The monasteries – these holy treasuries where the Orthodox dogmas are inviolably preserved – sources of true piety and nobility, keepers of the unique spiritual tradition and salvational mission, today have become true oases of joy and love for the modern man, spiritually depleted and exhausted by sin. They are the kernel of life, ornaments of the Earth, holy sanctuaries, vision for the blind, a telescope for those who want to look in the distance, horns for those who listen, altars with mystical light and joy.
Here people really progress as useful members of the Body of Christ, in love and service, with diligence and prayer, with joyful participation in the Divine services, because here the praising of our beloved Christ never ceases. So here, the people together with the monks constantly strive at climbing the spiritual ladder in order to achieve the desired Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, for those who have sincerely and from the bottom of their heart begun to love the One Life-Giver, the monastery becomes a true monastic Jerusalem, holy metropolis, land of saints, equal to Heaven by grace. It is an especial sacristy available to us all, where all our spiritual experience and weapons are kept. It is a wine-skin for the new wine, a wheat barn for the Bread of Life, a shield for safe looking at the Sun and at the spiritual stars. After Christ, His Holy Mother and the Saints, second glory of the Sun and second glory of the Moon and stars. Our Lord, the Son of Men Himself, has spoken: This is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever (Ezekiel 43:7).

St. John the Bapstist monastery, Macedonia