Правила наружного поведения для новоначальных иноков.

The Church Charter says that according to the will of the Holy Fathers, measure and rule must be observed in everything. Having mentioned the holy fathers in general, the Charter cites the significant saying of St. Ephraim of Syria: “There will be a great disaster where life is not governed by legal rules” 1 . On this basis, we offer our beloved brethren, new monks, the following rules for their outward behavior. 1. The Holy Fathers call the monastery a medical clinic (hospital) 2. Exactly: a monastery is a moral clinic. We come from the world to the monastery in order to leave behind the sinful habits acquired in worldly life, and, outside the influence of the temptations with which the world is filled, to acquire truly Christian skills or behavior. For living a truly Christian life on earth, we hope to receive eternal bliss in heaven. So: we must use every effort to ensure that the goal with which we enter the monastery is achieved by us, so that our life in the monastery serves us for salvation and does not serve as a reason for greater condemnation of us at the judgment of Christ 3 . 2. Those entering the hospital for use are obliged to follow the doctor’s instructions in everything, not allowing themselves to consume food, clothing, movement, or medications at their own discretion; otherwise, instead of benefit, they will bring harm to themselves: similarly, everyone who enters a monastery is obliged to practice not those feats and labors that seem necessary and useful to him, but those that will be indicated and assigned to him by the abbot personally or through other monastic authorities 4 . 3. In general, all monastic exercises and positions are called obediences. Obediences must be carried out with all care, with strict preservation of conscience, believing that such obediences are necessary for our salvation. Monastic studies are called obediences because they are associated with the renunciation of one’s will and one’s understanding. For this reason, when fulfilling obediences, the conscience is subjected to constant testing. The consequence of exercising obedience is true humility and spiritual intelligence. Arbitrary works performed out of conceit or whim, especially with the rejection of obedience, no matter how great, not only do not bring any spiritual fruit, but, on the contrary, being themselves a consequence of conceit and pride, they extremely strengthen these passions in the monk, completely alienating him from the Christian grace-filled way of thinking, that is, from evangelical humility. The Monk Cassian says: “The main concern of the elder, to whom the novice is entrusted, is that the novice, firstly, learn to conquer his own wills, through which he, introduced gradually, could ascend to the height of the highest perfection. Teaching him to do this with all care and diligence, the elder deliberately tries to always order him what is contrary to his will. The Egyptian great fathers affirm, having been studied by many experiments, that a monk, especially a young one, will not be able to curb the very lusts of concupiscence unless he first learns to mortify his wills through obedience. They decisively testify that one who has not first learned to conquer his own wills will in no way be able to extinguish either anger, or sadness, or the spirit of covetousness, will not be able to acquire true humility of heart, or constant unity with the brethren, or even remain long in the community. They try to teach beginners these rules, as an alphabet that guides them to perfection, and from them they consider what the beginners’ humility is like, whether it is true, or feigned and dreamy” 5 . 4. Errors into which we fall due to the weakness characteristic of all people must be confessed to our spiritual father, and sometimes, due to the nature of the error, to our superior, and, without falling into despondency and relaxation, continue obedience with renewed zeal. If we do not suddenly understand the earthly sciences and arts, but when studying them we are subjected to various perplexities and errors over a long period of time, it is all the more likely to be subject to errors when studying science from the sciences and art from the arts - monastic life 6 . 5. Prayer is the mother of virtues 7. For this reason, in the monastery most of the time is devoted to prayer. It is not useful for the novice to pray in private, therefore the Church Charter, prohibiting unauthorized prayer, commands that everyone living in the monastery offer prayers to God together, in the Church of God, with the exception of the sick, kept in their cells by illness, and the elders who are ripe for solitary cell prayer 8 . 