How to become a novice in a monastery?
It is very easy to become a novice of a monastery. To do this, you need to choose a monastery in which you would like to serve God. After that, you need to talk with the abbot. As a rule, no one is denied to try himself in this field. At first, you will simply be a worker, that is, a person who works for the monastery for the Glory of God. During this time, the rector will take a closer look at you and you will also understand whether this is the right path. I know several women who spent several years in a monastery and only then became novices. Many people leave because they have their own ideas about what a monastery is and life in it. Often these ideas do not correspond to reality.
But if serving God in a monastery is your way, then you will succeed.
To begin with, one would have to become a laborer in a monastery in order to work for the glory of God, to test oneself in monastic obediences: where they send you without any objections. Yes, pray at long monastic services, which begin in some monasteries at 4-5 in the morning. To live among other people in a cell where 10 people can live at the same time, or even more. And each has its own character, disposition and habits. As often as possible, resemble a confession to a confessor, carefully picking out your sinful thoughts and actions from your past and present life. And with his blessing, proceed to the Sacrament of Communion, preparing as expected.
And so live for more than one month, of course! This is necessary in order to understand: is your love for God really above everything in this life and are you ready to leave everything for this?
In any case, the abbot of this monastery first of all decides to stay in a monastery in any capacity after a personal conversation with a person!
I was a worker in the Vysotsky Monastery, in Serpukhov, where the icon of the Inexhaustible Chalice is located. I was there for three months. Work, prayers, work. When you arrive at the monastery, you definitely need a passport. That's actually all. To become a novice in the monastery, you need only one thing, your desire and faith in God.
In principle, just come and ask to any monastery, if there are no canonical reasons for the ban: an undivorced marriage, the presence of minor children, the presence of state obligations (an outstanding criminal record, for example). A novice is already a member of the monastic community, who, after a test of several years (sometimes less), can take tonsure. Before novices, you can simply go to work and work on monastic obediences. Both workers and novices can then return to the world without any problems.
After a certain period of labor in the monastery, during which the firmness of the intention to devote one's entire life to the service of God is tested, by decision of the abbot or the Spiritual Council, a person can be accepted as a monk of the monastery. To do this, the worker submits an appropriate petition and expresses his consent to fulfill the charter of the monastery he has chosen.
A novice is already a member of the brethren who is preparing to accept monasticism and is going through a new stage of probation - a test of how close this way of life is to him, how much there is a vocation for him. Usually, the period of monastic probation is at least three years, but it can be reduced to one year for those who have received a spiritual education or are studying at the full-time department of a theological educational institution (another reason for the reduction in the term is a serious illness). The probationary period can be extended, the decision on this is made by the abbot of the monastery - alone or together with the Spiritual Council.
It should be immediately noted that one who wishes to devote himself to the monastic feat should not be bound in the world by such circumstances as elderly parents left without help, family and children under the age of majority, debt and other civil obligations. All relations with the world must be resolved before entering the monastery.
While living in a monastery, a novice must strictly follow the rule. At the same time, even before being tonsured, he can abandon his intention and return to the world without incurring any canonical prohibitions. In addition to being engaged in monastic obediences, a candidate for taking the tonsure participates in divine services, in the Sacraments of the Church. During this period, he is under the special spiritual guidance of the abbot himself and the spiritual mentor assigned to him.
During the monastic trial, one must especially carefully monitor oneself and one’s thoughts and understand that it is precisely at this moment that the foundation of all monastic life is laid. Monasticism is a special vocation, a special kind of achievement. The circumstances of coming to a monastery may be different, but the goal of a monk is always, according to the Gospel, striving for moral perfection and acquiring the grace of the Holy Spirit by leaving the world, cutting off his will, through intense prayer and labor.
