Can one still send prayer requests to Mt. Athos monks?

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Madaglan

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I recently finished a book by the Cistercian monk M. Basil Pennington, called The Monks of Mount Athos: A Western Monk’s Extraordinary Spiritual Journey on Eastern Ground. In it, he writes about how certain saintly monks would receive prayer requests from Orthodox believers, and that they would pray in intercession for those who sent them. I wonder if one can still send prayer requests to the monks of Mt. Athos and have the monks read them, or if there are too many people nowadays and too few monks for this to become a reality.

Does anybody know more about this? Any websites or addresses? 🙂
 
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Madaglan:
Padre A. ? Anybody know?
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Don’t know if I would recommend it unless you appreciate the possible consequences. The holy fathers of Mount Athos have only one real concern before the eyes of their soul - their salvation and the salvation of others. So if you ask them to pray for a non-Orthodox person, you’ll find that what they will do is pray for that person’s conversion and salvation. That’s the greatest good.
 
Fr Ambrose:
Don’t know if I would recommend it unless you appreciate the possible consequences. The holy fathers of Mount Athos have only one real concern before the eyes of their soul - their salvation and the salvation of others. So if you ask them to pray for a non-Orthodox person, you’ll find that what they will do is pray for that person’s conversion and salvation. That’s the greatest good.
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Will that be by the pro-Ecumenical Patriarch monks or the anti-Ecumenical Patriarch monks? And conversion to which group? Wouldn’t want someone prayed into schism. 🙂
 
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johnnykins:
Will that be by the pro-Ecumenical Patriarch monks or the anti-Ecumenical Patriarch monks? And conversion to which group? Wouldn’t want them prayed into schism. 🙂
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The Athonite monks are all concerned about the Patriarch’s ecumenical activities. You will remember that ALL of the 20 Athonite monasteries stopped commemorating the Patriarch liturgically because of his ecumenism but only Esphigmenou has continued not to do so. One by one the other monasteries started commemorating him again but that does not mean that they have accepted his ecumenism.
 
… in other words, let them know that you’re a Roman Catholic in Communion with the Papal Prince in Mother Roma. I think after stating this they will be very happy with your request.
 
Fr Ambrose:
The Athonite monks are all concerned about the Patriarch’s ecumenical activities. You will remember that ALL of the 20 Athonite monasteries stopped commemorating the Patriarch liturgically because of his ecumenism but only Esphigmenou has continued not to do so. One by one the other monasteries started commemorating him again but that does not mean that they have accepted his ecumenism.
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This thread, forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=86948, talks about the matter. This site, esphigmenou.com/, which you referenced in the thread, says the EP has declared the Esphigmenou monks are in schism. I just wouldn’t want someone prayed into schism - or into anti-Catholicism. 😃
 
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johnnykins:
This thread, forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=86948, talks about the matter. This site, esphigmenou.com/, which you referenced in the thread, says the EP has declared the Esphigmenou monks are in schism.
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Politics!

All of the monasteries were in schism when they all stopped commemorating the Patriarch. He told them so. Nothing paid him any mind. I am sure that the Orthodox world continued to ask and cherish the prayers of the “schismatic” monks. Monks tend to have God’s ear. God loves monks.
 
Fr Ambrose:
Politics!

All of the monasteries were in schism when they all stopped commemorating the Patriarch. He told them so. Nothing paid him any mind. I am sure that the Orthodox world continued to ask and cherish the prayers of the “schismatic” monks. Monks tend to have God’s ear. God loves monks.
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Glad to know when the EP considers you in schism you don’t have to pay him “any mind.” So glad the Orthodox want the paryers of those they consider schismatic. I’ll certainly include you in mine… 😃

BTW Catholics, like your schismatic monks, tend to have God’s ear, too.
 
Fr Ambrose:
Politics!
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You know the best part of this response is that I agree with you. But, I also believe that politics is what fundamentally separates Orthodoxy and Catholicism, too. When I read about the Fond du Lac Circus and other Orthodox intercommunion with Anglicans, the Mt Athos dispute, the averred considerable leeway many Orthodox claim is granted to its members and churches, the ecclesiology you describe and its leeway in dealing with issues, I just can’t help believe that theology truly doesn’t represent the barrier to unity that we all seem to aver. Politics and mutual pride extended over 1000 years seems to me to be the issue. It’s a pity, because it seems to me that with humility and good will we should be able to act like grown-ups and overcome that. Well, not likely in our life-times 😦
 
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Madaglan:
I recently finished a book by the Cistercian monk M. Basil Pennington, called The Monks of Mount Athos: A Western Monk’s Extraordinary Spiritual Journey on Eastern Ground. In it, he writes about how certain saintly monks would receive prayer requests from Orthodox believers, and that they would pray in intercession for those who sent them. I wonder if one can still send prayer requests to the monks of Mt. Athos and have the monks read them, or if there are too many people nowadays and too few monks for this to become a reality.

