| John Anthony McGuckin Monasticism TENNY THOMAS The term “monasticism” refers to a form of life involving separation from the world for the purpose of ascetical dedication to prayer, with a view to achieve perfect obedience to the gospel life. In the Eastern Christian tradition, monasticism is understood as full discipleship of Jesus Christ and traced back to the New Testament example of St. John the Baptist, to Jesus’ own virginal celibacy, and to the many calls for renunciation (e.g., Mt. 10.37 ; Mk. 10.21 ). Itis often called the “barometer of the spiritual life of the church.” So great has the influence of and appreciation for this way of life been, that its existence and status have been equated with those of the church as a whole: as flourishes the monastic life, so flourishes the church. Monasticism is not just a part ofthe greater scope of Eastern Christian life; it is the very center and heart ofthe church. The monastics (both men and women) choose to follow with singular devotion and obedience the call of Christ. They are thus the models in which the church sees one of her most radiant icons: a communion of souls wholly living the life in Christ. Monasticism refers to that ascetic movement characterized by anachoresis, or withdrawal from the Christian community and the rest of society. Monasticism does not have a monopoly on asceticism, as this is a characteristic of all Christians following the gospel prescripts; thus all monasticism is ascetic, while all asceticism is not necessarily monastic. What distinguishes monasticism from the broader category of Christian asceticism is monasticism’s emphasis on withdrawal, on solitude. The Greek word for “monk,” monachos, meant, in its origins, “a solitary.” Two classic forms of monasticism emerged from early times: the anchoritic, or solitary life or the hermit, and the coenobitic (the Greek koinos bios means “common life”), that is, a life within a structured (and often secluded) community. Monastic life required from the outset stark renunciations: of family, property, marriage, and career. Early monks typically joined together ascetical disciplines (fasting, vigils, poverty, and lifelong celibacy) with a life of manual labor. |
| Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, Michael D. Peterson Скачать epub pdf MONASTICISM MONASTICISM. The origins of Christian monasticism are much debated, but early one may point with authority to the life of Jesus, as well as that of Joh n the Baptist and the Virgin Mary (q.v.). It is clear that ascesis (q.v.) formed a component of Christian life from the start, and that from its beginnings as a mass movement in 4th c. Egypt (q.v.), monasticism has been an essential and vital expression of Christian life. It is surely not accidental that its great popularity and the rapid spread of monasteries were simultaneous with the new status of the Church following the conversion of the Emperor Constantine (q.v.). With the disappearance of the martyr (q.v.) as a model of Christian witness, a new set of heroes emerged and were seized upon by the faithful: the ascetics of the desert. Antony of Egypt (q.v.) was the first, a hermit whose austere rule of life and extraordinary personal charismata caught the imagination of late antiquity. He was followed by Macarius of Scete (q.v.) and by Pachomius of the Thebaid (southern Egypt), whose communal organization of monks provided the first standing model of common-life (cenobitic) monasticism, indeed of monasteries in the usual sense. The elders (gerontes, startzi) of Scete gave Christianity the term, Desert Fathers (q.v.), and a median way of life between Pachomius’s strict communalism and Antony’s solitary life. All three forms of monastic life continue in force in the Orthodox oikoumene, most notably on Mt. Athos (qq.v.). Also, in the 4th c., Basil the Great (q.v.) organized the ascetics of his metropolitanate in Asia Minor (q.v.). His rule, communicated via letters addressed to specific questions on ascetic life, emphasized communal life, obedience to the abbot, and service. It was to play a significant, though not dominant, role in the later monasticism of Byzantium (q.v.). Asceticism in Syria (q.v.) remained for some time an individual effort, the “sons” or “daughters of the covenant” being attached to the local churches and active in their affairs. This form of ascetic life seems to have had roots in the Syriac Church (q.v.) well before the 4th c. A later period saw a rise in extreme-even eccentric-forms of asceticism, perhaps best known by the early 5th-c. phenomenon of the stylite saints, for example, Symeon Stylites, who subsequently appeared in Byzantium itself. |
