What does the middle path of monasticism mean? Two ways of salvation
Who is a monk and why do people join a monastery? What are the vows of monks and what are the types (degrees) of monasticism? Who are the novices? When did monasticism arise in Christianity and why did it arise? Let's talk.
Monk - who is this?
A monk is one who has given his life to serving God. This is not his choice - but his calling. Many go to the monastery, and only a small part eventually become monks, since monasticism is not a skill that you can master, but destiny.
A monk does not stop living on earth, does not stop doing any work for the monastery or for people (this is called obedience), but every minute of his life is dictated by serving God, and not by earthly ideas, goals or ideals.
From now on, he strives to live like an angel, not a man. The only core and meaning of his life is prayer.
How is a monastic vocation different from a choice?
Let's imagine: there are no monasteries in the world. But there will be people who will still try to live like monks - seeing that money is dust; live celibately and purely, but not from “complexes”, but from an understanding of things; to live - multiplying love.
Monastic vows
The monk takes vows of celibacy, obedience and non-covetousness.
Celibacy
In its deepest sense, this vow does not simply mean a refusal to have a wife (or a husband, if she is a nun), but an understanding: gender no longer matters, it no longer exists. The monk left the world, and outside the world - only souls.
Vow of obedience
The monk gives up his desires. The will and willpower remain with him, but from now on they are aimed at prayer and the desire to constantly be with the Lord.
In a monastery, this vow is formed in the form of unquestioning obedience to the abbot. And this is not servility and submission, but joy and peace, because in renouncing the ego, true freedom is found.
Vow of non-covetousness
If a person becomes a monk, nothing belongs to him anymore - not even a ballpoint pen. And not because it is prohibited (although it is prohibited), but because it is not necessary.
A soul that has known the Lord at least once, that has come into contact at least once with the Greatness of the Holy Spirit, loses interest in everything earthly. Everything earthly fades, just as for a young man who falls in love with a girl, most circumstances lose significance.
Here, in the monastery, all things become unnecessary, and only those that are needed out of necessity remain in our hands: books, a telephone. And this is not the property of a monk, but of a monastery.
Degrees of monasticism
The monastic path has several degrees, but speaking in the most general terms, there are three stages (if not two):
- Preparation (worker, novice)
- Monasticism
- Schema monasticism (more correctly - schema)
Preparation for monasticism can last for several years - there have been cases when a person remained a novice almost his entire life.
Consecration as a monk occurs only when the abbot of the monastery is unconditionally convinced that monasticism is truly a calling for this person, and not his emotional or situational choice. There will be no turning back: returning “to the world” is tantamount, so to speak, to suicide.
The abbot needs a lot of experience and spiritual wisdom to understand whether the moment has come for tonsure or whether he needs to wait a little longer and “test” the person. The novice, of course, can be sure that he was created for monasticism, but years will pass, the initial spiritual “ardor” will subside, and life in the monastery will become for him not liberation from the world, but grief.
Tonsure into the schema is the highest degree of monasticism - “equal to the angels.” It implies that the monk is freed from all external obediences (in other words, he goes “in seclusion”, although for this he need not be a schemamonk), and his only and unceasing activity becomes prayer. In the Russian tradition, as a rule, the oldest monks are tonsured into the schema.
Obediences in the monastery
She lives not only a spiritual life (although this is the main thing), but also those without which life on earth cannot exist: farming, food, housing.
Obediences are those deeds and work that monks do in their free time from services and prayer.
Obedience combines two goals:
- Purely economic: the monastery needs to be kept in order, the monks need to be fed, someone needs to do this.
- Educational: praying day and night is not a skill, but a gift that only a few acquire. Time free from prayer will become idleness. And idleness is the worst enemy of a person and even worse for a monk.
The task of the abbot of the monastery is to see and understand: who is better to direct to what obedience: who can cope with carpentry and household work, who can take care of the site, who can handle cooking; who can be entrusted with organizational work, and who, perhaps, can be freed from obedience altogether.
This monk's obedience may be to look after the monastery's cattle.
Prayer in the monastery
Despite all the obligatory obligations that obedience has in a monastery, it is not the most important thing for monks. The main thing monks do is prayer.
Prayer in the monastery comes in three forms:
- Prayer in the cell
- Prayer during obediences and at all other times
In most monasteries, any obedience must stop at the beginning of the service - even if it is not completed. The monk must be present at the service. There may be exceptions for those in poor health.
Some monasteries do not have such strictness. For example, if the brethren in the monastery are small and too much falls on each monk during the week. In this case, the monk, with the blessing of the abbot, can skip this or that service. But only in order to pray in a different form: while doing something or privately.
The cell prayer rule for each monk is determined individually by the abbot or confessor.
As for prayer during obediences and at all other times, this means that the monk tries not to spend a second of his life in empty contemplation or idle thought. And constantly, while working or at any moment of wakefulness, he reads to himself some kind of prayer - most often, the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner).
Monasticism is not distinguished by strict rules. Little sleep, strict fasting, incessant prayer.
When did monasticism arise in Christianity?
Monasticism arose only in the 4th century, while there were many saints before that. This is the main argument against those who believe that being a monk is “better” than living in the world.
Jesus Christ was present at the wedding in Cana of Galilee and thereby blessed family life. Both are monasteries - only different in shape. Both there and there you can fall; both there and there - to find Eternal life.
Monasticism is love for God, and love for God is not clothing, but a way of life and thought.
How did monasticism arise? People began to go into the desert because they understood that their particular world was “pulling” down and they were thereby leaving their calling.
The founder of monasticism is considered to be the Monk Anthony the Great. People had gone into the desert before him, but only he, with his holiness, managed to gather a large brethren around him. From a seemingly “accidental” phenomenon, monasticism has since become an integral part of the Christian tradition.
In Rus', the founder of Kiev Pechersk Lavra is considered the founder of monasticism.
Venerable Anthony the Great
Read this and other posts in our group at
The editors of the Pravoslavie.Ru website continue to publish diplomas of graduates of Sretensky Theological Seminary, which began several years ago. Diplomas of graduates of previous years: Hieromonk John (Ludishchev), Yuri Filippov, Maxim Yanyshevsky and others, who raised important problems for our time and were written with the use of archival materials, aroused great interest among readers of the site. The series of publications of diplomas of SDS graduates is continued by the work of Hierodeacon Nikon (Gorokhov), a 2009 graduate of the Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersk Monastery, “Entering monasticism and leaving it” (scientific supervisor - Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin), dedicated to extremely relevant and topical problems of modern church life. At the same time, the author in his work not only relies on the works of the Fathers of the Church, canonical decrees and research on the history of the Church, but also takes into account the rich experience of the elders and spiritual fathers of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery, and the entire structure of monastic life in it.