Does anybody know more about this? Any websites or addresses? 🙂
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I wish I heard of this sooner, I’m taking my learner driver’s license test tommorow. Could’ve used their prayers :rolleyes:
 
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twiztedseraph:
I wish I heard of this sooner, I’m taking my learner driver’s license test tommorow. Could’ve used their prayers :rolleyes:
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I’m sure the Leader of this Messageboard, Reverent Joe of the Eastern Christianity Forum and all the East won’t appreciate this (going so off topic I mean) but I surely hope you didn’t the typical thing most people do when they get behind the wheel, and push the gas so much that they speed up, and then break fast. I’m sure you know what I mean… I never understood why people do this. Stop pushing the gas so hard!
 
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johnnykins:
You know the best part of this response is that I agree with you. But, I also believe that politics is what fundamentally separates Orthodoxy and Catholicism, too. When I read about the Fond du Lac Circus and other Orthodox intercommunion with Anglicans,
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Just to clarify…There was no intercommunion at Fond du Lac. The Orthodox bishop of Alaska (Saint Tikhon) attended as a guest of the Anglicans. It was no different than Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor attending the installation of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury (well, not unless you count the Cardinal’s presence as some form of Catholic-Anglican intercommunion?)
 
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Freeway4321:
I’m sure the Leader of this Messageboard, Reverent Joe of the Eastern Christianity Forum and all the East won’t appreciate this (going so off topic I mean) but I surely hope you didn’t the typical thing most people do when they get behind the wheel, and push the gas so much that they speed up, and then break fast. I’m sure you know what I mean… I never understood why people do this. Stop pushing the gas so hard!
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You confuse me. But thanks for the advice, even though the test is strictly all theory (on computer).
 
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twiztedseraph:
You confuse me. But thanks for the advice, even though the test is strictly all theory (on computer).
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Funny, I passed the test with full marks…no one forwarded my original post to Athos did they?
 
Why would any Catholic want to send prayer requests to people with a reputation for being virulently anti-Catholic ?
 
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JOHNYJ:
Why would any Catholic want to send prayer requests to people with a reputation for being virulently anti-Catholic ?
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For the same reason that they would ask for prayers from the mullahs that condemn all Christians or the faculty at Bob Jones University that condemn Catholics - they don’t know any better.

A better question might be why no one objects to referring to the monks there as the “holy” monks of Mount Athos as if their unrelenting animosity to Catholicism is a virtue. Let’s face it some folks actually take pride in the support that the Serbian monks showed the anti-Catholic/anti EP monks in their dispute with the EP over ecumenism - particularly with respect to Catholicism. That could lead one to question the bona fides of those folks as well. It might even lead one to wonder about ulterior motives for coming on this site. Thinking about the monks of Mt Athos, and their bigotry, and the comments made by some of the participants in these threads is really rather disheartening. There has been a lot of whining recently by some that there have been ad hominum arguments made against some of the Orthodox participants. It seems to me that support by some of those folks of anti-catholic bigots in the persons of the monks of Mt Athos might just lead a Catholic to legitimately question those individuals’ integrity as well as their intellectual arguments. I’m not saying that all this is so - just that maybe some folks haven’t looked in the mirror enough, seen the logical inferences from their comments and actually internalized the humility that they feign. Just a thought.
 
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johnnykins:
For the same reason that they would ask for prayers from the mullahs that condemn all Christians or the faculty at Bob Jones University that condemn Catholics - they don’t know any better.

A better question might be why no one objects to referring to the monks there as the “holy” monks of Mount Athos as if their unrelenting animosity to Catholicism is a virtue. Let’s face it some folks actually take pride in the support that the Serbian monks showed the anti-Catholic/anti EP monks in their dispute with the EP over ecumenism - particularly with respect to Catholicism. That could lead one to question the bona fides of those folks as well. It might even lead one to wonder about ulterior motives for coming on this site. Thinking about the monks of Mt Athos, and their bigotry, and the comments made by some of the participants in these threads is really rather disheartening. There has been a lot of whining recently by some that there have been ad hominum arguments made against some of the Orthodox participants. It seems to me that support by some of those folks of anti-catholic bigots in the persons of the monks of Mt Athos might just lead a Catholic to legitimately question those individuals’ integrity as well as their intellectual arguments. I’m not saying that all this is so - just that maybe some folks haven’t looked in the mirror enough, seen the logical inferences from their comments and actually internalized the humility that they feign. Just a thought.
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Twaddle. Hope you feel better now though.

Are you seriously suggesting that because people have outlooks that don’t coincide with other people’s that it is OK to question their integrity and their intelligence and to accuse them of feigned humility and hypocrisyand bigotry !!!

This should have been a nice little thread but someone had to jump in with message # 4 and start throwing around the slurs (with barely feigned humour) followed by message # 7. Then reinforced by message # 9, # 16, and now, # 18.
 
Fr Ambrose:
Are you seriously suggesting that because people have outlooks that don’t coincide with other people’s that it is OK to question their integrity and their intelligence and to accuse them of feigned humility and hypocrisyand bigotry !!!
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I am curious. Are the monks on Mt Athos really vehemently anti-Catholic?
 
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