| About the benefit of obedience and Elder Ephraim A Conversation with Gerontissa Theophano Olga Rozhneva , Gerontissa Theophano The first monastery built by Elder Ephraim in America was the women’s monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Saxonburg, PA. Elder Ephraim founded it in 1989. Pilgrims meet here a peaceful corner of nature, where you can forget for a time your worldly cares and anxieties and you can immerse yourself in a world of silence and prayer. The sisters of the monastery labor purely for the prayer of the heart and mind. Here and there you here: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” The Byzantine singing in church during the services leaves pilgrims in awe. The monastery is a missionary center. It is an oasis in the desert of modern life for those who are experiencing spiritual hunger. Here the afflicted receive spiritual counsel and consolation in sorrows. Children, who with their pure souls share in the nun’s joy in the Lord, especially love to visit the monastery. Fifteen sisters are currently laboring in the monastery (thirteen nuns, two novices). They themselves earn money for bread and the monastery necessities. The monastery has an active icon studio, with the nuns making icons on wood and stone, they work at embroidery and sewing Baptismal garments and priestly vestments, they tie prayer ropes, decorate candles for Weddings and Baptisms, and they produce soap. There is also a monastery garden. The first abbess of the monastery was Gerontissa Taxiarchia. Elder Ephraim of Philotheou, her spiritual father, called her here from a Greek monastery in 1989. Gerontissa Taxiarchia was a clairvoyant eldress, having acquired the gifts of ceaseless prayer and love of Christ. The monastery’s current abbess, Gerontissa Theophano, joined the sisterhood in 1990. Under her spiritual direction the sisters reverently preserve the traditions inherited from their spiritual mother, Gerontissa Taxiarchia. Gerontissa Theophano kindly agreed to speak with us. |
| “Orthodoxy Has a Great Future in Guatemala” Conversation with Abbess Ines, head of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Guatemala Abbess Ines (Ayau Garcia) – Abbess Ines is the head of the only Orthodox parish in Guatemala – the Monastery of the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity, the “Lavra of Mambre”, under the Patriarchate of Antioch. She comes from an influential and well known family in Guatemala which has produced many outstanding individuals. When [then Catholic] Sister Ines was 36 years old, she made an extreme change in her life, leaving a Catholic monastic order and becoming an Orthodox nun. Holy Trinity Monastery was founded by Mother Ines and Sister Maria Amistoso in April of 1986. In 1989, the engineer Federico Bauer donated a piece of land on the shores of Lake Amatitlan, not far from Guatemala City, to the monastery. The land is 1188 meters [about 3900 feet] above sea level and is located near Pacaya, one of the most active volcanoes in Central America. On the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in 1995, the “Act of Creating an Orthodox Church in Guatemala” was signed by Bishop (now Metropolitan) Antonio Chedraoui of Mexico, Venezuela, Central America and the Caribbean (of the Antiochian Patriarchate), and also by the head of the monastery, Mother Ines and her nuns, and 25 parishioners. Buildings rose on the site donated by Federico Bauer and the consecration of the monastery took place in November, 2007, with 18 participating clerics, who came to Guatemala especially for this occasion. The iconography in the Monastery church is being done by Russian masters from the International School of Icon Painting, based both in the town of Kostroma in Russia and in the USA. In 1996, the government of Guatemala gave the monastery control of an orphanage built to house 800 children, the “House of Rafael Ayau” in the country’s capital, Guatemala City. At present they have just over 100 boys and girls – from newborn babies to 16 year old adolescents. The workers at the orphanage give the children a high-school education and familiarize them with basic Orthodox concepts. They also give them professional skills. Soon, the orphanage will be moved to the monastery. |