There is probably not a single person who does not know or see monks, who does not encounter them in churches, monasteries or in everyday life. Many have monks as relatives, and even more people have confessors or simply acquaintances among monastics. The external side of the monks’ activities, thanks to the media, is quite well known, but some side of their life remains completely unknown to the world. This gives rise to either riddles, or common conjectures, or implausible stories.
The opening of many new monasteries and farmsteads in Russia over the past 20 years has led to the fact that these monasteries began to quickly fill with monks and nuns, which in itself is very gratifying. But, on the other hand, premature tonsures, ill-considered entry into monasticism, the real difficulties of reviving monasteries and an acute shortage of experienced confessors led to the fact that monastic monasteries began to quickly fill with inhabitants who were random and poorly prepared. Many took monastic vows thoughtlessly, without calculating their strength, without testing themselves, without reasoning, trusting in fleeting feelings or the persuasion of strangers, and in general, as it turned out, by mistake. This immediately affected the spiritual level of modern Russian monasteries.
Such omissions were not in vain. Many of the monks began to leave the walls of the monasteries and return to the world, completely neglecting the previously given vows. Unfortunately, this process continues to this day. That is why the purpose of this work, in addition to its historical and canonical aspects, is also to help those entering monasticism determine their path in life, and to remind all those accepting monasticism of the high responsibility that they take upon themselves.
Formation of the monastic tradition
The common man, of course, is content with what the media offers him, and sometimes believes that he already knows everything or almost everything about monasticism. Much less common are thoughtful people who begin to read books and special literature on monasticism. And even rarer are those who research the topic to the end, to the primary sources, to the very basics. Usually these people are either the monks themselves, or specialists in the field of monastic writing, church history and culture.
The Holy Fathers call monasticism the science of sciences. Does this mean that monasticism is some kind of secret knowledge, that is, a special kind of science that is taught in monasteries? Or should this expression be understood allegorically? It all depends on who will speak. If a Protestant theologian speaks about monasticism and completely denies its value, then we will hear one judgment, but if a person who himself has walked the path of a monk speaks about it, then we will hear something completely different.
When equating monastic work with the highest creativity or with a special kind of science, the holy fathers were not mistaken. Because monastic work relates to the most intimate, most important and beautiful thing that is in a person - to his soul. And not only to the soul, but also to the entire composition of man: the education of the spirit, the purification of the soul and the asceticism of the body. In a word, to the transformation of the whole person, or, as the holy fathers said, to his “deification.”
Who are monks? If we give a definition based on one name, it will mean: a person living alone. But such a definition does not mean anything, because there are many people who live alone, but, alas, there are no monks. The word "monk" contains more than just the life of a solitary person. Here, for example, is what St. John Climacus says: monks are those who are called to imitate the life of ethereal forces, these are those who in all actions must be guided by the testimony of Holy Scripture, these are those who must constantly force themselves to do every good deed, these are those who must keep their feelings from sinful impressions, and their minds from sinful thoughts. Of course, this enumeration cannot exhaust all ideas about monasticism.
“Those who attempt to ascend to heaven with their body truly require extreme compulsion and incessant sorrow. For labor, truly labor, and great hidden sorrow are inevitable in this feat, especially for the careless.” The Monk John Climacus, the author of a famous book on monasticism, warns the frivolous against rashly entering the monastic path, which he calls cruel and narrow, because those who enter this path seem to plunge themselves into the fire of unforeseen sorrows and temptations. It is better for the weak not to follow this path, otherwise they can suffer greatly, even to the point of death, and instead of benefiting, receive harm: “All those who approach this good deed, cruel and difficult, but also easy, should know that they have come to be thrown into the fire, unless they want an immaterial fire to take possession of them. Therefore, let everyone tempt himself and then eat from the bread of the monastic life, which is with a bitter potion, and let him drink from this cup, which is with tears: let him not fight against himself. If not everyone who is baptized will be saved, then... I will remain silent about what follows.”
A monk is a warrior of the Heavenly King who fights on the front line and, one might say, in the vanguard. It is impossible to retreat, to leave the field - especially: behind - God and the Kingdom of Heaven, ahead - hordes of invisible enemies and a mortal battle, the length of the battle is a lifetime, at the beginning - renunciation of the world, in the middle - a feat, at the end - a reward or disgrace. “Monasticism is the assumption of lifelong torment, the perception of the consciousness of a martyr, which, of course, rejoices in the struggle and is never satisfied with what has been achieved.” This is what the path of monastic life is.
These are just allegories, but in life everything is much simpler and more imperceptible, but at the same time more complex. Real monastic life can be very different from what you can read about in books, and everyone who wants to follow this thorny path should definitely know about this.
Most often it happens that a modern person who comes to a monastery is shocked by the difference that arises between the ideas that have formed about monasticism in his head and the reality that he actually sees: “People often came to the monastery shocked by something, at odds with the world around them, tired of life’s struggles and hardships, disappointed, looking for consolation, peace and spiritual freedom. But when the monastery gates closed behind them, most often they found neither one nor the other, nor the third. For a person, remaining a person, brought his weaknesses and imperfections with him to the monastery... And in the monasteries life went on as usual, very different from secular life, but not in everything coinciding with the ideals of monastic service.” Unfortunately, modern monasticism is far from the ideal of monastic life, but modern youth are not Anthony and Pachomius, not Sergius and not Seraphim. As the famous proverb says: “As the world is, so is the monastery.”
This work is intended, rather, to sober up the frivolous part of young people who strive to find a simple way out of their problems in monasticism, or that part of them who, having not found a use for themselves in the world, thinks to find it in a monastery. For true monasticism a vocation is necessary. For only “he who is able to contain, let him contain.”
Foundations of the monastic lifestyle
It is necessary to say a few words about the reasons for the emergence of monasticism in the Orthodox Church. It is known from church history that monasticism as an institution did not arise immediately after the preaching of the Savior, although it is recognized as indisputable that the institution of virgins, which preceded monasticism, arose simultaneously with the Church itself. It was in the mouth of the Divine Teacher that words sounded that predicted the phenomenon in the Church that was to appear in the future: « For there are eunuchs who were born like this from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who are castrated from people; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven. He who can contain it, let him contain it" (Matthew 19:12) . Of the three types of eunuchs (people deprived of the ability to bear children) listed by the Savior, the last, in the opinion of the holy fathers, indicates monasticism. Thus, monasticism is that type of people who take upon themselves voluntary virginity (abstinence from marital cohabitation) for the sake of acquiring the Kingdom of Heaven.
Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow in “Rules for the improvement of monastic brotherhoods of Moscow stauropegial monasteries” points to the Holy Scripture as the only and absolute basis for monastic vows:
1. one who takes a vow of obedience and renunciation of his own will and his own wisdom must base it on the word of the Lord: “Then Jesus said to His disciples: If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 26:24);
2. one who takes a vow of chastity must heed the word of Christ: “He who is able to contain, let him contain” (Matthew 19: 12.) - and the word of the Apostle: “He who is not married cares for the Lord, how he may please the Lord.” (1 Cor. 7:32);
3. The one who takes a vow of non-covetousness must be confirmed in the word of Christ: “Jesus said to him: if you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give it to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me” (Matthew 19:21).
Saint Philaret was not the first to claim that this way of life is based on Holy Scripture. For example, Saint Basil the Great, when he was looking for an example of a perfect gospel life, he concluded that it was actually a monastic life. Saint Ignatius of Caucasus made the same conclusions: “The fulfillment of the Gospel commandments has always been and is now the essence of monastic work and residence”; “true Christianity and true monasticism lies in the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments. Where this fulfillment does not exist, there is neither Christianity nor monasticism, whatever the appearance." And here are the words of St. Macarius of Optina: “What does monasticism mean? The fulfillment of Christianity, which consists in fulfilling the commandments of God, is also the love of God: if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (John 14:23), said the Lord.” Or here is the opinion of the rector of the Athonite monastery of Simonopetra, Archimandrite Emilian, our contemporary: “The monastic community is the most vivid embodiment of evangelical perfection, achieved through renunciation of everything, daily erection of one’s cross and following the Lord. First of all, such a community is a search for the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be added from God.”
The Tradition of the Orthodox Church includes the holy Forerunner of the Lord John, the holy prophet of God Elijah, the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian, and the Most Pure Virgin Mother of God among the founders of monasticism. For Christians they have been and will be examples of complete dedication to God.
But as a mass phenomenon, with its own charters, orders and a very special philosophy of life, monasticism appeared at the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 4th centuries. Until this time, the Church knew only isolated cases of asceticism, when, out of a desire for perfection, some Christians took vows of virginity or voluntary poverty, and some devoted their lives to unceasing prayer or all kinds of abstinence. Such ascetics were called ascetics. Over time, such ascetics became more and more numerous, but they were still quite scattered., but they spent their lives among fellow believers and did not form separate communities, did not go into the desert
Reasons for the emergence of monasticism
Various reasons contributed to the emergence of monastic communities. Some historians, for example, even name the persecutions themselves that befell the Church by the pagan authorities. In particular, the persecution that began under the Roman Emperor Decius (249-251). It prompted many to flee to desert places, including ascetics. These ascetics who remained to live in the desert began to be called anchorites, or heremits. Soon the persecution ended, and Emperor Constantine the Great came to power in Rome, who declared freedom of religion for all religions on the territory of the Roman Empire (Edict of Milan; 313) and, first of all, for Christians. "After a long struggle with the Church, the empire finally capitulated". And by the end of the 4th century, Christianity was finally established as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
But the main impetus for the emergence and development of such a strange and unusual community as monasticism became was not persecution, but just the opposite - the sudden peace and prosperity of the Church. The mass monastic movement arose as a reaction to the secularization of the Church and church society.
Many pagans flowed into the Church, which began to be filled with neophytes. If by the arrival of Constantine the Great the number of inhabitants of the empire who professed Christianity, according to modern historians, ranged from 7 to 10% of the total population of the empire, then by the end of the 4th century there were already more than 50%. Many became loyal to Orthodoxy, looking at the emperor, and some came to the Church for selfish (opportunistic) reasons, for a speedy career advancement. The empire, however, continued to live its usual life, which meant that many pagan customs continued to exist. For example, horse racing was often held in stadiums, and theatrical performances in amphitheaters, the authors of which were pagans. Various festivals in honor of numerous pagan gods amused and entertained the population of the empire. The Olympic Games and other sports and other competitions enjoyed universal respect. For example, participation in esoteric mysteries or in solemn processions accompanying some pagan cults was considered honorable. In some intellectual centers of the empire, pagan schools continued to function, in which pagan philosophical teachings were taught, and among the common people many rituals and superstitions were preserved, which were very poorly combined with a pure Christian life .
Kinovia - an ideal Christian hostel
With the massive arrival of pagans in the Church, morals in Christian communities began to decline, and as a reaction to this secularization, the opposite process began to occur - the separation and isolation of communities of ascetics who desired moral perfection. “Ascetics began to move away from cities and villages to desert places and forests”. This is how the first monasteries and monastic communities began to form.
“At its origin, monasticism was not an official church institution, but a spontaneous movement, an impulse, and it was precisely lay movement “,” emphasizes Archpriest Georgy Florovsky in his work “Empire and Desert”. It was the laity who longed for the fulfillment of Christian ideals on earth and did not want to put up with the licentiousness of morals within Christian communities; it was they who, by leaving for the desert, wanted to emphasize the idea of the otherworldliness of the Church, relying on the words of the Apostle Paul: “We are not the imams of the city that abides here, but we seek the one to come.” (Heb. 13:14).
The Monk John Cassian the Roman describes the formation of the first cenobitic monasteries from the words of Abba Piammon (in his 18th interview “On the Three Ancient Kinds of Monks,” Chapter 5): “So, the kind of life of the Cenobites began from the time of the apostolic sermon. For such were the whole multitude of believers in Jerusalem.” . The Monk Piammon believes that the formation of cenobitic monasteries was modeled on the first Christian community that arose in Jerusalem during the time of the apostles. He says that over time, after the death of the apostles, gradually the first zeal among Christians began to disappear, and it was replaced by coldness and indifference, but not everyone wanted to be like that. Those who wanted to live according to the Gospel and not make any concessions to the world, gradually began to move further and further into deserted places and form hostels similar to the early Christian community. Communities of such zealous Christians began to be called konovii, and their inhabitants - konovites .
The ideas of the emergence of such communities as the “early Christian community” and the “strict cenobitic monastery” were absolutely the same, because the life of all members of the community was built exclusively on the Gospel commandments, but the historical origin of the cenovites was somewhat different from that of the early Christian community. However, we can assume that both were the result of God’s Providence.
