Steven Barbaro, a novice at the Savior's Desert monastery in Treadwell, New York, has
written an article on the monastic life.
From the article:
We all come from diverse backgrounds. Some of us were born in the faith and some converted to Orthodoxy. As monks and nuns, our goal is to follow what the Savior of the world summarized all his particular commands in two main, general commandments: You are to love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is: You are to love your neighbor as yourself. The whole of the law and the prophets depends on these two commandments (Matthew 22: 37-40).
