Orthodox Christian Monasticism Outline - Religion - http://maxpages.com/democracy/Orthodox_Monasticism

Since the early years of the Christian era, Christians have been called by Christ Himself to life in the world without being in the world (John 17:13-16). They are distinct from the world, because of their special conduct and their exemplary ethical life. When, toward the middle of the second century of the Christian era, some Christians, men and women, reacted to this by raising their own personal standards of austere Christian life. They practiced chastity, celibacy, poverty, prayer and fasting. These people considered themselves Christians selected to live an angelic life (Matt. 33:30).

Desert

Christian monasticism started in the east of the Egyptian desert of Nitria, by the western bank of Nile, with Abba Ammoun (+356) as its founder, and one in the desert of Skete, south of Nitria, with Saint Makarios of Egypt (+330) as its founder. Following the official recognition by the Roman Emperor Constantine in A.D. 335 with the edict of Milan (A.D. 313), there arose the danger which has not, with the passage of time, become less, that men might confuse the earthly kingdom with the Heavenly one. It was then, as it is now, the monks who kept the concept alive that the Kingdom of God is not of this world. Men and women too, fearing that the lure confort and security would divert them form their search for unity with God, left all behind and made their way into the desert, at the beginning singly, then in loosely formed groups. The leadership of monasticism shifted to Palestine where it flourished under Saint Euthymius the Great (+472) and especially under the discipline of Saint Sabas (+532) who greatly influenced the monastic rule, and at the end of the eight century to Constantinople where Saint Theodore was Abbot of the great and influential monastery of Studium, founded in 463. To this age belongs the monastery Saint Catherine of Mount Sinai, founded by Emperor Justinian by A.D. 560, which is still use and harbours a great treasure in manuscripts and holy icons that have escaped the ravage of the iconoclastic wars. With time developed in all Orthodox countries a rich and distinctive monastic life and each could present important spiritual centers which spread their life over the entire Orthodox world. To mention the foremost are Mount Athos and Patmos in Greece, Tismana and Neamtu in Romania, Lavra of Kiev and Optina in Russia, Ohrida in Serbia.

The spread of monasticism through the West has its origin back to Saint Athanasios of Alexandria, who was exiled in the West (AD 399). Evagrios of Antioch (380) translated his life of Saint Anthony into Latin. Two Latin monks, Rufinus and Saint Jerome, who lived in Palestine, brought monasticism to the West when they returned, during the second half of the 4th century. Saint Ambrose of Milan (+395) introduced monasticism in northern Italy, and Saint Augustine (+430) in northern Africa, whence monasticism was translated to Spain. Saint Martin of Tours (370) introduced monasticism into northern France (Gaul), and Saint Honoratus of Arles into the south. Saint John Cassian returned to Gaul to establish monasticism there.

Saint Seraphim

The monks went into the desert in order to combat more effectively the abode of the demons, not to find refuge, but to build a new city, to anticipate the Heavenly City. The exile became the pilgrimage of the homo viator in search of his heavenly roots. The monks proclaim the abolition of profane history and announce the coming of the new city inhabited by a new humanity.

By A.D. 350 there could already be distinguished three forms of monastic life, still to be found today in the Orthodox Church.

Saint John Climacus

1. The Eremite or Hermit, who lives alone in a cell difficult of access, his life is entirely devoted to prayer and extreme asceticism. His prototype is Saint Paul of Thebes, whose life was written by Saint Jerome. He proceeded into the desert by several years Saint Anthony (251-356), which generally is considered the father of monasticism. The story of the holy men's encounter, after many long years of solitude, is one of the most lovely in the history of the Desert Fathers.
The Hermits are called also Hesychast in the East, from gr. hesychia, 'quiet', 'spiritual repose', have the life of a continual 'monologic' prayer. " Let the remembrance of Jesus be present with each breath" wrote Saint John Climacus in the seventh century;" you will then know the value of solitude." The Byzantine Church is familiar with both hesychast and cenobitic (koino - common, bios - life) forms of monasticism. The great monasteries occasionally produced mystics capable of practicing the purest forms of hesychasm while continuing to conform to the ordinary rules of the community. Saint John Climacus, for example, was the Abbot the monastery Sainte Catherine of Mount Sinai; Hesychasm flourished even in the Studios, in the tenth and eleventh centuries, in the persons of Saint Symeon the Pious and Saint Symeon the New Theologian. Monastic federations and republics such as those of Mount Athos, Mount Olympus or Mount Saint Auxentius allowed for the existence of imposing communities and the hermit's cells of the hesychasts side by side. The rules of the monastic communities also provide for the presence of Prayer of Jesus by the monks.

