At any given moment, life is completely senseless. But viewed over a period, it seems to reveal itself as an organism existing in time, having a purpose, trending in a certain direction.
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The history of the Church is replete with stories of saints who spent some point in their “formation” on Mt Athos. During the long nights of services on my trip to Mt Athos I couldn’t help but look around at the young monks (good news, there were many monks in their 20s and 30s) wondering how they made it to this incredible place. What brings someone to leave the world behind and devote themselves to the “angelic life” of prayer, fasting, obedience and labors? As history has shown, the regime and structure of the monastic life can transform the soul to the degree that one is sanctified and immersed in the light of God.
We had the occasion to meet a young American monk at Xeropotamou Monastery, Fr Theodocius. He is the brother of Fr Luke, a priest in Dalles, OR where my traveling companion Patrick will soon be a parishioner. Now 24 years old, Fr Theodocius apparently showed up at the monastery four years earlier after the gate was closed and pounded on the gate until the monks let him in; he has been there ever since. To leave the relative comfort of American life to journey to Mt Athos is a huge leap of faith even for the most devout Orthodox Christian. With such zeal and devotion perhaps he, like others before him, will be transformed in the crucible of monastic life on Mt Athos to one day be numbered among the saints.
