Monastic Life Quotes

“[A]s though mindful of the wife of Lot, who looked back from behind him, thou deliveredst me first to the sacred garments and monastic profession before thou gavest thyself to God. And for that in this one thing thou shouldst have had little trust in me I vehemently grieved and was ashamed. For I (God [knows]) would without hesitation precede or follow thee to the Vulcanian fires according to thy word. For not with me was my heart, but with thee. But now, more than ever, if it be not with thee, it is nowhere. For without thee it cannot anywhere exist.”
― Héloïse, The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

“Mental discipline, prayer and remoteness from the world and its disturbing visions reduce temptation to a minimum, but they can never entirely abolish it. In medieval traditions, abbeys and convents were always considered to be expugnable centres of revolt against infernal dominion on earth. They became, accordingly, special targets. Satan, issuing orders at nightfall to his foul precurrers, was rumoured to dispatch to capital cities only one junior fiend. This solitary demon, the legend continues, sleeps at his post. There is no work for him; the battle was long ago won. But monasteries, those scattered danger points, become the chief objectives of nocturnal flight; the sky fills with the beat of sable wings as phalanx after phalanx streams to the attack, and the darkness crepitates with the splintering of a myriad lances against the masonry of asceticism.”
― Patrick Leigh Fermor, A Time to Keep Silence

“Once, when Geronda Joseph underwent a great temptation, he went into the desert to pray, and as he was crying out to God, he saw a vision of a large, beautiful bird singing. In a moment, he found himself in Paradise where there were many birds. The birds were angels, and among them was the large bird, singing and keeping the bass note. Imagine that! He saw it with his own eyes!”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, Daily Quotes from "Words of the Heart" by Gerondissa Makrina Vassopoulou

“If you are forgetful of the Lord, you will not pray, and without prayer the soul will not dwell in the love of God, for the grace of the Holy Spirit comes through prayer.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“The Lord vouchsafed us to be in His likeness, but the Lord is so meek and lowly that wert thou to see Him, from much joy thou wouldst want to exclaim, "O Lord, I melt with Thy grace!" but at that moment thou art unable to utter a single word concerning God, for thy soul is transformed from the abundance of the Holy Spirit. Thus it was with St. Seraphim of Sarov - when he beheld the Lord, he was unable to speak.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“He grew enthusiastic in thinking of the convents. Ah! to be earthed up among them, sheltered from the herd, not to know what books appear, what newspapers are printed, never to know what goes on outside one's cell, among men—to complete the beneficent silence of this cloistered life, nourishing ourselves with good actions, refreshing ourselves with plain song, saturating ourselves with the inexhaustible joys of the liturgies.”
― Joris-Karl Huysmans

“Silence will illuminate you in God... and deliver you from phantoms of ignorance. Silence will unite you to God.... In the beginning we have to force ourselves to be silent. But then from our very silence is born something that draws us into deeper silence. May God give you an experience of this 'something' that is born of silence”
― Isaac of Nenevah

“A rich entrepreneur who lives a simple life with his family while helping as many people as he can, is more monk than a monk who lives a secluded life in a monastery meditating and begging.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Monk Meets World

“I have asked to be
Where no storms come”
― Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins

“If we do even one extra knot on our prayer rope, our guardian angel will record it; a few prayers or good thoughts will be stored up for later. Christ saves up all these things, and when the time comes for us to depart for the next life, we will take them and go to Christ.”
― Gerondissa Makrina Vassopoulou, Words of the Heart

“Where there is love, a person can bear everything - sorrows and worries, temptations and thoughts, even various tragic events like wars, earthquakes, disasters, etc. This is how much grace helps him.”
― Gerondissa Makrina Vassopoulou, Words of the Heart

“[The Lord] is exceedingly meek and lowly, and when the soul sees Him she is all transformed into love for God and her neighbour...becomes meek and lowly herself. But if a man lose grace, he will weep like Adam cast out of paradise.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“[T]o the man who beseeches the Lord all things are given, not because we are worthy but because the Lord is merciful and loves us.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“When a small child calls out, "I want bread! I am hungry," does his mother not...prepare him something to eat? Likewise, if all day we call out, "We want to be saved!...Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us." will Christ not send us His mercy?”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, Daily Quotes from "Words of the Heart" by Gerondissa Makrina Vassopoulou