Founders of Eastern and Western monasticism
The flourishing of monasticism occurred almost simultaneously in Egypt, Syria and Palestine. In all three named areas, monasticism arose independently of each other, but Egyptian monasticism is considered the oldest. The founder of Egyptian monasticism is considered Venerable Anthony the Great. As early as 285, he withdrew into the depths of the desert to Mount Colisma. In Thebaid, he “founded the monastery of Pisper and a number of other monastic settlements, which continue to exist after his blessed death.” Another strong center of monastic life formed in the Nitrian desert. Its true founder should be considered the Venerable Ammonius of Nitria, who came to this place around 320. Not far from the Nitrian Mountain there was a desert called “Cells”, where Macarius of Alexandria (city) labored, and even further from the Nitrian Mountain there was the “Skeet” desert, founded by the Monk Macarius the Great (of Egypt) in 330. Around the same time (c. 323-324) Venerable Pachomius the Great founded the first communal monastery in a place called Tavennisi, on the banks of the Nile River, in its middle course. In Palestine the founders of monasticism were Venerable Chariton the Confessor- builder of the Faran Lavra (330s) and St. Hilarion the Great - builder of the Lavra at Mayum (338). In Syria - Venerable James of Nizibia and his student Venerable Ephraim the Syrian.
The rules of monastic life came to the West thanks to the activities of the Monk Benedict of Nursia, who founded a cenobitic monastery near Naples with a charter similar to the charter of the Monk Pachomius the Great. He adapted the rules of the Egyptian monks for Italian monasticism. Monasticism found favorable soil here and began to develop rapidly. Several more daughter monasteries branched off from the main monastery of St. Benedict . The monasteries that arose in the Western provinces of the Roman Empire took as their model the statutes brought to Rome by the Venerable John Cassian, and these were the famous statutes of the Pachomian monasteries.
The appearance of the first monastic rules
Monasticism, which originated in the earliest period of Christian history, had no statutes. It was born, as it were, intuitively from the Gospel commandments and from fiery love for Christ. The first monks were burned by zeal for piety, and they had absolutely no need for written regulations. Each of the ascetics was his own charter. But over time, jealousy weakened, and the number of monks grew.
When monasticism greatly increased in number and became a massive new phenomenon in the Roman Empire, then the imperial administration had a need to regulate the lives of such a large number of people (the inhabitants of many Egyptian monasteries numbered in the thousands), living according to different laws than the majority of the inhabitants of the Empire lived. These laws began to appear from the pens of emperors, but this began to happen much later - somewhere in the 6th century.
Initially, the monastics themselves began to develop certain rules, which they considered necessary to maintain order in their ever-increasing ranks.
The name of St. Anthony the Great is associated with the rules developed by the monk for his monks and the so-called “Spiritual Instructions.” They were first published in 1646 by the Western scientist Abraham of Angelen. For this work, the author chose from these rules those that relate to entering (and leaving) monasticism. For example, canon XV, as edited by Abraham of Angelenos, states the following: “If temptation occurs because of any young man who has not yet put on the monastic robe, then do not put on him; he should be thrown out of the monastery.” The expression (“do not clothe”) is addressed to the abbot of the monastery, who alone has the power to admit or refuse admission to the monastery. The abbot had every right to expel from the monastery those who gave rise to temptation. Since the moral level of monasticism at that time was very high, the requirements for candidates were very high.
Monastic robes could be worn by anyone who wanted to live like a monk at his own discretion, using the choice of clothing, cut and color to match those clothes that were accepted in a particular monastery. And this is not surprising for hermit monasticism, because it recognizes a significant degree of freedom of the ascetic from external forms and restrictions. However, freedom should be understood only in the direction of greater asceticism, and not in the direction of excesses and indulgences of the flesh.
“Anyone who entered the monastery of St. Anthony could take off his secular clothes and replace them with monastic ones, but he could also ask the abbot of the monastery to clothe him in monastic clothes, if a greater religious uplift in the person accepting monasticism depended on this participation of the abbot.”
In the monastery of St. Anthony, the monks wore their own special attire, which distinguished them from the laity. “They put it on when entering the monastery as monks who had irrevocably renounced the world and forever decided to connect their lives with the monastery. They were deprived of their monastic robes when, for one reason or another, they had to return to the world." Such simple rules for admission to the monastery of St. Anthony existed first in oral tradition or in oral tradition, and then, after the death of the founder of monasticism, they were committed to writing and came down to us.
Consent to be accepted into the ranks of the monastery brethren was determined by the abbot solely according to his own conviction as to whether the famous person was capable of leading an ascetic lifestyle or not. From the life of St. Paul the Simple, one can see how easy the test was during admission to the monastery under St. Anthony. “Antony did all this in order to test Paul’s patience and obedience. And he did not grumble at all about this, but with zeal and diligence he carried out all the commands of Anthony. Finally, Anthony became convinced of Paul’s ability to live in the desert and said to him: “Now you have already become a monk in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Paul began to asceticize not far from the Monk Anthony. He did not pronounce any solemn vows.
No hair cutting, no solemn vows, no solemn renunciation of the world, no change of name and dress were required of the first monks. All that was needed was firm determination, confirmed by deeds. The very first difference between monks and clergy and laity was, of course, their way of life. Very soon differences in clothing appeared. Thus, from the life of the Monk Pachomius, we see how at the beginning Abba Palamon did not want to accept him as his disciple, citing his youth and the difficulties of asceticism, but when he was convinced of the firmness of Pachomius’s intentions to follow the monastic way of life in everything, he accepted him into his disciples and immediately changed his clothes from secular to monastic: “And from then on, driven by love for God, I sought (how) to become a monk. And when they told him about a hermit named Palamon, he came to him to lead a solitary life with him. And when he got there, he knocked on the door. Palamon did not want to take Pachomius, but after he firmly stated: “I believe that with God’s help and your prayers I will endure everything that you told me,” Palamon opened the door of his cell and let Pachomius in and immediately put on his him monastic robes . The Arabic version of the life says in this place that Palamon tested Pachomius for three months before putting him in monastic robes (τό σχήμα τών μοναχών).” It is difficult to say exactly what this clothing was, but one must think that Saint Pachomius, when he became the abbot of many monasteries, took as a model for the clothing of monks the clothes in which Abba Palamon himself dressed him.
Among the first to compile written rules of monastic life were St. Pachomius the Great and St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. These rules formed the basis of almost all subsequent monastic regulations. They have reached our time. And already in them we see how the issues of entering monasticism are resolved and how leaving it is sharply condemned.
