How to live together (2021)

St. Georg Monastery, 90 km away from Berlin, is the only monastery of the Moscow Patriarchate in Germany. Up to 10 monks and novices live here, most in their 20s, and perform church services, while also building and repairing the house. Its isolated location and virtual absence of congregation make the daily life of St. George similar to the practices of early Christian anchorites, but its brethren come from buzzing cities of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Their motivations to stay at St. George differ, and for some the peacefulness of a remote German village also means loneliness and doubt.