Keharitomeni Monastery
The Sacred Hesychastyrion of Theotokos Full-of-Grace (Keharitomeni) (Greek: Ιερόν Ησυχαστήριον Κεχαριτωμένης Θεοτόκου) is a male monastery located near the small town of Trizina in the Peloponnese in Greece, on a mountain looking eastward over the Saronic Gulf.
It was founded in 1976 by Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos for some of his spiritual children who had become monks. At first the monastery was more open, helping with local pastoral needs because of a lack of priests, churches, and monasteries in the region. Recently, the ecclesiastical infrastructure of the region has improved, and the monastery has withdrawn into a more retired form of existence, including instituting the abaton (Gk. άβατον), a rule forbidding the entry of women into the monastery.
The current abbot is Fr. Spyridon, a spiritual child of Elder Epiphanios. The monastery still welcomes local faithful as well as visitors from farther afield and is involved in publishing many of the writings of Elder Epiphanios. One of the monastery's more popular publications, available in the U.S., is its prayer book, Prayer Book of Keharitomeni (Προσευχητάριον Κεχαριτωμένης). It includes basic guidelines on the art of prayer and related topics, such as fasting, as well as a broad selection of prayers and services, with laymen as its intended audience.