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The Patriarchal
Stavropegic A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from el, σταυροπήγιον from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the primate or on the Holy Syn ...
Monastery of St John the Baptist is a
monastic Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...
community for both men and women, directly under the
Ecumenical Patriarchate The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...
. It is located in
Tolleshunt Knights Tolleshunt Knights is a village and civil parish in the English county of Essex. The Parish has a Parish council, and lies within the area of Maldon District Council. It borders Tiptree, Layer Marney and Salcott cum Virley within the Colchest ...
, near
Maldon, Essex Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...
, in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, and is the oldest Orthodox religious community in the UK. The religious community was founded in 1958 by St Sophrony of Essex,
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 bishop in England, with six monastics from a number of nations; soon after, in 1965, the monastery moved under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The community is distinctive in that it is a double monastery, consisting of both women and men living the monastic tradition of a Christ-centred prayer life. Currently, there are just under 40 monastics in the community, the majority of whom are nuns, with a smaller number of monks. After the death of St. Sophrony in 1993 the Archimandrite was Father Kyrillos. Since his retirement in 2019 the Archimandrite has been Father Peter (born 1977).


Daily life

When founding the monastery, St Sophrony wanted to be sure that his community would not just have outward conformity, but have its focus on inner asceticism. The
typikon A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; gr, , "that of the prescribed form"; Slavonic: Тvпико́нъ ''Typikonə'' or Оуставъ, ''ustavə'') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the Byzantine Rite of ...
of the monastery, consisting of repetition of the
Jesus Prayer The Jesus Prayer,; syr, ܨܠܘܬܐ ܕܝܫܘܥ, translit=slotho d-yeshu'; syr, label=Amharic, Geez and Tigrinya, እግዚኦ መሐረነ ክርስቶስ, translit=igizi'o meḥarene kirisitosi. "Note: We are still searching the Fathers for t ...
for approximately four hours per day and
Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of C ...
three or four times per week, found inspiration in Elder Sophrony's experience in the Athonite desert, and precedent in Athonite skete practise, St
Nicodemus Nicodemus (; grc-gre, Νικόδημος, Nikódēmos) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin mentioned in three places in the Gospel of John: * He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus' teachings (). * The second time Nicodem ...
and St
Paisius Velichkovsky Saint Paisius Velichkovsky or Wieliczkowski (''Paisie de la Neamţ'' in Romanian; Паисий Величковский in Russian; Паїсій Величковський in Ukrainian; 20 December 1722 – 15 November 1794) was an Eastern Orthodo ...
. Also, another distinctive part of this monastery is that it is a double monastery. That is, the community has both
monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...
and
nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
in separate residential quarters. This is rare, but is not unheard of, in Orthodox monasticism.


History

The Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist had its beginnings largely in the person of St Sophrony of Essex. After his departure from
Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
, where he had been a disciple of Saint
Silouan the Athonite Silouan the Athonite (Russian: Силуан Афонский) also sometimes referred to as Silouan of Athos, Saint Silvanus the Athonite or Staretz Silouan (January 17, 1866 – September 24, 1938) was an Eastern Orthodox monk of Russians, Russi ...
, and his subsequent move to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, he was to live in a Russian old-people's home, assisting the priest there. Soon, two men would seek out St Sophrony, desiring the monastic life. They were allowed to live at the old-people's home, using the repetition of the Jesus Prayer in lieu of
liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
books and eating the food that the old-age inhabitants did not eat. There were also a few nuns living at the home at this time.Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain
/ref> By 1958, St Sophrony had six people living around him, seeking the monastic life. Realising that such a situation could not continue, he went to
Tolleshunt Knights Tolleshunt Knights is a village and civil parish in the English county of Essex. The Parish has a Parish council, and lies within the area of Maldon District Council. It borders Tiptree, Layer Marney and Salcott cum Virley within the Colchest ...
, near
Maldon, Essex Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, to inspect a property; in early 1959, the new Community of
St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
was formed at the same property, under Metropolitan Anthony's omophorion. The monastery, from its beginnings, had both monks and nuns, due to Elder Sophrony being unable to oversee two separate communities. The Monastery of St John the Baptist moved under the omophorion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1965, becoming
patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
al; later, the monastery would also be titled ''
Stavropegic A stauropegion, also spelled stavropegion (from el, σταυροπήγιον from σταυρός ''stauros'' "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi'' "to affirm"), is a monastery or a parish which depends directly on the primate or on the Holy Syn ...
''.