The labor activity of novices and monks is an integral part of life within the walls of the monastery. The obediences imposed on the brethren are necessary not only because it is necessary to create some kind of material goods to maintain existence. Coming to the monastery, a person brings with him his passions, which are the result of human nature changed by sin; destructive habits. It is through selfless work that the body, and with it the soul, are freed from passions, sinful will and desires are cut off, pride, self-love and self-pity are defeated. “Common obedience contributes most of all to getting rid of pride. On general obedience, a person learns the spiritual art, if he wants, and when he looks at things simply ... ”(St. Ambrose of Optina). And often it is precisely the wrong attitude to the obediences imposed in the monastery that is the reason why a person, at the instigation of the enemy of the human race, leaves this grace-filled and saving path and leaves the monastery. Fulfillment of obediences is, first of all, sacrificial service to God and brothers, in fulfillment of the commandments of Christ.
But obedient work must be constantly accompanied by prayer, which is the foundation of monastic life.
During the monastic probation, the novice should try to carefully and actively study the Holy Scriptures and the ascetic works of the holy fathers, first of all, the Teachings of Abba Dorotheus, the “Announcement” of St. Theodore the Studite, the “Ladder” of St. John of Sinai, the “Guide to Spiritual Life ...” Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet (beginning with answer 216), the creations of St. Ephraim the Syrian, the creations of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov and others - with the advice and blessing of the hegumen or abbess of the monastery.
Upon acceptance as a novice, the wearing of a cassock is blessed. At the same time, a rite is performed, which is called “change of robes” or “taking off the world”: the worker (worker), having laid three earthly bows in the Altar in front of the Holy Throne (and the worker in front of the Royal Doors) and one bow to the hegumen (abbess), takes from him ( her) hands a cassock, a monastic belt, a skuf and a rosary. From that moment on, he does not wear worldly clothes in the monastery.
In some cases, if this is provided for by the internal charter of the monastery, with the blessing of the ruling bishop and with the written consent of the novice, the rite of putting on a cassock and a hood can be performed. After that, the novice is called a cassock novice or monk, which imposes on him a more serious responsibility. Leaving the monastery, the novice no longer has the right to wear the special clothes in which he was dressed during the period of probation. The abbot of the monastery, carefully observing the passage of the novice's monastic probation and seeing his readiness to accept the angelic image, himself, or together with the Spiritual Cathedral, presents the candidate in writing to the ruling bishop, asking for blessings for monastic tonsure.
The time of obedience is a special period in the life of a monk. Many remember him fondly. Here is what Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), the abbot of the Moscow Sretensky stauropegial monastery, writes, for example, about novitiate in his book “Unholy Saints”: “The unique and, perhaps, the happiest time of monastic life must be recognized as novice. It is then that the monk will have both spiritual ups and downs, and events that surpass any imagination, which a worldly person cannot even imagine. There will be victories and defeats in the invisible ascetic battle, amazing discoveries - of the world and of oneself. But still, the years of obedience are incomparable with anything.
Once the elderly Patriarch Pimen was asked:
– Your Holiness, you have reached the highest level of the church hierarchy. But if you could choose now, who would you like to be?
The usually taciturn, self-absorbed patriarch answered without hesitation:
- Novice, watchman at the lower gate of the Pskov-Caves Monastery<...>
This only reminds of the bright joy of a carefree childhood - life consists of some wonderful discoveries in a new, endless and unknown - world. By the way, two thousand years ago, the apostles, in fact, for three years were the real novice novices of Jesus Christ. Their main occupation was to follow their Master and discover His omnipotence and love with joyful amazement.
Exactly the same thing happens with the novices of our day. The Apostle Paul made a great discovery: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. These words are confirmed by the whole history of Christianity. Times and people change, but Christ remains the same for the generation of the first Christians and for our contemporaries.
True novices receive from God an invaluable gift - holy carelessness, which is better and sweeter than any other freedom.
