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How they live in a monastery: confession of a nun. My life. A former novice spoke about life in the monastery

What makes Russian women become nuns?

Today, on a wave of patriotism, we are becoming more and more pious - at least outwardly. What do we have with female monasticism - our attitude towards it and its attitude towards us? Who becomes nuns and why? Does God have probation, what if the desire goes away? And is it possible to return to the world if it has passed?

Under the USSR explanatory dictionary interpreted monasticism as a form of passive protest against inhuman living conditions, which originated under the autocracy, as a gesture of despair and disbelief in the possibility of changing these conditions. Back then, when you heard the word “nun,” you only thought of an elderly granny who had never gotten rid of the prejudices of the past. Today, those who go to the monastery look completely different.

For example, romantic young ladies, “bookish” girls who got their ideas about monasteries from novels and films. Muscovite Larisa Garina in 2006 observed obedience in the Spanish monastery of the Discalced Carmelites (one of the strictest, with a vow of silence), prepared to take the vow and assured that only love for God brought her to these walls. “It’s hard for a week without sex,” Larisa assured, “but for the rest of your life it’s normal!” Today Larisa is happy, married, mother of two children. Youth is just youth to experiment.

A significant contingent are girls with problems who initially end up in the monastery only for a while. 25-year-old Alina 7 years ago, at 18, became addicted to drugs. “My parents sent me to a monastery for 9 months,” she recalls. — This is a special monastery, there were 15 novices like me. It was hard - getting up before dawn for matins, praying all day and poking around in the garden, sleeping rough... Some tried to escape, went to the field to find some grass in order to at least “kill themselves” with something. After some time, the body apparently cleanses itself. And a little later, enlightenment comes. I remember this state well: how the scales fall from my eyes! I completely came to my senses, reconsidered my life, and my parents took me away.”

“The monastery is also a kind of rehabilitation center for people who are “lost”: drinkers, homeless,” confirms Alina’s words, confessor of the Mother of God Albazinsky St. Nicholas Convent, Father Pavel. — The lost live and work in the monastery and try to start normal life.

Among those who went to monasteries there were many famous people. For example, younger sister actress Maria Shukshina Olga, daughter of Lydia and Vasily Shukshin. At first, Olga followed in the footsteps of her parents and starred in several films, but soon realized that she was uncomfortable in this environment. The young woman found the meaning of life in God, lived with Orthodox monastery in the Ivanovo region, where her sick son was raised for some time. Olga carried out “obedience” - in addition to prayers, she baked bread and helped with the monastery’s household chores.

In 1993, actress Ekaterina Vasilyeva left the stage and entered a monastery. In 1996, the actress returned to the world and to the cinema and explained the reason for her departure: “I lied, drank, divorced my husbands, had abortions...” Vasilyeva’s husband, playwright Mikhail Roshchin, after her divorce with whom she left the world, assured that the monastery cured his ex-wife of alcohol addiction: “In every clinic she was treated, nothing helped. But she met the priest Father Vladimir - and he helped her recover. I think she sincerely became a believer, otherwise nothing would have happened.”


In 2008, People's Artist of Russia Lyubov Strizhenova (mother of Alexander Strizhenova) exchanged secular life for monastic life, waiting for her grandchildren to grow up. Strizhenova went to the Alatyr Monastery in Chuvashia.

Famous actress Irina Muravyova does not hide her desire to hide in the monastery: “What most often brings you to the temple? Illness, suffering, mental anguish... So grief and aching emptiness inside brought me to God.” But the actress’s confessor does not yet allow her to leave the stage.

I’m going to the courtyard of the Novospassky Monastery in the near Moscow region, famous for, which accepts novices and also provides shelter for women victims of domestic violence. Moreover, the monastery itself is for men.

I tell the priest that I came to consult about my 20-year-old niece Lisa - they say she wants to go to the monastery and will not listen to any persuasion.

Father, Father Vladimir, reassures:

- You bring her. We won’t take it, but we’ll definitely talk. Surely unrequited love was. Age has its place... She can’t go to a monastery! You cannot come to God out of grief and despair - whether it is unrequited love or something else. People come to the monastery only out of conscious love for God. Just ask Mother Georgia, she came to the sisterhood 15 years ago, although everything was fine with her - both work and home were full.

The sister, and now mother, named in the monastery in honor of St. George, was called differently in the world. Despite her black clothes and lack of makeup, she looks about 38-40 years old.

“I came at 45,” my mother smiles slyly, “and now I’m 61.”

Either an enlightened look gives such an effect, or a relaxed, kind face... I wonder what brought her to God?

- Do you have a goal in life? - Mother answers the question with a question. - And what is she like?

“Well, live happily, love children and loved ones, bring benefit to society...” I’m trying to formulate.

Mother Georgiy nods her head: “Okay, but why?”

And no matter how hard I try to find an explanation for my seemingly noble goals, I always come to a dead end: really, why? It turns out that my goals seem to be not lofty, but vain. Small troubles - all so that you can live comfortably, so that neither conscience nor poverty disturbs you.

“Until you realize the purpose of your earthly life, there is nothing to do in the monastery,” summarizes Mother Georgia, and Father Vladimir smiles approvingly. “I came when suddenly one fine morning I realized why I was living.” And I woke up with a clear understanding of where to go. She didn’t even come to the monastery; they brought the legs themselves. I left everything without a second thought.

- And have you really never regretted it?

“This is a state when you clearly see your path,” mother smiles. “There is no room for doubts or regrets.” Bring your Liza, we’ll talk to her, tell her that she doesn’t need to give up the bustle of the world - it’s too early. Going to a monastery just because of troubles in your personal life is not good! Yes, and from the young flesh there will still be temptations; she will have no time for prayer. But we definitely need to talk: otherwise, if she’s stubborn, some kind of sect can lure her.

- Don’t you hire young people at all? But who are these women?- I point to a group of women in black robes working on homestead farming. Some of them seem young.

“There are those who are waiting for tonsure,” explains the priest, “but they have been here as novices for a long time, they have already tested their love for the Lord.” In general, the abbot usually does not give a blessing to a woman until she is 30 years old. There are those who are simply obedient; they can always leave. And there are those who ran away from their monster husband, they live over there, some with children,” the priest points to a separate log house. We will shelter everyone, but in order to somehow live, we must work in the monastery economy.

—Are there those who are not accepted as nuns on principle?

“The contraindications are about the same as for driving,” the priest smiles, pointing his finger at his car. - Epilepsy, mental disorders and drunkenness.

But why can one be drawn to a monastery by such happiness, if grief and disappointment are not allowed? My conversations with those who were just going to the monastery or visited, but returned to the world, show that such thoughts do not come from a good life.

Muscovite Elena had a terrible accident adult daughter. While they were fighting for her life in intensive care, she vowed that she would go to a monastery if the girl survived. But the daughter could not be saved. A year after the tragedy, Elena admits that sometimes it seems to her that her daughter died in order to save her from monasticism. Because Elena is glad that she did not have to fulfill her promise and give up worldly life. Now the orphaned mother reproaches herself for not having formulated her thought differently then: let her daughter survive - and we will live together life to the fullest and enjoy it.

