The goal of Christianity is deification. The goal of monasticism is the same. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

 

    This aim of deification (that is, recovering likeness to God) is not just an aim for “elite Christians” or for a specially chosen few. It is the call of our Lord Himself in His Gospel to all who have ears to hear: “Be perfect”, He says, “as your heavenly Father is perfect”. Similarly, monasticism is also not a life for elite Christians or for a specially chosen few. It is the life that the Church proposes to any Christian who would leave behind all else in order to pursue the one thing necessary: the fullness of Salvation, the full blossoming of baptismal Grace—Christ the Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price.

 

    Practically speaking, this means that monastic life is a life of repentance. It is a life of continual turning away from one’s sins and passions, from oneself and the devil, in order to turn towards God. With the help of Divine Grace, given chiefly in the Church’s Mysteries, we enact this conversion by our efforts to turn away from vice and to strive to practice Christ’s commandments, given to us in His Gospel. Christ’s commandments are not legal code or moral prescriptions and proscriptions: they are the necessary aids for preserving the Grace of baptism and for cultivating that Grace. By practicing and assimilating His commandments, we will progressively gain freedom from our sins and passions, and acquire the dispositions or virtues whereby we can “return to the heart” enlightened by grace and be moved ever more continually by the Holy Spirit, thereby becoming like unto Christ and participants in His Life. 

 

    Monastic life is a life of withdrawal from the world, but it is not thereby an easy life of peace and repose. When lived rightly, it is a life of outward and inward labors for the Kingdom of heaven. It is a blessed life. And it is vital for the Church. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

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    If you are wondering about life at our monastery, here are some essential elements of our life:

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    —Liturgical prayer: This is the most important work the Church entrusts to and expects of us as monastics. The liturgical prayer of the Church the very prayer of Christ Himself in His Body, a prayer into which we are progressively drawn. The Mysteries of the Church constitute the foundation of our Christian life.

    —Personal prayer: Together with liturgical prayer, this constitutes an essential element of  our monastic life. Together, their function is to lead the soul into a state of continual prayer.

    —Work: If one would not work he cannot be a monk. Through work, the monk humbles himself, seeking to become an obedient servant after the image of Christ the Servant, taking up his cross daily and following Him. Daily obediences (tasks) are an essential part of our cenobitic monastic life.

    —Communal life: In order to become truly unified (as the word “monk” signifies) one must also learn to live with one’s brothers in Christ, and to do so according to Christ’s commandments (particularly that of humility and charity). Communal life is one of the essential constitutive elements of life at our monastery.

    —Spiritual reading: Whether it be Sacred Scripture, or the Holy Fathers, the lives of the Saints, or other spiritual reading, spiritual reading is an important element of our monastic life, since well-chosen reading helps guide us on the path of Salvation. Study, as somewhat distinct from spiritual reading, is also a notable and important element of our life (notably in the years of formation).

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    If you desire to consider life here, the first step in deciding whether to contact us should be to pray for the Lord’s guidance—as well as seeking sound spiritual guidance, whenever possible. The next step would be to reach out to us. Through communications, we will seek to help you discern the possibility of a visit to the monastery.

 

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    The following are the stages of life at our monastery:

 

    —During a man’s initial visits to the monastery, we consider him an observer. An observer comes to experience life here first-hand and to discern the Lord’s will for his life. During this time a man should be prepared to work with the brotherhood, and to live generally according to the monastery schedule. We require at least two visits as an observer before he would be considered for acceptance into the first stage of life here.

 

    —Postulancy: At our monastery, this first stage is about a six-month to one-year period. It offers an initial experience in monastic living, and, with that, is primarily a time of testing and discernment. During this period one remains in his civil clothes. This can lead into novitiate.

 

    —Novitiate: At this stage, a man makes an initial engagement in monastic living. He receives a blessing to begin wearing some elements of the monastic clothing: he receives a cassock (pidriasknik), skufia (hat) and belt. That said, novitiate remains a time of furthered discernment and training in monastic living. One is not yet a monk, but is referred to only as a novice-monk, or simply a novice.  At our monastery, this period lasts not less than three years, but it can be extended to a fourth year when needed.

 

    —Rasophorate: This is the first degree of monastic life. When a novice becomes a monk, he first becomes a rasophore monk, or a rasophor. He is tonsured, although at this stage he makes no vows, but only affirms his commitment to persevere in monastic life. He is clothed in a klobuk (hat with veil) and an outer-cassock (riassa), becoming thus a rasophore or riassaphore (“robe-bearing”) monk.

 

    —Little Schema: The second degree or rank of monasticism. At our monastery, after one to three years as a rasophore, he can accede to the Little Schema. At this point, he is again tonsured, but this time pronouncing the perpetual monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He is given a new monastic name, symbol of a second baptism. He receives the mantiya (mantle) along with the paraman (also called the schema, a small square cloth worn on the back and connected by ties to a cross worn over the chest, representing the yoke of Christ) becoming thereby a stavrophore (“cross-bearing”) monk.

 

    —Great or Angelic Schema: The third degree of monasticism. Our monastery currently has no monks of the great schema. This rank is for the very few, and is entered into only by mature monks after years of cenobitic living, who have given consistent proof of their obedience, humility, charity, ascesis and the quality of their spiritual life.

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Age requirements: our minimum age requirement is 20 years old; our maximum is 30. 

 

 

Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them,

“What are you seeking?” (John 1:38)