16 Is it difficult to pray in a tropical Paradise? The talk about the Thai Orthodox mission with the Archimandrite Oleg Cherepanin. // pravoslavie.ru, July 19, 2011 (date of access: 24.07.2014).
And because this is a very conservative Buddhist region, the father Oleg told that “we appealed to the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill with a petition to organize in Ratchaburi the monastery, and to build a cemetery and an Orthodox Church in that place, you need to be there constantly. The Patriarch blessed this idea. At the present time the monastery was consecrated, it includes a Church in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God, a chapel in honor of the Iberian icon of the Mother of God, an Abbot`s chamber, monastic cells, other outbuildings”.17
17 Is it difficult to pray in a tropical Paradise? The talk about the Thai Orthodox mission with the Archimandrite Oleg Cherepanin. // pravoslavie.ru, July 19, 2011 (date of access: 24.07.2014).
The Archimandrite said about the first inhabitants that “There are among our novices a Serb, an American and a Laos. To everyone is given the disciplinary regulation, and they are doing it very clearly. Of course, among the inhabitants should be – and we`d like it very much, – an experienced monk, since staying in the monastery implies spiritual growth under the supervision of an experienced elder.
For the present we can`t speak about the elders, but it is obvious that we need a person with experience of life in the monastery”18.
18 Is it difficult to pray in a tropical Paradise? The talk about the Thai Orthodox mission with Archimandrite Oleg Cherepanin. // pravoslavie.ru, July 19, 2011 (date of access: 24.07.2014).
As a confessor of the Representation I guided this place, made in it divine services. Therefore I agree with the Archimandrite Oleg, who replied to the question “We’ve learned that the monasteries usually are arranged in areas characterized by a harsh climate, for example in the North or in the waterless desert. And is it difficult to pray in the tropics, where the climate is similar to Paradise?”: “Yes, there is by us, in the new monastery a real Paradise by us in the new monastery! Wild herons live by us and monkeys come from the mountains; almost a home Cobra creeps constantly… And to create the conditions for life is not difficult – there are comfortable cells built newly… Come and pray! And if without irony – a man who desires to live with God doesn’t care where he lives: in the wilderness or in the city. I am convinced that it is not necessary to pay attention to some external factors – it has taught me life in the East. Maybe it’s important for beginners, but the man who has deliberately made this way, must build the desert inside himself”.19
