Saturday, May 31, 2008

Another Fantasy Bites the Dust


St. Anthony's Monastery in Egypt has always been the model of desert asceticism for me. It's famous for many things, including its incredible library of more than 1,700 manuscripts, some of which are the only extant copies of ancient writers. It is far away from everything.


Now comes this, from Reuters:

A speck of green in a sea of sand, St. Anthony's Monastery in Egypt welcomes those seeking God in silence broken only by the whisper of the wind.

Monks at what is considered by many to be the world's oldest active Christian monastery still rise before dawn to chant and pray just as their predecessors did for more than 1,500 years.

Now, they also carry mobile phones, send e-mails and maintain a website (http://www.stanthonymonastery.org), embracing modernity that has helped sustain the ancient monastery, nestled beside a spring where Egypt's eastern desert meets the craggy Red Sea mountains.

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