Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Psalm 97:10

A hermit said, "This is the life of a monk: work, obedience, meditation, not to judge others, not to speak evil, not to murmur. For it is written, 'You who love God, hate the thing that is evil' (Psalm 97:10).

This is the monastic life: not to live with the wicked, not to see evil, not to be inquisitive, not to be curious, not to listen to gossip, not to use the hands for taking, but for giving; not to be proud in heart or bad in thought, not to fill the belly, in everything to judge wisely. That is the life of the true monk."

~~Monks of the Visoki Decani Monastery, which is situated in the western part of the UN- administered Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohia. It was built between 1327 and 1335 by the Serbian medieval king St. Stephen of Decani and was dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord. The monastery is settled in the picturesque valley of the Bistrica river surrounded by the mountains and forests of the Prokletije mountain range It is the largest and best preserved medieval monastery in Serbia.

1 comment:

kam said...

I have a great adoration for all monks, and also for sisters and nuns who live the cloistered life. It would be nice if some of their way of living and thinking spilled over into our lives.