6. Prayer is the mother of virtues, and therefore all brethren are invited to carefully and unfailingly fulfill the established prayers, and for this to carefully and unfailingly go to the Church of God. 7. Walking from the cell to the church to appear before the face of God, one must remain reverent in one’s gait, not run at all, not look around, but have one’s eyes lowered to the ground, not wave one’s hands, but keep them lowered down. 8. Each brother, having come to the church of God, must fence himself with the sign of the cross at its doors and make a bow from the waist, thereby giving honor to the dwelling of God, which is the church. 9. Upon entering the church, each brother is obliged to stand in the middle of it in front of the royal doors and make three bows from the waist, and in Lent - three bows to the ground; then, bowing to both sides of the people ahead, take their place. 10. If a brother has wings and belongs to the right wing, then, having approached his wing, he must reverently bow from the waist before the icon of the Savior, bow to the brothers standing on the wings, turning first to the left wing, then to the right, and stand with modesty in his place. If the brother belongs to the left wing, then, approaching him, he must make a bow before the icon of the Mother of God and, bowing to the wings, first the right, then the left, take his place. 11. The Church is the earthly heaven. Those standing in it should stand with reverence, ceremoniously, like holy angels, have their eyes lowered to the ground, not lean on the walls, keep their hands down, not putting them together, not put their feet behind, but stand on both legs equally. 12. The Church is the judgment seat of God. You can come out of it either justified or convicted, according to the testimony of the Holy Gospel (Luke 18:14). And therefore, one must conduct reading and singing with all possible attention and reverence, and in no way allow oneself idle talk, especially laughter and jokes. Otherwise, we will leave the church condemned, angering the King of Heaven by standing before Him without reverence. 13. The people present at the divine service should not look back. One must preserve vision in every possible way, as that opening into the soul through which the most infectious passions can enter it 9 . 14. On the wings, everyone must take his assigned place. In the absence of someone, the one next to him takes the unoccupied place, and is by no means the youngest due to self-will, conceit or insolence. This excludes those cases when those in charge of the wings find it necessary to arrange the singers according to their voices. 15. The holy altar, as the holy of holies, should not be entered into by any unconsecrated person, with the exception of sextons and candle-bearers, according to the 19th canon of the Council of Laodicea and according to the custom accepted in the most well-maintained Orthodox monasteries. The very commemoration of relatives is heard by God equally both from the altar and from the church, from the place where you stand. God will be more pleased with your prayer from the church when, out of reverence for Him, you avoid entering the altar, than from the altar when you entered it without due reverence, violating the rule taught to you. 16. A brother whom necessity forces to enter or pass through the altar is obliged to do so with the greatest reverence and fear of God. Having entered the altar, turning to the Holy Table, make three bows to the ground, and on Sunday, Saturday, on holidays and polyeleos days - three bows from the waist, then, turning to the icon standing on a high place - one bow from the waist; after this, bow to the abbot and accept his blessing; if the abbot is not at the altar, accept the blessing from the serving hieromonk. 17. The unsanctified should not walk around the Holy Meal. If, out of extreme necessity, it happens to pass, then one must do this with great fear of God and caution, walking quietly and walking around the throne of God as far away from it as possible. 18. Do not stand at the altar unless necessary, but immediately leave after fulfilling it. However, whoever entered the altar out of extreme necessity, or having been sent by the authorities, must reproach himself, saying: “Woe is me, a sinner and abomination, who dared to enter the Holy of Holies to condemn himself.” The clergy themselves, called to serve and stand before God at the altar, make themselves worthy of this service by recognizing their unworthiness, trying to wash themselves with abundant tears of repentance and humility before serving, and performing the service itself with the greatest reverence, attention and fear of God. 19. He who reads the psalms and the daily sequence, that is, Vespers, Matins and the Hours, must prepare in advance and look for the troparia and kontakia of the day, so that while reading in church he does not make mistakes and does not stop in prayer by looking for troparia and kontakia. The reader should stand straight, have his hands down, read both slowly and slowly, pronounce the words clearly and distinctly. It should be read simply, with reverence, in one tone, without pouring out one’s feelings through modulations and changes in voice. Let us allow the holy prayers to act with their own spiritual dignity on the listeners 10. The desire to share your feelings with others is a sign of conceit and pride. 