32-year-old Saratov resident Elena admits that a year ago she wanted to go to a monastery; depression was caused by serious complications after the operation. Today Lena is happy that they found good people who managed to dissuade her:

“My confessor, as well as my family, friends and psychologists kept me from taking this step. I found a good father, he listened to me and said: you have a family - this is the most important thing! And he advised me to contact an Orthodox psychologist. Today I understand that my desire to go to a monastery was only an attempt to escape from reality and had nothing to do with the true desire to come to God.

“The desire of girls to enter a monastery is most often an attempt at self-realization in this way,” confirms Ellada Pakalenko, a psychologist with a rare “Orthodox” specialization. She is one of the few specialists who works specifically with “monasticism” - those who want to leave worldly life, but have doubts. They come to Hellas themselves, sometimes they are brought by relatives who are unable to dissuade their loved ones from such a step on their own. It was Pakalenko who helped Lena from Saratov escape the monastery cell. Hellas knows what she’s talking about: she herself went to the Donetsk monastery as a novice at the age of 20.


Hellas Pakalenko. Photo: from personal archive

“In general, general flight to monasteries is always accompanied by an economic crisis, genocide and overpopulation,” says Hellas. — If we look at history, we see that mass exoduses of the laity always occur against the background and as a consequence of a sick society. And the mass exodus of women is a sure sign of pressure on them. This happens when women stop coping with the task assigned to them and want to throw off the burden of responsibility by trusting in God. And from time immemorial, girls have been raised with very high demands: she must be a wife, a mother, a beauty, and educated, and be able to feed her children. And boys grow up irresponsible, feeling that they themselves are happiness and a gift for any woman.

An Orthodox psychologist is sure that going to a monastery replaces unrealized love for a woman:

— As practice shows, girls who go to the monastery are not from church-going families at all, but emotionally closed ones, with low self-esteem and weak sexuality, believing that only within the monastery walls they will be “understood.” They don’t understand that this is not a solution, and certainly not good for God. To pacify the flesh, the monastery is also not best place: girls with normal sexuality who try to suppress it in this way will have a hard time in the monastery. In the sense that they will not find the peace they are looking for there.

Pakalenko says that she visited many monasteries, talked with novices and nuns, and can say exactly what brings yesterday’s carefree girls to their cells. This bad relationship with parents, especially with the mother, low self-esteem and perfectionism.

— In one monastery I saw such nuns that Hollywood is resting! - Hellas recalls. — Tall, slender girls with model appearance. It turned out, indeed, that they were yesterday’s models, kept women of rich people. And they have such a challenge in their eyes and in their speeches: “I feel better here!” For young people, a monastery is always an escape from problems, from failures. An attempt to “change coordinates” in own life to be treated differently. It's not bad, but it's not about true faith, but about the fact that these girls have no other tools to change their lives - do not lose heart, work, study, love. This is about weakness and lack of will to live, and not at all about love for God. Good confessors dissuade such people. But all sorts of sects, on the contrary, search and lure. Sects always need fresh blood from the disappointed, desperate, morally unstable. And they always lure precisely because they promise being chosen: “We are special, we are different, we are higher.”

Hellas talks about his own journey into the monastery walls. It was in her native Donetsk, she was 20, she was stately and beautiful girl, enjoyed increased attention men, for which she was constantly reproached in her strict family. At some point, she wanted a pause—inner silence—to get to know herself. And she ran away to the monastery. 20 years have passed since then, and Hellas assures that there is a way back from the monastery. Although it is certainly not easy.

“I know what it’s like to live in a monastery as a novice, and then understand that it’s not yours, and leave there and return to these walls only as a specialist - a “dissuade” from the monastery. Now I’m 40, I teach people to believe in God and keep his commandments, and not to isolate themselves from the outside world simply because they don’t have the strength to get what they want, to resist violence, evil, pain.

Hellas recalls that at the monastery, in addition to novices and nuns, there were simply women with children who had nowhere to go. All the inhabitants of the monastery walls had their own stories, but no one was taken to monastic vows right away. It was necessary to stay in the monastery for at least six months and, if the desire persisted, to ask for the blessing of the abbess. Mostly these were simple women, without special requests or education.

An expert on Orthodox ethics and psychology, Natalya Lyaskovskaya, admits that after the onset of the crisis, there were more women who wanted to retire from the world. And he identifies 5 main types of “candidate nuns.”


Natalya Lyaskovskaya. Photo: from personal archive

1. Today, students of monasteries most often become nuns. In Russia there are many shelters where orphan girls, those who have lost their parents, children from dysfunctional families. These girls grow up in convents under the care of sisters in Christ who not only take care of physical health their pupils, but also spiritually - children are treated with the love that they were deprived of. Upon completion high school they can leave the walls of the monastery and find their place in society, which is not difficult with acquired skills. However, often girls remain in their native monastery for the rest of their lives, take monastic vows and, in turn, work in shelters, nursing homes, hospitals (for obedience), in schools - and at the monasteries there are music, art, and pottery workshops. and other schools, not only general education and parish schools. These girls cannot imagine life without a monastery, outside of monasticism.

2. Second common reason, according to which already adult girls and women come to the monastery, is a great misfortune suffered in the world: the loss of a child, the death of loved ones, the betrayal of a husband, etc. They are accepted for obedience if for a long time a woman still wants to become a nun and the Mother Superior sees that she will become a nun and is tonsured. But more often than not, such women gradually come to their senses, gain spiritual strength in the monastery and return to the world.

4. There is another category of women over whom our monasteries are increasingly taking guardianship. These are women who failed to integrate into the social model of society or for some reason were thrown to the margins of life: for example, they lost their housing due to the fault of black realtors, were expelled from home by children, drinkers, and are struggling with other addictions. They live in a monastery, are fed by it, work as best they can, but they rarely become nuns. It is necessary to go through a long spiritual path for the monastic spirit to kindle in such a person.

5. Sometimes there are exotic reasons: for example, I know one nun who went to the monastery (besides her sincere spiritual disposition towards the monastic way of life) because of the unique library that the monastery she chose had. In one of the Siberian monasteries there is a black girl, she came to Russia specifically to become a nun and “live in silence”: in her homeland she had to live in a black ghetto, where there was terrible noise day and night. The girl accepted holy baptism and it’s been four years since I took monastic vows as a nun.


Father Alexey Yandushev-Rumyantsev. Photo: from personal archive

And Father Alexey Yandushev-Rumyantsev, prefect for educational and scientific work at the Higher Catholic Theological Seminary in St. Petersburg, explained true female monasticism to me:

“The Church sees a special blessing in women’s choice of the monastic path - as always, when its children devote themselves to prayer and spiritual feat for the world and for all humanity, for this is love for one’s neighbor. Today, as in all previous eras, starting with early Middle Ages, among the people who devoted their entire lives to serving God and prayer, the majority were women. The experience of our life suggests that, being delicate and defenseless by nature, women are in fact often stronger and incomparably more selfless individuals than men. This also affects their life choices.”