1. At present, the decision to accept as a novice is approved by the ruling bishop. The draft “Regulations on Monasteries and Monastics” proposes to transfer the right of the final decision on the admission of novices to the hegumen / abbess and the Spiritual Cathedral of the monastery. Today this issue is within the competence of the Inter-Council Presence.
A. Pokrovskaya
Photo by A. Olshanskaya
The novice Timothy (in the world Timote Suladze) dreamed of becoming a bishop, but life in the monastery changed his plans, forcing him to start everything from scratch.
First try
I went to the monastery several times. The first desire arose when I was 14 years old. Then I lived in Minsk, studied in the first year of a music school. He had just started going to church and asked to sing in the church choir of the cathedral. In a shop in one of the Minsk churches, I accidentally came across a detailed life of St. Seraphim of Sarov - a thick book, about 300 pages. I read it in one fell swoop and immediately wanted to follow the example of the saint.
Soon I had the opportunity to visit several Belarusian and Russian monasteries as a guest and pilgrim. In one of them, I became friends with the brethren, which at that time consisted of only two monks and one novice. Since then, I have periodically come to this monastery to live. For various reasons, including due to my young age, in those years I did not manage to fulfill my dream.
The second time I thought about monasticism was years later. For several years I have been choosing between different monasteries - from St. Petersburg to mountainous Georgian monasteries. Went there to visit and take a look. Finally, he chose the St. Elias Monastery of the Odessa diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate, in which he entered as a novice. By the way, we met with his viceroy and talked for a long time before a real meeting in one of the social networks.
monastic life
Having crossed the threshold of the monastery with things, I realized that my worries and doubts were behind me: I was at home, now I was waiting for a difficult, but understandable and bright life, full of spiritual exploits. It was quiet happiness.
The monastery is located in the very center of the city. We were free to leave the territory for a short time. It was even possible to go to the sea, but for a longer absence it was necessary to obtain permission from the governor or dean. If you need to leave the city, permission had to be in writing. The fact is that there are a lot of deceivers who put on vestments and pretend to be priests, monks or novices, but at the same time have nothing to do with either the clergy or monasticism. These people go to towns and villages, collect donations. Permission from the monastery was a kind of shield: hardly anything, without any problems, it was possible to prove that you were your own, real.
In the monastery itself, I had a separate cell, and for this I am grateful to the governor. Most of the novices and even some of the monks lived in twos. All amenities were on the floor. The building was always clean and tidy. This was followed by civilian workers of the monastery: cleaners, laundresses and other employees. All household needs were met in abundance: we were well fed in the fraternal refectory, looked through our fingers at the fact that we also had our own products in the cells.
I felt very great joy when something tasty was served in the refectory! For example, red fish, caviar, good wine. Meat products were not consumed in the common refectory, but we were not forbidden to eat them. Therefore, when I managed to buy something outside the monastery and drag it into my cell, I also rejoiced. Without a holy order, there were few opportunities to earn money on one's own. For example, they paid, it seems, 50 hryvnias for the ringing of bells during the wedding. This was enough either to put it on the phone, or to buy something tasty. More serious needs were provided at the expense of the monastery.
We got up at 5:30, with the exception of Sundays and major church holidays (on such days two or three liturgies were served, and everyone got up depending on which liturgy he wanted or had to attend or serve according to the schedule). At 6:00 the morning monastic prayer rule began. It was to be attended by all the brethren, except for the sick, absent, and so on. Then at 7:00 the liturgy began, for which the serving priest, deacon and the sexton on duty were required to attend. The rest are optional.
At that time, I either went to the office for obedience, or returned to my cell to sleep for a few more hours. At 9 or 10 o'clock in the morning (I don't remember exactly) there was breakfast, at which it was not necessary to attend. At 13 or 14 o'clock there was a dinner with the obligatory presence of all the brethren. At dinner, the lives of the saints whose memory was celebrated that day were read, and important announcements were made by the monastic authorities. At 5 p.m., the evening service began, after which there was dinner and the evening monastic prayer rule. The time of going to bed was not regulated in any way, but if the next morning one of the brethren woke up the rule, they sent him with a special invitation.
