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 life of the world 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 as 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 dais for a long time and read prayers. Others decided to leave the walls and began a solitary 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 the church service begins. 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. The evening service usually lasts one and a half hours. 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.

Natalya Milantyeva ended up in one of the monasteries near Moscow in 1990. In 2008, she had to leave, but disappointment in the monastery and especially in the abbess set in much earlier. Natalya told The Village how the monastery sells dogs and books secretly from the church authorities, how the monastery elite lives and why the sisters are satisfied with this order.

“Stay, girls, in the monastery, we will sew you black dresses”

When I was 12-13 years old, my mother converted to Orthodoxy and began to raise me in a religious spirit. By the age of 16-17, there was nothing in my head except the church. I was not interested in peers, music, or parties, I had one path - to and from the temple. I visited all the churches in Moscow, read xeroxed books: in the 80s, religious literature was not sold, every book was worth its weight in gold.

In 1990, I graduated from the printing college together with my sister Marina. In the fall I had to go to work. And then one famous priest, to whom my sister and I went, says: “Go to such and such a monastery, pray, work hard, there are beautiful flowers there and such a good mother.” We went for a week - and I loved it so much! It was like being at home. The abbess is young, smart, beautiful, cheerful, kind. The sisters are all like family. Mother begs us: “Stay, girls, in the monastery, we will sew you black dresses.” And all the sisters around: “Stay, stay.” Marinka immediately refused: “No, this is not for me.” And I was like: “Yes, I want to stay, I’ll come.”

At home, no one particularly tried to dissuade me. Mom said: “Well, it’s God’s will, since you want it.” She was sure that I would hang out there a little and return home. I was at home, obedient, if they slammed their fist on the table: “Are you crazy? Do you have to go to work, you got an education, what monastery?” - maybe none of this would have happened.

Now I understand why they called us so persistently. The monastery had just opened at that time: it started working in 1989, and I came in 1990. There were only about 30 people there, all young. Four or five people lived in cells, rats ran around the buildings, the toilet was outside. There was a lot of hard work to rebuild. More youth were needed. Father, in general, acted in the interests of the monastery, supplying educated Moscow sisters there. I don't think he genuinely cared about how my life would turn out.

I was at home, obedient, if they slammed their fist on the table: "Lost her mind? You should go to work, you have received your education, what monastery?“ - maybe none of this would have happened

How things have changed

The sisters told mother that We are losing our monastic community(it was still possible to express it back then)

In 1991, such a lady appeared in the monastery, let's call her Olga. She had some dark story. She was engaged in business, I can’t say exactly what kind, but the Moscow sisters said that her money was obtained by dishonest means. Somehow she ended up in the church environment, and our confessor blessed her to go to a monastery - to hide, or something. It was clear that this was a completely unchurched, secular person; she didn’t even know how to tie a scarf.

With her arrival, everything began to change. Olga was the same age as mother, both were just over 30. The rest of the sisters were 18-20 years old. Mother had no friends; she kept everyone at a distance. She called herself “we”, never said “I”. But apparently she still needed a friend. Our mother was very emotional, sincere, had no practical inclination, in material things, for example, construction, she had little understanding, the workers deceived her all the time. Olga immediately took everything into her own hands and began to restore order.

Mother loved communication, priests and monks from Ryazan came to visit her - there was always a full courtyard of guests, mainly from the church community. So, Olga quarreled with everyone. She inspired my mother: “Why do you need all this rabble? Who are you friends with? It is necessary with the right people make friends who can help in some way.” Mother always came with us to obediences (obedience is the work given to the monk by the abbot; everyone takes a vow of obedience Orthodox monks along with vows of non-covetousness and celibacy. - Approx. ed.), ate with everyone in the common refectory - as it should be, as the holy fathers commanded. Olga stopped all this. Mother got her own kitchen and stopped working with us.

The sisters told Mother that our monastic community was being lost (it was still possible to express it back then). One late evening she calls a meeting, points to her Olga and says: “Whoever is against her is against me. If you don't accept it, leave. This is my closest sister, and you are all envious. Raise your hands who are against her."

No one raised their hand: everyone loved mother. This was a turning point.

worldly spirit

Olga was indeed very capable in terms of making money and managing. She kicked out all the unreliable workers, started various workshops, and a publishing business. Rich sponsors appeared. Endless guests came, we had to sing, perform, and show performances in front of them. Life was designed to prove to everyone around us: this is how good we are, this is how we prosper! Workshops: ceramics, embroidery, icon painting! We publish books! We breed dogs! Medical Center opened! The children were adopted!

Olga began to attract capable sisters and encourage them, forming an elite. She brought computers, cameras, and televisions to the poor monastery. Cars and foreign cars appeared. The sisters understood: whoever behaves well will work on the computer and not dig the earth. Soon they were divided into the upper class, the middle class, and the lower, bad, “incapable of spiritual development,” who worked hard jobs.