First try

I went to the monastery several times. The first desire arose when I was 14 years old. Then I lived in Minsk, studying in the first year of music school. I had just started going to church and asked to sing in the church choir of the cathedral. In the shop of one of the Minsk churches, I accidentally came across a detailed life of St. Seraphim of Sarov - a thick book, about 300 pages. I read it in one fell swoop and immediately wanted to follow the example of the saint.

Soon I had the opportunity to visit several Belarusian and Russian monasteries as a guest and pilgrim. In one of them, I made friends with the brethren, who at that time consisted of only two monks and one novice. Since then, I periodically came to this monastery to live. By various reasons, also due to my young age, in those years I was not able to fulfill my dream.

The second time I thought about monasticism was years later. For several years I chose between different monasteries - from St. Petersburg to Georgian mountain monasteries. I went there to visit and took a closer look. Finally, he chose the St. Elias Monastery of the Odessa Diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate, which he entered as a novice. By the way, we met his deputy and talked for a long time before the real meeting on one of the social networks.

Monastic life

Having crossed the threshold of the monastery with my things, I realized that my worries and doubts were behind me: I was home, now a difficult, but understandable and bright life, full of spiritual achievements, awaited me. It was quiet happiness.

The monastery is located in the very center of the city. We were free to leave the territory for a short time. It was even possible to go to the sea, but for a longer absence it was necessary to obtain permission from the governor or dean. If you need to leave the city, permission had to be in writing. The fact is that there are a lot of deceivers who put on vestments and pretend to be clergy, monks or novices, but at the same time have nothing to do with either the clergy or monasticism. These people go around cities and villages, collecting donations. Permission from the monastery was a kind of shield: just a little, without any problems, you could prove that you belonged, the real one.

In the monastery itself I had a separate cell, and for this I am grateful to the governor. Most novices and even some monks lived in twos. All amenities were on the floor. The building was always clean and tidy. This was monitored by the civilian workers of the monastery: cleaners, laundresses and other employees. All household needs were satisfied in abundance: we were well fed in the fraternal refectory, and they turned a blind eye to the fact that we also had our own food in our cells.

I felt great joy when something delicious was served in the refectory! For example, red fish, caviar, good wine. Meat products they were not used in the common refectory, but we were not forbidden to eat them. Therefore, when I managed to buy something outside the monastery and bring it into my cell, I was also happy. Without being a priest, there were few opportunities to earn money on his own. For example, they paid, it seems, 50 hryvnia for bell ringing during the wedding. This was enough either to put it on the phone or to buy something tasty. More serious needs were provided at the expense of the monastery.

We got up at 5:30, except Sundays and large church holidays(on such days, two or three liturgies were served, and everyone got up depending on which liturgy he wanted or was scheduled to attend or serve). At 6:00 the morning monastic prayer rule began. All the brethren had to be present, except for the sick, absent, and so on. Then at 7:00 the liturgy began, at which mandatory the serving priest, deacon and sexton on duty remained. The rest are optional.

At this time, I either went to the office for obedience, or returned to the cell to sleep for a few more hours. At 9 or 10 o'clock in the morning (I don't remember exactly) there was breakfast, which it was not necessary to attend. At 1 or 2 p.m. there was lunch with the obligatory presence of all the brethren. During lunch, the lives of the saints whose memory was celebrated that day were read, and important announcements were made by the monastery authorities. At 17:00 the evening service began, after which there was dinner and the evening monastic prayer rule. The bedtime was not regulated in any way, but if the next morning one of the brethren overslept the rule, they were sent to him with a special invitation.

Once I had the opportunity to perform a funeral service for a hieromonk. He was very young. A little older than me. I didn’t even know him during my lifetime. They say he lived in our monastery, then he left somewhere and was banned. And so he died. But, naturally, the funeral service was performed as a priest. So, all our brethren read the Psalter around the clock at the tomb. My duty once happened at night. In the temple there was only a coffin with a body and me. And so on for several hours until the next one replaced me. There was no fear, although I remembered Gogol several times, yes. Was there pity? I don't even know. Neither life nor death is in our hands, so be sorry - don’t be sorry... I only hoped that he had time to repent before his death. Like each of us, we will need to be on time.

Pranks of novices

On Easter, after a long fast, I was so hungry that, without waiting for the common holiday meal, I ran across the street to McDonald's. Right in the cassock! I and everyone else had this opportunity, and no one made any comments. By the way, many, leaving the monastery, changed into civilian clothes. I never parted with my vestments. While I lived in the monastery, I simply did not have any secular clothes at all, except for jackets and trousers, which had to be worn under a cassock in cold weather so as not to freeze.

In the monastery itself, one of the novices’ pastimes was fantasizing about who would be given what name when tonsured. Usually, until the last moment, only the one who tonsures and the ruling bishop know him. The novice himself only finds out about his new name under scissors, so we joked: we found the most exotic church names and called each other them.

And punishments

For systematic lateness, they could be put on bows, in the most severe cases - on the sole (a place next to the altar) in front of the parishioners, but this was done extremely rarely and was always justified.

It happened that someone left without permission for several days. A priest did this once. They returned him with the help of the governor directly over the phone. But again, all such cases were like childish pranks in big family. Parents can scold, but nothing more.

There was a funny incident with one worker. A worker is layman, secular person, who came to the monastery to work. He does not belong to the brethren of the monastery and has no obligations to the monastery, except for general church and civil ones (do not kill, do not steal, etc.). At any moment, a worker can leave, or, conversely, become a novice and follow monastic path. So, one worker was placed at the entrance of the monastery. A friend came to the abbot and said: “What a cheap parking lot you have in the monastery!” And it’s completely free there! It turned out that this same worker took money from visitors for parking. Of course, he was severely reprimanded for this, but they did not kick him out.

The hardest thing

When I first came to visit, the governor warned me that real life in the monastery differs from what is written in lives and other books. Prepared me to take off my rose-colored glasses. That is, to some extent, I was warned about some negative things that could occur, but I was not prepared for everything.

As in any other organization, the monastery, of course, has very different people. There were also those who tried to curry favor with their superiors, became arrogant in front of the brethren, and so on. For example, one day a hieromonk who was under a ban came to us. This means that the ruling bishop, for some offense, temporarily (usually until repentance) forbade him to perform sacred functions as a punishment, but the priesthood itself was not removed. This father and I were the same age and at first we became friends and talked about spiritual topics. Once he even drew a kind caricature of me. I still keep it with me.

The closer it got to lifting the ban from him, the more I noticed that he was behaving more and more arrogantly towards me. He was appointed assistant to the sacristan (the sacristan is responsible for all liturgical vestments), and I was a sexton, that is, during the performance of my duties I was directly subordinate to both the sacristan and his assistant. And here, too, it became noticeable how he began to treat me differently, but the apotheosis was his demand to address him as you after the ban was lifted from him.