| Synodal Tomos on the canonization of Venerable Saints Neophyte and Meletios from Stânioara Monastery and Daniel and Misael from Turnu Monastery Synodal Tomos of Canonization no. 1/2016, approved by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church through its decision ref. no. 2212/25.02.2016, and made public today, 28 September 2016, in the church of Saint Anthimos – Troianu Monastery, dedicated to the Life-giving Spring: The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, To the most beloved clergy, the monastics and the true believing Christians in the Romanian Patriarchate, Grace, mercy and peace from God, and from us, hierarchical blessings! Blessed and praiseworthy is it to honor the memory of those who have fallen asleep in the Lord in holiness, who have gained confidence from God for their devout lives full of good deeds. The Most Holy Trinity has foreseen from eternity that they will grow in the likeness of God, partaking of the light of the grace of the Holy Spirit and numbering them in the Church of the first-born, in the ranks of the saints. Our Savior Jesus Christ says about them that because they have listened to His word, they have become His friends (John 15:16). The Church honors these saints with praises and hymns, as the God-inspired Prophet Daniel says: But your friends, O God, were greatly honoured by me, exceedingly were strengthened their beginnings (Psalm 139:17). The saints have truly fulfilled God’s word and will, as we read in the Psalms: As for the saints who are on the earth, They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight (Psalm 16:3). Among Gods chosen ones are numbered the venerable fathers from the hermitages of Stânioara and Turnu: Neophyte and Meletios from Stânioara Monastery and Daniel and Misael from Turnu Monastery.These great ascetics and lovers of God from Cozia Monasterym founded by the renowned Prince Mircea the Great, after dedicating themselves entirely to the anchoretic life life and reaching perfection, received from the Holy Spirit the gift of counsel and of spiritual guidance on the path to salvation. Being experienced laborers of the prayer of the heart, they have been honored together with the great hesychasts of Romanian monasticism, being also named hermits. Thus, they remain in the living memory of the Church, in the devoted memory of hierarchs, priests, monastics and lay people, as examples of sacrificial love, of restraint, humbleness and diligent spiritual guidance. |
| Graham Speake, Kallistos Ware TAMARA GRDZELIDZE. The Georgians on Mount Athos The Myth of Iviron The period when the presence of Georgians had an influence on the Holy Mountain is a comparatively limited one. From as early as the second half of the twelfth century there were two communities in Iviron: Georgian and Greek. The Greeks worshipped in the church of St John the Baptist in Greek, the Georgians celebrated the Liturgy in the main church or katholikon. Both communities participated in the election of an hegoumenos (abbot), and by the mid-thirteenth century we already find the first Greek hegoumenos signing acts on behalf of the whole monastery. 42 It was in 1357 that the Georgians officially lost their monastery after Patriarch Kallistos I of Constantinople signed a document saying that Iviron was no longer in their possession. Nevertheless Georgian monks continued to be present in the Greek-run monastery until the nineteenth century when a group of Georgian monks was expelled from the monastery. The last Georgian monk in Iviron died in the early 1950s. In the mid-1970s a small Georgian delegation visited the Holy Mountain and, although they were unsuccessful in their attempts to film Iviron, they were able to make microfilms of the Georgian manuscripts in the library. Today there are a few Georgians scattered across the Holy Mountain, for example at the monastery of Xeropotamou, where there are possibly three monks, and Hilandar, where a novice was registered a few years ago, as well as in Vatopedi and Zographou. Several Georgians have also been hired as workers, for example at the monastery of Dionysiou not far from the cell of Hilarion the Georgian. 43 This we know through visitors’ accounts. Today Iviron is in every sense a Greek monastery. Its Georgian origin is not always mentioned when a guided tour is given. On the other hand, the present inhabitants have expressed disquiet at the regular stream of visitors from Georgia who may show up unexpectedly and create an unwelcome disturbance over their special connection with Iviron. It is difficult to blame the modern Georgians for adopting such an attitude, even though it is of no relevance in practical terms. After all, Iviron became one of the most precious symbols of Georgia’s Church and culture as well as playing a critical role in the political life of the Georgian people during a significant period of their history. The story of Iviron, as it is known and told by the Georgians today, may seem shrouded in myth. However, when it is demythologized by means of facts and documents, full credit must be given to the monastery as a remarkably powerful symbol for a nation as small as the Georgians. |
