Dear all,
this is my first post here. Maria was kind enough to send me a private message on OC.net when I posted something regarding my deep interest in Palamism and becoming a monk. She said that I'll have better luck over here at ECafe. And indeed, the Monasticism board here seems great.
The other day I began to start a correspondence with Fr. Enoch which is already edifying.
I won't copy+paste my post on OC.net, but I'll paraphrase some of it here. My particular questions for you:
I'm a 38 yr-old Hungarian male with a strong Calvinist past, having worked as a curator at my church. I was baptized in 2003. As of 2014, I'm still quite new to Eastern Orthodoxy. Yet for about 2 years, I feel the strongest draw to practice hesychasm in a skete setting; in turn I feel an aversion to most secular or even 'Calvinist' things now, including forming bonds with secular people. I'm becoming less and less worldly, and this is not something I can help -- but I won't go into my spiritual and emotional struggles at this time. I find it hard to discern between the psychological and spiritual content of this overwhelming feeling of being called; but it surely disrupts my day job (film business) and my family life at this point. Obviously I need to avoid prelest. What can I do?
Should I now seek out local monasteries for possible week-long stays, or are there any steps I'm supposed to take before? I don't speak Greek, Russian or Serbian, which may be a problem.
I'm based in Budapest, Hungary. Do you recommend any particular monasteries in the area (including Slovakia, Serbia etc.) that I should visit for a stay?
Should I even consider sketes at this point, or should I approach cenobitic communities? I'm much more attracted to the skete setting for some reason, but as a complete novice that may not be an option.
Thank you,
in Christ,
Andras (from Budapest)