Bulgaria Witnesses a Monastic Boom .

The persistent crisis and hardships of the everyday life compel an increasing number of the Bulgarians opt for life in a monastery, away from the world and closer to God. As of the beginning of the year their number has grown by five percent, the authorities of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church comment. There are more women than men among the novices. The reasons why more and more people decide to take the veil are mostly psychological, priests comment. People are tired of poverty and rampaging criminality and seek the comfort of solitude in the monasteries. Part of those who opt for monastic life do it for financial reasons, albeit their number is smaller. Monasteries provide food and shelter for simple farm work. Some monasteries replenish their modest budgets selling icons, prayer-books or souvenirs. This, however, applies only to bigger monasteries, as for the small ones, it often happens that visitors wouldn’t come for months, priests comment..

Konstantin Sabchev

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