The main rules of monastic life

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 19:56

There has always been an opinion among people that unrealized or disappointed in life people go to monasticism. This is far from being the case, because the monastic path is very difficult, there is no place for a person with a broken psyche. The monks have a monastic rule and obedience.

About bookish and true monasticism

Everywhere there are rules to follow. But if in the world these rules are violated or corrected, then there is no such thing in the monastery. Here there is a complete cutting off of one's will, betrayal into submission to the abbot or abbess, depending on the type of monastery.

An old man was asked: what should a real monk be like? He took off his mantle, threw it on the floor, trampled it, and only after that answered: until a person is trampled like this mantle, and does not come to terms with it, he will not become a real monk.

It happens that a person decides to go to a monastery after reading books about asceticism and life in the monastery, among brothers or sisters. We hasten to reassure you that modern monasticism is not the same as it is described in the oldbooks. Back in the 90s, it was completely different. And today, not every priest will give his blessing to go to the monastery.

Besides the fact that you will have to follow the rules of monastic life, attending divine services and carrying out obediences, this is also a huge work on yourself. It's just that not everyone can bear such a cross, and many break down, dropping it halfway.

Consequences of reckless departure to the monastery

The main rule of monastic life is renunciation of oneself, striving for God. A monk should not look for entertainment, for him there is nothing sweeter than prayer. Having finished obedience, he strives to the cell to surrender to her completely.

Is a person, burning with the desire to enter a monastery, ready to reject his own will? Love loneliness, prayer and humility? If not, then he will not last long in the monastery. The fact is that all character traits are exacerbated there: both positive and negative. The latter must be removed, you have to break yourself, and then there is also pressure from the seniors. Another simply cannot stand such a life, escaping from the monastery at the first opportunity.

And great happiness to a person if he realized that he was unable to bear the cross of monasticism even before taking the vows. Although there is an opinion that by putting on a novice vestment, you can return to the world. Allegedly, there is nothing wrong with this, the novice does not yet make vows to God. This can be compared to the dressing of the bride: imagine that the time of the wedding is approaching, the bride is already dressing up for the celebration. She puts on a chemise under the dress, and at some point she realizes that she is married.then you don't want to. Then the girl takes it off, puts it aside and tells the groom that she has changed her mind about marrying him. It is the same here: the clothes of a novice can be compared with an undergarment. And what would it look like if he took them off?

As for leaving the monastery after monastic or monastic vows, this is a separate conversation. This does not pass without a trace for such people, it is reflected in themselves and their children, if they dare to become parents. In the book "Unholy Saints" there is a wonderful quatrain by Academician Losev. He did not make vows to God, and he is not guilty of anything before Him. But the academician was the son of a monk, and this is how he summed up his life:

I am the son of a monk - the fruit of sin.

I'm breaking a vow.

And I'm cursed by God for this, Everything I touch is trash.

Therefore, do not make rash decisions and go to the monastery after reading books about spiritual exploits.

About the monastic life

The monastic rule of life includes complete humility and cutting off one's own will. The inhabitants of the monastery obey the abbot or abbess, taking a blessing from them for every action. You cannot leave the monastery of your own free will, only with the permission of the abbot (with a blessing).

A short story about a day in the life of a monk:

• The morning rise is early, in various monasteries its time depends on the beginning of the service. Somewhere services begin at 4:30 am, somewhere at 5:00 am, and in other monasteries at 6:00 am. A slight indulgence occurs on Sundays, when the beginning of the Liturgy is shiftedan hour ahead if there is only one service. If there are two of them, then the monk can come late.
• After the service, it's breakfast time. The monk goes to the refectory, where he eats food very quickly. The speed depends on whether he needs to go to obedience or not. If there is such a need, you have to eat at the pace.
• Obedience is different, each monastic has his own. The abbot of the monastery or the dean appoints him to obedience. The latter is the "deputy chief", in the usual worldly language. Under the head is meant, as we understand it, the hegumen.

• The obedience is interrupted only to take part in the lunch meal. After which the monk returns to his work.