Great Lavra

2. Saint Pachomius of Thebennis circa AD 315-320 started the Cenobitic or community life, where men lived together under the common rule in a regularly constituted monastery. It is this rule, which was used to a great extent by Saint Benedict in forming the monastic rule upon which all other Western monastic rules are based. Saint Basil the Great (A.D. 329-379) was a strong advocate of the community life. Because of his two books, the Shorter and the Longer rules, his influence in monasticism is profound, although it did not found an order. He did founded a monastic community on the banks of Iris. All those who live in the monastic life are accepted as members of the great brotherhood of ascetics, using the same rule and wearing the same habit by men and women, forming an integral and inseparable part of the Church's body. Saint Macrina, the sister of Saint Basil, founded a community of women in Capodocia.

3. The Semi Eremitic Life or middle way, is the monastic way of life of men who live in loosely knit group of small settlements, each practicing asceticism according to his own will, though under the direction of an Abbot, the first of whom was Ammoun of Nitria. Their focal point is, as it is for all forms of monastic life, the Holy Eucharist, for which they assemble regularly.

The acme of Orthodox Monasticism, where all three forms of monastic life co-exist to this day, is Mount Athos, the 'Holy Mountain' with 1000 years of uninterrupted activity. All Orthodox countries are represented there, the monks living in their own monasteries or grouped in one or another of the great Lavra, or as hermits. The two ways of monasticism are action and contemplation is inseparable. The one cannot be exercised without the other. Interior prayer receives the name of spiritual activity. If the monks occupy themselves with physical labors, is above all an ascetic end in view.

Monasticism has been always been seen as a form of martyrdom. It is a particular way of calling, a very special way for man to serve God Humanity. One of the characteristics of monasticism is solitude. For man to come face to face with God, in the special way that a monk is called to do so, he needs solitude and quiet, with no external distractions.

The prayer is the right, the obligation and the support for every believer. For the Monk, prayer is his reason of existence in this life and world. There are different ways of prayer for different situations and needs. The Jesus Prayer that the monks say consist of the words: "Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."

Obedience is one of the capital virtues of the monk. It is prerequisite for humility, which is the crown of Christian virtues. The Holy Fathers place obedience above fasting and prayer. The reason is that exercise without obedience gives birth to vanity and pride.

Fasting is the abstention from particular food or food in general. It is the monks physical exercise (gr. askesis). Fasting aims to purify and cleans both body and spirit, and to strengthen his will.

The person who enters the monastic life, tries to leave his old man behind, with all the old joys and sorrows, virtues and sins and starts a new life, seeking to find a new relationship to all things and people in Christ, to Whom he vows his life. The taking of the monastic Vow and Habit are but a repetition and amplification of baptismal vows.

In the beginning there were no stages of the monastic life, no postulants or novices but simply monks. Today monasticism is a process the postulant looks forward to becoming a novice, the novice to receiving a habit and going on to full procession, which may take many years, or he may not reach it at all. At least three years before the full procession is proscribed. The monk must be over thirty. The Vows are four in number: Stability, Obedience, Poverty and Obedience. The monk may or may not become a priest, while on the other hand the priesthood does not affect the monastic rule.

One starts by being a postulant who may be permitted after three months to wear a part of the Habit (tunic and leather belt), which is regarded as a tacit expression of a determination to abide in the monastic life of asceticism, subject to the approval of the Abbot. When becoming a Novice, one receives beside the Podryasnic (tunic) and leather belt the monastic headdress, called for men skoufos and for women apostolnic.

Holy Trinity Monastery

The second stage is the Rasophore. When the Abbot thinks fit,
the novice receives the ryassa or habit, an over-garment having wide sleeves and reaching to the ankles and also the monastic headdress which has a long veil (slav Klobuck, gr. Kamelos). This portion of the habit given with the appropriate rite in the Church by a priest, who must be a monk. The new monk or nun takes no vows, but at this ceremony he receives the tonsure and the above-mentioned portion of the habit which is especially blessed. His or her own conscience and public opinion as well, makes the rasophore to continue in the monastic life. In order to leave the monastery and to marry, the Rasophore must receive written permission from the bishop in order to do so, without which he would incur excommunication.

The third stage is the Stavroporos (gr. stavros - cross and gr. phoros - to wear), so called because the monk wears a wooden cross on the chest, trapped under the habit to a Paramamdyas which is worn on the back. This is a small square piece of fabric embroidered with the representation of the Cross of Calvary, spear, reed, sponge, soil and Adam's crossed bones and Peter's cock. At the same time, the monk receives the Mantya, a flowing woolen cloak, without hood, which reaches to the ground in long narrow pleats, and which is worn only in the Church. This solemn procession is made according to an imposing and sober rite and the vows are taken before the monk-priest. The profession is made publicly in the Church and the vows given by the candidate before he receive the tonsure, the cross and the mantyas, which are now added to the habit. The officiating priest bestows a new name upon the monk, which he receives and he did that of his baptism. He does not choose himself but accepts it. This is the first act of obedience. The Orthodox attitude towards monasticism is best summed up in the collect of the Prodigal Son with which the ceremony of procession begins:

Make haste to open Thy fatherly hands
Unto me who have wasted my life like the prodigal.
Despise not the heart now grown poor
O, Savior Who hast before Thine eyes
The boundless riches of Thy mercies.
For unto Thee, O Lord, in compunction do I cry:
O, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee.
(The monk here is a penitent)

And the verse which is sung during clothing:

"My soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
For He hath put on me the garment of salvation;
And with the tunic of gladness he hath clothed me.
He hath put upon me a crown as upon a bridegroom,
And as a bride hath adorned me with an ornament."
(the monk here is the betrothed of God).

