Mount Athos Skete of Saint Demetrios.View of a typical monastic settlement on Mount Athos.It is hidden away in a dense forest, in a peaceful area conducive to prayer and spiritual development.

A person must live like an exile from this world in order to…advance spiritually. And what characterizes a spiritual exile? Modest behavior, a reserved wisdom, unrecognized prudence, invisible good intentions, unseen prayer and meditation, acceptance of humiliations, an embracing of hardships, a consistent determination to love God, an abundance of charity, renunciation of vainglory, and a profound desire to keep silent.Based on Saint John of the Ladder.We should unceasingly pray especially during the services, even if we do something concrete during them because the prayer should help us to be more aware, more attentive if we, also, want this.Dispassion is the total cure of the soul, the experience of the heavenly state of total liberty, power and happiness. The correct way to be.