Orthodox monasticism

Cambridge Orthodox winter school to explore role of monasticism in modern Church life

Theologians, researchers and representatives of monastic communities will take part in a winter school organised by the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies (IOCS) in Cambridge, exploring the role of monasticism in the Church’s mission in contemporary society. The academic event will take place from 3 to 5 December at Westminster College in Cambridge, United Kingdom,…

Oct 30, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Romanian Orthodox abbot travels 1,350 km to minister to small parish in Canada

Hieromonk Policarp Athenagoras, abbot of Canada’s only Romanian Orthodox monastery, visited the Orthodox community in Timmins, Ontario, in early October. The cleric made a round trip of more than 1,350 kilometres to join the faithful at the Dormition of the Mother of God Parish. The programme included prayer, liturgical services and meetings with members of…

Oct 13, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

St Sophrony of Essex remembered 130 years after his birth

St Sophrony the Athonite was born in Moscow on 22 September 1896 and was baptised Sergei Semyonovich Sakharov. He studied Fine Arts in Moscow, searching for an ideal of beauty that transcended the purely aesthetic. During the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, he was arrested twice and imprisoned at the Lubyanka, but in 1921 he managed…

Sep 22, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Teoctist remembered at Putna as a defender of monasticism as a vital force of Orthodoxy

Archimandrite Melchisedec Velnic, abbot of Putna Monastery, said last Saturday that Patriarch Teoctist viewed monastic life “not as a relic of the past, but as a vital, regenerating force of Romanian Orthodoxy”, as the monastery’s brotherhood officiated a memorial service marking 111 years since the former patriarch’s birth. “He loved monasticism, because he himself remained,…

Feb 10, 2026Aurelian Iftimiu

Patriarch Daniel highlights Saint Anthony the Great as model for Christian life in message to Bose Conference

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania has sent a message to the 31st International Conference on Orthodox Spirituality at Bose Monastery in Italy, where theologians, monastics, and scholars from various Christian traditions are gathered to reflect on “Saint Anthony the Great, the Father of Monks.” The Romanian Patriarch emphasised that Saint Anthony remains a model…

Sep 4, 2025Aurelian Iftimiu

Monastic Synaxis held in Roman: The monk of the third millennium must be a monk of the resurrection

Last week, His Eminence Archbishop Ioachim presided at the annual synaxis of the abbots and abbesses of the Roman and Bacău Archdiocese and spoke about the objective that a monk must have in the third millennium, namely “to be a monk of the resurrection.” The meeting at the diocesan centre in Roman was preceded by…

Mar 18, 2024Aurelian Iftimiu

Nun who served as abbess of Romanian Tismana Monastery for more than 50 years reposes in the Lord

The stavrophore nun Mother Jerusalema (Gligor), who labored in monasticism for 75 years, including more than 50 years as abbess of Tismana Monastery, was solemnly laid to rest on Saturday at the monastery she led for so many years. The service was officiated by His Grace Bishop Nicodim of Severin and Strehaia, who recalled that…

Apr 29, 2021Ștefana Totorcea

Egypt: Team led by Romanian archaeologist discover world’s oldest known monastery

A Franco-Norwegian team led by Romanian archaeologist Victor Ghica discovered the oldest archaeologically attested monastic site in the world. The site is 370 kilometers south-west of Cairo, Egypt, and it dates back to the 4th century. The discovery made at Tall Ğanūb Qaṣr al-‘Ağūz, in the al-Bahariya oasis, certifies that Christian monasticism was born in…

Mar 17, 2021Ștefana Totorcea

Photo report: Orthodox monastic tonsure

The person who enters the monastery and wishes to become a monastic must first go through two stages: the novitiate and the rasophoria. The novitiate is a trial period, in which the brother or sister spends time in the monastery to figure out if they have an authentic vocation for monasticism. Rasophoria is a stronger…

Sep 24, 2019Aurelian Iftimiu