- Title: POLAND-MONASTERY/HOLIDAYS Monastery offers ultimate detachment from modern world
- Date: 13th August 2015
- Summary: KRAKOW, POLAND (AUGUST 11, 2015) (REUTERS) TYNIEC MONASTERY ON HILL MONASTERY WOMAN ENTERING CHURCH ON MONASTERY GROUNDS CHURCH WOMEN WALKING IN COURTYARD WINDOW VARIOUS PEOPLE IN CHURCH VARIOUS ALTAR FATHER WLODZIMIERZ ZATORSKI TALKING WITH JOURNALIST GALLERY CROSS (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) FATHER WLODZIMIERZ ZATORSKI, SAYING: "I think that, actually in many cases, if someone is from Warsaw or Krakow and they have their own little flat it is enough to lock the door and have the same conditions as in a monastery. There is no problem, after all, they can adapt food and water, bread and whatever they want and make it great. Why isn't it done? Because it still requires a certain orientation, a certain sense, a certain order. And I think that a monastery like ours provides this." CALLIGRAPHY AND ILLUMINATION CLASS PAINTING HOLIDAYMAKER FROM AUSTRALIA, JANE HUNTER, PAINTING PAINTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) VISITOR FROM AUSTRALIA, JANE HUNTER, SAYING: "It's so peaceful. You forget about everything; your problems and the very busy hustle and bustle of my normal life when I'm at home. And I don't even have to think about cooking my diner, cooking my breakfast. I just get up, come to the painting (class) and feel very happy about it". PAINTING DEPICTING TYNIEC MONASTERY VARIOUS WARSAW RESIDENT, NATALIA LIPINSKA IN PAINTING CLASS (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) WARSAW RESIDENT, NATALIA LIPINSKA, SAYING: "These are two different lives, and here I feel more authentic. Everything is real here, unlike on the internet, where it can turn out to be a big scam. I think that the youth gets a little lost in this technology." VARIOUS OF MONKS PRAYING IN CHURCH CROSS PEOPLE ATTENDING MASS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARILYN GRIFFIN, TOWNSWILLE, AUSTRALIA, SAYING: "One of the most beautiful things is listening to the monks sing the Latin verses. And I can just close my eyes and just let that sound go right through. It's really quite beautiful." FATHER WLODZIMIERZ LOOKING THROUGH CELL DOOR VIEWFINDER WINDOW BEING OPENED VIEW OF WISLA RIVER
- Embargoed: 28th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Poland
- Country: Poland
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVADHP4CXYDQTKHSCT5Z9X6F3CJL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Poland's oldest Benedictine Monastery offers something for the present generation, if they grow tired of today's overwhelmingly technological world.
Visitors can come here to live with the monks and find refuge within the centuries-old walls of the monastery.
Receiving guests is an integral part of the Benedictine tradition and according to the monks, more and more people from Poland and abroad come to the convent to spend holidays.
Father Wlodzimierz Zatorski says that the monastery offers a unique environment to escape the chaos of the modern world.
"[I]f someone is from Warsaw or Krakow and they have their own little flat it is enough to lock the door and have the same conditions as in a monastery," he said.
"Why isn't it done? Because it still requires a certain orientation, a certain sense, a certain order. And I think that a monastery like ours provides this."
Groups of tourists and pilgrims visit the monastery, but few decide to stay longer. For those who do, activities like painting classes are available.
Retired nurse Jane Hunter came from Queensland in Australia and it's her second visit to the monastery.
"It's so peaceful. You forget about everything; your problems and the very busy hustle and bustle of my normal life when I'm at home," Hunter said.
The monks rarely interact with the outside world and accept visitors as part of their mission to spread the Catholic faith. For Warsaw resident Natalia Lipinska, it's not necessarily faith, but authenticity she is after.
"These are two different lives, and here I feel more authentic. Everything is real here, unlike on the internet, where it can turn out to be a big scam. I think that the youth gets a little lost in this technology," the high school student said.
Visitors to the monastery can choose to take part in holy mass led by the monks and Marilyn Griffin, also from Queensland, finds this a calming experience.
"One of the most beautiful things is listening to the monks sing the Latin verses. And I can just close my eyes and just let that sound go right through. It's really quite beautiful," Griffin, a businesswoman escaping her busy every-day schedule, said.
The monastery is popular among people between 35-55 years old with various professions, such as teachers, bank employees and businessmen. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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