Bob Simon steps back in time when he gets rare access to monks in ancient monasteries on a remote Greek peninsula who have lived a Spartan life of prayer in a tradition virtually unchanged for a thousand years.
I have been there in April 1994, 26 yeras ago. Instead of 3-4 days that those that allowed in, I stayed two weeks. It was one of the most beautiful, and definitely the deepest and most spiritual life experiences I ever had in my life.
As the actor Jonathan Jackson once said, "With all the destruction, chaos and insanity that goes on in this world, if the prayers of the monastery weren’t happening, what would this world be like?"
The only thing is, they don't know what's going on in the world in order to pray for specific things. Even the Apostle Paul asked for specific, situational prayer in some of his epistles. But there they don't read newspapers or receive any news, except for the occasional phone call. General prayers may be offered up, but I don't see how intercession on behalf of anyone outside of the monasteries could be possible if they aren't paying attention to the world they inhabit.
They know, they really know, they have facebook and instagram accounts, they have mobiles more expensive than mine. One Greek monk said to me,: -I know you have problem in Sweden. -What do you mean? Muslims? -No, black people. Another Serbian monk said to a Spaniard: -Oh, I love Franco! Many other things I observed, and heard from Ortodox believers, just plain bullsh...t. I just arrived from there 1 week ago.
Just as much exposure as they want, they have access to technology. I stayed in the most extreme ortodox monastery the first night and then in other four monasteries, I met nice monks and others not so nice or not nice at all, same as in the "external" world a normal human being would behave. I did not stay in the monastery shown at the beginning of the video, I just passed by it.
And every monastery will say that they are the real church, bla bla and that the rest are not so. And it's true, they are very busy all the time, i felt they were.
I watch the videos of the Mt. Athos monks often. I live in the secular world full of all of the heartbreaking nonsenses that people put themselves and others through. I strive to be a monk like these men in the midst of all the chaos. I can imagine living there with no relationship drama. Jesus loves peace, love and Godly humor. The world can learn a lot from watching these men. It is good that no women are allowed. Hormones would lead to drama. I, as a woman, get very sad at times, watching how women run their lives and their families' lives. It is time for we women to start accepting responsibility for how we conduct ourselves. I speak from experience. Jesus LOVES women and perhaps we women should love ourselves more. These men exude love and confidence in Jesus.😊
What a beautiful place. I haven't been a Christian for a long time, but if you really do want the closest thing to original Christianity, it's in the Orthodox Church.
If you are looking for the closest thing to original christianity visit a homeless shelter or your local jail. Christianity doesnt have priests or abbots. It doesnt celebrate the traditions of men. The letter to the Church in Collosae should be forwarded to these men. How do they go out into the whole world and preach the gospel? I say all this in lovingkindness as a form of correction.
@@garrettbar2212 I am not taking away authority from the church...I am correcting men in their traditions which ignore the word of God...Jesus was very specific when it came to the traditions of men...
This is where Iv'e been a few years ago, mount Athos - Hilandar the Serbian part. I can tell you one thing, after five days of Athos returning back to Thessaloniki for my flight it was like entering a jungle....for a short period you could feel and sense things that the ordinary thought was normal city live. The soul after Athos entering, sort to say, the lions den.
Good coverage.. Prayer to the Holy Spirit (St Augustine) Please pray everyday.. God will give us the strength and encouragement we need to go through all trials. Breathe in me O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.
It's amazing that the reporter was allowed in the nave during the services - usually at Athonite monasteries, non-Orthodox are asked to stay outside the church during services
No women allowed there. Why don't you go to visit Meteora instead?They allow visitors-tourists in some monasteries.Provided that women wear long enough dresses. watch this: /watch?v=bX5K9gsqDrA
I am an Irish Christian and would love to visit as it seems a truly holy experience. Can someone please tell me how I go about getting a chance to visit. Thanking you in anticipation
You search for the site of "MountAthos.org" . There is a menu for english language somewhere on the top. You then find the communication tab and enter your email and the questions that you have. They will contact you later.
I contacted a Greek Orthodox church in Texas (where I live), and its priest obtained all the documents I needed to enter (they came from Istanbul, Turkey). It worked for me, and I was able to spend an extended period of time there (longer than is usually allowed). I wouldn't let this chance pass if I were you--it's a pilgrimage you'll cherish the rest of your life.
A wonderful insight into the spiritual life of Mount Athos. As a spirit-soul embodied into the form of a woman I appreciate such a sharing from being unable to visit this holy country/state, and have longed for most of my life to exist as part of such an example. If only there were such a place for us where none of us are the assigned body but merely the spirit-soul longing for relationship with Christ/the divine.
You sound gnostic. We are body and soul. If you are a woman the άβατος does not permit you onto this Holy Monastic State. You can of course take a tour of the Monasteries outside on the female ships they have.
Majestic place, I wonder if I'd be allowed to visit as an Albanian we aren't quite welcome in Greece, Although a few of the churches were build by Albanians and many others were protected and invested in in the past . I wonder what's the ethnic mixture of people there now ?
you go to the site of Mount Athos, (MounthAthos.org) find the communication form and fill it with your questions in english.I believe that they will reply. The site has english language also.
They should send out 3 monks with 10 years in the Athos to society to spread the gospel every year, what use is the light if it is not seen by those in the dark.
I am Greek. I googled the lyricks. ΡΜΔ 2. Its a psalm of David as far as i saw. "καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν εὐλογήσω σε καὶ αἰνέσω τὸ ὄνομά σου καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος" . i didn't searched the translation but its like " Εvery (different) day i bless you and glorify your name through the centuries".
