Quote by Carrie Gress

“St. Benedict and every Benedictine who has followed (one prays) understood that the monastery is not a place to hide from problems; it is…

— Carrie Gress

“From the point of view of history, of reason, and of truth, monasticism is condemned. Monasteries, when they abound in a nation, are clogs…

— Victor Hugo

“Monasticism resonated with me, with my imperfect, impulsive self, because it encompasses all human activity and asks that the disparate parts and moments of…

— Paul Wilkes

“I you ask me about the monks, I speak from experience, not prejudice, and though I have no doubt that some foundations are well…

— Hilary Mantel

“Being a monk was the strangest and most perverted way of life imaginable. Monks spent half their lives putting themselves through pain and discomfort…

— Ken Follett

“Monasticism is really based on the idea that if you leave people, you leave the spirit of the world. But you do not. You…

— David Martyn Lloyd-Jones

If the world is crazy, maybe it needs a few sane people in the middle of it. Why do monks lock themselves up in…

— Tim Ward

“THE MONASTERY IS A SCHOOL—A SCHOOL IN WHICH WE learn from God how to be happy.”

— Thomas Merton

“Monastic contemplatives have staked out a clearly limited area to be transformed by contemplation: the monastery. Lay contemplatives face the challenge of transforming the…

— David Steindl-Rast

“What of ourselves? In actuality the monk’s journey is everyone’s journey, though in our frenetic world of activity and distraction we often miss the…

— Monks of New Skete

“Do not gossip about monks and speak ill of spiritual teachers”

— Shri Radhe Maa

“Monasticism had transformed the humble work of discipleship into the meritorious activity of the saints, and the self-renunciation of discipleship into the flagrant spiritual…

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer