obtain a special visa (a diamonitirion) from the Mount Athos Pilgrim’s Bureau in Thessaloniki and must check monastic availability through this bureau. Currently, ten non-Orthodox men are permitted to enter the Holy Mountain (along with 100 Orthodox) each day, for a four-day stay. While non-Orthodox pilgrims are granted the same hospitality as Orthodox, they cannot receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion. In some monasteries they might not be permitted to participate in religious services. They may, of course, engage in private prayer, veneration of icons, and discussion.

A pilgrim’s experience on Athos will depend not only on whether he is Orthodox or non-Orthodox, but also on the relative capacity of the hosting monasteries and dependencies. All monasteries have separate group sleeping quarters for pilgrims, while at larger monasteries, pilgrims may eat at separate tables from the monks. At smaller dependencies, dining is often common. While special facilities such as monastic libraries, iconographical workshops and museums are only accessible in limited cases, pilgrims are welcome to visit monastic churches and venerate icons. Pilgrims normally enter Athos by ferry, on which presentation of the diamonitirion (special visa issued by the Pilgrim’s Bureau) is necessary. Pilgrims should be prepared for extensive walking between monasteries, though minibuses are now also available between some of the inland monasteries, and the main port of Daphni and inland capital-village of Karyes. In the latter, pilgrims can also find a post office, restaurant, store for victuals, and a lodge for alternative sleeping for a small fee. For detailed information, consult the UK-based Friends of Mount Athos’ Pilgrim’s Guide.

According to ancient Christian tradition reinforced by Byzantine imperial legislation, the Athonite peninsula is reserved for monks dedicated to the veneration of one woman only, the Virgin Mary (the ‘all-holy’ Panagia, and ‘Mother of God,’ the Theotokos). This is known as the Avaton (‘Inaccessible’) Rule, and it also prohibits domesticated female animals.

Two worthwhile nearby options include taking daily boat tours from the Ouranoupoli port (which allows some appreciation of the natural beauty and architecture of several coastal Athonite monasteries), and a walking tour of the now-ruined Monastery of Zygou, a Byzantine-era structure near Ouranoupoli, at the administrative border between the secular and monastic parts of the Athonite peninsula. A third option is to visit any of the numerous monasteries and convents that allow female pilgrims. One relevant nearby destination is the Monastery of St. John the Theologian in Souroti, between Mt. Athos and Thessaloniki. This convent is famous for holding the grave of St. Paisios the Athonite, one of the best-known Orthodox spiritual fathers of the 20th century. Others include Iero Koinovio Evangelismos Theotokou (the Holy Coenobitic Monastery of the Annunciation of the Mother of God) in Ormylia (a dependency of the Simonopetra monastery, an hour east of Ouranoupoli) and the Holy Hermitage of Timios Prodromos (the Precious Forerunner) in Akritochori (a dependency of the Xenophontos Monastery, located about 90 minutes north of Thessaloniki).

According to the tradition of the Holy Mountain, while on a sea journey to Cyprus to visit Lazarus, the Virgin Mary’s ship was driven off-course by a storm. Landing on the shores of Mount Athos, and marveling at the beauty of the place, the Mother of God asked her Son to make it her own, which Christ did. The Athonite monks continue to venerate Mary as their patroness and protector. In fact, several monasteries and dependencies feature historic and unique icons of the Virgin Mary, considered miracle-working by monks and believers.

Yes. Especially from the 10th century onward, many Byzantine churches were built in the inscribed cruciform (‘cross-in-square’) style, a form resembling a cross. Church design is imbued with further theological relevance; for example, one enters through the narthex (vestibule), representing earth, and into the main part of the church, the naos (nave), which represents heaven. The agia trapeza (altar) area, reserved for priests and monks, represents the throne of God. In a monastery, the central church is called a katholikon. Orthodox churches are generally oriented toward the east.

Obedience, or submission, refers to an essential quality of monastic life, both in terms of the practical need for monks to obey their elders and as a characteristic feature of the general monastic community. Its theological underpinnings lie in central tenets of Orthodoxy. Just as Christ’s choice to obey his Father by suffering and dying on the cross made possible human redemption, reversing the original disobedience of Adam, so also monks regard obedience to their elder or abbot as a critical component of the spiritual life. In its aspect of submission, it is for monks an exercise (askesis) in suppression of natural human willfulness that creates a barrier preventing the believer from becoming open to the will of God. For monks, the vow of obedience provides a chance to continually repent for earthly passions, willfulness and bad choices, while expressing love and gratitude for the abbot or elder entrusted by God with the monks’ salvation and spiritual healing.

No. While some ascetic monks rarely or never leave their monasteries, many Athonite monks do make occasional visits to population centers (always with the blessing of their abbot or elder), if necessary for medical reasons or for anything to do with their monastic vocation, such as visiting churches and other monasteries. Increasingly, Orthodox monks (even at remote monasteries) are in touch with the outside world via occasional Internet and telephone use. Nevertheless, the monastic vow to renounce the world always prevails.

Monks have used specially woven prayer ropes since the earliest days of ascetic monasticism, in the ancient Christian hermitages of Syria and Egypt. Consisting often of 33 knots, symbolizing the years of Christ’s life, prayer ropes are used by monks to help in the counting and concentration in repeated prayer. Behind both prayer ropes and Hesychasm is St. Paul’s order to “pray without ceasing” (1Thessalonians 5:17).

Icons (eikona, in Greek and Slavonic) are images of Christ, His Mother, His angels, His saints, and events such as the Birth of Christ, His Baptism, His Transfiguration, His death on the Cross, and His Resurrection. In the image we see and experience the Prototype. Icons actually participate in and thus reveal the reality they express. Icons are windows to heaven, not only revealing the glory of God, but becoming to the worshiper a passage into the Kingdom of God. They bring to life the teachings of the Orthodox Faith and are thus an essential part of the prayer life of Orthodox Christians.

Orthodox Christians worship God alone, they do not worship icons; rather they venerate icons (honor them greatly) because of their participation in Heaven’s reality.

The essential requirements are to be a man at least 18 years old, and baptized in the Orthodox Church. Ideally, after careful introspection to be sure of one’s calling and desire to follow the vows, the prospective candidate must apply to the abbot of his chosen monastery. The monastic council decides on the application. Becoming a monk specifically on Mount Athos is more complicated. Regardless of origins, all Athonite monks must learn the Greek language and become Greek citizens. Spaces are limited, and may depend on whether monasteries and dependencies need new monks at any given moment. Those interested should begin by making a simple pilgrimage, to meet current Athonite monks, to experience the spiritual life as they live it, and to find a monastery in which they feel comfortable, because monasteries can be quite different from one another in character. For the unbaptized, the path to monastic ordination will include catechetical instruction leading to baptism.

Reviews of many well-researched books, ranging from Athonite history, art and architecture to spiritual life and modern pilgrimages, can be found on the Friends of Mount Athos’ Books page as well as the publications of the society itself. The FoMA website generally is an authoritative source of information on the Holy Mountain. The Mount Athos Center bookstore is another excellent source.