There has been historical animosity since St Severus of Antioch, so the Greeks initially lost most of their Syriac heritage due to persecution against the Jacobites and then the muslim persecution lead arabization. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the last places where they still used Syriac they burned their Syriac manuscripts and material. As of now the melkites ("Roum Orthodox") of Syria are working on reviving the Syriac and preserve the little they have left, but as of now if you want to hear a liturgy in the mother tongue of Jesus Christ and the Antiochian church fathers like St Ephraim the Syrian, you can only go to the Syriac Orthodox Church.
As the reporter said, some fall into extasy. The prayer allowes them to overcome physical limits. Some sleep 3h but throughout the day 20min every a couple of hours. These are certainly more spiritually advanced.
@@mascara1777 @mascara1888 10:34 oh yeah sorry he says here. But some do it, not all. It is very hard to do if you are not spiritually and physically advanced. God bless!
Main reason why this beautiful people live for centuries in peace and love is respect for animals.Animal killing is horrible things directly related to all wars and suffering in human society.Europe can not live in peace there is constant wars for centuries with millions people killed.
Greek Orthodox Church can absolutely claim this is the Greek Orthodox. Many of you know that now Russian Orthodox claim to be “the only” authoritative orthodox but I think Russians exchanged it for various nationalism centuries ago. Orthodox is at least in Greek and in the authentic location.
Seriously? even in the comments section, do you have to start a verbal holy war? Simple fact? We all praise God in our own way, and we're all created by the Almighty father, just wanted to let you in on the simple plan that he just wants all of us to act like brothers. 🙌✌
There are female monasteries outside Athos that follow exactly the same way of life, so maybe you could visit one of them. In Greece, and I suppose elsewhere too, there are even female monasteries that are actually branches of some male monastery in Athos.
@@giorgos1giorgos she wants to go to Atho not otther monasteries,but they are racists against women. They consider women to be unclean because they have periods
Tylko, nie łudzić, się bo bą d, Ci dobrze, co dobro, Czynili, wg, Prawa, Boskiego, nie pijący, do upadłego, Władza chora, kasa, dobrobyt, a innych nie widzieli,
I do not know about while he's talking but I can see in between listening and comments. But, maybe he is. Yet, we can pray without ceasing. I understand that as a whole excluding when talking. But again, in between words.😉.
With all due respect my brother but as an Orthodox Christian I can say you don't know Orthodoxy if you feel this way. You mention their beards in an earlier post. The beards are grown so they demonstrate humility and not vanity. There are many other reasons. I would suggest you research the Holy Church.
Nicholas A Hi Brother, Sikh stands for a student of spiritual knowledge and if the Monks are not Sikhs, then what they study? Prayers and fasting are Anti-Christ. I think they are Sikhs with Turban and Beard. Beards they have already. They just need Turbans.
How are prayers and fasting of the anti Christ? I understand Sikhism in a rudimentary manner and the following of the gurus but when you quote Christian scripture and than call the Orthodox Church which is the Church Christ Himself established anti Christ I have to ask how do you figure? Christ did not tell us we have to fast, we fast and pray as a method of asceticism where we submit ourselves. Now I am horrible at these things and must continue working on them but Christ said we must die to ourselves and our old nature that is what these monks are doing.
Nicholas A Hi Brother, Jesus said Prayers and Fasting for forty days as penitence to long for God. After 40 days, then he started hiring labourers for the Vineyard of our Father and the Labourers too were longing for God. But no more after that.
Must be great to live your life here. Must be nice to hide away chanting and lighting candles. Such an easy life no wonder they guard it Christianity doesn't share anything with anyone.
These monks welcome tens of thousands of pilgrims each year, and feed them free of charge. They aren't hiding anything, they only want to keep the secular world out of their lives to pursue spiritual fruit. For what they're doing, the isolation is warranted.
No, what is a waste of life is if you decide to criticize a beautiful thing on RU-vid because you disagree with it just because you are too self absorbed or lacking the mental strength to understand the power behind what Mount Athos was created to represent and lead people to eternal life.
@@johnstavropoulos7049 So you can not live with Christ if you aren't there. I can live with Christ at home with a wife! These man never seen a nice woman. So sad. And how they help poor people overthere? Only with prayer?
We are living in a time when mocking and deriding Christians is seen as cool and edgy, but when you look at popular culture, you can see there's nothing about it that's edgy at all. The secular world dominates our modern lives, or tries to. In our current state, there is nothing more radical than being a devout Christian. That we live in a time where Christians are reviled and oppressed makes being a good Christian all the more glorious. Just remember that, if you're experience is anything like mine, people who mock Christianity are deeply unhappy, bitter, and nihilistic. Such people are to be pitied more than anything.
That's exactly backwards. The Roman Catholic Church is the one that came into being 1000 years ago when they broke off from the true church by declaring papal infallibility and changing the Creed with the filoque addition. The Orthodox Church is the one with the unbroken line to Christ, the Catholics are the schismatics.
Could you tell me what you mean by this? I’ve always been under the impression that the Roman Catholic Church split off from the Orthodox Church when the Roman pope issued a papal bull excommunicating the Byzantine patriarch in 1054, but the four other patriarchs had not agreed to such an action so it was therefore an unjustifiable and incorrect, schismatic action made by the Roman bishop. What is your perspective on these issues? Why did the Byzantine church have to be cut off in your view?
