Monastery of St Gregory Palamas, Ohio

[David Naess]

I was talking to my priest today about monasteries and he directed me to consider:

The Monastery of St. Gregory Palamas
in Perrysville, Ohio.

They have a site:
http://sgpm.goarch.org/Monastery/


but they don't say very much about what sort of work they do.

Can anybody fill me in?

I have sent an initial inquiry to the abbot.

[Rick H.]

Dear Dave,

Thanks for starting this thread. I would like to learn more about this monastery too.

It looks like it is about 2 hours away from my house. If you hear back from them, possibly you could share what you have found out about opportunities for visiting or staying for a day or two?

In Christ,
Rick

[Herman Blaydoe]

They work out their salvation.

A young seeker approached an elderly monk asking: "What do you do in the monastery?" The old monk replied: "Oh, well, we fall down and we get up. We fall back down again and we get back up. And then we fall down and get up again."

[David Naess]

They work out their salvation.

A young seeker approached an elderly monk asking: "What do you do in the monastery?" The old monk replied: "Oh, well, we fall down and we get up. We fall back down again and we get back up. And then we fall down and get up again."
Howdy Herman!

Awww -- c'mon...

You know what I mean.

What do they do to generate income for the monestary!

Guess visual comedy is just about all you can do if you are tonsured into silence, eh? ;->
...'course I'm a different case cuz I know sign language!

Dave

[Herman Blaydoe]

Well, I believe they strive to be as self-sufficient as possible, with gardens and such. They make and sell candles, and accept donations.

Beyond that, while some Orthodox monasteries engage is specific activities, like New Skete which trains guide dogs, or Mercy House which serves the New York inner city, most simply engage in whatever activity helps keep the body occupied without interferring with inner prayer, and praying the hours. They seek the company of God and sometimes allow us non-monastics to share in their experience. For the Orthodox, monasteries are not generally money-making or social service endeavors. If I misspeak, I look forward to correction.

Herman

[Nina]

For the Orthodox, monasteries are not generally money-making or social service endeavors.

Herman

Yes, you are right. And they are always there in case we need prayer. And what prayer that is!

[David Naess]

I am taking a shot in the dark here, but it looks like they do a lot of work in providing liturgical material to churches and choirs.

Hmmm... here I've been telling myself:

"If you want to learn the theology, study the liturgical cycles!"

[George Vatsis]

Hi all -

I am new here, this is my first post actually. Just to chime in on the St. Gregory Palamas monestary, the place is beautiful, and the monks there do make candles. You may know monk Seraphim Dedes, an Athonite monk, used to reside there as Abbot. He has translated all of the 8 tones from Byzantine Greek into English. CDs are available from the monastery website, and I have to admit he sings the hymns beautifully. I believe they are planning on having livestock on the land when more monks are present.

In Christ,

George

[David Naess]

Howdy George!

Thank you very much!

That indicates that they have plans for future expansion.

p.s.: WELCOME!

[Moses Ibrahim]

Hieromonk Alexei Young the spiritual child of Fr. Seraphim Rose is a monk in that monastery. I know there are about 3-4 monks there. Thats all for now.

[Justin Farr]

This is where I hope to be a monk someday. My SF, Fr. Ambrose, resides there!

He told me that the websites focuses more on the written word. However, I really enjoy pictures and I found these a few months ago taken of the monastery. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/asdamick/sets/776447/

[David Naess]

Howdy Justin!

Thanks for that link!

[George Vatsis]

Justin -

How is the health of Fr. Ambrose? God be with him.

On another note, the latest Talanton, a monthly brochure from the monastery, states that there are 8 monks residing there.

George

[Eric Peterson]

I'd like to visit that monastery, too. That one and Holy Cross Hermitage in WV seem to me to be good monasteries, though I haven't visited either one yet.