I Met a Monk

While I am a planner by nature, the beauty of New York City is that even if I set out without a plan (or very much money at all) I can just meander around and eventually find something interesting. That's what happened yesterday. I had no real plans other than to go to the East Village and pick up two copies of this week's "Village Voice" (because I promised my neighbour I'd get her a copy too), and I got hungry when there so I stopped into Veselka for some pierogi. (I'm addicted and someday I will have to do a blog entry about that place when I have more energy to do so.) Down the street from Veselka is the church St Mark's-in-the-Bowery, and I decided to check out some of the old grave plots in the yard.

That's when I saw him.

Sitting outside the gates of the church in an actual scratchy brown habit and knotted rope belt like something out of a medieval-themed movie was an honest-to-god real life monk.

New York City continues to find ways to surprise me. Just when I think I've seen the weirdest possible thing, this city throws something even more surreal at me. Meeting a Franciscan monk was not how I expected my Wednesday to go. In fact, I've actually never seen a monk in real life before, be they Franciscan or Carmelite or Benedictine or whatever other kinds of monks there are.

He had boxes next to him to accept donations of clothing and food for anyone on the street to just take. (He told me to take some food. I protested that even though I am poor and love free food, someone needier than I might need it more than I do, but he said it was for everyone so I took some garbanzo beans to make hummus with.) However, he would not accept cash. As he had taken a vow of poverty, he can't handle cash.

His name was Brother Angelo, and he wasn't what I expected a monk to look like. No shaved bit on top of his head, and he had tattoos on one arm and a couple fingers from his crazy pre-monk days. I was fascinated with him and asked if it was okay to sit and chat with him a bit, which he was all too happy to do.

In fact, this guy might be the happiest New Yorker I've ever met. He literally owns nothing, but he says that's freeing. He's happy to "serve Christ by serving the people" - that, he said, is why he took his vows and became a monk - and he said the best way to help him was to let any homeless people in the area know he was there in front of the church with food and clothing and a friendly listening ear. This guy is the real deal.

(Surprisingly, he was also pro-LGBT, which was really nice to find out.)

I wish I had recorded our conversation, because we were talking for like an hour and I wish I remembered all of what was said. Sadly, my memory isn't that good, though it's decent enough. I will report that talking to him felt like talking to an old friend, which is the best kind of conversation with a stranger to have.

Even though I am not Christian in any way, shape, or form - and I have no desire to ever be - I found my chat with Brother Angelo to be utterly fascinating and inspiring, and he invited me to come back and chat with him whenever I liked. I probably will take him up on that offer, too. Because I would befriend a monk. My life really is just that surreal.

-Nym-