Byzantine chants and Orthodox blessings

Semion, our Moldovan friend, lived for half a year in the Putna Monastery and according to him it's a beautiful place worth exploring. It belongs to the Bukovina region in the north of Romania. We've never stayed in a Christian Orthodox monastery before, so we decide to stop here.
Some locals tell us, that Putna Monastery is the Jerusalem of Romania and I think, they are right. It's a beautiful trim place surrounded by gardens with blooming roses in different colours. Semion's contact, Father Gherasim (here monks are called fathers, not brothers), welcomes us warmly. We sleep in small wooden huts for pilgrims next to apple trees. Normally, there is a hostel too, but at the moment it is under construction.

At the beginning, we feel a little bit strange, because we don't know how to behave in an Orthodox monastery. The Christian traditions are so different from what we know and we don't want to make anything wrong. For example women should cover their hair in the church with a sheet or a veil. Or the custom of crossing oneself very often (partly with bowing) and the veneration of saints by kissing images of them. But day by day we get used to everything.

In the first evening, we decide to visit a special mass because of the birth of Holy Mother Mary. And indeed it is very special for us! During the mass the monks are singing most of the time byzantine chants, so for us it's a little bit like a concert. But after 2 hours we realize, that an Orthodox mass is longer than the services we know. And everyone is standing all the time! In the end the mass lasts 4 hours!!! After that we are completely exhausted! Later we realize, that everyone can come or leave the mass whenever he or she wants! Why has no one explained this to us?? 😂😂😂

The next day is the feast day and the whole village and many people from all the surrounding villages come to the mass outside the church. All generations are there wearing their chicest festive clothes like it is in Germany at Christmas. We feel very underdressed...

After the mass we hike upon the next hill and enjoy the beautiful view over the monastery. On our way back we visit a church in a rock, where an hermit lived and prayed and gave the advise to found the Putna Monastery.

We discover the monastery grounds. There is the church, a museum, the houses of the monks, a cemetry, a place to eat, some fields and gardens, a very old wooden church, a library, an art exhibition and more. A guy, who works here for a gap year after school as a volunteer shows us everything. He tells us, that the order of the monastery has 100 members!
Father Gherasim invites us twice to tea and interesting talks. In the end we get an Orthodox blessing. 💫Read more