If earlier, before the formation of the strict cenovic structure of monasteries, anyone could consider himself a monk if he lived in solitude and worked in piety, then with the emergence of community life, rituals appeared indicating that this or that person, entering the monastic brotherhood, pledged to lead another Lifestyle. In order to somehow indicate this otherness, signs were established by which the life of a monk differed from life in the world. Firstly, these were internal regulations, which were called monastic vows, and secondly, external differences were also accepted (in clothing, food and behavior), distinguishing monks from the laity: //theolcom.ru/doc/sacradoc/4_08_Polskov. pdf.
Savva, Archbishop Tverskoy and Kashinsky . A collection of opinions and reviews of Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, on educational and church-state issues. St. Petersburg, 1885. T. 3. P. 419.
Sagarda N.I. Lectures on patrolology of the 1st–4th centuries. M., 2004. P. 639.
Ignatius (Brianchaninov) , St. Collection of creations: In 6 volumes. T.4. An offering to modern monasticism. M., 2004. P. 71.
Macarius of Optina, Rev. Soulful teachings / Comp. archim. John (Zakharchenko). M., 2006. P. 330.
Emilian, archim. Words and instructions. M., 2006. P. 205.
“This is quite clear to me from the fact that even the way of monastic life was unknown to the divine and holy apostles” (Rules of the Holy Ecumenical Councils with interpretations. Tutaev, 2001. Part 1. P. 698).
“All these hermits and even their communities, due to their small numbers and lack of popularity, for the most part did not completely break with the previous way of life and did not influence the development of worship” ( Skaballanovich M. Explanatory Typikon. M., 1995. P. 198).
“Before the Monk Anthony, hermits were not uncommon, but they labored near their villages, so that the monk did not yet know the great desert” (Ibid. p. 198).
Florovsky G., prot. Dogma and history. M., 1998. P. 262.
“Social life in the Roman Empire, full of pagan memories and customs, was especially dangerous for the salvation of the soul, therefore the zealots of Christian perfection retired to the desert and there founded a new community, completely Christian” ( Sidorov A.I. At the origins of the culture of holiness. Orthodox monasticism and asceticism in research and monuments: Monuments of ancient church ascetic and monastic writing. M., 2002. P.16).
Suvorov N. Church law course. Yaroslavl, 1890. T. 2. P. 366.
Florovsky G., prot. Dogma and history. P. 276.
“They... due to the severity of their lonely and secluded life, were called monks, living together. From this it followed that, based on their joint residence, they were called Cenobites, and their cells and residence were called Cenobites" ( John Cassian the Roman, Rev. Scriptures. M., 1993. P. 498).
“Monasticism spread throughout the ancient Christian world from one common root, which is Egyptian monasticism” (see: Palmov N. Consecration into monasticism. Orders of monastic vows in the Greek Church. Kyiv, 1914) .
“In its homeland, in Egypt, monasticism arose first in the form of hermitic asceticism, and then appeared in the form of communal asceticism. Representatives of hermit monasticism were Rev. Pavel of Thebes and Rev. Anthony the Great" (See: Ibid.).
Sidorov A.I. At the origins of the culture of holiness. P. 17.
Right there. P. 18.
Right there. P. 19.
“The main founder of monastic life in the West was St. Benedict, Count of Nursia, who founded many monasteries, of which one, under the name of Monte Cassino, near Naples, was considered as the founder monastery and drew up the charter of the monastic community" ( Suvorov N. Church law course. P. 367) .
“They lived among the rest of the members of the Church, without any special rights and obligations assigned to them by the Church and considering their lives only with those strict moral requirements that they set for themselves” (Ibid. p. 366) .
“Once it appeared, asceticism could not help but develop and grow not only in volume, but also in degree and strength” ( Skaballanovich M. Explanatory Typikon. P. 201) .
“This mountain was already densely populated by monks, for Palladium counts them as approx. 5000"; “in the city of Oxyrhynchus there were 20,000 nuns, in the city of Antinoe there were 12 women’s monasteries”; “this monastery, not mentioned in Greek sources, by the time of Shenoute’s death (466) had become one of the most famous and populous in Egypt: it had more than 2,000 inhabitants” ( Nikodim (Milos), ep. Orthodox church law. St. Petersburg, 1897. P. 652) .
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Monasticism(monk from Greek μοναχός - solitary, singular, Also solitary goes back to μόνος – alone, lonely) - the way of life of Orthodox Christians who completely devote themselves to their occupations and exploits.
Monks in Russia are often called monks, and monasticism is monasticism(from “other”)
The ancient devotees of faith left the world not out of fear of not being saved, but because the world was unattractive. They went to the desert not as to a dark and damp grave, but as to a blooming and joyful land of the spirit. (V century) formulated the general rule for leaving the world: “We voluntarily give up the sweets of this life only when we taste the sweetness of God in a holistic feeling of completeness.”
“Monasticism, by its design, is an imitation of a way of life. The Gospel Christ reveals itself to us as the ideal of a perfect monk: He is unmarried, free from family attachments, has no roof over his head, wanders, lives in voluntary poverty, fasts, and spends his nights in prayer. Monasticism is the desire to get as close as possible to this ideal, the striving for holiness, for, the renunciation of everything that keeps one on earth and prevents one from ascending to heaven. Loneliness is incompleteness, inferiority; in marriage it is overcome by finding another. In monasticism, this other is God Himself.”
bishop
“A person gets married immediately, in one movement. No “trial marriage” is essentially permissible or possible. Marriage requires a lot of courage, determination—and a willingness to make mutual sacrifices. The path to monasticism, unlike marriage, consists of a series of successive steps that sometimes last for many years: during this time a person has time to learn and experience monastic life.”
Hieromonk Macarius (Markish)
“A monk is one who, being clothed in a material and perishable body, imitates the life and state of the disembodied. A monk is one who adheres only to God’s words and commandments in all times, places, and deeds. The monk is the ever-present compulsion of nature and the unflagging preservation of feelings. A monk is one who has a purified body, clean lips and an enlightened mind. A monk is one who, while grieving and sick in soul, always remembers and reflects on death, both in sleep and in vigil. Renunciation of the world is arbitrary hatred of the substance praised by the worldly, and the rejection of nature in order to obtain those benefits that are above nature.”
Reverend
From the Charter of the Holy Trinity Monastery:
FOUNDATIONS OF MONASKING
1. The structure of monastic life is based on the teaching of Holy Scripture and St. Fathers of the Church, as well as on the innate desire of the human spirit to achieve the highest moral perfection through self-sacrifice.
2. The goal of monasticism is the closest unity with God, the acquisition of God's grace, and the achievement of the highest spiritual perfection.
3. The goal of monasticism is achieved through voluntary, unwavering fulfillment of Christian commandments and basic monastic vows, among which the most important place is occupied by: non-covetousness, chastity and obedience.
