Article on NA's only Coptic Orthodox Monastery

Desert Prayer With Egyptian Roots

Life at North America's only Coptic Orthodox monastery is rigorous and strictly for worship. It draws those who seek a deeper insight into Christianity.

By David Kelly, Times Staff Writer
July 3, 2006

NEWBERRY SPRINGS, Calif. — Down an unpaved road, past brooding icons and swaying stands of mesquite, lies St. Antony's Monastery, a place of scorching winds and emptiness that perhaps only a holy man could love.

Little moves when the sun is high, but as the day wears on, black figures emerge from solitary rooms. These shrouded men, most from Egypt, are practicing the oldest monastic tradition in Christendom and tending its sole outpost in North America.

They spend days and night in prayer, seeking a mystical union with the divine.

"The desert gives you a great calmness of heart," said Father Antonious Saint Antony, one of 10 monks living here. "After a while God seems like a friend."

Despite its remoteness, this 800-acre swath of the Mojave 25 miles northeast of Barstow has become a magnet for thousands yearning to embrace a way of life far different from mainstream America — one shunning materialism, embracing poverty and denying the self.

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Photos:


THE ABBOT: Father Anastasi Saint Antony leads a service at St. Antony Coptic Orthodox Monastery, 25 miles northeast of Barstow. In about AD 285, St. Antony pioneered the ascetic and monastic tradition that would spread throughout the Christian world.
(Irfan Khan / LAT)Jun 13, 2006

VISIT BY THE FAITHFUL: Orange County residents Cherie Anderegg, left, and Sarah Nicola attend a prayer service. (Irfan Khan / LAT)Jun 13, 2006

RETREAT: Visitors follow a reading. “I feel comfort, I feel joy, I feel peace,” says one. “The monks are like angels on Earth.
(Irfan Khan /LAT) Jun 13, 2006

ONE FOCUS: Father Maximos Saint Antony attends to an icon of St. Antony at the monastery’s entrance. Much of the monks’ lives are spent alone in tiny rooms called cells, with only a bed and a chair.
(Irfan Khan / LAT) Jun 13, 2006

THE WORD: Monks recite vast portions of Scripture from memory and often repent of their sins. They take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
(Irfan Khan / LAT) Jun 13, 2006

Thanks to Adam commenting at Katolik Shinja.


Reminds me of the book Journey Back to Eden: My Life and Times Among the Desert Fathers by Fr. Mark Gruber.