Among people, there has always been an opinion that unrealized individuals or those who are disappointed in life go to monasticism. This is far from the case, for the monastic path is very difficult, there is no place for a person with a broken psyche. The inhabitants have a monastic rule and obedience.
About book and real monasticism
Everywhere there are rules that are mandatory. But if in the world these rules are violated or adjusted, then this is not the case in the monastery. Here, a complete cut-off of one’s will takes place, surrender to the abbess or abbess, depending on the type of monastery.
One 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 man is trampled, like this mantle, and accepts this, he will not become a real monk.
It happens that a person decides to go to the monastery, having read books about asceticism and life in the monastery, among brothers or sisters. We hasten to reassure, modern monasticism is not the same as it is described in old books. Back in the 90s, it was completely different. And today, not every priest blesses going to the monastery.
In addition to having to observe the rules of monastic life, attending divine services and carrying obedience, it is also a huge work on oneself. It’s just that not everyone can bear such a cross, and many break down, dropping it halfway.
Consequences of a rash departure to the monastery
The main rule of monastic life is renunciation of oneself, striving for God. A monk should not seek entertainment; for him there is nothing sweeter than prayer. Having completed obedience, he seeks in the cell to surrender to it completely.
Is a person, eager to leave for the monastery, ready to reject his own will? Love loneliness, prayer and humility? If not, then he will not survive in the monastery for a long time. The fact is that all character traits become aggravated there: both positive and negative. The latter must be removed, you have to break yourself, and then the pressure comes from the senior officials. Another simply cannot stand such a life, escaping from the monastery at the earliest opportunity.
And great happiness to man, if he realized that he could not bear the cross of monasticism even before the adoption of tonsure. Although there is an opinion that wearing obedient vestments, you can return to the world. Allegedly, there is nothing wrong with this; the novice has not yet made vows to God. This can be compared with the bride’s vestment: imagine that the wedding is approaching, the bride is already dressing up for the celebration. She puts on her lower shirt under the dress, and at some point she realizes that she doesn’t want to get married. Then the girl takes it off, puts it off, and tells the groom that she has changed her mind about marrying him. So it is here: novice clothes can be compared with the bottom dress. And what will it look like if he takes them off?
As for leaving the monastery after monastic or monastic tonsure, there is a separate conversation. This does not pass without a trace for such people; it affects themselves and their children if they dare to become parents. In the book "Unholy Saints" a wonderful quatrain of academician Losev is given. He did not give vows to God, and 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 am breaking a vow.
And God damned me for it
Whatever I touch is rubbish. "
Therefore, do not make rash decisions and go to the monastery after reading books about spiritual exploits.
About monastic life
The monastic rule of life includes complete humility and cutting off the will of one's own. The inhabitants of the monastery obey the abbess or abbess, taking a blessing from them for each action. You cannot leave the monastery of your own free will, only with the permission of the abbot (with blessing).
Briefly about one 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 in the morning, somewhere at 5:00 in the morning, and in other cloisters at 6:00 in the morning. A slight relief occurs on Sundays, when the beginning of the Liturgy moves forward an hour if the service is one. If there are two of them, then a monk can come to the later.
After the service, it is breakfast time. The monk goes to the refectory, where he eats food very quickly. The speed depends on whether he needs to obey or not. If there is such a need, you have to eat at a pace.
Obedience is different, each monk has his own. The abbot of the monastery or dean appoints obedience. The latter is the "deputy chief", in the usual worldly language. By superior means, as we understand it, abbot.
Obedience is interrupted only in order to take part in the meal. After which the monastic returns to his occupation.
Sometimes after lunch or morning service, time is allocated for rest. It is not very much, from the power of an hour and a half. Some of the brethren have no such time because of the specifics of obedience, while others have a lot of it, again, for this reason.
Those who end their obedience to evening service go to the temple. The rest continue to work if obedience cannot be abandoned until the next day. For example, in a church shop or in a cafe for pilgrims, which is now almost at every monastery, or in a hotel.
After the evening service, the monastic prayer rule begins. Lay people are forbidden to attend it, so only the inhabitants of the monastery know about its texts.
After the rule, the monk goes to his room. Idle walks on the territory of the monastery are forbidden. 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 they go to them.
Cell behavior
Having come to his cell, the nun can rest a bit, after which he makes the rule. The inhabitants have their own monastic rule, mandatory for daily execution. It is different for everyone, depending on the blessing of the abbot: someone is given more, others less. The shortest includes:
morning prayers;
chapter from the gospel;
kathisma from the Psalms;
the acts and epistles of the apostles;
five hundred;
evening prayers;
Akathists and the rule of prayer with the blessing of the confessor or abbot of the monastery.
It is not customary for monks to speak with a cellmate. Yes, they live in two, and the room is delimited by a partition. But this does not mean that it is impossible to say even two words, say hello, wish good night or good morning. The main thing is that there should be no idle conversations when the monks forget about their rule, too carried away by them.
Five hundred
We cannot cite the text of the monastic rule, for each has his own, as noted above. But readers will see the text of five hundred, note that it is given for general development and familiarization, and not for passing on their own experience.
The first hundred is the prayer of Jesus. It is read as follows: the first ten prayers with earthly bows after each, the next 20 prayers with belt bows, and the remaining 70 are read with heartfelt bows.
The second and third hundred are the same as the first.
The fourth hundred is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. They read in the image 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 with the prayer “It is worth it to eat” ends.
The monastic rule of five hundred is given below.
Jesus prayer
Every pious lay person knows her. But for those who are not church people, we publish the words of Jesus prayer in the article. She is very short and simple.
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
Mother of God Prayer
Akin to Jesus, she is just as short. Any prayer, even the smallest, must be read with attention. That is what the monks do, trying to achieve a mental-hearted prayer state:
My Blessed Virgin Mary, save me a sinner.
Guardian angel and all saints
The Balaam monastic rule includes this prayer. And besides the declared five hundred, the monks also read the three canons, akathist to Jesus the Sweetest and Most Holy Mother of God. We told this for the general development of readers, so that they would not think that only our Russian monks have difficult rules. No, everywhere there are difficulties, as we see.
But let's return to the final part of the five hundred: prayers to the guardian angel and all the saints.
Holy Angel to my Guardian, pray to God for me as a sinner.
This is the prayer of our Angel, read 50 times, as mentioned above. The same number of times the monks recite the prayer to all the saints:
Pray to God for all sin against me.
Prayer at the end of five hundred
The monastic rule of 500 prayers is completed. Now it remains to read the last prayer of thanks. What the monks do before they go on vacation.
It is worthy to truly bless the Mother of God, the Blessed and the Immaculate, and the Mother of our God. The most honest Cherub and the most glorious, without comparison, the Seraph, without the destruction of the God of the Word, who gave birth to the Mother of God, We magnify.
Vows for tonsure
And the last thing that needs to be mentioned when speaking about the monastic rule of nuns and monks is the vows that are given upon tonsure.
There are three of them: non-possessiveness, chastity and obedience. That is, the monk or monk should not seek to accumulate earthly goods and money, look at the opposite sex and be sure to obey the abbot.
Conclusion
Here is such a monastic life: patience, humility and obedience. A step to the right or left is not allowed, there will be no execution for it, but you can slide into a spiritual abyss. And getting out of it, even if you read the monastic rule, will be very difficult.