Athos: Travels on the Holy Mountain

The monks of Athos rise before the sun and sleep before it sets. They follow a calendar and a way of life that the rest of the world has forgotten and which must at times seem misguided--even to them . . . It was to the Holy Mountain, immovable symbol of Eastern Orthodox spirituality, that Matthew Spencer journeyed one summer, his mind full of questions about the history and contemporary identity of monasticism. Athos has never been easy to get to, for anyone. No woman has been allowed to set foot there for a thousand years. However, its legendary exclusivism is not the only thing we encounter in this first-hand account of a season spent on Athos' wooded shores. Interwoven with historical fact and spiritual reflection are lyrical descriptions of the brilliance of its art, the cool of its ancient buildings, the warmth of its welcome. No less absoring are the author's observations on the vagaries of monastic living, and the challenges of adapting, however briefly, to an alien culture. Ultimately it is the peace of Athos that shines through, even as monks set themselves against the world, as monastery complains about monastery, as brtehren squabble about the vision at the heart of the place: what it might mean to live a holy life.