| Panayiotis Christou Скачать epub pdf The origin of the monastic life During the fourth century A.D. there appeared within the Church a strong movement of withdrawal from organized society to the desert, a movement which grew ever larger during the subsequent period. To interpret the sudden appearance of this movement historians have put forward various hypotheses, the most favoured of which are two. According to the first, the monastic life was a product of eastern religions, in which from earlier times asceticism was practiced, either in total solitude or in a monastery. According to the second, the monastic life provided a way out when a reaction was provoked by the closer contact of Christianity with the world, and the inevitable decline of moral standards. The first hypothesis is without foundation, because it has not been possible historically to discover a link between oriental asceticism and the Christian monastic life. Moreover, if Christianity had been influenced in this way, the influence should have come from the ascetic groups of the Essene sect, whose environment was that in which Christianity was born; yet the monastic life appeared well after the disappearance of the Essence communities. This, of course, does not mean that in its later stages monasticism did not have certain features in common with the Essence and Neo-Pythagorean communities. The second hypothesis is likewise unacceptable, because there were numerous hermits living in the open country even before the recognition of Christianity by Constantine the Great. Monasticism is a way of life which appeared within the Church and developed organically by pushing the moral principles of Christianity to their limits. Indeed, although Christianity did not enter the world either as a pessimistic philosophy or as a society dissolving force, nevertheless it was governed by principles which separated in the society of that time. It turned its whole attention to the center of life and disregarded the periphery. One thing has supreme value for man: the soul, beside which the whole world is insignificant. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? (Matthew XVI, 26). The affairs of this world impede the movements of the soul, and the goods of this world accumulate around it, choking it and preventing it from developing into an integrated personality. A hard struggle therefore awaits man if he is to liberate himself from his lower self, which is attached to worldly things, and develop his higher, ideal self, which will render him capable of standing boldly before God. In this struggle, as Jesus Christ declared, man will have to submit himself and his activities to rigorous examination. He must divorce himself from many earthly goods in order to acquire the heavenly treasure, and submit to the trial of suffering in order to purify his will. |
| Did you know that in old Russia convents for many centuries were located within the walls of monasteries for men? There were almost no separate convents. Of course, communities for nuns lived separately, but on the territories of monasteries for men, enclosed by walls. This practice existed in both the Byzantine Empire and Russia (Rus’), and the most glorious monastery of Kiev (also Kyiv) was no exception. So, we offer a brief history of the convent at the Kiev Caves Lavra to all lovers of Kiev antiquity. At war is like at War The major reason for the common community life of monks and nuns (which today would seem odd and full of temptations) was the permanent threat of war. Most ancient and medieval monasteries were situated outside fortified cities—fortresses of that time had very limited space. In addition, monasteries’ livelihoods chiefly depended on their lands, so it was more convenient for monks to settle near their farms instead of travelling there from cities. Besides, for many, withdrawing from the world automatically meant living outside densely populated places. And now imagine a separated and isolated nunnery in the atmosphere of constant raids by the Polovetsians and Tatars, Persians and Arabs, the heterodox and non-Christians, and numerous bands of thieves. It is obvious that without building a good fortress, without quartering a military garrison, the life of a convent like this would not have lasted long and would have ended in tragedy. And if nuns were to elect permanent guards, then monastery brethren were the best candidates. Thus many early monasteries in the regions with continuous danger of war became “double”, or “male-female” monastic communities. And, in fact, they remained such until any threat of war was removed in the nearest regions. Another reason for the presence of communities of nuns within monasteries for men was the need of clergy—a (male) priest is a symbol of Christ, and this is why women cannot be ordained priests. In cities the situation would have been easier: priests could regularly visit convents for performing services and sacraments. But what about nunneries, situated far away from cities (taking into account extremely long journeys in that era)? It is not very good for a priest or two priests to live in an isolated community of nuns on a permanent basis. Making occasional visits to convents is not ideal either. Finally, sisters valued the possibility of choosing confessors from among ten experienced priests or more, and monasteries for men with a large number of priests on the same territory provided them this opportunity. |