4. Non-covetousness consists in complete renunciation of the world, that is, in abandoning one’s own property, engaging in worldly affairs, abandoning worldly honors and titles. Food, clothing and other necessary items should serve only to preserve life and health, and not to pleasure and lust, and therefore should be consumed with great limitation. The one who makes a vow of non-covetousness is affirmed in the following words of Christ: “...if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and have treasure in heaven, and come after Me...” ().
5. Chastity consists of a permanent celibate life, i.e. in complete abstinence from everything, constant guarding of the soul from unchaste thoughts and desires. Those who take a vow of chastity are affirmed in the following words of Holy Scripture: “He who is able to contain, let him contain” (
One of the fathers said that if a young man never had the idea of going to a monastery, then something was wrong in his spiritual life. At some point, any young Christian is haunted by thoughts about choosing a path in life. And even if you have already determined that your calling is to create a family and a monastery is not for you, it happens that days and years pass in anticipation of the one and only, but nothing changes... And you wonder in confusion whether you were mistaken in your expectations, doubting, afraid of “not recognizing” your true love, of confusing it with some fleeting hobby...
A correspondent for the magazine “Otrok” talked about his doubts with two priests - and Archimandrite Jonah (Cherepanov).
Father Konstantin, is there a “critical” age when a person must finally decide on the choice of life path - should he get married or go to a monastery? Or can you decide for the rest of your life?
In youth, every person tries to comprehend life, to understand what it is like. The beginning of a Christian understanding of life is the understanding that life is constant. Whatever you choose, monasticism or marriage, it is important to understand that this is a life feat through which you serve God, from beginning to end. Only after realizing this is it worth discussing the choice of a life path.
- When do you have the right to choose this path?
It's not a matter of age. I have already said that the main thing is to realize the seriousness of Christian life, to understand that there can be no compromises and betrayal in it. The wrong example of the world shows us a frivolous attitude towards marriage, when people, chasing their emotions, do not want to bear any responsibility. In order to build a family, a Christian must have experience of victory over his passions. When a person knows how to control himself, then one can think about starting a family. Nowadays it is very difficult to determine the age of mental maturity. There are quite meaningful marriages concluded at the age of 18, but on the other hand, there are people who by the age of 25 remain completely infantile, absolutely not ready for married life. Maturity is evidenced by a person’s actions, his willingness to bear responsibility, to fulfill his promises, no matter how difficult it may be. If such experience exists, then, of course, this person is capable of developing such a complex structure as a family.
When the time comes for many young men to get married, they do not have the strength to control their emotions. Disappointed in marriage, people look for the reason for the destruction of the relationship in “dissimilarity of characters,” but in fact, what happens is disappointment not in a specific person, but in the attitude towards the business you have taken on. Is it possible to take on building a family when you do not know the laws of marriage, which are aimed at carefully preserving mutual love?
The life of a person who has embarked on this path of asceticism changes radically. You need so much patience and wisdom! And this cannot be done outside the Church, without the advice and help of a confessor. It is clear that a person himself cannot draw a final conclusion about himself. If this is an Orthodox family, it is also necessary to consult with the parents - not only the spiritual father is the measure of everything.
The vast majority of Christians, both boys and girls, can make a worthy couple if they have a warm relationship with each other. Anyone who believes that people can become spouses if they are “in love” with each other is mistaken, because the word “falling in love” was invented by people who truly do not want to acquire love.
What is called falling in love can only be the beginning of a relationship, but without continuation in true sacrificial love, it will remain fruitless and will only be self-deception. It would be more accurate to say that falling in love can be present in a relationship, but real feeling is acquired through heroism, self-denial and sacrifice. In addition, it happens that “falling in love” turns out to be simply a passionate attraction, the fruits of which are destructive for a Christian. For Christians, it is important in building a family to preserve the warmth of the relationships that we talked about, to develop, to acquire love, according to the word of the Apostle. People who go to each other grow in love in a Christian way; even external beauty is revealed in spouses when they live a genuine Christian life, when they begin to love everything about each other. And this, of course, only happens gradually.
- Is it worth looking for a chosen one exclusively in the Orthodox community? What if the young man fell in love with a non-Christian woman?
Such cases do happen... But here’s what’s important to understand: love that “unexpectedly appears” is, of course, an invention of the world. Have you allowed yourself to fall in love with a non-Christian girl? Do you know what you're getting into? Most often it happens like this: when a girl communicates with a Christian boy, first she does what he expects from her, and after marriage she returns to her usual way of life. The Holy Scripture commands us to choose a life partner from among ourselves, and this is very wise. A young man must realize that the family is not a bed of romantic love. First of all, family is the construction of those relationships that will become the foundation, the ship on which we will go through all the horror of the trials given to every Christian in his life. Spouses are mutual helpers. Will your chosen one be your assistant in the most difficult trials, will she go with you in the right direction?
- What does it mean to go in the right direction?
Let's consider, for example, who is more right: a mother who has a kind heart, forgives everything to her children and allows them to live a vile life, or a “strict” mother who remembers that life on earth is just the threshold of true, eternal life, and who will never allow her son to die for the future life by the sins of the present?
How important it is to choose a truly kind mother for your children and a true helper, friend and companion for yourself! Then, if a person happens to get lost in the stormy sea of spiritual life, his wife will turn out to be his compass - if he made the right choice at the time. This is what a Christian should think about when he chooses a companion.
And one more important point: it is very important for a Christian to consult with his spiritual father about his chosen one. People can have different characters and aspirations, sometimes they are very drunk and dreamy. It is most convenient to notice this from the outside, and how good it is if a spiritually experienced person does this! I, as a confessor, do not have the right to order or persistently teach them on behalf of the Church - they, after all, have freedom and the right to choose. But when I see such mistakes, I can pray about them, I try to help, church, guide them so that they build their family on the principles of Christian morality.
- Can a person be left alone?
This happens very rarely, and these are not easy cases. At a young age, you need to focus on life in marriage or monastic vows. But if a person has not decided on any of these feats, then let him live purely, like a Christian, fulfilling his duty as an Orthodox person. Human life is mystical, and if God pleases, He will show everything in due time.
The editor-in-chief of Otrok.ua, the abbot of the Kyiv Holy Trinity Monastery of St. Jonah, Archimandrite Jonah (Cherepanov), answers questions regarding the choice of a monastic path.
Father Jonah, what really motivates people when they take monasticism? Why does a person leave his usual way of life and live according to completely different laws, completely different rules, unlike most people around?
Even among Christians there is no identical attitude towards monasticism. They worship the monastic way of life and cannot understand it; some consider it the height of Christian life, others consider it an unnecessary extreme.
