Elegy To Silence - Portugal

For the Carthusian monks, a life of solitude and self-denial is easy to bear for their religion. With exclusive access they lift the secretive veil from the monk's daily lives. Solitude gives us time to be with God, explains Father Lopes. He decided to become a monk at the age of 20, whilst at university, and now spends 20 hours a day in his cell and eats only two meals a day. I rowed and swam until the age of 20 but not since thenI have not seen the sea since then. But the greatest sacrifice is being away from family: we wont ever visit our relatives and they wont come to visit us here.