One businessman gave his mother a four-story Vacation home 20 minutes drive from the monastery - with a swimming pool, sauna and its own farm. She mostly lived there, and came to the monastery on business and on holidays.

Life was designed to prove to everyone around: that's how good we are This is how we thrive!

What does the monastery live on?

Hide money from the diocese considered a virtue: Metropolitan is enemy number one

The Church, like the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is organized according to the principle of a pyramid. Each church and monastery pays tribute to the diocesan authorities from donations and money earned from candles and memorial notes. Our - ordinary - monastery had a small income anyway, not like Matronushka (in the Pokrovsky Monastery, where the relics of St. Matrona of Moscow are kept. - Ed.) or in the Lavra, and then there’s the metropolitan with exactions.

Olga, secretly from the diocese, organized underground activities: she bought a huge Japanese embroidery machine, hid it in the basement, and brought a man who taught several sisters to work on it. The machine spent the night churning out church vestments, which were then handed over to resellers. There are many churches, many priests, so the income from vestments was good. The dog kennel also brought in good money: rich people came and bought puppies for a thousand dollars. The workshops made ceramics, gold and silver jewelry for sale. The monastery also published books on behalf of non-existent publishing houses. I remember that at night they brought huge paper rolls on KAMAZ trucks and at night they unloaded books.

On holidays, when the Metropolitan came, sources of income were hidden and the dogs were taken to the farmstead. “Vladyka, our entire income is notes and candles, we grow everything we eat ourselves, the temple is shabby, there is nothing to repair.” Hiding money from the diocese was considered a virtue: the metropolitan is enemy number one, who wants to rob us and take our last crumbs of bread. They told us: after all, for you, you eat, we buy you stockings, socks, shampoos.

Naturally, the sisters did not have their own money, and their documents - passports, diplomas - were kept in a safe. The laity donated clothes and shoes to us. Then the monastery made friends with a shoe factory - they made terrible shoes that immediately caused rheumatism. It was bought cheaply and distributed to the sisters. Those who had parents with money wore normal shoes - I’m not saying beautiful, but simply made of genuine leather. And my mother herself was in poverty, she brought me 500 rubles for six months. I myself didn’t ask her for anything, at most hygiene products or a chocolate bar.

“If you leave, the demon will punish you, you will bark and grunt.”

Mother loved to say: “There are monasteries where there are sushi-pusi. If you want, go there. Here it’s like in the army, like in a war. We are not girls, we are warriors. We are in the service of God." We were taught that in other churches, in other monasteries, everything is not like that. Such a sectarian sense of exclusivity was developed. I come home, my mother says: “Father told me...” - “Your father knows nothing! I’m telling you - we must do as mother teaches us!” That’s why we didn’t leave: because we were sure that only in this place could we be saved.

They also intimidated us: “If you leave, the demon will punish you, you will bark and grunt. You will be raped, you will get hit by a car, your legs will be broken, your family will get sick. One left - so she didn’t even have time to get home, she took off her skirt at the station, started running after all the men and unbuttoning their pants.”

Nevertheless, at first the sisters constantly came and went, we didn’t even have time to count them. And in recent years, those who had been in the monastery for more than 15 years began to leave. The first such blow was the departure of one of the older sisters. They had other nuns under them and were considered reliable. Shortly before leaving, she became withdrawn, irritable, and began to disappear somewhere: she would go to Moscow on business, and she would be gone for two or three days. She began to break down and move away from her sisters. They started finding cognac and snacks on her. One fine day we are called to a meeting. Mother says that so-and-so left and left a note: “I came to the conclusion that I am not a nun. I want to live in peace. Forgive me, don’t think ill of me.” Since then, every year at least one sister leaves from among those who lived in the monastery from the very beginning. Rumors are heard from the world: so-and-so left - and everything is fine with her, she didn’t get sick, she didn’t break her legs, no one raped her, she got married and gave birth.

They left quietly, at night: there was no other way to leave. If you rush to the gate with your bags in broad daylight, everyone will shout: “Where are you going? Hold her! - and they will take you to mother. Why embarrass yourself? Then they came for documents.

We were taught that in other temples, in other monasteries it is not so. That's why we didn't leave: because we were sure that only in this place can one be saved.

“Where will I go? On mom's neck?

We accustomed to the monastery, How get used to the zone

I was made older sister in construction, they sent me to study to become a driver. I got my license and started driving into the city in a van. And when a person begins to constantly be outside the gate, he changes. I began to buy alcohol, but the money quickly ran out, and it had already become a habit - I began to smuggle it out of the monastery bins with my girlfriends. There was good vodka, cognac and wine.

We came to this life because we looked at the authorities, at mother, her friend and their inner circle. They had guests endlessly: cops with flashing lights, shaven-headed men, artists, clowns. They left the gatherings drunk, and mother reeked of vodka. Then the whole crowd went to her country house - there the TV was on from morning to night, music was playing.

