St. Paul admonished all Christians: "if anyone is unwilling to work, neither should that one eat" (2 Thess 3, 10). Following the instruction of the Apostle, the monastic tradition embraced it faithfuly, likewise the Basilian Monks of Grottaferrata.

The Monk’s day is not only crowded by the liturgical celebrations but also completed by several kinds of works (manual and intellectual) of every brother (working on the land, teaching, publishing, library service, assistance of the sicks, management, preaching of retreats, welcoming and pastoral assistance...): the monks get their daily bread by their own work.

But the essential purpose of monastic life remains the obedience to the Holy Spirity and the prayer life (contemplative life). Every monk is summoned, through the common liturgical prayer, to transform in living prayer all his activities.

The practice of 'the prayer of Jesus' or 'prayer of the heart', that means the constant invocation of the Lord, forms the typical ambition of the mystical Byzantine tradition: the monks pursue it in the loneliness of their cells ("Remain in your cell and it will teach you everything"), by the constant meditation of the Word of God, listening attentive and wisely to their own heart and the heart of them who desire to share with the monks the spiritual way.

Info: segreteria@abbaziagreca.it