The Scent of Holiness: Lessons from a Women's Monastery

By: Constantina R. Palmer

Narrated by: Constantina R. Palmer

Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Every monastery exudes the scent of holiness, but women's monasteries have their own special flavor. Join Constantina Palmer as she makes frequent pilgrimages to a women's monastery in Greece and absorbs the nuns' particular approach to their spiritual life. If you're a woman who's read of Mount Athos and longed to partake of its grace-filled atmosphere, this book is for you. Men who wish to understand how women's spirituality differs from their own will find it a fascinating listen as well.

©2012 Constantina R. Palmer (P)2018 Constantina R. Palmer

Beautiful and peaceful

Absolutely loved it! The stories touched my heart and her voice is so nice to listen to.

I never wanted this to be over!

Truly a wonderful book! every orthodox woman should read this. These stories warmed my heart so much.

Couldn't put it down!

Engaging narration and thought provoking personal stories from the author! This book is a treasure. Enjoyed it thoroughly!

The Scent of Holiness

Very good. Learned a lot. Will tell others to read or listen to it especially if they are Orthodox.

Review from Susanna Ridenour

4.5 stars. I loved this book, the sweet and beautiful stories, the mix of holiness and humor in the nuns' lives. I found it touching how Constantina ended the book with Sister Marcella's death. I would have preferred to read this in text, as audiobooks don't seem to be for me, but I still feel like I got a lot out of it.

"Go and cling to a man who fears God, and from the fact that he fears Him, he will teach you to do likewise."

We are not saved alone, but only in relationship.

The positive
Hearing the book left me with a decidedly different viewpoint than when I read it via Kindle in 2017. The book was narrated by the author and, even though she was striving to be neutral in her reading, it was very easy to tell that she was deeply affected by her experiences at the monastery/monasteries she visited. The stories came to life and I found myself smiling and re-winding and sometimes even cringing in sympathy with her stories. Her engagement with the story is what gave it more life than the printed version. I imagine she spins quite a good yarn in person.

This book is not meant to be a juicy "tell-all" about the ongoings behind the walls of women's monasteries, nor is it meant to be a theological treatise. It is a glimpse through the eyes of one young convert who chose to visit and grow in relationship with women monastics. You will find a few sparkly theological bits scattered here and there but that is not the point. If you read this book looking for deep theological musings you will be disappointed.

This is book is about a young woman visiting Orthodox monastics and her relationships with them. The lessons she learned about herself and about being Orthodox are found in those relationships told through brief vignettes that, at the end of the book fold into one message: We are not saved alone, but only in relationship. Even the hermits come to communion.

It's a lovely little book and I recommend it highly.

The negative
There are a few technical issues at the beginning and the end of the audiobook. KInd of an annoying echo or hollow sound during the introduction and first couple of chapters, and again in the epilogue. The chapters in between do not have this issue. I was afraid the echo would continue throughout and I would not have been able to listen to the entire book with that going on. It would have been too distracting.

4 stars.

Full Disclosure #1: I was given an Audible credit to purchase this book in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to do this, AFP!

Full Disclosure #2: I read the Kindle version in July 2017 so this is my second read. The first time I read this book, I was unable to get past the format in which it was written, by which I mean I was not sure if it was supposed to be a travelogue or a travel-diary or just a collection of entries from a diary strung together based on a loose relation between what seemed to be just a rand0om bunch of stories. To be honest, other than gathering a few thought-provoking quotes I didn't get a lot out of it at that time. The audio version was much, much more accessible for me for the reasons I state above.

This is a True BEAUTY!!

I’m beyond grateful for this book! You actually feel as if you are there with Constantina at the monastery. There were times I thought I was listening to a monastic sister read this to me directly. It was a balm to my soul. I WILL refer this book over & over. I just started listening to it again. Whether you’re familiar with monastic living or know nothing about it, this book serves as an example on how we should strive to live as an Orthodox. Such a blessing!!!

Pearls of Wisdom from Orthodox Nuns and Novices

The Scent of Holiness by Constantina R. Palmer is a must listen for anyone who desires to learn from the pearls of wisdom that comes from contemporary Orthodox nuns and novices. Although some books with monastic wisdom tend to be more solemn, Constantina does a beautiful job of using a storytelling format to convey the messages. This format makes the wisdom both easier to digest and humanizes monastics. I especially appreciate the humanizing aspects of this book because it reminds me so much of the nuns and novices that I have developed relationships with in a Coptic women’s monastery in the U.S.

It is because this book is full of stories that it makes Constantina’s narration of her own writing all the more meaningful. I will mention that the recording of the intro to the book felt just slightest bit choppy to me, but once the book itself started, the audio is very smooth and easy to listen to. The thoughtfulness and effort that went into the making of this book is evident, even with the smallest details as with the number of chapters (33) and calling each chapter a “knot,” as on a prayer rope, did not go overlooked.

Even further, I loved that Constantina took every story, no matter how small it may have seemed, and helped us see how we could be taking each opportunity to learn and grow closer to Christ. It is a perfect reminder that there is nothing so small or menial in our lives that cannot be directed towards God.

While I would recommend this book to everyone, I especially think women should read this book. Often, the lives of women monastics go overlooked, and this is a beautiful book both for young women and seasoned women alike who need some encouragement to keep living a life of holiness. I will without question be listening to this book again and because of how much I enjoyed it, I even sent the audible link to two friends while listening to it. A third person heard a snippet of this book while I was playing it on a car ride, and she is looking forward to listening to it as well.

Wonderful witness to the beauty that is Orthodoxy

I began this just before visiting the Greek women's monastery near me and helped me get into the mind set of visiting a monastery. Such a beautiful witness to the life of the church and all the blessings in the struggle of life.

WOW! I loved this book! So enjoyable!

Another reviewer stated they were disappointed when this ended. That is how I felt too. Listening to this was like being swept off to a far away land and I looked forward to hearing the next adventure. The narration was excellent as well. I learned much from this book and have just ordered her next book as well in hopes of more of the same.