Mother began to watch her figure and wear jewelry: bracelets, brooches. In general, she began to behave like a woman. You look at them and think: “If you can save yourself like this, it means I can too.” How was it before? “Mother, I sinned: I ate Strawberries and Cream candy during Lent.” - “Who’s going to put cream there for you, just think about it.” - “Of course, well, thank you.” And then I stopped caring about it all.

We got used to the monastery, just as one gets used to the zone. Former prisoners say: “The zone is my home. I feel better there, I know everything there, I have everything covered there.” Here I am: in the world I have no education, no life experience, no work record. Where will I go? On mom's neck? There were sisters who left with a specific goal - to get married and have a child. I was never drawn to having children or getting married.

Mother turned a blind eye to many things. Someone reported that I was drinking. Mother called: “Where do you get this drink?” - “Yes, here in the warehouse, all the doors are open. I don’t have money, I don’t take yours, if my mother gives me money, I can only buy “Three Sevens” with it. And in your warehouse there is “Russian Standard”, Armenian cognac.” And she says: “If you want a drink, come to us - we’ll pour it for you, no problem. Just don’t steal from the warehouse, the Metropolitan’s housekeeper comes to us, he has everything accounted for.” No more morals have been read. It was 16-year-olds whose brains were soaring, and all that was required of us was work, well, and observing some kind of boundaries.

“Natasha, don’t you dare come back!”

The first time I was kicked out after a frank conversation with Olga. She always wanted to make me her spiritual child, follower, admirer. She managed to tie some people very closely to her and make them fall in love with her. She's always so insinuating, she speaks in a whisper. We were driving in a car to my mother’s country house: I was sent there for construction work. We drive in silence, and suddenly she says: “You know, I have nothing to do with everything about the church, even these words disgust me: blessing, obedience - I was raised differently. I think you're just like me. The girls come to me, and you come to me.” It hit me like a blow to the head. “I,” I answer, “actually was raised in the faith, and church things are not alien to me.”

In a word, she revealed her cards to me, like a scout from “Omega Option,” and I pushed her away. After that, naturally, she began to try in every possible way to get rid of me. After some time, my mother calls me and says: “You are not our own. You're not getting better. We call you to us, and you are always friends with the scum. You will still do what you want. Nothing good will come of you, but even a monkey can work. Go home."

In Moscow, with great difficulty, I found a job in my specialty: my sister’s husband got me a job as a proofreader at the publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate. The stress was terrible. I couldn’t adapt, I missed the monastery. I even went to see our confessor. “Father, so and so, they kicked me out.” “Well, there’s no need to go there anymore. Who do you live with, your mother? Does mom go to church? Well, that's okay. Do you have higher education? No? Here you go." And all this is said by the priest, who always intimidated us and warned us against leaving. I calmed down: it seemed like I had received a blessing from the elder.

And then my mother calls me - a month after the last conversation - and asks in a melting voice: “Natasha, we checked you. We miss you so much, come back, we are waiting for you.” “Mother,” I say, “I’m done.” Father blessed me." - “We’ll talk to the priest!” I don’t understand why she called me. This is something womanish, it hurts my ass. But I couldn't resist. Mom was horrified: “Are you crazy, where are you going? They made you into some kind of zombie!” And Marinka too: “Natasha, don’t you dare come back!”

When I arrive, everyone looks at me like wolves, no one misses me there. They probably thought that I felt too good in Moscow, so they returned me. They haven't completely mocked us yet.

This time is forever

The second time I was kicked out for romantic relationship with one sister. There was no sex, but everything was leading up to it. We completely trusted each other and discussed our rotten lives. Of course, others began to notice that we were sitting in the same cell until midnight.

In fact, they would have kicked me out anyway, it was just an excuse. For others it wasn't like that. Some played with children from the monastery orphanage. Father was still surprised: “Why did you have boys? Get some girls!” They were kept until the army, healthy boars. So, one teacher educated and educated - and further educated. They scolded her, of course, but they didn’t kick her out! She then left on her own, and she and that guy are still together.

Five others were expelled along with me. They organized a meeting and said that we were strangers to them, that we were not improving, that we were ruining everything, that we were tempting everyone. And off we went. After that, I had no thoughts of returning either there or to another monastery. This life was cut off like a knife.

The first time after the monastery, I continued to go to church every Sunday, and then gradually gave up. Only on major holidays I come in to pray and light a candle. But I consider myself a believer, Orthodox, and I recognize the church. I am friends with several ex-sisters. Almost everyone has gotten married, had children, or is simply dating someone.

When I returned home, I was so happy that now I don’t have to work at a construction site! In the monastery we worked for 13 hours, until nightfall. Sometimes night work was added to this. In Moscow, I worked as a courier, and then again took up repairs - I needed money. What I was taught in the monastery is what I earn. Got it from them work book, I was given 15 years of experience. But this is a pittance, it doesn’t help you retire at all. Sometimes I think: if it weren’t for the monastery, I would get married and give birth. What kind of life is this?

Sometimes I think: there would be no monastery I would get married gave birth. What kind of life is this?

