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Out Of The Silence

New York, January 10, 2011 (Tony Zaza) - This new documentary reflects the monastic life in the modern world as practiced at the Abbey of St. Andrew in Valyermo, California.

More like a ranch out of a 1940s Hollywood western movie, the Abbey housed a singular example of the beauty a man who has dedicated his 100 years of life to prayer. In its simple eloquence, this film works as an inspiration to vocations and the life religious that all school-aged children and young adults should view.

What draws a man into a monastery? What is it about monastic life that explains that a man can give up what other men hold essential: marriage, family, career, a life in the world? How does being part of a monastic tradition substitute for the gifts in life which most people seek?

This is the portrait of Father Eleutherius Winance, a man who has lived most of his 100 years as a monk. Having entered the monastic Order of St. Benedict in Bruges, Belgium at the age of 18, he traveled widely and he became a teacher of Western philosophy in China before becoming one of the founders of the monastic community in the high Californian desert Abbey of Saint Andrews.

In the Abbey, Fr. Eleutherius found a life of purpose and fulfillment serving both God and the community any many of his thoughts, expressed in this film, with great humility and profundity, leave a through-provoking and lasting legacy that will inspire and provoke.

Directed by Nicholas Frangakis;
Cinematography/Sound by Christian Leplus
Available from: Crosscountry Film Video, Inc.

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