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Seek out a Deserted Place to Pray

Kalavaka, Greece

Today we visited two of the Meteora monasteries that are situated on the top of rock formations in Kalavaka, Greece. These rock formations were a popular spot for hermits as early as the 14th century. The desire to go off to a quiet place to pray has been constant throughout the history of the Church. Jesus himself went off to deserted places in order to pray. These cliffs surely meet the requirement of solitude. As we traveled up the modern roads, we would see the monasteries as they emerged from the mist. It was a moment that made the veil between the spiritual reality and ours feel very thin. I could not help but think about how difficult it would have been for the monks of old to make their way to the top of these peaks. Some of the monasteries were only accessible via a pulley and basket system when they were first created.  Luckily, they made stairs for us to walk up today. Over the centuries, the monasteries were founded and inhabited, then abandoned at times, and then re-inhabited by more monks.

St. Steven Monastery

In the 16th century there were 24 active monasteries in this area. Currently, there are six actively inhabited monasteries, with the other ones being abandoned and run down. Some of the monasteries are male and others are female. Unlike in the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox do not have a word for a nun. They have religious sisters, but they are referred to by the feminine version of monachos (monk) which is monachei. A big part of their life is the crafting of icons. Icons are a form of religious art that is meant to draw us into the spiritual reality that they are representing. In the Greek Orthodox faith, icons are a type of relic for them meaning that they connect us to the saint that they depict. The writing of icons is a form of prayer in and of itself. The Greek Orthodox chapels are covered in icons, expressing the closeness of the spiritual and physical realities. It was truly a blessing for us go and experience a little of the life of the monachos and monachei up at the top of the mountains. 

Icon of receiving Jesus’s body from the cross

Logan McGahan, Seminarian of the Diocese of Grand Rapids

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