"I was a bad nun"

One of the former monks says: “The monasteries must be closed.” But I don't agree. There are people who want to be monks, pray, help others - what's wrong with that? I am against large monasteries: there is only debauchery, money, show off. Another thing is monasteries in the outback, away from Moscow, where life is simpler, where they don’t know how to make money.

In fact, everything depends on the abbot, because he has unlimited power. Nowadays you can still find an abbot with experience in monastic life, but in the 90s there was nowhere to find them: monasteries had just begun to open. Mother graduated from Moscow State University, worked her way through church circles, and was appointed abbess. How could she be entrusted with the monastery if she herself had not undergone either humility or obedience? What kind of spiritual power is needed in order not to become corrupted?

I was a bad nun. She grumbled, did not humble herself, considered herself right. She could say: “Mother, I think so.” - “These are your thoughts.” “These are not thoughts,” I say, “I have them, these are thoughts!” Thoughts! I think so!" - “The devil thinks for you, the devil! Listen to us, God is talking to us, we will tell you how to think.” - “Thank you, I’ll figure it out myself somehow.” People like me are not needed there.

Text- Anton Khitrov

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 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 “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 a normal life.

Among those who went to monasteries, many famous people. For example, the younger sister of 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 at an 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 him ex-wife from alcohol addiction: “No matter what clinics she was treated in, 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 In 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 go to the courtyard of the Novospassky Monastery in the near Moscow region, known for accepting novices and also providing shelter for female victims 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. There must have been unrequited love. 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 a plot of land. 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, psychical deviations and a drunken mind.

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.

Elena, a Muscovite, had an adult daughter in a terrible accident. 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 there were kind 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 - sure sign 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 the 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. These are poor relationships 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. This is not bad, but this is not about true faith, but about the fact that these girls have no other tools to change their lives - not to be discouraged, to work, to study, to 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, and 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 from men, for which she was constantly reproached in a 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 outside world simply because there is no strength to get what you 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, and children from disadvantaged families find protection, care and care. 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. At the end 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, she 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 homes 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:

"In the election of women monastic path the church sees a special blessing - 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 from the 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.”

We have published the first part of the notes of our correspondent Zhanna Chul, who lived in monasteries for five years. First, in the rich and famous Voskresensky Novodevichy in St. Petersburg. Then - in poor Ioanno-Predtechenskoye, in Moscow. Today we are finishing publishing this unique text about modern monastic morals.

Zhanna Chul

“Come back immediately!”

I left the Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg because I didn’t have the strength to endure such a life. The myth about the good mother abbess was dispelled by her. It took me a long time to gather my courage, I went through possible options care Chance helped.

On September 30, Mother Superior Sophia celebrated Angel Day. Usually this holiday - the day of the holy martyrs Faith, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia - was equated in solemnity with the arrival of the patriarch at the monastery. For several days, the sisters did not have a free minute: they washed, cleaned, and bought a lot of products for a sumptuous meal. Garlands were woven from flowers and huge flower beds were made. The temple was decorated festively. The guests walked in a long line. Those of lower rank were received by the abbess in the church and in the sisters' refectory. Government officials and businessmen were treated to delicacies and liqueurs in her own house. Mother Sofia also gave her sisters a gift on her angel day. I gave each one a set: a book, an icon and a pack of tea. I didn’t come to the festive meal: I was on duty at the temple. And I didn’t really want to. My relationship with my mother was already tense.

My gift was brought to the temple by nun Olga. But by mistake I took a set for another novice. She shouted that she was left without a gift. The next day, Mother called nun Olga and me into her office. “Why did you bring her a gift? Are you her cell attendant? (Servants of persons of monastic rank. - Author),” she asked the trembling Olga menacingly. Without listening to our answers, she announced her verdict: “I am removing the apostolnik (headdress in female monasticism) from Olga, and I am sending Joanna home.” I turned around and left. She didn’t even react to the abbess’s exclamations to me: “Come back!” Come back immediately." I went to pack my things. As a complete violation of human rights, as an act of distrust towards my sisters, I consider the fact that nuns are required to hand over their passports at the monastery. They are kept in an office safe: this gives the abbess a guarantee that the sister will not run away without a document. They didn’t return my passport for a long time. I had to threaten that I would come to the monastery with the police...

New monastery

At home I could not return to normal life for a long time. After all, in the monastery I was used to working seven days a week. Sometimes despite the pain and poor health. Regardless of the time of day and weather conditions. And although she was physically and mentally exhausted, she continued to get up at six in the morning out of habit. To keep myself busy and somehow figure out what to do next, I went to Strelna, to the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage. Attended services. She helped clean the temple and worked in the garden. The soul needed peace and rest, some kind of change. And I went on a two-week trip to Israel. I visited Jerusalem and the main places in the life of Jesus Christ: Nazareth in Galilee, Mount Tabor, washed myself in the Jordan River... When I returned, rested and enlightened, the desert priest Father Varlaam, in response to my question, what should I do next, blessed me to go to Moscow to John -Predtechensky Convent. I've never heard of him before. I found the address on the Internet. Got ready to go. Mom was crying. Just as bitter and inconsolable as three years ago, when I left for the Novodevichy Convent...

