Elegy To Silence - Portugal

March 2010

For the Carthusian monks, a life of solitude and self-denial is easy to bear for their religion. With exclusive access they lift the secretive veil from the monk's daily lives.
Solitude gives us time to be with God, explains Father Lopes. He decided to become a monk at the age of 20, whilst at university, and now spends 20 hours a day in his cell and eats only two meals a day. I rowed and swam until the age of 20 but not since thenI have not seen the sea since then. But the greatest sacrifice is being away from family: we wont ever visit our relatives and they wont come to visit us here.

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[JohnBlack666id]

@MetelAdict

When the soldiers came to take Christ away in the night before crucifixion one of the followers, I believe Peter struck down and cut an ear of one of those soldiers after which Christ told him to stand down, that "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword" not religion start wars, men do, because of their ignorance and misunderstanding of God's laws and ways. Look at these monks, how peaceful they are, how could they ever start a war?

[JohnBlack666id]

@jim6584

I also find it hard to understand why would they choose such a life but we should not be so quick to judge them. And you are wrong, they add something, they show you what can be accomplished thru faith and the power of will. They show you that it is possible to let go of everything you have and desire for a better purpose. You think they waste their lives but imagine what riches await for them in the heavens. This life is just a microsecond of the eternal life that we all have.

[utotbender]

I guess one would not be able to understand their vocation if the heart has not been stirred by God such as theirs in way that made them want to commit themselves to Him through prayer, silence, and obscurity. I was amazed to know that their burial graves have no markings whatsoever which made me realized that even until death they still want to be forgotten. This i believe is a very special vocation and other religious traditions have this too. I find them admirable.

[cunjoz]

out of what material is father Isidore's habit made? i like it very much...

[vandrosiglio]

I am deeply moved by the committment of these kind men. If a person was not in contact with something so real and sacred i do not believe they could sustain this life. I wish i could live this way but i know that i'm too old and my personality needs more variety. However, I have also found this contact with the sacred in my everyday life. May all the brothers be blessed. vandrosiglio@yahoo.com

[sitdownstandup91]

@cannoir "portuguese are darker and hairy and the spanish are lighter." Nope. Spanish are darker. There is a higher percentage of blondes in Portugal than in Spain.

[sitdownstandup91]

@DeimosSaturn " Hitler was a Catholic. The pope, during the holocaust, supported him."

You clearly havent look into the subject.

no comment

[michaelransom]

It is actually the peace and bliss etc that they obtain in the here and now through such a life that is the reason behind their choice. For them it is not difficult to understand and even for us we should at least be able to value and acknowledge the wisdom and usefulness of such a choice. Dont know what old DemiosSaturn is hung up about, but I bet he's a hypocrite.

[AureusVenerabilis]

Hello. If you want to, find on Google "International Fellowship of saint Bruno";

IFSB is a group of people who are interested in Carthusian way of life, As it's written on the website above, IFSB "isn't a religious community in proper sense" (we don't live in monasteries and take solemn vows).

[DeimosSaturn]

@albokk Hitler was a Catholic. The pope, during the holocaust, supported him. The pope tells africa to not use condoms during an HIV pandemic. The catholic church knowingly protects priests who have raped children. The only thing you can come back with is tell me to shut up and then attack 3 groups irrelevant to the subject. Atheism is the lack of belief in god, it can't kill anyone. A bible on the other hand tells you to kill homosexuals and burn witches.

[votumseparatum1]

@Deschorn Religion will never fade out - that's a pipe dream You have no DIRECT proof that deities are fiction. You can't disprove god directly and you can't argue reason and logic against faith. There is no evidence and probably won't ever be evidence to disprove it. Also, religion, for the politicians, is always a good tool of control much like politics. It's funny that you believe the whole world is going "wake up" and realize religion is false. People will believe what they believe.

[SeekerKC]

I think of what I want for my own child, & cannot help but wonder just how far off the mark religions are in regard what the Creator may want for us. Not having experienced the life of a Carthusian monk, I hesitate to continue, but it seems like an easy win, in a way. Their way of life isn't easy, but wouldn't it mean more to be able to include your God despite the distractions of family, friends, careers, etc.?

Ah well, there are as many paths to God as there are people. To each their own.