For me, the most difficult not only in monastic, but also in secular life are subordination and labor discipline. In the monastery it was absolutely impossible to communicate on equal terms with fathers of higher rank or position. The hand of the authorities was visible always and everywhere. This is not only and not always the governor or the dean. It could be the same sacristan and anyone who is above you in the monastic hierarchy. Whatever happened, no later than an hour later they already knew about it at the very top.

Although there were among the brethren those with whom I found great common language, despite not only the enormous distance in hierarchical structure, but also by a significant age difference. Once I came home on vacation and really wanted to get an appointment with the then Metropolitan of Minsk Filaret. I was thinking about my future fate and really wanted to consult with him. We met often when I took my first steps in the church, but I was not sure if he would remember me and accept me. Coincidentally, there were many venerable Minsk priests in the queue: rectors of large churches, archpriests. And then the Metropolitan comes out, points at me and calls me to his office. Ahead of all abbots and archpriests!

He listened to me carefully, then talked for a long time about his monastic experience. He talked for a very long time. When I left the office, the entire line of archpriests and abbots looked at me very askance, and one abbot, whom I knew from the old days, said to me in front of everyone: “Well, you stayed there so long that you should have left there with a panagia.” . Panagia is a badge of honor worn by bishops and above. The line laughed, there was a release of tension, but the Metropolitan’s secretary then swore very much that I had taken up the Metropolitan’s time for so long.

Tourism and emigration

Months passed, and absolutely nothing happened to me in the monastery. I very much desired tonsure, ordination and further service in the priesthood. I won’t hide it, I also had bishop’s ambitions. If at the age of 14 I longed for ascetic monasticism and complete withdrawal from the world, then when I was 27 years old, one of the main motives for entering the monastery was episcopal consecration. Even in my thoughts, I constantly imagined myself in a bishop’s position and in bishop’s vestments. One of my main obediences in the monastery was work in the office of the governor. The office processed documents for the ordination of some seminarians and other proteges (candidates for holy orders), as well as for monastic tonsure in our monastery.

Many proteges and candidates for monastic vows passed through me. Some, before my eyes, went from layman to hieromonk and received appointments to parishes. With me, as I already said, absolutely nothing happened! And in general, it seemed to me that the governor, who was also my confessor, to some extent alienated me from himself. Before entering the monastery, we were friends and communicated. When I came to the monastery as a guest, he constantly took me with him on trips. When I arrived at the same monastery with my things, at first it seemed to me that the governor had been replaced. “Don’t confuse tourism and emigration,” some colleagues joked. This is largely why I decided to leave. If I had not felt that the governor had changed his attitude towards me, or if I had at least understood the reason for such changes, perhaps I would have remained in the monastery. And so I felt unnecessary in this place.

WITH clean slate

I had access to the Internet, I could consult on any issues with very experienced clergy. I told everything about myself: what I want, what I don’t want, what I feel, what I’m ready for and what I’m not. Two clergymen advised me to leave.

I left with great disappointment, with resentment towards the governor. But I I don’t regret anything and am very grateful to the monastery and brethren for the experience gained.When I left, the governor told me that he could have tonsured me as a monk five times, but something stopped him.

When I left, there was no fear. There was such a leap into the unknown, a feeling of freedom. This is what happens when you finally make a decision that seems right.

I started my life completely from scratch. When I decided to leave the monastery, I not only had no civilian clothes, but also no money. There was nothing at all except a guitar, a microphone, an amplifier and his personal library. I brought it with me from worldly life. Mostly these were church books, but there were also secular ones. I agreed to sell the first ones through the monastery shop, the second ones I took to the city book market and sold it there. So I got some money. Several friends also helped - they sent me money transfers.

The abbot of the monastery gave money for a one-way ticket (he and I ended up made up. The Lord is a most wonderful person and a good monk. Communicating with him even once every few years is a great joy). I had a choice of where to go: either to Moscow, or to Minsk, where I lived, studied and worked for many years, or to Tbilisi, where I was born. I chose the last option and within a few days I was on the ship that was taking me to Georgia.

Friends met me in Tbilisi. They helped us rent an apartment and start new life. Four months later I returned to Russia, where I live permanently to this day. After long wanderings, I finally found my place here. Today I have mine small business: I individual entrepreneur, I provide translation and interpretation services, as well as legal services. I remember monastic life with warmth.

Who are monks? The word "monk" in Russian comes from the Greek word "mono" - one. Religious ascetics often led a secluded life and became monks. The life of a monk is very different from the mundane life of an ordinary person. The monk spends the whole day in prayer and has no personal property or family. Monks living in monasteries eat together, fast together, pray, and work together.

People often learned about solitary monks and began to gravitate toward “ God's people" This is how certain communities were formed, on the basis of which they arose. People have always been drawn to holy places. So quite often, not far from monasteries, whole ones appeared.

In the process of development, monasteries developed their own rules - norms of behavior and lifestyle. The set of rules for monks was similar to the rules that existed in the monasteries of Byzantium. To become a monk, a layman underwent obedience.

Obedience is a period of time during which a layman aspiring to become a monk unquestioningly fulfilled all the requests and instructions of the brothers living in the monastery. A novice (a layman who wants to become a monk) tested his spiritual and physical strength. If he managed to overcome all the difficulties, then the layman will be able to painlessly say goodbye to the previous way of worldly life.


The rite of initiation of a layman into a monk begins with tonsure. Taking tonsure is a symbolic rite. A layman who wishes to become a monk has a cross cut on his head. Then the layman changes clothes. Instead of a secular shirt, he puts on a monastic dress - a cassock.

A person who has just been tonsured a monk receives a new name as a sign of a complete break with his former world. Next, the monk can accept a major or minor schema. The schema obliges people to adhere to certain standards of behavior.

Some monks become monks - stylites. The monks, stylites, could stand on a raised platform for a long time and read prayers. Others decided to leave the walls and began single life. The home for such a hermit monk was a small hut or dugout called a monastery.

How is a monk's day spent? Let's try to tell you in more detail. The monastic morning begins at midnight. Bells ring, signaling that a new day has begun. The monks gather in the temple and it begins church service. At the end of the service, the abbot gives a lecture. When the abbot of the monastery finishes his speech, the monks disperse to their cells. No, monks don't go to bed. Each monk is required to make a certain number of bows before the images and read a certain number of prayers.

At five in the morning the bell rings again within the monastery walls. He again calls the brethren to prayer to the temple. After the service, the monks go to breakfast. They eat modestly: they eat bread, drink tea or kvass. Now, before lunch, the monks again go to their cells, performing various obediences.

After lunch, another couple of hours of work. And again to the church service. Evening service it usually takes an hour and a half. At the end, the monks go to dinner. After dinner there is another service. The monk's day is coming to an end. You can go to bed at 7 o'clock.

Not all monks do only prayers and bows. There is a part that does work. Some sweat in workshops, and others in the fields, growing bread.

The monks are representatives of the “black clergy”. Many restrictions are imposed on people who have taken monastic vows. Most of their life is spent inside the monastery walls. You can see a monk in anyone acting.