It was with difficulty that I found this monastery in Moscow and circled around it for a long time, although it was a five-minute walk from the Kitay-Gorod metro station to the monastery. When the doorbell rang, a friendly, pretty sister in black monastic robes came out onto the porch. She took me to Abbess Afanasia. I arrived just in time: in half an hour the abbess was leaving for the hospital, where she was to spend three weeks. When they led me up the stairs, I noted to myself how much devastation and dirt there was all around. And, of course, in the future I also constantly compared my life in the first monastery and in the present one.

Wilderness near the Kremlin

The sisters rarely saw Abbess Afanasia: either during divine services, or if she called her to her cell. Mother was seriously ill - she even had difficulty walking. So she sat all the time in her cell. The abbess did not come down to the common meal because of her sore legs. Three times a day, a particularly close woman, who worked as a hired cook, came up to her with a tray of food. Over the years in the monastery, she found an approach to the abbess; they had long conversations behind closed doors. From Natalya, the abbess learned all the news of the monastery and was aware of the life of the sisters. When Natalya had a day off, she was blessed to bring food to one of the sisters. And the abbess took the tray with empty dishes into the corridor and placed it on an aquarium with goldfish.

Compared to the Voskresensky Novodevichy monastery, this monastery was much simpler. Even though Ioanno-Predtechensky was located a ten-minute walk from the Kremlin, the poverty was as if the sisters lived in the wilderness of the forest. In Novodevichy I took a shower every day. And here they saved water. It came as a shock to the sisters and the abbess when they found out that I washed myself every day. As it turns out, a real monk takes a shower once a week (or better yet, twice!). The landline phone number was tapped. The same device stood in the dean’s cell, and at any second during the conversation one could hear the sniffling of the sister keeping order in the receiver: think about what you say and don’t be idle. The lights were turned off throughout the monastery before eleven o'clock in the evening. In Novodevichy, we had night lights burning in all the corridors. Of course to careful attitude There was a call for electricity there, but not enough to check at night. Abbess Sophia gave her blessing to hang a notice in the church: “The monastery has a debt for electricity of 3 million rubles. We ask parishioners to donate to pay off the debt.” And in Ioanno-Predtechenskoye they simply saved money...

In the room with a three-meter high ceiling where I was placed in the new monastery, rags of plaster hung down. The window was closed and half curtained,

as they do in the village, a gray, washed-out scum. The walls are smoked and

dirty. On the floor, between the rickety cabinets, there are heaters turned on at full power. Stale air: heavy smell of burnt air mixed with the smell of sweat and old things. As nun Anuvia later admitted to me, all these tables and cabinets were picked up from the trash heap.

Besides me, there are three other residents. Two nuns - Mother Alexy and Mother Innocent (later we had a constant struggle with her for open window. Even in warm weather she ordered it to be closed - she was afraid of catching a cold) and novice Natalya. The room is partitioned off with ropes on which identical large pieces of fabric, gray with dirt, hang. Each sister has a candle or lamp burning behind the curtain. In my nook there is a bed, on the wall there is a woven carpet with a picture Mother of God"Tenderness." A chair, a table with sagging drawers, a bedside table. In the corner there is a shelf with icons and a lamp. I sank helplessly into a chair. I couldn't sleep that night. Behind the curtain I felt like I was in a hole. There was no air at all. The bed creaked pitifully. And all three of my neighbors, as soon as they lay down and turned off the light, began... to snore! It was a real nightmare. Fancy shadows from flickering lamps flitted across the ceiling. I couldn’t stand it and cried quietly. Forget yourself, fall into heavy sleep I only succeeded in the morning. As soon as I dozed off, the bell rang: rise!

Soup for beggars

To begin with, they gave me obedience - to photograph (for some reason no one wanted to pick up a camera) all events and inner life monastery, help the cook in the kitchen in preparing meals, wash dishes in the evenings. Sometimes I also washed the stairs leading up to the sisters' cells.

Later, I was entrusted with feeding the beggars at the gate. It was a morally difficult obedience. By two o'clock in the afternoon a table was brought out to the gate. Homeless people began to flock from all sides. We already knew many of them by sight, but those who had found themselves in difficult times also came. life situation- for example, a person was robbed at a train station. At a strictly appointed hour, all these unfortunates hurried to the St. John the Baptist Monastery. This was also a huge difference between the two monasteries. In Novodevichy, despite all its luxury, those who ask will not receive a dry crust until they have worked. One day I was stopped by a ragged man who could barely stand on his feet from weakness. He only asked for bread. I turned to the sacristan for a blessing for this, who remained behind the eldest in the monastery while the abbess was away. She was inexorable: let him at least sweep the yard.