In a conversation with the rector of the Moscow metochion of Optina Pustyn, Archimandrite Melchizedek (Artyukhin), we touch only the tip of this iceberg: we talk about the most misunderstanding, but the most important, monastic vow - obedience. We also talk about whether it is possible to make a mistake when leaving the world, about the “selfishness” of monks and parental blessings for the monastic path. And, of course, about how and why people choose the narrow path of monasticism.Becoming a monk out of gratitude to God
Father Melchizedek, one of the most common prejudices about monasticism: those who fail to realize themselves in ordinary life go to the monastery. How much truth is there in this?
When secular people, especially young people, ask me: “How did you come to monasticism?”, and I tell them the following joke: “I had an unhappy love, I was walking down the street, a brick fell on me, and monks from Trinity came to the hospital. Sergius Lavra, I was secretly taken out and, in an unconscious state, I was tonsured a monk. When I woke up, I realized that it didn’t seem to be bad.”
I laugh it off, because after all, this is inconceivable for secular consciousness. From here, from this inconvenience, myths arise about an unhappy life, about the fact that people have not found a use for themselves.
You know, there is a very wise expression: the weak look for the guilty, the strong look for God. People become monks out of love for God or because a person seeks a special way of penitential life. And only those who have tasted it and who lead it can understand monastic life. How can you understand what the sea is when you have never seen it? Or how can you explain to an Australian aborigine what ice cream tastes like if he has never eaten it? Therefore the Scripture says: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” To see, to understand, you have to taste.
- For what reasons did you go to the monastery?
I took monastic vows at the age of 24, driven by the following thought: to devote myself to God out of complete gratitude to Him.
Raised in an unbelieving family, I first encountered the gospel at age 17. And it turned my life upside down. Then I thought to myself: “I was going in absolutely the wrong direction - not towards God. If there had not been a meeting with the person who gave me the Gospel, then my life would have flowed in ordinary worldly logic: study, then work, family (and with my character, it is unknown what would be left of it). I wouldn’t have known the most important thing!..” That’s when the thought of devoting myself to God first arose: if He really saved me from great trouble, then my life cannot now flow in the usual way, like all people. She must be dedicated to Him in some way to give thanks for her salvation.
- Didn’t it seem to you that even a worldly person could devote himself to God?
I was looking for absolute dedication of life to God. It would be entirely possible for a believer to “find a use for himself” in the world by getting married and following the priestly path, for example. Most people choose the middle path - the path of a good Christian life, which is not a bad thing at all. But I had a maximalist approach: I wanted not to be scattered, but to devote myself entirely to Him. Where is the complete surrender of yourself to God, when your very life is dedicated to the Creator? In monasticism.
Often decisions are made impulsively, especially at a young age. Youth is characterized by maximalism. Could there be an error creeping in here?
Good idea. But even now, at 53 years old, I have not regretted my youthful decision. Because in my case it was a conscious, deeply thought-out step. My desire for monastic life came true seven years later: at 17, just a few months after I came to faith, I made this decision. And gradually I began to implement this path, testing myself many times over the years. He studied, worked, then served in the army and there he prepared for monastic life. Then I entered the seminary, where I had before me the example of the fathers of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and my peers, who wrote a petition and took monastic vows. I could try this on myself.
And when people suddenly tell me: “I’ll go to a monastery and become a monk!”, I answer: “No!” For what a person loves, he prepares in advance. Anyone who wants to be a professional soldier begins to play toy soldiers in childhood. If his intention is serious, then as a schoolboy he will go to the voluntary sports department of the army - there used to be such paramilitary clubs for training youth, where they jumped with parachutes and raced motorcycles.
- What was your preparation for monasticism?
My monastery began in the kitchen. I asked: “What is the way of life of the monks? What is the monastic rule? There is one way of life, completely specific: this is life as much as possible according to the Gospel, which for a monastic is an absolute guideline. Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) wrote: « Monasticism is nothing more than an obligation to accurately fulfill the Gospel commandments.” The monk wants to fulfill the Gospel with his life. And he must be a monk not only in church, but everywhere, in any situation - “in crowds or in the deepest desert,” as the same Saint Ignatius said.
God wants His children not only to talk to each other, but also to talk to Him. And the best opportunity to communicate with God is in a monastery, where there is no complete, laborious concern for life.
- Didn't care concern you?
It hit me later: two years after becoming a monk. In 1987, I took monastic vows, on November 29, and a year later, in 1988 (just when I graduated from the seminary), Patriarch Pimen decided to send a “landing group” to Optina Pustyn: it included the governor of Optina, Archimandrite Evlogy, two hieromonks (one of which I am), two deacons and four seminarians. Three months later I was appointed housekeeper of Optina Pustyn. That's all. My solitary life was over, I became a “foreman and builder” for life. I really don't like it...
About obedience
- You, being a monk, could not resist this?
The fact is that it was a vital necessity. Although I didn’t like this business, I reasoned like this: who else would do this? Of the four of us, someone should! There is a feeling of desire and a sense of duty, and they do not always coincide. Therefore, obedience can be done out of love for the work, or it can be done out of a sense of duty.
- Does obedience mean unquestioning and thoughtless execution?
- What does “for love” mean in this case?
This means out of love for your family, for your brethren, and not for this business. Not as slaves and not as mercenaries. The monastery is a big family. You may or may not love your job, but understand that it is necessary for the family, which means it must be done in the best possible way. Using your will and your brains for this.
For example, in the summer we planted thujas near the temple. Here's a task for you: plant a thuja. Planted. Did you nail a peg to it and tie it around it so that the wind doesn’t tilt it? Did you cover it from the sun in thirty-degree heat? Yes, no one gave you detailed instructions, but you had to think for yourself and do it for yourself. As the Apostle Paul says: “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as for God.”
Is a monk an egoist?
Many people see monastics as gloomy, strict, unfriendly people. It is clear that this is a stereotype and a simplification, but does it have its roots?
The most cheerful, funniest people are monks.
People don't see this because they only observe monks while on duty. For the most part, we can see the “ceremonial” monastic life. What about the parade? Everyone, like tin soldiers, serious, marches in step. But in life they can be completely different. So it is here. We don't see closer human communication.
We must understand that the idea of a monastery as a gathering of lazy people who relax under the guise of spiritual life and do not care about anyone is an illusion. People in worldly life do not work as much as these monks work! Let's say, Vatopedi - the monastery on Mount Athos, from where the Belt of the Blessed Virgin Mary was brought to Russia - receives 500 pilgrims every day. For them, you need to buy food, bring it, cook it, feed everyone and then wash the dishes, and also wash the bed linen - basically, pilgrims stay for one night. And still have time to attend all services. Even monasteries cannot exist without guests.