November 19, 2017, 11:52 pm

A few words from myself. I won’t say that church topics interest me too much. But I found this article interesting. Moreover, I never understood what makes ordinary people leave worldly life. And then the repost. Lots of letters =)

A black scarf, a baggy cassock and complete submission to another woman. Why do girls and grandmothers go to monasteries these days?A MK correspondent in St. Petersburg told how she lived in a monastery for five years

And how do they live there? Is it as decent as it seems from the outside? The MK correspondent in St. Petersburg experienced all the delights of tonsure and modern monasticism, and in the largest and most famous one in St. Petersburg convent- Voskresensky Novodevichy, whose churches and buildings are located on Moskovsky Avenue.

Handkerchief test

I had no problems in my worldly life. She was prosperous and carefree: higher education, work, a loving mother and brother, a large, comfortable apartment. No disappointments, losses, betrayals...

Nuns in black robes used to cause me bewilderment and fear. Go to a monastery? To be among them? And such a thought never occurred. I loved comfort, and any prohibitions and restrictions evoked a strong protest in me. Going to church was limited to me putting candles in front of the icons. But one day I had a chance to help around the temple. My mother, who regularly cleaned the small Athos Church of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent, was unable to come. I agreed to replace her without much reluctance. Quickly do what they ask and leave - that was my intention. But the nun-church greeted me so warmly that I stayed until late in the evening! And she even came the next day.

I wanted to know how nuns live - what they are like in everyday life, in everyday life, hidden from outsiders, leaving the church for their cell building through a gate with a warning sign “Entrance to outsiders is strictly prohibited.”

Having met all the sisters of the monastery and Mother Abbess (abbess of the monastery) Sofia, I began to go to church more and more often. I was accepted for obedience (that’s what the monastery calls work) in a local shop with a good salary and two meals a day.

But less than three months had passed before, unbeknownst to myself, I found myself among the novices. How did this happen? The sisters' conversations about salvation and a joyful and calm life in the monastery, about the mission of the chosen bride of Christ, had an impact. In a word - recruited.

The nuns called me to them: to pray and be saved. True, there were those among them who tried to stop: “Baby, don’t take a rash step.” They warned: the abbess is strict, she may not accept you, you need to go through an interview. This fueled my curiosity even more: she won’t accept such a good one? What kind of exam is this strict? The Mother Superior asked me to tell you about myself. She asked if I was married and whether I would have such a desire, and then blessed me: “Come!” I didn’t even have a recommendation from a priest. They gave me a black skirt, a jacket and a scarf. They put us in a single spacious cell. I lived above everyone else - in the attic, between two churches, above me was the monastery bell tower. In the morning, everything in the room trembled from the sonorous sounds of the large bell.

It turns out that such a cell was a great privilege. Usually, everyone who is accepted by the abbess into the monastery first lives in a pilgrimage hotel. In a cell for 10 or 15 people. They do dirty and hard work. They eat in the working refectory. They pray separately from the sisters.

“How long will I last?” - I thought.

I would never have thought that it would be so difficult to constantly walk around with my head covered with a scarf. She itches constantly, and after some time her hair begins to fall out. I complained to the abbess, she agreed: yes, yes, it’s the same with me. I wanted to make my life easier and cut my hair, but she didn’t give her blessing, saying, leave the braid for tonsure! It turned out that you also need to sleep in a headscarf! Mother Superior came to the cell at night, checked what the sister was doing: sleeping or praying, what she was wearing, what was on her bedside table.

Lost my fiancé - made a career

It is not blessed for sisters to talk about the life they led in the world, their age and the reason for entering the monastery. But women are women - and somehow gradually everyone learned about each other from conversations. No one will leave a good and prosperous life for a monastery. A push is needed: something so shocking must happen that the white light will no longer be nice.

Women of any age come to the monastery. But underage or married girls, or those with small children, are not accepted according to the rules of the monastery. True, even children can simply live there, performing obedience that is within their power. During the summer months, a 10-year-old girl came to us. She was assigned to look after the candles during the service, and during the day to stamp books in the monastery library, while the 14-year-old schoolgirl sang in the choir and helped in the garden.

Among the 22 women with whom I shared food and shelter, three were very old age, four are girls in their twenties. Most of the sisters are between 35 and 60 years old. Many were concerned about the remaining growing children in the world. They constantly asked the monastery authorities to go home to solve the problems of their daughters. Some subsequently left the monastery because of this.

One sister came to the monastery immediately after the death of her five-year-old beloved son. She unquestioningly complied with any obedience. She even seemed to enjoy the hard work. Tirelessly she scraped, cleaned, washed, weeded, trying to forget the grief in her work. But she never found consolation from grief - a year later she asked to return to the world. Another sister, having lost both her parents and her fiancé, on the contrary, made a career in the monastery - in a relatively short time, by monastic standards, she became a nun and right hand Abbess.

The older the nun, the longer she lives in the monastery, the more benefit she brings to the monastery. Taught by bitter experience, she does not fall into the temptations typical of new sisters. Quickly navigates in a non-standard situation. These 60–70-year-old grandmothers work, not inferior to the young ones - they quickly bow, dig in the garden, and cook in the refectory. And getting up in the morning, unlike young sleepyheads, is not difficult for them. The pensions of the old women go to the monastery treasury, which again classifies them as profitable nuns (residents) for the monastery. And they also benefit from monastic life - they will feed and treat them. And when the Lord calls, they will be buried here, in the cemetery on the territory of the monastery, in the monastic plot.

This is what the life-giving cross does!

Obedience is the meaning of monasticism. Any virtue fades in its absence. The obedience assigned by the abbess at first may not at all coincide with what the new novice did in worldly life. An elderly nun once opened up to us, new sisters: “I used to work in a bank! She was a big boss! And on the very first day I was sent to the barn for obedience. What cows! I’m afraid of frogs...” However, it is not customary to refuse obedience. It is believed that in any service one can find one’s salvation and get closer to God.

I had obedience in the refectory. One day after lunch, after washing the dishes, I went down to the cold room (we simply called it the “refrigerator”) to get groceries. Having taken what was required, she turned around and was stunned - the door was closed. I tried the handle and it didn't open. I felt really scared. It is useless to scream or call for help: the doors are thick, and none of the sisters could have been in the basement at that time. There was no way to even make a call - in a remote room the phone did not receive a signal. A low temperature I was already doing my job: I was starting to freeze. So that panic would not take over me, I began to pray. Crossed the door. I began to explore it. Suddenly a small spring caught my attention and I decided to press it. Opened! When I told the abbess about this in the evening, she sympathized like a true nun: “Well, we would have missed you later and found you. And to die in holy obedience is saving.”

I remember another instance of the power of prayer. One day I was the last one to leave the refectory after dinner. I can’t understand why all the sisters were crowded at the door to exit the building. I push her, but she doesn’t move. The lock is probably jammed. “Are you the only one so smart?” - the mother-treasurer says mockingly. And then a happy thought struck me. I loudly pronounce the words of the Jesus Prayer, close the door with the sign of the cross, and push again. To my amazement, it opened easily. I turn around - in the ringing silence hanging over the hall, the sisters look at me with round eyes in surprise: this is what prayer can do. They were already planning to spend the night here.