20. The daily sequence of readings begins with Vespers. The one entering the cycle must stand near the one finishing it at the ninth hour. When he finishes, they both bow together at the altar, then bow to each other. The one entering the sequence stands in front of the lectern, and the one who has completed goes and takes his place. 21. The reader of the Apostle, walking from the wing and to the wing, should hold the book in his left hand, slightly leaning its top against his chest. Coming out to read, the reader of the Apostle first stands in front of the icon of the Savior or the Mother of God, judging by the wing to which he belongs, bows from the waist in front of the icon, then bows, turning to his wing, and then goes out into the middle, in front of the royal doors. Here he makes a bow to the altar; to the words of the serving hieromonk: “Peace to all,” he bows to the servant and begins to say the prokeimenon. After pronouncing the title to the Apostle, when the serving hieromonk or hierodeacon says: “Let us hear,” the reader again bows to the serving hieromonk and begins reading the Apostle. At the end of the reading, in response to the words of the servant: “Peace be with you,” the reader bows to him in front of the royal doors, goes from the middle of the church, stands near his choir in front of the icon, bows before it, then, turning to the opposite choir, bows to it, then the same bow to his choir and takes his place. 22. When reading the Apostle, one should by no means shout excessively and indecently, carried away by vanity; on the contrary, we must read in a natural voice, without tension burdening the ear and conscience, reverently, clearly, majestically, so that our sacrifice of praise is favorable to God, so that it does not turn out that we bring God only “the fruit of the lips” (Heb. 13:15), and the fruit of the mind and heart we bring to vanity, and the “fruit of the lips” is rejected by God as a defiled sacrifice. Singers should also remember this, because for all winged people in general, the passion of vanity is extremely dangerous, behind which other vices enter the soul, especially pride, and the grace of God that spares him retreats from a person. 23. When going to the gathering and from the gathering, everyone must begin and end singing together; moreover, do not wave your arms, keep your eyes lowered to the ground, and do not at all look around; should go in order, smoothly, one brother after another, without pushing or rushing each other. When standing up for a gathering, you must align yourself so that one does not stand in front of the other. When returning from the descent to the wing, you should observe the same order as indicated above when leaving the descent. Standing at the gathering, one should have one’s hands down, not at all putting them together, bowing should not be done arbitrarily, and when it should be done, not separately, but all together, so that the brethren present at the gathering represent a single body, as expressed by the Church Charter 11. For such uniform and reverent worship, all the brethren must apply to the leader, who is obliged to observe the timely execution of bows and to ensure that his own bows are neither hasty nor premature and the brethren have every opportunity to comply with him. 24. The bows during divine services are the following and in the following order: when the serving hieromonk comes out before the royal doors to bless the reading of the ninth hour, or the midnight office, or in the altar intends to bless the reading of the hours, then before the exclamation: “Blessed is our God,” he makes three bows from the waist; The brethren must do the same, as well as before the start of the Divine Liturgy. At the beginning of the all-night vigil, three bows are made from the waist, when the leader exclaims: “Come, let us bow.” In general, during all services, at every Trisagion and at every “Come, let us worship,” three bows from the waist are relied upon, with the exception of “Come” and the Trisagion at the very beginning of Matins, at which it is customary to sign only three times with the sign of the cross, just as at the beginning of the Six Psalms with the threefold recitation of the verse: “Glory to God in the highest,” in the middle of the Six Psalms with the threefold pronunciation: “Alleluia, Alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God.” They are usually marked once with the sign of the cross before the beginning of the Creed at the Divine Liturgy. When singing stichera and stichera, only one bow from the waist is required, when the words of the stichera encourage worship. However, neither at the gathering nor at the wings should you bow in disorder or without permission, but always following the leader. When the kathisma is sung during the