#monasticism

An Orthodox Christian monk feeds the cats at Sinai Monastery, a Greek Orthodox Monastery built between 548 and 565, and is the world's oldest continuously-inhabited Christian monastery.

Italian Monastery Hall with Benedictine Monks and View of Capri by Leo von Klenze

Wandering Mystic. Ink drawing with brush on paper. 33x48. cm (A3)

Uganda Orthodox Schema nun.

An Orthodox Christian monk with two dolphins

Refectory in a Greek Monastery (Mount Athos), painted by Theodoros Rallis c. 1885, oil on canvas. The most authentic and striking detail of this beautiful painting depicting mealtime in an Orthodox monastery is the sight of a monk standing before a lectern and reading aloud. This is a real and essential practice in Orthodox monasteries to this day, where most of the monks will eat in silence and listen intently while one of their brothers reads scripture or hagiographies from a lectern. We can also see a solitary monk on the right, sitting at his own table and facing the others; he may be contemplating or he may be a respected Elder (Geronda/Γέροντας) ensuring the other monks do not forget their spiritual discipline and lapse into idle chatter.