Blessing for injection

My age, thirty-year-old novice Anna, came a year earlier than me. Contrary to the will of unbelieving parents who had only daughter. Her worldly profession was an ambulance paramedic. Laughter and talker, a player with rock music in her ears, favorite clothes - jeans and caps. But one day she entered the monastery, and something in her mind switched. The sweet singing of the sisters at the service touched her soul. Her legs themselves led her to Sunday school, where she learned to read Church Slavonic language and sing in the choir. She asked to help in the almshouse. She stood out for her asceticism: she slept on boards, made do with a minimum of things in her cell, and walked around wearing light sandals until the first snow. Timid and unsure of herself, Anna often became the object of ridicule from her older sisters. But she was endlessly devoted to the abbess. She asked for blessings for everything, even to the point of absurdity: “Mother, bless your sister painful prick do!" Having received the blessing, the next moment he asks: “Mother! Bless your sister to anoint her bottom with cotton wool and alcohol before the injection.” True, she often woke up for morning prayers. For one of the holidays, they even gave Anna a gift with a hint: a huge bright blue alarm clock. As punishment for being late, she was often made to bow.

Bowing is quite humiliating to the average person. You stand in the center of the temple or refectory (at the discretion of the abbess) and, while everyone is eating, do prostrations- there may be three of them, or maybe forty. Depending on how strong the abbess’s anger is. Novices are embarrassed to bow in public. Adult nuns do them indifferently and quickly, like push-ups: fell - forehead on the floor - jumped up...

Tour to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

Six months of my life in the monastery passed. One day after dinner, the head of the sacristy (the place where church utensils and clothes are stored) came up to me: “Come see us tomorrow afternoon.” Interesting, I think, why? Probably my robe is ready, which they have been promising to sew for me for several months. No, the sacristan called me to try on my coat. They announced to me that, together with other sisters, I was going on a pilgrimage to Italian city Bari, on the holiday of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker!

Twice a year - on Winter Nicholas and Summer Nicholas - mother flies to Italy. He only takes sisters on a pilgrimage who have not had any comments for six months. And they give you a decent coat for the duration of the trip: “Don’t fly in rags, don’t disgrace your mother.”

In Bari, in a huge and beautiful basilica church, we took turns venerating the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra. When I was walking to my place, mother suddenly stopped me: “Tell me, what did you ask from St. Nicholas?” I answered: “To become a nun.” She smiled: “That’s a good wish.”

Don't complain or ask

Novice Daria is the closest to the abbess. Her “ears” are in the monastery. Everything he hears he will quickly retell in detail. Dasha is an orphan. Her family was considered dysfunctional. She came to the monastery very young. The first thing I saw as soon as I entered the gate was big dog. Immediately noticing the sister, who turned out to be the dean, she asked: “Oh, what a dog! Can I pet her?” She received her first obedience: “You can go for a walk with her!” Dasha was sent to study to become a regent at the Theological Academy. The abbess, out of pity for the orphan, settled her in her building. However, mother does not show leniency even to her favorites: offense entails punishment - penance. So, the abbess “undressed” Dasha - she took away her apostolic dress and tunic for a year, evicted her from her corps, and even kicked her out of the monastery for a while.

To be expelled from the monastery is the worst punishment. And no one can be immune from this. Among the sisters who live for years on full board and without worrying about earning their daily bread, there is a persistent belief that after the monastery, having tasted the joy of prayer, the sister who has gone into the world will certainly be unhappy. It is very difficult to return to a cruel world. They scare each other with a story about one such sister who could not stand returning to the world and went crazy.

In the monastery it is not customary to have attachments: neither to a sister, nor to a household item, nor to obedience. But still, everyone has a girlfriend, in whose ear you can confide your grievances in a secluded corner and listen to the same complaints in response. You can’t complain to the Mother Superior!

Nun Anastasia has been singing since she was 7 years old. Singing is as natural to her as air, food, sleep. Once, when asked by the abbot about her health, Anastasia could not restrain herself: “Oh, mother, how tired I am!” This happened after the liturgy. The next morning, Anastasia was not allowed into the choir: “Mother blessed you to pray separately.” No matter how much the young nun cried or repented, it was all useless. Her forced rest lasted two weeks and seemed like a century to her. She no longer stuttered to the abbess about her fatigue. So the sisters walk in pairs and console each other.

Effective care

However, sometimes this friendship takes a completely different turn. After one incident that agitated the entire monastery for several months, the abbess began to put an end to the sisters’ seclusion.

Novices Olga and Galina were friends, they just never spilled water. Then Galina took monastic vows and... three weeks later both escaped from the monastery! The monastery was buzzing like a beehive. Many sisters cried. The fugitive women's cells were in disarray: clothes on the floor, unmade beds - they left at dawn. Without saying goodbye to anyone. Everyone was perplexed - how correct and exemplary the sisters were! However, the abbess reasoned this way: the novice seduced the nun into escaping. Leaving without a blessing (especially for a newly tonsured nun) is a grave sin: there will be no peace in the soul until death.

The sisters left the monastery with a blessing. The most theatrical departure was that of the nun Irina. In the morning, while reading a prayer, she approached the temple icon Mother of God“Consolation and Consolation” and threw a pile of clothes under her. The apostles, robes, tunics, hoods - everything scattered in different directions. It was unusual, in the twilight of the church, with burning candles, and therefore was remembered forever. The nun was already dressed in ordinary women's clothing: a colored skirt and scarf. Irina had an unrestrained character, constantly defied the abbess, offended younger sisters, and therefore her departure caused a sigh of relief among many.

Edited righteous woman

Nun Olga is an orphan from a provincial Kazakh town. They are especially loved in monasteries. Because these novices and nuns are the most unrequited. No one is waiting for them outside the walls of the monastery, and they hold on with all their might to the right to remain “supported” by God. Before the Resurrection Monastery in St. Petersburg, Olga worked in Kazakhstan as a food distributor in a station buffet. A hopeless and difficult life forced her to move in with her only soul mate - her godmother in Leningrad region. I went to services at the local church. Father, noticing how out of this world she was, once advised her to go to a monastery. Olya happily agreed - what awaited her next in this life? And in the monastery she is fed and clothed - she doesn’t need more. Olga is irreplaceable at jobs where she has to wash, cook or clean the kitchen, but she will fall into melancholy bordering on despair if she is put in obedience where she has to think.

By the way, the thoughts of the nuns do not belong to them. I kept a diary. One day I had the imprudence to mention this to the abbess. “Bring it to me tomorrow!” I'm completely confused: how? Wouldn't the abbess decide to read in front of everyone during a common meal? I decide to fill my notebooks with ink so that I don’t read these revelations. And then a brilliant idea comes to mind! “We need to approach the assignment creatively. To pour ink means to show disrespect. I'll rewrite the notebooks. I'll leave what I think is necessary. To add volume, I’ll decorate with pictures.”