| John Anthony McGuckin St. Seraphim of Sarov (1759–1833) KONSTANTIN GAVRILKIN St. Seraphim belongs to that tradition of monastic spirituality which was brought to Ancient Rus from Mount Athos in the early 11th century and revived in the late 18th to 19th centuries by Paisy Velichovsky and his followers, among whom one should note St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, St. Feofan (Theophan) the Recluse, and the Optina elders. Prokhor Moshnin (Seraphim’s name prior to his monastic tonsure) was born into a pious merchant family in Kursk. In 1776 he visited the Kiev Caves Monastery, where the elder Dosifei advised him to practice the Jesus Prayer continuously and to enter the Sarov monastery (in Nizhnii Novgorod province). He arrived there in 1778, took monastic vows in 1786, and received the name Seraphim. From his disciples and early biographers, who relied both on his personal testimony and eyewitness accounts, we know that he had multiple mystical experiences, including revelations of Christ and many visitations by the Virgin Mary who guided him throughout his 55-year monastic life and healed him on a number ofoccasions from severe illnesses and injuries. Between 1794 and 1810 Seraphim lived a reclusive life in the forest outside the monastery, spending his time in the practice of the Jesus Prayer, reading Scripture and patristic literature, and engaging in manual labor. One day he was savagely beaten by robbers who left him crippled for the rest of his life; when the attackers were later arrested, he persuaded the authorities to let them go. He returned to the monastery in 1810, but remained in seclusion until 1825, when, at the command of the Virgin Mary, he began to receive people seeking his guidance and healing, and became one of the most renowned startsi of Russia. Seraphim’s extraordinary asceticism and mystical life were witnessed by several of the inhabitants of the Sarov monastery and by visitors whose lives were dramatically changed by their encounter with the saint. |
| Holy Hieromartyr Panteleimon was born June 29, 1872 in the village of Zalipaevka, Fedorovsky county, Malo-Archangelsk region of Orlov province, to the family of peasant Timofei Aranzhykh, and named Pavel in Baptism. The household of the Aranzhykh was poor, and in order to support at least some measure of well being, the father had to work very much. From age twelve Pavel helped his father, was the village shepherd, worked for the landowner, and worked on the side for other peasants. Whenever he was able, he would go to Optina Monastery to pray. In 1894, Pavel was called to active military service and enrolled as a common soldier in the Kamchatka battalion. After duty he was sent to take classes in medical assistance, and after completing them he was appointed as the company paramedic. In 1898, Pavel was released from the army and began employment in the Zhitomyr province hospital, studying at the same time in the Volhynia paramedical school. After graduating, Pavel Timofeyevich returned to his native land. He lived a half a year at home, pondering what path he should take next—especially since he was by then of an age at which one can and must avoid serious mistakes. He had no family of his own, and his life experience, which came together for him as he observed things around him during army service and paramedical work in a provincial hospital, was sufficient. He recalled then his visits to and prayer in Optina monastery. And although he knew it was strict in the monastery, he had nonetheless grown accustomed to discipline during his four years of army duty. In 1900, Pavel Timofeyevich headed for Optina and remained there as a novice for around seven years, after which the monastery abbot, Archimandrite Xenophont, tonsured him into the mantia 1 with the name Panteleimon in honor of the Great Martyr and healer Panteleimon, taking into consideration his earthly medical profession, and at the same time foreshadowing his future as a martyr. On March 15, 1909, Bishop Benjamin (Muratovsky) of Kaluga and Borovsk ordained monk Panteleimon a priest. In the monastery he had the obedience of paramedic in the monastery infirmary. |
|
|
