[Book Sip] The Story of a Monastic Order Written "Without Exaggeration"

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We present meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

This book contains 100 delightful and touching episodes that dry out damp hearts and make them fresh. As the author reveals in the 'Preface,' this book captures the lives of the Paulist Fathers “without any exaggeration,” presenting them as they are. Behind their devout lives as monks and clergy, they make somewhat clumsy and awkward mistakes in worldly life, and thanks to being less tainted by the secular world, they express thoughts and actions that are innocent and pure.

It was about a year after I had been attending the meetings with a joyful heart. After a Jajangmyeon dinner gathering, the supervising priest asked if we were preparing well to enter the seminary. I was so surprised that I said I had never even thought about going to the seminary. Then the supervising priest said, “Then why have you been attending the Jajangmyeon meetings all this time? You have to pay for the Jajangmyeon.” Since I couldn’t afford to pay for a year’s worth of Jajangmyeon, I had no choice but to enter the seminary. From “Jajangmyeon Bait”

Wow, that person was actually the dog raised in the monastery. Her name was Areum. She was white and small. The friar who took me to Areum said,

“Say hello. She is Areum, a perpetual professed member.”

Perpetual professed Areum? I struggled to hold back my laughter. But the friar said it was no laughing matter, as Areum had lived in the monastery for eight years, making her a senior to me. Moreover, having lived for eight years, she held the rank of a perpetual professed member. That’s right. She was senior to me. As a junior, I respectfully petted Areum. From “Dog Senior”

Friar Baek is slow and steady in his actions, earning him the nickname “Bear.” Since his surname is Baek, he is called “Baek Bear.” Friar Baek Bear had been eating several cloves of roasted garlic for quite a long time to improve his stomach health. I jokingly asked him, “How come you’re still human even after eating garlic for 10 years?” Friar Baek Bear replied, “This isn’t raw garlic.” Wow, what a brilliant wit! That’s right. The bear in the Dangun myth ate raw garlic. From “Nickname”

Priest Life | Written by An Seongcheol | Sigongsa | 260 pages | 16,000 KRW