• Sometimes after lunch or morning service, time is allocated for rest. It is not very much, on the strength of an hour and a half. Some of the brethren do not have such time due to the specifics of obedience, someone has quite a lot of it, again, for this reason.
• Those who complete their obedience for the evening service go to the temple. The rest continue to work if the obedience cannot be abandoned until the next day. For example, in a church shop or in a cafe for pilgrims, which is now available at almost every monastery, or in a hotel.

• After the evening service, the monastic prayer rule begins. Lay people are forbidden to attend it, so they know about its textsonly the inhabitants of the monastery.
• After the rule, the monk goes to his room. Idle festivities are prohibited on the territory of the monastery. The exception is the removal of garbage, because the containers are located away from the buildings with cells, and the monks can take a walk at this time while walking to them.

Behavior in the cell

Arriving in his cell, the monastic can rest a little, after which he rises to the rule. The monks have their own private monastic rule, which is obligatory for daily fulfillment. For everyone it is different, depending on the blessing of the abbot: someone is given more, others less. The shortest includes:

• morning prayers;
• a chapter from the Gospel;
• kathisma from the Ps alter;
• acts and epistles of the apostles;
• five hundred;
• evening prayers;
• akathists and prayer rule with the blessing of the confessor or abbot of the monastery.

It is not customary for monks to talk to a neighbor in a cell. Yes, yes, they live in pairs, and the room is delimited by a partition. But this does not mean that even two words cannot be said, that it is not forbidden to say hello, to wish good night or good morning. The main thing is that there should be no idle talk when monastics forget about their rule, being too carried away by them.

Five hundred

We cannot give the text of the monastic rule, because it is different for everyone, as noted above. But the textfive hundred readers will see, we note that it is given for general development and familiarization, and not for passing through on our own experience.

• The first hundred is the Jesus Prayer. It is read as follows: the first ten prayers with earthly bows after each, the next 20 with half bows, and the remaining 70 are read with smart-hearted bows.
• The second and third hundred are the same as the first.
• The fourth hundred is dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos. They read in the image and likeness of the first hundred, with the same bows.
• The fifth hundred is divided into two parts. One of them in the amount of 50 prayers is dedicated to the guardian angel, the second half - to all the saints.
• The reading of the five hundred ends with the prayer "It is worthy to eat".

The monastic rule of the five hundred is given below.

Jesus Prayer

Every pious layman knows her. But for those who are not church people, we publish the words of the Jesus Prayer in the article. It is very short and simple.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Prayer of the Theotokos

Kind of Jesus, it's just as short. Any prayer, even the smallest one, must be read with attention. What the monks do, trying to achieve a smart-hearted prayer state:

My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, save me a sinner.

Guardian angel and all saints

Valaam monastic rule includes this prayer. And besides the statedfive hundred, the monks also read three canons, an akathist to Jesus the Sweetest and the Most Holy Theotokos. We told this for the general development of readers, so that they would not think that only our Russian monastics have difficult rules. No, everywhere has its own difficulties, as we can see.

But let's get back to the final part of the five hundred: prayers to the guardian angel and all the saints.

Holy Guardian Angel, pray to God for me a sinner.

This is how the prayer to our Angel looks like, read 50 times, as mentioned above. The same number of times the monks read the prayer to all the saints:

All saints pray to God for me a sinner.

Prayer at the end of the Five Hundred

The monastic rule of 500 prayers has been completed. Now it remains to read the last prayer, thanksgiving. What monks do before going on holiday.

It is worthy to eat as truly Bless Thee Mother of God, Blessed and Immaculate and Mother of our God. The most honest Cherubim and the most glorious Seraphim without comparison, without the corruption of God the Word, who gave birth to the real Mother of God, we magnify You.

Vows at the tonsure

And the last thing that needs to be mentioned when talking about the monastic rule of nuns and monks is the vows that are given at tonsure.

There are three of them: non-possession, chastity and obedience. That is, a monk or a monk should not strive to accumulate earthly goods and money, look at the opposite sex and be sure to obey the abbot.

Conclusion

This is the monastic life: patience, humility and obedience. A step to the right or to the left is not allowed, there will be no execution for this, but you can slide into the spiritual abyss. And getting out of it, even if you read the monastic rule, will be very difficult.