Abbot, looking at his wine glass, asked our guest if the Russian monasteries still sent their monks out to wander in the wilderness and face the illusions of the Enemy alone. Our guest answered in mock anger,“Monk's don't wander!” Our Abbot laughed, and so we did too.
Then the Russian told us the truth behind those tales. Books are far rarer in their monasteries than ours, and even the novices are sometimes allowed to travel alone to study in the library of a neighboring monastery. The journey is often  viewed as a kind of  trial. “It is the journey from Tikhon Monastery
through the wasteland we call the Devil's  Bedroom to St. Sophia on an island in the Black Sea that the legends are told...