I copied notebooks for four hours! The result of patient diligence was one common notebook. Mother didn’t say a word about the diary. Only two weeks later she blessed me to bring it. And when she received it, she said in disappointment: “Just one notebook?” I reproachfully remarked to her: “Are you going to read someone else’s diary?” She read it. A few days later she returned the notebook to me, filling it with comments and corrections, providing it with quotations from the Holy Gospel. Giving me the diary, she said: “If only you were like you are in your edited diary!”

Every day after dinner, which began at 9 p.m., Abbess Sophia summed up the day, admonished those who had done wrong, made plans for the future, or shared her impressions of pilgrimage trips. All this time the refectory attendants were shifting around at its doors: furtively glancing at their watches - they would have to clean up until late at night. This means that the next day there was a risk of oversleeping morning prayer. And during one of the fasts, the abbess suggested making dinner at 4 p.m. And those who find it difficult to endure a long break from dinner to breakfast were asked to drink tea and cookies privately in the evening. Everyone liked the innovation and it stuck!

Missing a joint meal or being late for it (arriving later than the abbess) is considered sacrilege (“The meal is a continuation of the liturgy!”) and entails severe punishment, including deprivation of food or communion.

Mother Superior is not a friend

Among the monasteries that are in large quantities, like mushrooms after rain, began to open in the late 90s all over Russia, there is not a single one similar. How life flows in them and what kind of sisters there are depends solely on the abbess. My abbess was a very strict woman. Not forgiving of the slightest offense, not compromising, generously distributing penance.

In their essence, women who live in a monastery are no different from those of the world: they are just as fond of chatting about life, they can also quarrel in the kitchen, arguing about how to properly cook soup, and they also rejoice at new things - for example, a new apostle (headdress ) or cassock. For the most part, the sisters, of course, are narrow-minded: most often uneducated, intimidated, afraid to express their opinion (even when the abbess herself asks!). One day my mother asked me: “Does anyone take advice from you?” I shrugged my shoulders in bewilderment: “I live by observations and books. Who else can I come to for advice besides you?”

Monasticism did not become the meaning of my life. Being a nun is not only about giving up worldly pleasures. This is a special state of mind. When any trouble that unsettles you normal person, the nun’s joy is the opportunity to suffer for Christ.

I “suffered for Christ,” crying and complaining to the sisters. Once she did something wrong and received a well-deserved penance from the abbess - she was excommunicated from sharing a meal with the sisters. Not a terrible punishment per se, but I really didn’t like it.

I need to go and make peace with my mother! I can’t bear such a punishment,” I let slip to one of the sisters.

Do you even think about what you are talking about? - exclaimed the shocked nun Anastasia (she endured all her punishments steadfastly and even if she suffered, it was in silence). - She's an abbess! And it is impossible to make peace with her. She's not a friend. She must remove the penance herself.

In the monastery it is not customary to reason and have rational thinking. And the most difficult thing that I personally could not overcome was subordinating myself to someone else’s will. Uncomplainingly carry out orders, no matter how ridiculous they may seem. You have to be born a nun.

MK-certificate

Monastic day schedule

Not everyone can withstand the monotony of monastic life. After all, essentially the daily routine remains unchanged for years. In the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent it was as follows:

05:30 - rise. The morning in the monastery begins with twelve strikes on the largest bell (the beginning of each meal is also announced by twelve strikes).

06:00 - morning monastic rule (prayer to which parishioners are not allowed). Only those on duty at the refectory are allowed not to attend.

07:15–8:30 - liturgy (sisters pray until “Our Father...”, then leave for breakfast and obedience, until the end of the service only the singers remain in the choir).

09:00 - breakfast is the only optional meal; everyone, without exception, is required to come for lunch and dinner.

10:00–12:00 - obedience, every day it is new: today there may be obedience in a monastery shop, tomorrow - a temple, the day after tomorrow - a refectory, a trinket room (monastery wardrobe), a hotel, a vegetable garden...

12:00 - lunch.

After lunch until 16:00 - obedience.

At 16:00 - dinner.

17:00–20:00 - evening service, after which there is free time.

23:00 - lights out.

Zhanna Chul

Since it carries within itself a renunciation of sinful life, the seal of chosenness, eternal union with Christ and dedication to serving God.

Monasticism is destiny strong in spirit and body. If a person is unhappy in worldly life, escaping to a monastery will only worsen his misfortunes.

It is possible to go to a monastery only by breaking ties with outside world, completely renounce everything earthly and devote your life to serving the Lord. Desire alone is not enough for this: the call and dictates of the heart make a person closer to monasticism. For this you need to work hard and prepare.

The path to the monastery begins with knowledge of the depth of spiritual life.

Took monastic vows

Entering a monastery for women

How can a woman go to a monastery? This is a decision that the woman herself makes, but not without help spiritual mentor and God's blessing.

We should not forget that they come to the monastery not to heal spiritual wounds received in the world from unhappy love, the death of loved ones, but to reunite with the Lord, with the cleansing of the soul from sins, with the understanding that all life now belongs to the service of Christ.

Everyone is welcome at the monastery, but as long as problems remain in worldly life, the walls of the monastery cannot save, but can only worsen the situation. When leaving for a monastery, there should be no attachments that hold you back in everyday life. If the readiness to devote oneself to serving the Lord is strong, then monastic life will benefit the nun; peace and tranquility will be found in daily work, prayers and the feeling that the Lord is always near.

If people behave irresponsibly in the world - they want to leave their wife, leave their children, then there is no confidence that monastic life will benefit such a lost soul.

Important! Responsibility is needed always and everywhere. You can't run away from yourself. You should not go to the monastery, but come to the monastery, go towards a new day, a new dawn, where the Lord is waiting for you.

Entering a monastery for men

How can a man go to a monastery? This decision is not easy. But the rules are the same, just like for women. It’s just that in society, more responsibility for family, work, and children lies on men’s shoulders.

Therefore, when going to a monastery, but at the same time getting closer to God, you need to think about whether your loved ones will be left without the support and strong shoulder of a man.

There is no big difference between a man and a woman who wants to go to a monastery. Everyone has their own reason for leaving for the monastery. The only thing that unites future monks is imitation of the way of life of Christ.

Preparation for monastic life

Monk - translated from Greek means “lonely”, and in Rus' they were called monks - from the word “different”, “different”. Monastic life is not a disregard for the world, its colors and admiration for life, but it is a renunciation of harmful passions and sinfulness, from carnal pleasures and pleasures. Monasticism serves to restore the original purity and sinlessness that Adam and Eve were endowed with in paradise.

Yes, this is a difficult and difficult path, but the reward is great - imitation of the image of Christ, endless joy in God, the ability to accept with gratitude everything that the Lord sends. In addition, monks are the first prayer books about the sinful world. As long as their prayer sounds, the world continues. This main job monks - pray for the whole world.