Once I had a chance to bury a hieromonk. He was very young. A little older than me. I did not know him during my lifetime. They say he lived in our monastery, then he left somewhere and flew under the ban. And so he died. But they buried, of course, like a priest. So, all of us brethren around the clock at the tomb read the Psalter. My duty once was at night. In the temple there was only a coffin with a body and me. And so for several hours, until the next one replaced me. There was no fear, although Gogol was remembered several times, yes. Was there any pity? I do not even know. Neither life nor death is in our hands, so pity - do not pity ... I only hoped that he had time to repent before his death. Like all of us, we need to be on time.
Leprosy of novices
On Easter, after a long fast, I became so hungry that, without waiting for the common festive meal, I ran across the road to McDonald's. Right in the cassock! I and anyone else had such an opportunity, and no one made any comments. By the way, many, leaving the monastery, changed into civilian clothes. I never parted with the vestment. While I lived in the monastery, I simply did not have any secular clothes at all, except for jackets and trousers, which had to be worn under a cassock in cold weather so as not to freeze.
In the monastery itself, one of the amusements of the novices was fantasizing about who would be given what name at the tonsure. Usually only the one who tonsures and the ruling bishop know him until the last moment. The novice himself learns about his new name only under scissors, so we joked: we found the most exotic church names and called each other by them.
And punishment
For systematic delays, they could be put on bows, in the most difficult cases - on the salt (a place next to the altar) in front of the parishioners, but this was done extremely rarely and always justifiably.
Sometimes, someone left without permission for several days. Once a priest did it. They returned it with the help of the governor directly by phone. But then again, all such cases were like childish pranks in a large family. Parents can scold, but nothing more.
There was a funny incident with one worker. A worker is a layman, a secular person who came to the monastery to work. He does not belong to the brethren of the monastery and has no obligations to the monastery, except for general church and general civil (do not kill, do not steal, and more). At any moment, a worker may leave, or, on the contrary, may become a novice and follow the monastic path. So, one worker was put at the entrance of the monastery. A friend came to the governor and said: "What a cheap parking you have in the monastery!". And it's completely free! It turned out that this same worker took money from visitors for parking. Of course, he was strongly reproached for this, but they did not expel him.
The hardest
When I was just visiting, the governor warned me that real life in the monastery differs from what is written in the lives and other books. Preparing me to take off my rose-colored glasses. That is, to some extent, I was warned about some negative things that could take place, but I was not ready for everything.
As in any other organization, in the monastery, of course, there are very different people. There were also those who tried to curry favor with their superiors, were conceited before the brethren, and so on. For example, once a hieromonk who was under a ban came to us. This means that the ruling bishop temporarily (usually until repentance) forbade him to serve as a punishment for some offense, but the priesthood itself was not removed. This father and I were the same age and at first we became friends, we talked on spiritual topics. Once he even drew a kind caricature of me. I still keep it with me.
The closer the matter came to lifting the ban, the more I noticed that he was behaving with me more and more arrogantly. He was appointed assistant sacristan (the sacristan is responsible for all liturgical vestments), and I was a sacristan, that is, during the performance of my duties I was directly subordinate to both the sacristan and his assistant. And here, too, it became noticeable how he began to treat me differently, but the apotheosis was his demand to address him as you after the ban was lifted from him.
For me, the most difficult things, not only in monastic life, but also in worldly life, are subordination and labor discipline. In the monastery, it was absolutely impossible to communicate on an equal footing with fathers higher in rank or position. The hand of the authorities was visible always and everywhere. This is not only and not always the governor or the dean. It could have been the same sacristan and anyone above you in the monastic hierarchy. Whatever happened, no later than an hour later, they already knew about it at the very top.
