monasteries

6 Stories

Ukraine Raids 'Monastery of the Caves' in Its Own Capital

In effort to stop Russian sympathizers from using Pechersk Lavra complex for sabotage

(Newser) - If it seems counterintuitive that Ukrainian forces raided one of its own holy sites this week, it's strictly a preemptive strike. The BBC reports that the nation's SBU security service descended Tuesday upon Kyiv's Pechersk Lavra Christian monastery, a 1,000-year-old Eastern Orthodox church that, until recently,...

Monks Lied About King Arthur's Burial to Raise Cash

Supposed grave is really a pit of rubble

(Newser) - A team of 31 specialists led by an archaeologist at the University of Reading are shedding light on some supposed Dark Age legends in their four-year work at Glastonbury Abbey in the UK, reports the Guardian . To wit: "Those feet, immortalized in William Blake’s poem Jerusalem , never walked...

Monks Seek to Recruit High-Flying Execs

Ad campaign offers stressed bankers a different life

(Newser) - Unlike most ads in Switzerland's leading "executive search" magazine, a prominent one that appeared over the weekend was most notable for what it promised candidates they wouldn't get. Bankers-turned-monks will enjoy a life "free of personal material riches and a couple relationship," read the ad from the...

Evangelicals Turn Back to Ritual
Evangelicals Turn Back
to Ritual

Evangelicals Turn Back to Ritual

Some adopt previously shunned confession, communion, Lent

(Newser) - Evangelical Christians are increasingly turning to long-shunned traditions as a means of practicing their faith, reports the Washington Post. In a trend some call “worship renewal,” some are reviving Catholic customs such as fasting for Lent, going to confession, and weekly communion. “Evangelicalism is coming to point...

Italian Church Pairs Perfume With Prayer

Opened in Dante's time, pharmacy today sells scents in LA, Tokyo

(Newser) - Florence's Santa Maria Novella church has an intriguing sideline: It's home to one of the world's oldest pharmacies, which today churns out tonics and perfumes made according to medieval recipes. Smithsonian profiles the church, where Dominican monks began concocting herbal remedies and rose water, used to clean plague-touched homes, more...

Monasteries Get Wired
Monasteries
Get Wired

Monasteries Get Wired

No vocal cords needed to sell truffles or recruit brethren on the net

(Newser) - Buddhist monks in Burma aren't the only religious brethren getting the word out on the internet these days: many American monasteries are so wired they not only correspond via email and sell-hand-crafted products over the internet, they use it to recruit new brothers. One web site, VocationsPlacement.org, matches religious...

6 Stories