While a man or woman lives in the world, but with all his soul feels that their place is in the monastery, they have time to prepare and make the right and final choice between worldly life and life in unity with God:

  • First you need to be an Orthodox Christian;
  • To visit the temple, but not formally, but to imbue your soul with the divine services and love them;
  • Perform morning and evening prayer rules;
  • Learn to observe physical and spiritual fasting;
  • Honor Orthodox holidays;
  • Read spiritual literature, the lives of saints, and be sure to get acquainted with books written by holy people that tell about monastic life and the history of monasticism;
  • Find a spiritual mentor who will tell you about true monasticism, dispel myths about life in a monastery, and give a blessing for serving God;
  • Make a pilgrimage to several monasteries, be a laborer, stay for obedience.

About Orthodox monasteries:

Who can enter the monastery

The impossibility of living without God leads a man or woman to the walls of the monastery. They do not run away from people, but go for salvation, for the inner need of repentance.

And yet there are obstacles to entering the monastery; not everyone can be blessed for monasticism.

Cannot be a monk or nun:

  • A family man;
  • A man or woman raising small children;
  • Wanting to hide from unhappy love, difficulties, failures;
  • A person’s advanced age becomes an obstacle to monasticism, because in the monastery they work diligently and hard, and for this you need to be healthy. Yes, and it is difficult to change ingrained habits that will become an obstacle to monasticism.

If all this is absent and the intention to come to monasticism does not leave a person for a minute, of course, no one and nothing will prevent him from renouncing the world and entering a monastery.

Absolutely different people go to the monastery: those who have achieved success in the world, educated, smart, beautiful. They go because the soul thirsts for more.

Monasticism is open to everyone, but not everyone is fully ready for it. Monasticism is a life without sorrows, in the understanding that a person gets rid of worldly vanity and worries. But this life is much harder than life family man. The family cross is difficult, but after escaping from it to a monastery, disappointment awaits and relief does not come.

Advice! And yet, in order to step on the difficult path of monasticism, which belongs to a few, you need to think carefully and carefully, so as not to look back and regret what happened.

Took monastic vows

How to deal with parents

Many parents in ancient times in Rus' and other Orthodox countries welcomed their children’s desire to become monks. The youths were prepared from childhood to become monks. Such children were considered prayer books for the whole family.

But there were also deeply religious people who categorically opposed the service of their children in the monastic field. They wanted to see their children successful and prosperous in worldly life.

Children who independently decided to live in a monastery prepare their loved ones for such a serious choice. It is necessary to choose the right words and arguments that will be perceived correctly by parents and will not lead them into the sin of condemnation.

In turn, prudent parents will thoroughly study their child’s choice, delve into the essence and understanding of the whole issue, and help and support a loved one in such an important undertaking.

It’s just that the majority, due to ignorance of the essence of monasticism, perceive the desire of children to serve the Lord as something alien, unnatural. They begin to fall into despair and melancholy.

Parents are sad that there will be no grandchildren, that their son or daughter will not have all the usual worldly joys, which are considered to be the highest achievements for a person.

Advice! Monasticism is a worthy decision for a child, and parental support is an important component in the final confirmation of the correct choice of the future path in life.

On raising children in faith:

Time for reflection: laborer and novice

To choose a monastery in which a future monk will stay, they make more than one trip to holy places. When visiting one monastery, it is difficult to determine that a person’s heart will remain here to serve God.

After remaining in the monastery for several weeks, the man or woman is assigned the role of laborer.

During this period a person:

  • prays a lot, confesses;
  • works for the benefit of the monastery;
  • gradually comprehends the basics of monastic life.

The worker lives at the monastery and eats here. At this stage, the monastery takes a closer look at him, and if the person remains faithful to his vocation of monasticism, he is offered to remain in the monastery as a novice - a person preparing to be tonsured as a monk and undergoing a spiritual test in the monastery.

Important: obedience is a Christian virtue, a monastic vow, a test, the whole meaning of which comes down to the liberation of the soul, and not to slavery. The essence and importance of obedience must be understood and felt. Understand that everything is done for good, and not for torment. By performing obedience, they understand that the elder, who is responsible for the future monk, cares about the salvation of his soul.

In times of unbearable trials, when the spirit weakens, you can always turn to your elder and tell about the difficulties. And unceasing prayer to God is the first assistant in strengthening the spirit.

You can be a novice for many years. Whether a person is ready to become a monk is decided by the confessor. At the stage of obedience there is still time to think about the future life.

The bishop or abbot of the monastery performs the rite of monastic tonsure. After tonsure there is no turning back: moving away from passions, sorrows and embarrassment leads to an inextricable connection with God.

Important: do not rush, do not rush to accept monasticism. Impulsive impulses, inexperience, and ardor are falsely taken for a true calling to be a monk. And then a person begins to worry, despondency, melancholy, and run away from the monastery. The vows are made and no one can break them. And life turns into torture.

Therefore, the main instruction of the holy fathers is careful obedience and testing for a certain period of time, which will show the true intention to be called to monasticism.

Life in the monastery

In our 21st century, it has become possible for ordinary lay people to get closer and see the life of monks.

Pilgrimage trips to nunneries and monasteries are now being organized. The pilgrimage lasts several days. The laity live at the monastery, in specially designated rooms for guests. Sometimes accommodation may be paid, but this is a symbolic price and the proceeds from it go to the maintenance of the monastery. Food is free, according to the monastery charter, that is, fast food.

But the laity do not live in the monastery as tourists, but become involved in the life of monks. They undergo obedience, work for the good of the monastery, pray and feel the grace of God with all their nature. They are very tired, but the fatigue is pleasant, grace-filled, which brings peace to the soul and a feeling of the closeness of God.

After such trips, many myths about the life of monks are dispelled:

  1. There is strict discipline in the monastery, but it does not oppress the nuns and monks, but brings joy. They see the meaning of life in fasting, work and prayer.
  2. No one forbids a monk to have books, listen to music, watch films, communicate with friends, travel, but everything should be for the good of the soul.
  3. The cells are not dull, as shown in feature films, there is a wardrobe, a bed, a table, a lot of icons - everything is very cozy.

After tonsure, three vows are taken: chastity, non-covetousness, obedience:

  • Monastic chastity- this is celibacy, as a constituent element of aspiration towards God; the concept of chastity as abstinence from satisfying the lusts of the flesh also exists in the world, therefore the meaning of this vow in the context of monasticism is something else - the acquisition of God Himself;
  • Monastic obedience- cutting off one’s will before everyone - elders, before every person, before Christ. Trust God infinitely and be submissive to Him in everything. Accept with gratitude everything as it is. Such a life acquires a special inner world, in direct contact with God and not overshadowed by any external circumstances;
  • Non-covetousness means renunciation of everything earthly. Monastic life renounces earthly goods: a monk should not have an addiction to anything. By renouncing earthly riches, he gains lightness of spirit.

And only with the Lord, when communication with Him becomes above all else - the rest, in principle, is not necessary and not important.

Watch a video about how to enter a monastery