Death of St Sophrony

The monastery had been informed that the only way that it could bury people on its property was to build an underground crypt, which it proceeded to build, and to which St Sophrony said that he would not repose until the crypt was ready. Then, having been told of the expected completion date of 12 July 1993, Elder Sophrony stated that he "would be ready". On 11 July, St Sophrony died; and his funeral and burial were held three days later, attended by monastics from around the world. Mother Elizabeth, the eldest nun, died soon after on 24 July, according to Elder Sophrony's words that he would die first, and she would die soon after.


Cycle of services

''Saturday'': 7:00 am - Hours and Divine Liturgy ::5:00-9:00 pm - Vigil ''Sunday'': 7:00 am - Hours and Divine Liturgy and a second Divine Liturgy at 10:15 am ::3:00 pm - Vespers and Paraklesis, followed by talks in Greek and English ''Daily'': 6.00-8:00 am (except when the Divine Liturgy is served) and 5:30-7:30 pm - Repetition of the
Jesus Prayer The Jesus Prayer,; syr, ܨܠܘܬܐ ܕܝܫܘܥ, translit=slotho d-yeshu'; syr, label=Amharic, Geez and Tigrinya, እግዚኦ መሐረነ ክርስቶስ, translit=igizi'o meḥarene kirisitosi. "Note: We are still searching the Fathers for t ...
''Tuesday and Thursday'': 7:00 am - Hours and Divine Liturgy ''Feastdays'': Vigil on the preceding evening; Hours and Divine Liturgy in the morning


Publishing

One of the motivating factors behind St Sophrony's move to
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
was the publishing of St Silouan's books. When St Sophrony moved to England, the monastery became the publisher of these works. In 1973, a more complete translation of the life of St Silouan, titled ''Monk of Mt Athos'', was published; followed in 1975 by ''Wisdom of Mt Athos'', a collation of the writings of St Silouan. After this, St Sophrony began to publish books of his own, beginning with ''His Life is Mine'' in 1977 and then ''We Shall See Him As He Is'' in 1985. In 1987, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate glorified St Silouan the Athonite, and in 2019 St Sophrony of Essex himself.


Books published by the monastery

* ''Monk of Mt Athos'', by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), 1973 * ''Wisdom of Mt Athos'', by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), 1975 * ''His Life is Mine'', by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), 1977
''We Shall See Him As He Is''
by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), 1985
''On Prayer''
by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), 1996
''Christ Our Way and Our Life''
by Archimandrite Zacharias, 2001
''The Hidden Man of the Heart''
by Archimandrite Zacharias, 2007
''Conversations with Children: Communicating our Faith''
by Sister Magdalen, 2001


Notable inhabitants

* St Sophrony of Essex, the first abbot, 1959-1993 * Archimandrite Kyrillos, second abbot, 1993-2019
Archimandrite Peter
third abbot, 2020–present. Author o
''Theology as a Spiritual State: in the Life and Teaching of Saint Sophrony the Athonite''

Archimandrite Zacharias
author o
''Christ Our Way and Our Life''''Monasticism, the All-embracing Gift of the Holy Spirit''
and more. * Sister Magdalen, noted speaker, author o
''Reflections on Children in the Church Today''
an
''Conversations with Children: Communicating our Faith''
* Sister Gabriela, iconographer and mosaic artist, author o
''Seeking Perfection in the World of Art''

/ref>


See also

* Fahr Convent


References


Citations


Sources

* ''I Love Therefore I Am'', by Hmk Nicholas V Sakharov.


External links


Website of the Archdiocese of Thyateira & Great Britain


report by Dwynwen East on a pilgrimage held on 17–20 September 2003. * CD recording of th
Service of St Silouan the Athonite
chanted in Greek by
Simonopetra Monastery Simonopetra Monastery ( el, Σιμωνόπετρα, literally: "Simon's Rock"), also Monastery of Simonos Petra ( el, Μονή Σίμωνος Πέτρας), is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic state of Mount Athos in Greece. Simonopet ...
, Mt Athos; copyrighted by St John the Baptist Monastery, Essex. {{DEFAULTSORT:Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist Eastern Orthodox monasteries in the United Kingdom Monasteries in Essex 20th-century Christian monasteries
Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist The Patriarchal Stauropegic, Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist is a monastic community for both men and women, directly under the Church of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarchate. It is located in Tolleshunt Knights, near Maldon, Esse ...