Day Visitor's Guide
This page contains guidelines for visiting the monastery during the day. If you would like to stay overnight, please see the Pilgrim's Guide.
Hours
The monastery accepts day visitors who wish to see the grounds from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM seven days a week.
No day visitors will be accepted after 2:30 PM.
Day visitors can stay for the church services after 2:30 PM. Please notify a father at the bookstore if you wish stay for the services.
Groups
If you are in a group of ten or more people, please call in advance so that we may be properly prepared to receive you.
Arrival
All visitors are asked to stop at the bookstore upon arrival. If there are no monks there at the bookstore when you arrive, we kindly ask that you wait there until one of them returns.
What to wear
St. Anthony's Monastery is a place of repentance and prayer for the fathers and also for the faithful who are our pious guests. In honor of the saint whose monastery this is, and out of love and respect for this sacred ground, we humbly ask that you be properly attired at all times.
Orthodox clergy are respectfully asked to wear a cassock (rason) in the monastery; and to wear also an outer cassock (exorason) in the church services. Clergy are asked to wear a clerical head covering at the appropriate times.
Women are kindly asked to wear long-sleeved, loose-fitting shirts that fully cover the chest up to the neck; long skirts (or dresses) without deep slits; scarves that cover the head and wrap under the chin and around the neck, so that the neck is also covered. Please refrain from wearing lipstick when venerating icons and receiving Holy Communion. Please remove any visible face or body piercing jewelry.
Men are kindly asked to wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts. Please, no baseball caps or clothing with inappropriate words or images. Inside, especially in church, men are asked to keep their heads uncovered. Please remove any visible face or body piercing jewelry.
For both men and women, socks (at least ankle high) with shoes or sandals are to be worn at all times. Please do not wear sheer stockings. Please wear practical and comfortable flat shoes while at the monastery since it is desert terrain and the pathways are of rough flagstone. Please do not wear high heels, platform shoes, or open-toed sandals.
If you are not properly dressed, please go directly to the bookstore, where there is a limited supply of clothing for your use. In the guesthouses, we ask that you remain properly dressed when outside your room, since the fathers often need to enter the common areas.
We humbly also ask our guests to refrain from wearing perfumes, colognes, scented lotions, etc., for the sake of those who have strong chemical sensitivities and get very ill from even these types of scents.
Photographs
Please ask before taking photographs of any of the monks or guests. Photographs and videos are not allowed during the services without a blessing from the abbot. Apart from these restrictions, photographs and videos may be taken freely.
Divine Services
Non-Orthodox visitors are asked to participate in the services from the narthex. Also, catechumens are dismissed from the services at the appropriate times.
Monastery Environment
Due to the sanctity of this holy place we kindly ask that you respect the quiet and solitude of the monastery while on the grounds. Visitors are not permitted to enter the monks' living quarters, guest houses, or dining hall, or to walk on the covered porches around them. Cell phones must be left on the silent/vibrate mode while on the grounds.
Smoking anywhere within the holy grounds is strictly forbidden. Loud talking and laughing are always inappropriate.
Children should not roam freely on the holy grounds but should remain under parental supervision at all times.
Pets are not allowed on the monastery grounds with the sole exception of guide dogs for the blind. (Guide dogs are not allowed inside the churches).
The Monastery grounds are wheelchair accessible. Click to download the map of the grounds.