Saint Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery — Attraction in Florence

This monastery is the most important thing in life everyone in this world should come and visit here to save your life. The monastery has strict rules that every one must obey remember this is a holy place and we must respect the monasterys rules. If any one has any issues with anything please ask to speak with the elders they are men of God they will not judge you. As for someone judging the monastery in a horrible way whether in word, deed, sight, is blasphemy which is a sin. We are all at the monastery because we are all spiritually sick and he come here for refuge and spirtual guidance so we can come closer to God and to become like him. So please here's a list of what to wear at the monastery please we don't need any anger or judgement go to the Monks and speak to them in private let them know if something is bothering you okay.

Day Visitor's Guide This page contains guidelines for visiting the monastery during the day. If you would like to stay overnight, please see the Pilgrim's Guide.

Hours The monastery accepts day visitors who wish to see the grounds from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM seven days a week.

No day visitors will be accepted after 2:30 PM.

Day visitors can stay for the church services after 2:30 PM. Please notify a father at the bookstore if you wish stay for the services.

Groups If you are in a group of ten or more people, please call in advance so that we may be properly prepared to receive you.

Arrival All visitors are asked to stop at the bookstore upon arrival. If there are no monks there at the bookstore when you arrive, we kindly ask that you wait there until one of them returns.

What to wear St. Anthony's Monastery is a place of repentance and prayer for the fathers and also for the faithful who are our pious guests. In honor of the saint whose monastery this is, and out of love and respect for this sacred ground, we humbly ask that you be properly attired at all times.

Orthodox clergy are respectfully asked to wear a cassock (rason) in the monastery; and to wear also an outer cassock (exorason) in the church services. Clergy are asked to wear a clerical head covering at the appropriate times.

Women are kindly asked to wear long-sleeved, loose-fitting shirts that fully cover the chest up to the neck; long skirts (or dresses) without deep slits; scarves that cover the head and wrap under the chin and around the neck, so that the neck is also covered. Please refrain from wearing lipstick when venerating icons and receiving Holy Communion. Please remove any visible face or body piercing jewelry.

Men are kindly asked to wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts. Please, no baseball caps or clothing with inappropriate words or images. Inside, especially in church, men are asked to keep their heads uncovered. Please remove any visible face or body piercing jewelry.

For both men and women, socks (at least ankle high) with shoes or sandals are to be worn at all times. Please do not wear sheer stockings. Please wear practical and comfortable flat shoes while at the monastery since it is desert terrain and the pathways are of rough flagstone. Please do not wear high heels, platform shoes, or open-toed sandals.

If you are not properly dressed, please go directly to the bookstore, where there is a limited supply of clothing for your use. In the guesthouses, we ask that you remain properly dressed when outside your room, since the fathers often need to enter the common areas.

We humbly also ask our guests to refrain from wearing perfumes, colognes, scented lotions, etc., for the sake of those who have strong chemical sensitivities and get very ill from even these types of scents.

Photographs Please ask before taking photographs of any of the monks or guests. Photographs and videos are not allowed during the services without a blessing from the abbot. Apart from these restrictions, photographs and videos may be taken freely.

Ps please go to the...

Our visit to the monastery was very disturbing. The grounds are beautiful, but the religion being preached there is not what I recognize to be orthodoxy. We agreed to a full confession with the priest, which went into extremely lurid details of our personal life (including graphic questions about our intimate lives). This left us both feeling very disturbed and, to be frank, we realized later that we had been subject to verbal sexual abuse.

In addition to disgusting questions from the priest with words that should never be in a monk’s mouth, the priest also questioned us closely about our baptisms and suggested that they were deficient. He suggested we both be re-baptized by full immersion at the monastery. I am not an expert in theology, but my understanding is that a second baptism is not only abnormal, but it is actually heretical to suggest. The priest also asked me to “keep quiet” about it, which very much disturbed me.

I would very strongly recommend speaking with your local priest and talking about whether you should visit this monastery before planning a trip.

We were both mesmerized while we were there, so we fell into the trap.

I don’t wish any truly religious person any ill will, but I felt I should warn others of this possibility before they visit.

Google reviews does not allow posting URLs in reviews, so I can't link out to their guide to confession, but I recommend searching for "Orthodox Christian Information Center guide to confession", which will show you roughly the guide that they use.

The problem is that these questions are supposed to be a guide for you, not a means for the priest to interrogate you, which is what happened to us.

Overall, we left with the feeling that this was a cult rather than a monastery, which was seeking to recruit new members. This was very much reinforced by the suggestion of a second baptism for us both and the fact that the priest suggested for me to find a spiritual father who was not my parish priest.

There are several articles written about the extreme practices of the “Ephraimites” and their tendency to sow division rather than unity in the Church. Again, Google doesn't allow links in reviews, so I recommend searching for:

"Parents of Suicide Monk Might Sue Monastery" "Orthodox Church: monastic movement raising new controversy in Greek Orthodoxy in America" "An Orthodox Spiritual Abuse Victim Tells Her Story"

I wish we had read these articles before visiting. I strongly encourage you to do so before visiting so that you will be fully informed regarding allegations around the practices...

I have been here multiple times over the years. My family and I come here about once a month just to walk the grounds, visit the churches, and experience the beauty of Orthodoxy in the desert. The monk and others who work there are very hospitable to people, both Orthodox and non-Orthodox. I know from experience since I came first out of curiousity, second as a cetechumen, and multiple times after becoming Orthodox. Depending on when you go, you may see multiple monks working the grounds while saying their prayers, or you may only see one or two. The workers in the bookstore/gift shop are very friendly. And if you are Orthodox, you can participate in meals, and the food is delicious both during fasting periods and non-fasting periods. Anyone is allowed to participate in the services, as far as I know. There is a dress code, so make sure to check the website for details. They used to be incredibly strict about the dress code; however, it does seem like they've loosened up a bit about it, but only a tad bit. Long skirts/dresses, covered arms and headcoverings are required for women. If you plan to come with young children who do not know yet how to remain quiet and semi still during a Liturgy (I have children who attend church services at our local Parish regularly and still haven't figured this one out 😉), then it is recommended that they do not attend the mealtimes as those are conducted in silence while someone reads spiritual texts. During service times, I would recommend standing near the back so that you can remove your children quickly if necessary. I have not stayed the night, so I can not offer any experience about that. Nor have I received spiritual guidance from any of the spiritual fathers here; however, I know people who receive spiritual guidance here regularly, and they have expressed nothing other than gratefulness towards and love for those whom they've received help from. I've specifically heard wonderful things about Elder Paisius and Father Philaretos. And of course, we can not forget about Elder Ephraim, the saintly father who founded this monastery but has since fallen asleep in the Lord, as I'm certain he is still guiding those who had the pleasure of meeting him. This a beautiful campus where you can experience peace, beauty, and spiritual rejuvenation. Visit...