In the summer of 1995 six monks
arrived in the southern Arizona desert to
establish St. Anthonys Monastery, carrying with them the sacred, millenial
heritage of the Holy
Mountain, Athos. Elder
Ephraim, a disciple of Elder Joseph the Hesychast, having restored and
repopulated four Mt. Athos monasteries and having established several mens and
womens monastic communities throughout Greece and North America, transferred six Athonite monks to the Sonoran
Desert to start a new monastery. The monastery, which covers over 100 acres, is dedicated
to St. Anthony the Great, the father of monasticism, the renowned 3rd century
anchorite. There are chapels dedicated to Saints Seraphim of Sarov, Demetrios
of Thessalonica, John the Baptist, George the Great Martyr, Nicholas the
Wonderworker, and Panteleimon the Healer. The main church is dedicated to
Saints Anthony and Nectarios the Wonderworker. The monastery follows the
coenobitic rule of monastic life: a brotherhood of monks and novices holding
all things in common follow a daily schedule of prayer and work under obedience
to the abbot, their spiritual father. There are over 40 monks there today.
Visit the Monastery website here: www.stanthonysmonastery.org
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