“The purpose of judgment must be that the one you are judging should mend his ways, and you must be compassionate with every soul...and in all things preserve a clear conscience yourself. Then deep peace will reign in mind and soul.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“We believe that true freedom means not sinning, in order to love God and one's neighbour with our whole heart and our whole strength. True freedom means constant dwelling in God.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“And the Mother of God - what was her love for the Lord, her Son? No human being can conceive of the nature of her love save the Mother of God herself. But the Spirit of God opens our eyes to love. And in her was and is this same Spirit of God, Which is love, and therefore he who has come to know the Holy Spirit is able in part to conceive of the nature even of her love.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“Humility is the light in which we may behold the Light which is God – in the words of the Psalmist: “In thy light shall we see light.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“It is not he who disparages himself who shows humility (for who will not put up with himself?), but he who maintains the same love for the very man who reproaches him.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, Divine Ascent - Daily Quotes

“When the soul is full of the love of God, out of infinite joy she sorrows and in tears prays for the whole world, that all men may come to know their Lord and heavenly Father. There is no rest for her, nor does she desire rest, until all mankind delights in the grace of His love.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“Prayer comes with praying, as the Scriptures say; but prayer which is only a habit, prayer without contrition for our sins, is not pleasing to the Lord.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“We must be careful not to judge - extremely careful! It is so terrible that it is beyond words! "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Have we kept this? Even if we have no virtue but we don't judge, Christ will save us and take us to Paradise.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, Daily Quotes from "Words of the Heart" by Gerondissa Makrina Vassopoulou

“With my sins I am worse than a noisome cur but I began to beseech God for forgiveness, and He granted me not only forgiveness but also the Holy Spirit, and in the Holy Spirit I knew God.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“The Holy Spirit is love, and He gives the soul strength to love her enemies. And he who does not love his enemies does not know God.”
― Elizabeth P. Fitzgerald, A Year in the Holy Spirit with Saint Silouan the Athonite: - A Calendar of Daily Quotes

“Neither monasticism nor materialism will do. To move forward we must stand whole and true.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Handcrafted Humanity: 100 Sonnets For A Blunderful World

“Seclusion Won’t Do (The Sonnet)

Each of you must turn into a sufi saint,
Each of you must turn into a latin lover.
Each of you must turn into a shaolin monk,
Each of you must turn into a bengal tiger.
It won't do to seclude yourself in a monastery,
It won't do to seclude yourself behind a desk.
The monk must come down to the streets of life,
The scholar must till the soil with their sweat.
Service of humanity is the fulfillment of divinity,
Service of humanity is the right use of intellect.
Occasional seclusion is good, to charge up the mind,
But life-long seclusion from society is sheer waste.
Enlightenment that doesn't eliminate separation
is no enlightenment.
Intelligence that doesn't elevate the collective
is no intelligence.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“Part of the beauty of the monastic life lies in the ability to live simply with few desires and to consume only what you need.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Stepping into Freedom: An Introduction to Buddhist Monastic Training

“The monastic robe and eating bowl are as close to a monastic as wings are to a bird. Take them everywhere you go.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Stepping into Freedom: An Introduction to Buddhist Monastic Training

“The normal daily routine varies somewhat according to the monastery, but, taking Kyoto's Sokoku-ji as an example, the monks schedule generally follows this pattern. The monks rise at 3 A.M., quickly rinse out their mouths with one scoopful of water, wash their faces and immediately begin the morning sutra recitation. Following this they have an opportunity to have a private interview with the roshi; those monks not doing so practice zazen. Breakfast is next, followed by zazen and daily cleaning. On days set aside for them, lectures begin from 7 A.M. in the summer and 8 A.M. in the winter. On days for mendicancy, the monks leave the monastery immediately after the daily cleaning. The midday meal is served at 10 A.M. on lecture days and at 11 A.M. when the monks have been out practicing mendicancy. Following lunch the monks may do zazen individually until 1 P.M., when the manual labor period begins. This manual labor, continuing until 3 P.M. in winter and 4 P.M. in summer, is followed by the evening sutra recitation. The evening meal is eaten at 3:30 P.M. in winter and 4 P.M. in summer. As dusk falls, evening zazen begins, and the monks once more have the opportunity to visit the roshi in his room. The day formally ends at 8 P.M. in winter and 9 P.M. in summer, although not until 10 P.M. during sesshin. Truly, a monastic day is a full and earnest one.”
― Koji Sato, The Zen Life

“The monastery, like any large social organization, attracts a whole range of individuals, with varying interests and skills, all of whom have to be put to use in the service of the religion. The Buddhist monastic life must be wide enough in scope to be able to accommodate these various types and make them productive members of a religious community.”
― Robert E. Buswell Jr., The Zen Monastic Experience