There is no monk who does nothing in the monastery either for the brotherhood or for the pilgrims.
The question is: is this egoism or not egoism?
- Saint Gregory the Theologian says that a monk is one who lives for God, and, moreover, for Him alone. Isn't there a contradiction here?
I once asked a similar question to Father John (Krestyankin): how to combine diverse obediences, everyday worries and prayer? He said to this: “Our life should be like a Napoleon cake: dough, cream, dough, cream, and powder on top. If there is only one dough, that is, there are only things to do, worries, the cake will turn out to be tasteless. If there is one cream (one prayer), it will be too cloying. The cream and dough should alternate, then it will be good.” I asked what powder was. Father John says: “And powder is humility.” Without it, nothing will be beneficial.
A rare calling?
- Can we say that monasticism is a rare calling, and you don’t need to look for it yourself?
Both the desire for monasticism and the fulfillment of this desire are from God. The very thought of this is from God. The question arises, what of man? Agreement. Volitional desire is your desire to fulfill.
For example, you want ice cream, you have money, and you know where to buy it. And Great Lent is coming... There is a desire, there is an opportunity, but you don’t do it - you don’t give your consent.
The feeling of love for monasticism is given by God. But not everyone reaches the incarnation. Therefore, I am sure that we do not choose this path. At least that's what I can judge from myself. When I agreed with the idea of monasticism, with the desire to become a monk, it was as if a “green light” turned on in everything. And I see God’s call in this.
- Could this call be confused with something? With your own dreams, with emotions, with neophyte delight?
No. When a person doubts, it means that he does not love God enough to devote himself to Him. And monastic life for him will be, as we call it, “half-bent.”
And when the desire for monasticism is irresistible, you will strive for it, despite the fact that all circumstances are against it.
Why does the Gospel say: “A man’s enemies are his own household” (see Matt. 10:34-38)? This is also said about those who want monastic life. Not a single mother, not a single father easily bless their children on this path. Why go far? The parents of St. Sergius of Radonezh told him: “First come to us and only then become a monk.” And he fulfilled this filial duty. Even they did not agree to part with their son during their lifetime.
Moreover, the future Saint Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk was beaten by his mother and forcibly returned from the monastery. So he disobeyed his mother and dedicated his life to God.
How different everything is. This means that the point is not in renunciation of parents, as it seems, and, moreover, not in dislike for them...
That's not the point. It's a matter of priorities. When a person decided to devote his life to God, God came first. This does not mean that parents are in the last place. They took the second place, and the second place is also a very big place!
- Does a person need the blessing of his parents to enter a monastery?
Preferably. But not necessarily.
The Optina elders, for example, have this instruction: you must receive the blessing of your parents for marriage, marriage and monasticism. In addition, as the Holy Fathers said, “he who sows with a blessing will also reap with a blessing.”
I walked towards monasticism for seven years. And the last obstacle on my way was the lack of my unbelieving mother’s blessing to enter the monastery. The confessor said: it’s impossible without this. I say: “But mom is not a believer. In principle, she cannot give such a blessing!” And she really told me: “Anything, just not this! You can enter the seminary, but just don’t become a monk.”
But one day she comes to the Lavra, where I already studied at the seminary, looking kind of sad, and our conversation doesn’t go well. I'm asking:
What's happened?
- Nothing.
- You’re somehow not like that.
To which she tells me:
You'll probably be a monk.
- Mom, where did you get this from? Look what regents are walking around!.. And they also study for three years. Get it out of your head - so much time still has to pass.
- No, you will be a monk.
- Why did you decide so?
- I had a dream. I was so sad in the evening, and I fell asleep with this sadness...
But the fact is that she was left alone. My father left us when I was in first grade. My older brother got married and left the family, and I served in the army, and my mother didn’t see me. He returned from the army and managed to live at home for a couple of months: in July he was demobilized, and in August he entered the seminary and left for the Lavra. And again she didn’t really see me for two years...
Mom says:
I fall asleep with these sad thoughts. And in a dream I hear an imperious, strong voice: “Galina! Do not be afraid of anything. Your son will be a monk." I wake up in tears, and I have only one thought: “I don’t want this, I don’t need this!” The mind says one thing, but feelings say another. But this voice, which I cannot forget, brought such peace to my soul. As if some inner core had appeared...
I conveyed all this to my confessor. He replied: “This is the voice of God. That is yours. In a month you will come to the monastery.”
That's all. The last obstacle has disappeared...
Is it possible without monasticism?
Why do you think, despite all the negative stereotypes and myths, monasticism remains attractive and arouses respect?
Also F.M. Dostoevsky wrote that it is important for a person who lives in wrongness and injustice to know that truth lives somewhere. We may be unrighteous, we may not be saints, but such people exist somewhere!
And today people want to touch the ideal of a pious life. Saint John Chrysostom wrote that monasteries are like torches that shine on people from afar, attracting everyone to their silence. It is important for a believer to have monastic life itself, a life of devotion to God, as a model!
I know of cases when people in power, people with position, wealthy people, who have reached the heights of success, truly fell in love with Athos. They said: “I couldn’t even imagine that this could happen. I'm just shocked." Man plunged into another life, a world where everything is tied to God. With us, on the contrary, our whole life is tied to anything, just not to God.
In general, monastic life is a secret sealed with seven seals. You can't explain it. And the Monk John Climacus says: if people knew what a joy monastic life is, the whole world would go to the monastery. If they knew what difficulties there are in monastic life, no one would go to the monastery at all. This is a secret behind seven seals, a special life. You can talk about this a little theoretically, but in order to understand the fullness and joy of life with God, you need to taste it yourself. Therefore, monasticism will remain both attractive and unsaid, not understood by the worldly consciousness. There's no getting around this.
Curriculum Vitae
Archimandrite Melchizedek (Artyukhin) was born in 1962 in Moscow.
He studied at a medical school and graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in 1988. 29th of November In 1986 he was tonsured a monk with the name Melchizedek.
On December 19, 1987, he was ordained hieromonk. From 1988 to 1992, he studied in absentia at the Moscow Theological Academy, after which he was transferred to the Optina Pustyn Monastery, where he served as a steward. He was a dean for several years.
Today he is the rector of the Optina Hermitage and the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Yasenevo. Also the rector of the house Church of the Resurrection of Christ at the boarding house No. 6 of labor veterans. Since 2005, he has been the rector of the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is under construction in Yasenevo. In 2013 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