Beggars (they were affectionately called “poor people”) at the St. John the Baptist Monastery were given soup in a disposable plastic plate, two pieces of bread and liquid tea. Their hungry eyes lit up at the sight of food! The homeless were constantly in need of clothes and shoes. Therefore, a clothing circulation was established in the monastery. Parishioners brought unnecessary clothes. The beggars immediately snapped up the mittens, socks and hats they brought out, especially in the bitter cold of winter.

Massage for the rich

In the Novodevichy Convent for a long time Various organizations rented the premises. In addition to the payment, they gave the sisters gifts for the holidays. The cosmetics company Rive Gauche, for example, supplied the nuns with shampoos and shower gels. When the lease expired and the organizations did not renew it, the abbess began to look for a use for the vacant premises. I wanted a family Orphanage arrange it, but the sisters protested, fearing responsibility. Then, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill, Sofia set up a bishop's hotel in these premises. Each cell rivaled the most expensive worldly hotel in its luxury of furniture and utensils. The floor is covered with a fluffy bright carpet. In the refectory, in a huge cell, canaries chattered merrily. On the lower floor there is a sauna, a massage chair and even a swimming pool. The toilets in especially luxurious cells were illuminated and had washing and massage functions, even an “enema” function was provided... And in Ioanno-Predtechenskoe at that time there were not enough deep bowls for soup for all the eaters! And the toilets were from Soviet times - to flush the water, you had to pull a string.

The fate of a ballerina

Man is still an amazing creature: how much can he endure!? But, as they say, everyone is given a cross within their strength. The nun Eusevia, with whom I had to share both my cell and obedience during the first days, is a frail woman of fifty years old. At the time we met her, her monastic experience was seventeen years. It is interesting that in the past she graduated from the Leningrad Choreographic School named after A. Ya. Vaganova and was a ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater. She went to the monastery on the eve of the theater’s important long tour to Japan... Her main obedience was as a senior prosphora girl. I had the opportunity to work in the prosphora for the first month. Without exaggeration I will say: baking prosphora is the hardest work.

Those who have obedience there get up earlier than everyone else. They don’t go to the morning service - in the prosphora itself they light a lamp in front of the icon of Jesus Christ and read prayers. And only after that they start working.

We spent the whole day in the prosphora: from 6 am to 16-17 pm. All this time - on my feet. There is no time to sit down - while one batch of prosphora is being baked, another needs to be cut out of the dough. We had lunch hastily and dry. Here, perched on the edge of the cutting table. The small room is very hot and stuffy. The baking trays with the “tops” and “bottoms” of the prosphoras are heavy - made of iron. Future prosphora must be cut out very carefully, according to a strictly defined size, otherwise they will turn out lopsided, and this is a defect. Mother Eusevia was indispensable in this obedience. I wondered: where did she, so sick and fragile, get so much strength? After all, the list of her obediences was not limited to work in the prosphora. She was also an assistant cellarer (the head of the refectory), she helped in the sewing workshop, and she was assigned to do church work in the church (monitoring the candles and the cleanliness of the icons). After running through obediences, I was so tired that at the end of the day I fell on the bed in my cell and instantly fell asleep. And behind the curtain, Eusebius’s mother read endless prayers, canons, akathists, and lives for half the night.

Accident in the prosphora

Serious troubles also happened: the sisters became distracted from constant fatigue and lack of sleep and could break an arm or leg. Novice Natalya (I was surprised when I found out that she was only 25 years old: with a headscarf pulled right over her eyes, with rough skin, constantly frowning, she gave the impression of a grandmother over 60...) was preparing to become a nun, and the wait for tonsure is treacherous and full of temptations - this is so natural in the monastery that it no longer surprises anyone. One day, Natalya crushed her left hand while rolling out dough with a machine. Eusebius's mother was with her, and her story of what happened made her skin crawl with horror.

Mother Eusevia kneaded the dough: poured sifted flour, dry yeast, salt into a large vat, added Epiphany water. Suddenly, a heartbreaking scream was heard behind her. She turned around: her assistant was writhing in pain, and instead of a brush she had a bleeding piece of meat. Ambulance took Natasha to the hospital. The operation was urgently performed. The hand took a long time to heal. But something switched in Natasha’s head: she suddenly began to talk. The girl said terrible things: she either blamed her sisters for hurting her hand because of their witchcraft, or she assured that the treasurer’s mother, Anuvia, had overloaded her with work and “wants to make a boy out of her.” The older sisters noticed in time that something was wrong with Natalya. The tonsure was canceled, and the girl herself was sent home: “rest and restore your health.”

In a special position

The treasurer and builder of the monastery, nun Anuvia, previously worked as an archaeologist and led expeditions in the near abroad. She constantly promised her sisters: next spring we will definitely move to a new building. Each will have their own cell! Spring came, followed by summer, autumn came... everything remained unchanged. The sisters lived in cramped conditions and dirt. Treasurer is a kind and cheerful woman. But she herself lived in her apartment on the outskirts of Moscow. With his son, his wife and three grandchildren. She did not live in the monastery for a single day - she came three or four times a week: she would serve at the altar during the service, walk around the monastery - and again into the world. She had a separate cell: she needed to store her things somewhere, gifts from parishioners, change from secular dress to monastic vestments for worship... She drove her own car. Every year she promised both the abbess and the confessor: “ Last year I live like this! I’ll settle in the monastery for good.” The next year came and the story continued.