Although there were those among the brethren with whom I perfectly found a common language, despite not only the huge distance in the hierarchical structure, but also the solid difference in age. Once I came home on vacation and really wanted to get an appointment with the then Metropolitan of Minsk Filaret. I thought about my future fate and really wanted to consult with him. We often met when I took my first steps in the church, but I was not sure if he would remember me and accept me. Coincidentally, there were many venerable Minsk priests in the queue: rectors of large churches, archpriests. And then the metropolitan comes out, shows his hand at me and calls me to his office. Ahead of all abbots and archpriests!
He listened to me attentively, then told me at length about his monastic experience. He spoke for a very long time. When I left the office, the whole line of archpriests and rectors looked at me very strongly, and one rector, who was familiar from the old days, took it and said to me in front of everyone: “Well, you spent so much time there that you had to leave with a panagia” . Panagia is such a badge of distinction worn by bishops and above. The line burst out laughing, there was a détente, but the Metropolitan's secretary then cursed very much that I had taken the Metropolitan's time for so long.
Tourism and emigration
Months passed, and absolutely nothing happened to me in the monastery. I very much desired tonsure, ordination, and further service in holy orders. I will not hide it, I also had episcopal ambitions. If at the age of 14 I longed for ascetic monasticism and complete withdrawal from the world, then when I was 27 years old, one of the main motives for entering the monastery was episcopal consecration. Even in my thoughts, I constantly imagined myself in the position of a bishop and in the vestments of a bishop. One of my main obediences in the monastery was work in the office of the governor. Documents passed through the office for the ordination of some seminarians and other henchmen (candidates for holy orders), as well as for monastic vows in our monastery.
Many henchmen and candidates for monastic vows passed through me. Some of them went from layman to hieromonk before my very eyes and were appointed to parishes. With me, as I said, absolutely nothing happened! In general, it seemed to me that the governor, who was also my confessor, to some extent alienated me from himself. Before entering the monastery, we were friends, we talked. When I came to the monastery as a guest, he constantly took me with him on trips. When I arrived at the same monastery with things, at first it seemed to me that the governor seemed to have been replaced. "Don't confuse tourism and emigration," some brethren joked. This is largely why I decided to leave. If I had not felt that the viceroy had changed his attitude towards me, or if I had at least understood the reason for such changes, perhaps I would have remained in the monastery. And so I felt unnecessary in this place.
From scratch
I had access to the Internet, I could consult on any issues with very experienced clergy. I told everything about myself: what I want, what I don’t want, what I feel, what I’m ready for and what I’m not. Two clergymen advised me to leave.
I left with great disappointment, with an insult to the viceroy. But I do not regret anything and am very grateful to the monastery and the brethren for the experience gained. When I left, the governor told me that he could tonsure me five times as a monk, but something stopped him.
When he left, there was no fear. There was such a jump into the unknown, a feeling of freedom. This is what happens when you finally make a decision that feels right.
I started my life completely from scratch. When I decided to leave the monastery, I had not only civilian clothes, but also money. There was nothing at all, except for a guitar, a microphone, an amplifier and his personal library. I brought it back with me from my worldly life. These were mostly church books, but secular ones also came across. The first I agreed to sell through the monastery shop, the second I took to the city book market and sold there. So I got some money. A few friends also helped - they sent me money orders.
The abbot of the monastery gave money for a one-way ticket (we eventually reconciled with him. Vladyka is a most wonderful person and a good monk. Communicating with him even once every few years is a great joy). I had a choice where to go: either to Moscow, or to Minsk, where I lived, studied and worked for many years, or to Tbilisi, where I was born. I chose the latter option and a few days later I was on the ship that was taking me to Georgia.
In Tbilisi, my friends met me. They also helped to rent an apartment and start a new life. Four months later I returned to Russia, where I have lived permanently to this day. After a long wandering, I finally found my place here. Today I have my own small business: I am a sole trader, providing translation and interpreting services, as well as legal services. I remember the monastic life with warmth.