reading, and at the end of them, as well as at the end of the six psalms, it is said three times: “Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, O God,” three waist bows are required, except for Sundays and holidays, Saturdays and polyeleos, on which these bows are left. When the brethren come to the gathering, and before leaving the gathering, they make a formal bow from the waist together, and then everyone at the same time bows to the brotherhood standing at the gathering. At the first petition of each ectenia and at the exclamation with which the serving hieromonk concludes the ectenia, one bow from the waist is made. Before and after reading the Holy Gospel, while singing the Glory - one bow from the waist. On the ninth song, when singing the Most Honest Cherub, with each repetition of these words - one bow from the waist. At the Divine Liturgy, after “come, let us worship and fall before Christ,” one bow is required. At the end of the entire Cherubic song, that is, after Alleluia - three bows from the waist. The gifts being brought, as not yet consecrated, are honored with one bow from the waist and after that by bowing the head. At the end of singing, three deep bows are made to you, and one bow to the ground without wings: while singing this holy song, the offered Holy Gifts are consecrated. It is worthy to eat - one bow from the waist. Before the Lord's Prayer, those without wings make one bow to the ground, and those with wings are marked only with the sign of the cross, because they immediately need to sing. After the Lord’s Prayer, when the serving hieromonk says: “For Thine is the kingdom” and other words of exclamation, one bow from the waist is required. When shouting: “Holy of Holies,” three bows are made from the waist. When the Holy Mysteries are brought out with the exclamation: “Come with the fear of God and faith,” those with wings are supposed to make one deep, reverent bow from the waist, as if to Christ Himself, invisibly present in the Holy Mysteries, and those who don’t have wings are supposed to make one bow to the ground. The same should be done when the holy chalice is brought out for the second time with the cry: “Always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.” At the end of the Divine Liturgy, three bows are made from the waist, and the younger ones of both wings turn to the elders, everyone greets each other with worship. On Sundays and holidays, on Saturdays and polyeleos, prostrations in the church are canceled. 12 25. Kamilavkas are removed from the head and placed on the shoulder, so that the cross formed by the tip of the hood does not come off the shoulders during the following times of worship, during the Liturgy: at the entrance with the Gospel, at the reading of the Gospel, at the Great Entrance, at the words of Christ: “Take and eat” up to and including Worthy; when singing the Lord's Prayer and during the revelation of the Holy Mysteries. At Vespers: at the entrance. At Matins: during the reading of the Gospel and during the singing of the Most Honest. When reading the Apostle at the Liturgy and the paremias at Great Vespers, the reader removes the kamilavka. The brethren remove their kamilavkas when singing the Lord's Prayer before the meal and Worthy after the meal 13. The brothers must both take off and put on their kamilavkas all at the same time, without warning each other. 26. In general, in the Church of God all possible reverence and order must be preserved, both for the glory of God, and for one’s own spiritual benefit and for the spiritual benefit of the coming people, who are edified by the reverence of the monks, but are confused, tempted, and damaged by their lack of reverence. One should not leave the church untimely; one should not allow oneself any, even the slightest violation of the rules of decorum and reverence. From neglect of the small and insignificant we easily and quickly move to neglect of the most important and everything. In order to maintain attention to your important responsibilities, you must constantly monitor yourself and be attentive to all your most petty actions 14. 27. When a need arises, excess phlegm should be carefully collected in a handkerchief, and not thrown onto the floor during obscene noise. One should not cough or blow one's nose loudly; these and other similar natural necessities should be performed with quietness and decency. Do not sniff tobacco in church. If eating food, which is a natural need for a person, is not allowed in church, then it is even more impermissible to take snuff, which is not at all a natural necessity, but a bad habit and a whim. And in general, those entering the rank of monk must wean themselves from using tobacco. Our worldly brethren are greatly tempted to use tobacco by monastics; the indispensable duty of love requires that we do not give reason for temptation to the worldly brethren, who, having been tempted by something insignificant, will not trust us even in important things. He who cannot overcome habits, let him realize his weakness, let him make up for the lack of self-sacrifice with self-reproach, 15 and let him not reveal his habit to his brothers, because the harm caused to one is not as serious as the harm caused to many. This is the opinion of the fathers about our victory through our weaknesses. 