The tiles in the shower were peeling, and the hatch was constantly getting clogged - the sisters kept falling out. long hair and hammered the bars. No one was in a hurry to clean up after themselves, much less after your sister, who was washing in front of you. The person in charge of the shower room was cursing and posting notices admonishing sluts. One day, desperate to shout out to her untidy sisters, she hung a lock on the door for a couple of days. In the bakery, red cockroaches danced in circles at night. During the day, dough was rolled out on these tables for pies and baked goods, which were sold in a tent next to the monastery. I once went into a bakery late in the evening to read a book (in the cells the lights had long been turned off, you couldn’t even light a candle). Turned on the light. Cockroaches splashed into different sides…

It's harder to leave than to come

However, it was not the difficulties of everyday life that drove me from the monastery. When decisions have been made for you for years, and your job is small - to fulfill obedience without thinking, you lose the habit of thinking and feel powerless to coherently express your thoughts and desires. I started to get scared of myself - I realized that I was starting to think poorly. And I also wanted activity. And freedom. I have already expressed my desire to my sisters more than once. While leaving home on vacation, she voiced it and raised the issue for consideration by the monastery administration. Ten days later I received a phone call (in the St. John the Baptist Monastery, given the difficult living conditions, the sisters were allowed to use mobile phone and the Internet) a text message saying that they are blessing me to leave. It was necessary to collect things, hand over books and clothes to the library. The sisters said a touching goodbye. They invited me to come back in a year. Temporarily I moved to an apartment with friends. But whenever I entered the monastery, I was greeted warmly and even treated to lunch. I received calls throughout the next year. But seeing a familiar number, I didn’t pick up. I wanted to forget everything that happened to me. But it turned out to be not so easy. Even in my dreams I returned to the monastery.

The first days I didn’t believe my luck. I will sleep as much as I want! I can eat whatever I want (I lived without meat for five years and when I tried it for the first time after a long break, it seemed to me that I was chewing rubber). And most importantly, from now on I am my own abbess. My family at home welcomed me with open arms! But it took a whole year before I started to get back to normal. human life. Firstly, I couldn’t get enough sleep: no matter how much I slept, it wasn’t enough for me. Twelve, fourteen hours a day - I still felt tired and overwhelmed. I fell asleep in the theater during a performance, during lectures at a photography school (where I entered because I fell in love with photography in the monastery and wanted to continue this activity in the world), in transport - as soon as I sat down or even leaned against something, my eyes suddenly went away. were closing.

During the first months it was difficult to concentrate and even clearly formulate my thoughts. In the monastery, if we had a free half hour, we would sit on a bench in the garden, silently and with folded hands, breathing the air - rejoicing at the outstanding break. I had neither the strength nor the desire to read or talk. One of the nuns at the monastery taught me how to weave a rosary. And the monastery brought benefits (the rosary went for sale in the monastery shop), and all this was some kind of change in activity. This activity helped me out when I returned to the world: I took my wickerwork to church and even received some money for it. Some kind of help for life.

In a word, going to the monastery turned out to be much easier morally than leaving it...

Who are the monks, where do they live and what clothes do they wear? What makes them choose this way? difficult path? These questions are of interest not only to those who are planning to enter a monastery. What is known about people who voluntarily renounced worldly pleasures and devoted themselves to worship?

Monastery - what is it?

First, it’s worth figuring out where the monks live. The term “monastery” came into our language from Greek. This word means "alone, lonely" and is used to refer to communities or people who choose to be alone. A monastery is a religious gathering of people who have taken a vow of celibacy and withdrawn from society.

Traditionally, the monastery has a complex of buildings, which includes church, utility and residential premises. They are used depending on the needs of the community. Also, each monastery determines its own charter, which all members of the religious community must follow.

Nowadays, several types of monasteries have survived in which monastic life. The Lavra is a large monastery, which is part of Orthodox Church. Kinovia is a Christian community that has a community charter. An abbey is a Catholic church that is subordinate to a bishop or even directly to the pope. There are also monastic villages called deserts, which are located far from the main monastery.

Historical reference

Knowing the history of the origin of monasteries will help you better understand who the monks are. Nowadays, monasteries can be found in many countries of the world. It is believed that they began to appear since the spread of Christianity, which happened in the third century AD. The first monks were people who left cities into the wilderness and led the life of ascetics; then they were called hermits. Egypt is the birthplace of monasticism; it was in this country that the first cenobia appeared in the 4th century thanks to Pachomius the Great.

Soon after this, monasteries arose first in Palestine, and then in European countries. The first monastic communities in the West were created through the efforts of Athanasius the Great. The fathers of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra in Rus' were Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk.

