An essential asset of Slavic culture are Orthodox churches and monasteries. They attract not only pilgrims who truly believe, but also tourists. The latter are interested in architecture, interior decoration of temples, the history of their existence.
General concept and meaning
The concept of "monastery" came with Christianity in Kievan Rus from Byzantium. This state arose on the basis of Greek culture. From Greek, “monastery” is a “secluded dwelling”.
In it, the monks observe a single charter. However, not everyone who came to the monastery becomes a monk. To begin with, he passes the test. If it ended successfully, the person is awarded a tonsure. According to the rules established at the Ecumenical Council, regardless of the previous moral way of life, a person can enter into monasticism to correct (save) the soul.
The meaning of the word "monastery" for many today means directly the community of monks.
The first Christian monasteries
A monastery is a certain place with its own way. The first monasteries arose in Egypt and Palestine (4-5 centuries AD). Over time, monastic homes began to appear in Constantinople (the capital of Byzantium), which in Russian chronicles is referred to as Constantinople.
The first founders of monasticism in Russia are considered Anthony and Theodosius, who created the Kiev-Pechersky monastery.
Types of Christian Monasteries
In Christianity there is a division into a convent for women and men. What this means is easy to understand. The name depends on whether the female or male community lives and carries out activities at the church church. Mixed monasteries in Christianity do not exist.
Different types of monastic dwellings:
Abbey. It occurs in the Catholic (western) direction. It is governed by the abbot in the male community and the abbess in the female. Obeys the bishop, and sometimes the Pope in person.
Lavra. This is the largest monastic dwelling in the Orthodox (eastern) direction. This kind of monastic home is exclusively suitable for male communities.
Cinovia. Communal monastery. This means that the organization has a hostel charter, to which all its members obey.
Compound. This is a home remote from the monastery, which is located in a city or village. It is used to collect donations, receive pilgrims, and housekeeping.
The desert. The dwelling, created in the traditions of Russian Orthodoxy, is built in a secluded place away from the monastery itself.
Skeet. This is the place for the life of a monk who wishes to become a hermit.
Most of the monastic dwellings are under the control of the diocesan bishops. Such monasteries are called diocesan. Certain Orthodox monasteries may have the status of stauropegial.
Stavropegial Monastery
What this means will help you learn a return to Greek. In a literal translation, “stavropigia” means “raising the cross”. It is assigned not only to monasteries, but also to cathedrals, theological schools.
This status means that the monastery is directly subordinate to the patriarch or synod. The Stavropegial Monastery is a shrine in which the cross was erected by the patriarch himself. This is the highest status.
Due to the fact that the diocese of the Orthodox Church is divided into several branches, there are different lists of stavropegic churches. Depending on their subordination, they may belong to the Orthodox Church of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and so on. There are such shrines in other countries, such as Estonia, Italy, USA, Germany.
Modern stavropegic monasteries
The largest number of such monastic dwellings is represented in Moscow and the Moscow region.
List of men's homes in Moscow:
- Andreevsky;
- Vysoko-Petrovsky;
- Danilov;
- Donskoy;
- Zaikonospassky;
- Novospassky;
- Sretensky.
List of women's dwellings in Moscow:
- Alekseevsky;
- Theotokos-Nativity;
- Zachatievsky;
- John the Baptist;
- Pokrovsky;
- Troitsk-Odigitrievskaya deserts.
When and where do you need to open a new stauropegial monastery? What does it mean? The decision on such an issue is taken by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia individually.
Forms of organization of monasticism
The monastery is the place of life of the monks. Depending on what form of organization they have chosen, the monastery may be with a hostel charter or in the form of a hermit.
For Christians, hermitism is a fairly developed form of monasticism. Even Jesus Christ himself spent 40 days in the desert.
The first hermits left in the desert, persecuted by the Roman authorities in the 3rd century. Later, this form spread from Egypt to Palestine, Armenia, Gaul and Europe. In Western Christianity hermitism disappeared, it survived only in the Orthodox direction. Among the hermits who devoted themselves to asceticism and intense prayers, there are both men and women. The most famous hermit is Mary of Egypt from Palestine, who lived in the 6th century.
Another form of monastic organization is called Kinovia.
Charter of Kinovia
From the Greek language, the word means "life together," that is, a hostel.
The founder of the first kinovia is considered to be St. Pachomius, who created it in 318 in South Egypt. As for the Russian Orthodox Church, the first hostel church was created by Theodosius of the Caves.
According to the universal charter, monks accept everything necessary for their existence from kinovii. For example, food, clothes, shoes. They work free of charge, and all the results of their work belong to kinovii. The monk, including the abbot, do not have the right to personal property; they cannot commit acts of gift or inherit anything. They do not have ownership rights.
The rules of conduct in the monastery for the layman
A monastery is a special world. To understand all the subtleties of a monastic hostel, time is needed. Pilgrim misconduct is usually treated with patience, but some rules are best known when visiting a monastic home.
What to look for in behavior:
- having come as a pilgrim, one must ask for blessings for everything;
- you cannot leave the monastery without blessing;
- all worldly sinful addictions must be left behind the walls of the monastery (alcohol, tobacco, foul language);
- conversations need to be held only about the spiritual, and the main words in communication are the words “forgive”, “bless”;
- you can eat only at a common meal;
- sitting at the table for the meal, it is necessary to observe the order of seniority, sit silently and listen to reading.
To plunge into the world of tranquility and harmony, which is in the monastery, it is not necessary to know all the rules of the monastic way. It is enough to adhere to the usual norms of behavior, the observance of which includes respect for elders, restraint.