28. The strictest reverence and order are established to be maintained in the church, and let them be preserved in the meal. Staying at a meal to be reinforced with food should be like a continuation of the divine service. The brethren, feeding the body with prudent contentment with the dishes offered, must at the same time feed the soul with the word of God, which is read during the meal. To achieve this, deep silence is observed during the meal. If something needs to be said, it is said very quietly and briefly, so as not to interfere with hearing the reading 16. 29. All brethren must eat food in a common meal, and not in their cells, except for the sick, who are allowed to eat food in their cells, but not otherwise than with the knowledge and permission of the abbot. Try to be a participant in the common meal, without avoiding it for some unimportant reason that has the guise of truth: in due time you will see special spiritual benefits from constant participation in the common meal. 30. The consumption of food both in meals and in cells should be the most prudent in terms of quantity. Beginners should eat food until they are almost full, but not to the point of satiety. Fasting, which is so useful for a monk later 17, should be moderate for a novice. If the beginner does not eat food outside the meal, then such a fast will be quite satisfactory for him. Eating food almost to the point of satiety is necessary for the beginner for the reason that he is obliged to perform sometimes difficult obediences and in order not to weaken his bodily strength unnecessarily. To properly weaken them, the quality and quantity of the monastic refectory food is sufficient. Passions are diminished in beginners not from intense fasting, but from confession of sinful thoughts, from labors and from withdrawal from free interaction with others. 31. Although the use of wine is permitted by the Church Charter at meals, it is permitted only for those working elders for whom it is necessary and useful. Wine is harmful for young people, which is why, despite the fact that in some monasteries it is offered in meals, it is very useful for young people to completely abstain from wine. “Praise to a monk is abstinence from wine,” said the great saint Simeon the Wonderworker; If, due to bodily weakness, a monk is forced to use it, then let him use little.” 18 The Monk Pimen the Great said: “Monks should not drink wine at all” 19. “Let youth smell the wine below,” said St. Mark the Ascetic 20 . 32. In cells one should engage in soul-healthy reading and such handicrafts that would not arouse addiction to oneself. Otherwise, all your attention will be diverted to handicrafts, to which you are addicted: God and your salvation will become alien to you. Secular books, especially those harmful to morality, should not be read at all, nor should they even be kept in their cells. 33. Novices should not have money-grubbing 21 in their cells, that is, various items of whim and luxury. Cell money-grabbing attracts the mind and heart of the beginner, thus distracting them from God. In addition, it arouses daydreaming, which counteracts spiritual success. The best decoration of a monastic cell is a selected library, which should consist of the Holy Scriptures and patristic writings about monastic life. “It is necessary to have Christian books,” said Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus, “one look at these books turns away from sin and encourages virtue” 22. Sacred books must be kept honestly, giving honor to the Holy Spirit living in them. Among the elders, known for their special piety and spiritual success, the New Testament is placed with the holy icons 23. 34. Novices are prohibited from accepting women, even close relatives, into their cells; To receive male relatives and acquaintances, novices are obliged to seek permission from the abbot. 35. Beginners must not only be protected from receiving worldly people into their cells, but also from untimely visiting each other in their cells. The untimely visit of beginners to each other serves as a reason for them to idle talk, ridicule, and insolence, which destroys the fear of God and good will for an ascetic life in the heart of the beginner, and arouses the strongest action of passions, especially despondency, anger and fornication. For this reason, the great elder Simeon the Reverent commanded his disciple Saint Simeon, the New Theologian, when he entered the monastery to renounce all acquaintance outside and inside the monastery. The disciple, carefully fulfilling the elder's will, soon achieved high spiritual success 24. 