Who are monks: general information

It's time to get to the fun part. Who are monks is a question that fascinates many people. This is the name given to those who voluntarily rejected worldly joys and devoted their lives to worship. Monasticism is a calling, not a choice; it is not surprising that only a select few become monks, while everyone else leaves the monastery walls.

Becoming a monk is available not only to men, but also to women. The latter can also settle in a monastery after making the necessary vows. There were times when there were no women's and monasteries. This practice was introduced in 1504, it was then that joint monasteries were abolished in Rus'.

Life of monks

The above describes who the monks are. What kind of life do people lead who have followed their calling and dedicated themselves to God? To be tonsured does not mean that a person ends life on earth. It continues to satisfy the need for sleep and food. Of course, each monk has his own duties, working for the benefit of people or the monastery, which is called obedience.

Obedience is the work that the inhabitants of the monastery do when they are free from worship. It is divided into economic and educational. By economic work we mean that which is aimed at maintaining order in the monastery. What kind of work the monk is engaged in is decided by the abbot. Educational work- these are prayers.

Every minute of such a person is devoted to the service of God. He is not bothered by earthly goals and ideals. The monk’s day is spent in prayers, which become for him a kind of meaning of life.

Vows

It's no secret that monks take vows. What is the monastic vow of celibacy? A person who makes such a promise not only gives up the opportunity to get married. This vow implies that gender no longer matters to him. The bodily shell remained in the world that the monk left; from now on, only souls are important to him.

Also, a servant of God must take a vow of non-covetousness. By saying goodbye to the world, the monk also renounces the right to personal property. This implies that he cannot own anything, even if we're talking about about a ballpoint pen. A person gives up property because he no longer needs it. Everything that the monks use, such as books, is the property of the monastery.

What is the monastic vow of obedience? This means that a person completely rejects his desires. His only goal from now on is unity with the Lord, to whom he offers prayers hourly. However, willpower remains with him. In addition, the monk is required to unquestioningly follow the orders of the abbot. This is not a sign of submission and servility, but rather helps to find peace and joy in the soul.

How to become a monk

Becoming a monk is a long journey that not every applicant succeeds in completing. Many people realize that they are not able to part with the benefits of civilization, to give up the opportunity to have a family and property. The road to becoming a servant of God begins with communication with a spiritual father, who gives useful advice to a person who has decided to say goodbye to worldly life.

Next, the applicant, if he has not yet abandoned his intention, becomes a laborer - an assistant to the clergy. He must constantly be in the monastery and follow its rules. This gives a person the opportunity to understand whether he is ready to spend his life in prayer and physical labor, say goodbye to the benefits of civilization, and rarely see his family. On average, a future monk follows the path of a laborer for about three years, after which he becomes a novice. The duration of this stage is determined individually; a person is still free to leave the monastery walls at any time. If he passes all the tests with honor, he will be tonsured a monk.

About the ranks

Residents of our country are accustomed to calling the clergyman “priest.” This common word is acceptable, but you need to know that in the Orthodox Church there is a strict hierarchy of orders. To begin with, it is worth mentioning that all clergy are divided into black (taking a vow of celibacy) and white (having the right to start a family).

Only four Orthodox ranks are available to married people: deacon, protodeacon, priest and archpriest. Many people prefer this path because they do not want to completely abandon worldly life. What kind of monastic rank can a person who decides to do this receive? There are many more options: hierodeacon, archdeacon, hieromonk, abbot, archimandrite and so on. A monk can also become a bishop, archbishop, metropolitan, or patriarch.

The highest monastic rank is patriarch. Only a person who has taken a vow of celibacy can be awarded it. There are known cases when family clergy, whose children have already grown up, with the consent of their spouses, go to a monastery and renounce worldly life. It happens that their wives do the same, as evidenced by the example of Saints Fevronia and Peter of Murom.

Cloth

The clothing of the monks also arouses keen interest among the public. A cassock is a long robe that reaches to the heels. It has narrow sleeves and the collar is buttoned tightly. The cassock is an undergarment. If worn by a monk, the item should be black. Cassocks of other colors (gray, brown, white, dark blue) can only be afforded by family clergy. Traditionally, they are made from wool, cloth, satin, and linen.

Of course, the clothing of monks is not only a cassock. The outer garment of a person who has dedicated himself to God is called a cassock. Traditionally, it has long and wide sleeves. Black cassocks are most widespread, but you can also find white, cream, gray, and brown versions.

It is impossible not to mention the monastic headdress - the hood. It appeared in the church environment a long time ago, initially it looked like a soft cap made of simple matter. The modern cap is covered with a black veil that extends below the shoulders. Most often you can find black hoods, but there are also products made in other colors.

Who can't become a monk

Entering a monastery is a decision that not every person can implement. It is believed that people cannot give up their worldly life if they are kept from this commitment to others. Let's say the candidate has small children, elderly parents, and disabled relatives. Also, those who are being treated for a serious illness should not think about tonsure. This is due to the fact that the person would have to give up quality medical care.