Megaloschema (gr. mega - great, schema - habit, slav. Skimnic), is the fourth stage of the monastic life. The difference between Rasophor and Megaloschema (Great Schema) lies in the degree of asceticism required, which is great and not in every man capacity. The Great Schema wears in addition to the habit of the Stavrophore the Analovos which is rather like the Western Scapular in shape but has absolutely no symbolic or historic connection with it. The Mystical Cross, which the monk is to take daily in following Christ, is embroidered upon it as it is upon the koukulion, a thimble-shaped kamelos. These are given according to a rite (resembling that of Stavrophore) in which the original vows are repeated with greater solemnity. These two rites are referred as to receiving the Little and Great Habit.

The distinctive color of the Monastic raiment is black, because it symbolizes that the second Baptism is more laborious that the first whose symbolic color is white for it is the baptism of penitence, which stand will end only with the present deceitful life. The wearing of a gray podryasnic and white apostolnic is permitted for the work within the convent enclosure and in the fields. According to the Rule of Saint Basil common clothing "unites us even in our appearance and the Christian (monastic) is thus identified by the way he dresses as with a kind of special stamp . . . proclaiming our profession as a devout life." (Saint Basil, Ascetical Works, CUA Press, p. 283). The monastic clothing helps the monk and the nun to live up to their monastic clothing: " Everyone takes notice of him who is bound by promise to strive for perfection, if he neglect the least part of his duty . . . they heap reproaches upon him for it"(ibid., p. 284). Further, a monk's clothing expresses monastic humility, simplicity, thriftiness and frugality, reflecting the monk's wish to pass her life in the lowest condition of all(ibid., p. 291-2).

The monk wears the prayer rope, a cord with many knots by which to count prayers and prostrations. He strives continuously to have the name of Lord Jesus always in mind, in heart, in thought and on his lips. This "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Eph. 6:17) helps us in our spiritual warfare, "For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places". (Eph 6:12).

Dressed through the constant daily striving, the monk obeys the voice of Saint Paul to: "Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done all to stand." (Eph. 6:11).
The monk can be an inspiration for the common man, not so much as to follow him in his calling, but to follow his example with regard to respecting to God's will, strengthening his belief in God, reviewing his habits and rearranging his values and priorities in life. The Orthodox monk is the guardian and the living proof of a long standing and holy Tradition. In an Orthodox Monastery, Byzantium lives forever as an environment of devotion and a special way of worship.

The monastic rule has as its strength to safeguard the monk in his daily life, helping him, through obedience, to keep unceasing vigil upon his inward integrity so that the union of heart and spirit may become for him a reality and lead him, as far as this is possible upon earth, to union with God. It is the primary rule of the order of Offices and also covers the obedience of intellectual and manual work. Work is itself a prayerful activity with the ascetic end in view of overcoming our rebel nature and to keep us from idleness which is so harmful to the spiritual life. Hagiography, icon painting, Byzantine music, woodcarving, incense preparation, making Church vestments, translating or writing books on the spiritual life and printing them, all arts that originated in Byzantium are still performed and flourish in the Monasteries. Art and especially Byzantine iconography is one of the basic ways for someone to approach God. Byzantium and the particular Tradition we inherit from it, mainly through the monasteries, constitute one of the main components of Christian identity. It is one of our deepest roots.

Monks are athletes of God, and as Saint Paul said must run with patience the race that is set before them (Heb. 12:1); effort without discipline leads nowhere. It is only by patient, deliberate striving that the soul can hope to perfect itself and come closer to God. The rule is, be it in Eremitic or Cenobitic life, of paramount importance, its virtue consisting in being kept. It is naturally more complex in the Cenobitic life, for it has to deal with offices read in common and has to regulate the community life with all its aspects of different characters and dissimilar backgrounds of the individuals gathered under the same roof.

A monastery or a convent is a community of monks or nuns living under a common rule governed by an Abbot (Abbess) or superior chosen from among professed monks. He rules like a loving father over his children, being assisted by a council of professed monks, to members of which he delegates certain powers and responsibilities. Apart from its life of prayer, which remains at all times the essential preoccupation of the monks, a monastery may harbor, as circumstances demand, the sick, the aged, the orphaned, the homeless, or perform any work of Christian charity. All monasteries have a guesthouse in which the traveler can stay for the first three nights free of charge, paying guests may also be taken. Monks have to work for their livelihood and the upkeep of the monastery. There is no enclosure, as in some Western orders, nevertheless monks and visitors mix only at certain times, in well-defined places. The Megaloschema keep very much apart.

STEFAN CRISBASAN

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