36. Beginner! Visit often the cell of your confessor or your elder for your spiritual edification and confession of your sins and sinful thoughts. Blessed are you if you have found a knowledgeable, experienced and well-intentioned elder: a satisfactory mentor in our times is the greatest rarity. Consider as a sanctuary the cell in which you hear the word of God reviving you 25 . If there is no satisfactory mentor in the monastery, then confess your sins more often to your spiritual father, and draw instructions from the Gospel and books written by the holy fathers on asceticism. Your cell will become a refuge and refuge for you from mental and heartfelt storms. 37. There should be no food, no delicacies, and especially no drinks in the cell. We do not enter a monastery to amuse ourselves by fulfilling carnal desires, not for earthly joys and pleasures! We enter into it so that through true repentance, uninterrupted by entertainment and amusement, we can be reconciled with God and receive from Him the invaluable gift of salvation. 38. Clothing should be as simple as possible, but decent and neat, required by the custom and position of the monastery and its relationship with the visiting lay brethren, who can be equally tempted by lush and unkempt clothing. Do not have colored cassocks or linings under cassocks: such clothing is not suitable for those who cry for their dead souls; They wear black clothes, which people put on as a sign of their deep sadness. The beginner must observe this rule, because his soul is conformed by its state to the state of the body and cannot retain the feeling of repentance when the body is decorated with lush and shiny clothes. From luxurious clothing, vanity and bitterness arise in the newborn; his flesh comes to life for lustful sensations and movements 26. It is indecent for a sinner to have beautiful clothes: otherwise he will be like a watered and gilded coffin, bright and rich on the outside, with a stinking corpse on the inside. 39. One must show respect to elders and approach hieromonks for blessing with reverence and faith. This respect must be had out of duty and out of love, and not out of man-pleasing or some other impulse of this age, alien to the monastic mood, alien to the spirit of the Church. 40. When brothers meet each other, they should bow to each other cordially, honoring the image of God in their neighbors, honoring Christ Himself (Matthew 25:40). 41. Young people should strive to love everyone equally, guarding themselves, as if from the devil’s snare, from exclusive love for any peer or secular acquaintance. Such love in young people is nothing more than an addiction they do not understand, which decisively rejects them from their duties to God 27 . 42. When dating each other, one must be extremely careful about touch, to such an extent that one should not take one’s brother by the hand; in the same way one should avoid other greetings that do not belong to the holy monastic monastery. This storage was strictly observed in ancient monasteries. Those who violated it were subjected to public monastic punishment in Egyptian monasteries, the best in the Christian world. The Monk Cassian the Roman will tell this 28. 43. As the greatest danger, one should avoid getting acquainted with that brother who lives carelessly, not out of condemnation of him, no! Another reason for this: nothing is so sticky, so contagious, as the weakness of a brother. The Apostle bequeathed: “We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you separate yourself from every brother who walks disorderly, and not according to tradition, which you received from us” (2 Thess. 3:6). “If a certain brother is called a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a drunkard, or a predator, such a one is below the level of food” (1 Cor. 5:11). Why? Because, says the same apostle: “Evil conversations corrupt good customs” (1 Cor. 15:33). Did you briefly meet the drunkard? Know: in his company you will become accustomed to drunkenness. Do you often talk to a fornicator? Know: he will pour his voluptuous feelings into you. Your friends and short acquaintances should be those whose entire intention is to please God. This is what the holy prophet David did. He says about himself: “I walk in the midst of my home in the gentleness of my heart”; but, despite such kindness, “those who commit crimes began to hate” with godly hatred, consisting in moving away from them: “he who slandered his sincere secret, he who was cast out: with a proud eye and an insatiable heart, with this he is not poisonous. My eyes are on the faithful lands, plant them with me: walk along the blameless path, serving them. Do not live in the middle of my house and create pride; The unrighteous one says not to be right before my eyes” (Ps. 100:2-27). “I was greatly honored by Your friends, O God” (Ps. 139:17). The Monk Pimen the Great said: “The conclusion (end, crown) of all instructions to the new monk: avoid bad society (acquaintance, friendship) and stick to good society” 29. 