The Monks of Mount Athos: A Western Monks Extraordinary Spiritual Journey on Eastern Holy Ground
Discover the rich spirituality of monastic life on Mount Athos—a place like no other on earth.
Twenty-five years ago, M. Basil Pennington, OCSO, was the first Western monk to live on Mount Athos for more than the usually permitted overnight visit. The Monks of Mount Athos chronicles his extraordinary stay, his experiences of the East, and lively conversations with his hosts about theological differences and unfamiliar spiritual practices.
Listen in as Abbot Basil wrestles with historical differences between Christianity's East and West, learns the Orthodox practice of "the prayer of the heart," and explores the landscape, the monastic communities, and the food of Athos—a monastic republic like no other place on earth. New to this edition, Archimandrite Dionysios, a monk from “the Holy Mountain,” reflects on the ecumenical openness fostered as a result of, and since, Abbot Basil’s stay.
The abbot’s experiences on Mount Athos motivated him to re-examine his role as a monk and his relationship to God. His inspiring meditations will help you to explore your own relationship to God and to others.
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Book details
- Author
- Basil Pennington
- Imprint
- SkyLight Paths, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
- Published
- Formats
- Paperback
- Subjects
- Religion › Monasticism
- Topics
- Christian monasticism · Eastern Orthodox spirituality · Western and Eastern Christianity · monastic life · prayer of the heart · interfaith dialogue · Christian asceticism
- ISBN-13
- 9781893361782
About the author
M. BASIL PENNINGTON, O.C.S.O. was an American Trappist priest and writer who authored more than sixty books, including Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer.
Pennington held a licentiate in Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and a licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He served as Abbot of the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, and was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1957.
Outside his writing, Pennington was a leading proponent of the centering prayer movement. Much of his work reflects that commitment, most notably in his writings on contemplative practice.
Pennington was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1931 and died on June 3, 2005, in Worcester, Massachusetts.