MyNorthwest

News

Opinion

Sports

Tools

Connect

On Greece’s Santorini, 13 cloistered nuns pray for the world

Ruins of a settlement, including a former Catholic monastery, lie on the rocky promontory of Skaros on the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The Monastery of St. Catherine was founded at Skaros in 1596, but after an earthquake it was moved to the nearby village of Thira, where to this day it remains home to more than a dozen nuns who devote themselves to prayer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A woman poses for a photograph outside the wrought-iron enclosure of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Catholic Church on the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The Monastery of St. Catherine is home to more than a dozen nuns who devote themselves to tireless prayer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Parishioner Maria Tsagorari holds an incense burner inside the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Catholic Church on the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Before coronavirus restrictions, she used to attend Mass regularly at the Monastery of St. Catherine, where cloistered nuns have lived for more than four centuries. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A wooden crucifix and a picture of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face lie on a table inside the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Catholic Church on the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The church's bell tower is a destination for tourists who flock to the island, but few are aware that a nearby monastery is home to cloistered nuns who for more than four centuries have lived in seclusion and prayer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Sister María Jesús and other nuns pray during Mass at the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Thursday, June 14, 2022. The nuns pray at least nine hours a day, most of it sung in Latin, Spanish and Greek. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Nuns hug during the sign of peace at daily Mass in the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Thursday, June 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

From left to right, cloistered nuns Sister María Flor, Sister María de la Trinidad, Sister María de Jesús and Sister María Teresa walk in the garden of the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. When not praying in church or practicing sacred music and hymns, the nuns tend to a garden where they grow fruits and vegetables. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A woman walks by the ruins of a settlement, including a former Catholic monastery, on the rocky promontory of Skaros on the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The Monastery of St. Catherine was founded at Skaros in 1596, but after an earthquake it was moved to the nearby village of Thira, where to this day it remains home to more than a dozen nuns who devote themselves to prayer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A couple drink wine in front of the rocky promontory of Skaros on the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine was founded at Skaros in 1596, but after an earthquake it was moved to the nearby village of Thira, where to this day it remains home to more than a dozen nuns who devote themselves to prayer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Cinzia Sansone and her daughter Josephine, from Trieste, Italy, pose for photos on a rooftop overlooking the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Sister María de Jesús bows her head as Sister María Flor de la Eucaristía, left front, and Sister Amparo de María pray during Mass in the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The nuns pray at least nine hours a day, most of it sung in Latin, Spanish and Greek. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A statue of Saint Louise de Marillac, co-founder of the Daughters of Charity, stands in front of a painting of the Annunciation of Theotokos inside a complex of Catholic buildings that includes the cathedral, a church and the Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A priest celebrates Mass with cloistered nuns in the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The nuns' vocation is to pray tirelessly for the church and the world, symbolized by the globe next to the grille that separates the cloistered space from the outside world. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

From left to right, Sister María Guadalupe, Sister María Esclava, Sister María de Jesús, Sister María de la Trinidad, Sister María Fatima, and Sister Amparo de María pray in the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The nuns pray at least nine hours a day, most of it sung in Latin, Spanish and Greek. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Cloistered nuns walk in the garden of the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. When not praying in church or practicing sacred music and hymns, the nuns tend to the garden, where they grow fruits and vegetables. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A woman poses in an alley between the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, right, and the Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. Inside the convent, 13 cloistered nuns devote their lives to prayer. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

The moon rises behind the village of Imerovigli, left, and the rocky promontory of Skaros, right, on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine was founded at Skaros in 1596, but after an earthquake it was moved to the town of Thira, far right. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Sister María de la Trinidad, center, and other cloistered nuns speak to journalists from behind a white iron grille in the parlor of the Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The convent is home to more than a dozen nuns who devote themselves to prayer and leave only for medical or government necessities. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Nuns speak to journalists from behind a white iron grille in the parlor of the Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. In the first row, from right to left, are Sister Lucía María de Fátima, the prioress, Sister María de la Trinidad, and Sister María Guadalupe. The convent is home to more than a dozen nuns who devote themselves to prayer and leave only for medical or government necessities. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Cloistered nuns walk on a terrace of the Catholic Monastery of St. Catherine on the Greek island of Santorini on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Twice a day, the nuns recess to chat on the convent's wide terraces, the Aegean Sea shimmering in the distance. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

On Greece’s Santorini, 13 cloistered nuns pray for the world