44. You should not walk around the monastery with your head uncovered: this is a violation of modesty and reverence. Also, one should not allow oneself to shout, discordant, excessively free body movements, which upsets the internal deanery of the novice, upsets the order of the monastery, disturbs the tranquility of the brotherhood, and leads to the temptation of lay visitors to the monastery. 45. Do not go anywhere outside the monastery dacha without first asking permission from the authorities. 46. ​​When walking, no one should walk alone, but always walk with two or three of them. This decree existed in both ancient and modern well-appointed holy monasteries. They are warned against many temptations, even falls. "Woe to the One"! (Eccl. 4:10) - when some temptation begins to carry him away, there is no one to stop him! On the contrary, the brother, helped by the brother, is likened by Divine Scripture to a solid and high city (Proverbs 18:19). 47. You don’t like going to the city, you don’t like visiting worldly villages! How can the soul of a young monk or a novice who wishes to take upon himself the vows of monasticism not be damaged by frequent sight of temptations and from mixing with temptations to which his heart is still alive, with which he delights and is carried away? If it did not enjoy the delights of the world, it would not be attracted to them. A monk who feels drawn to frequent exits from the monastery into the world is wounded by an arrow from the devil. The monk, following the painful desire of his heart to often leave the monastery and wander among the temptations of the world, arbitrarily took into himself a deadly, poisonous arrow fired at him by the devil - he allowed its poison to spread throughout his soul, to poison it. A novice who has given himself up to wandering must be recognized as incapable of monastic life and promptly expelled from the monastery. A monk who has given himself up to wandering must be considered as having betrayed God, his conscience, and his vows of monasticism. For such a monk, nothing is sacred; He considers all the basest acts, all lawlessness and atrocity to be permissible, being carried away and overshadowed by the passion of peace, which contains within itself the service of all passions. Special caution is needed in relation to such a monk, because he will not stop doing all kinds of evil to the monastery with the help of his indecent connections among the world, in order to justify his behavior and repel any attempt to curb his outrages. 48. It all depends on the skill. If we relax ourselves, we will get a bad habit that will rule over us, like a cruel master over his slaves. If we force ourselves, we will receive a good habit that will act in us as a beneficial natural property. Choose something useful for yourself, get used to it: skill will make useful things pleasant. Let us force ourselves to acquire the good habit of patiently staying in the monastery, leaving it only when absolutely necessary, staying outside it as little as possible, and returning to it as soon as possible. The head of monasticism, the Monk Anthony the Great, said: “Just as fish, slowing down on land, die, so monks, staying with worldly people, outside their cells, lose their disposition towards silence. Just as a fish strives to the sea, so we must strive to our cells, so that, while slowing down outside, we do not forget about internal storage” 30. From the skill of staying in a monastery we will conveniently move on to another, even better skill, the skill of staying in a cell. Then the merciful Lord will lead us to the holy habit of remaining within ourselves. 49. He who observes prudent silence, who preserves sight and touch, who withdraws from special love for anyone from the brethren and from the worldly, who moves away from attachment to earthly things, who moves away from free circulation and from everything that violates modesty and reverence, will soon feel in himself that deadness from which life shines (2 Cor. 4:10). On the contrary, one who indulges in absent-mindedness, who is not vigilant over himself, who allows himself addictions and free conversion, will never achieve anything spiritual, even if he spends a whole century in a monastery. 50. Each of the brethren is obliged to venerate the miraculous icon or holy relics located in the monastery every day. It should be applied with three reverent bows and with a heartfelt prayer that the saints will help complete the field of monasticism for the glory of God, for the salvation of the soul. Of the three bows, two are required before kissing the icon or relics and one after the kiss. This is what reverent monks do in all monasteries where there are holy miraculous icons or holy relics. Monks usually venerate icons and relics after Matins or after Vespers, or after the Evening Rule. Preservation of the above rules can bring the monk’s outward behavior into order and accustom him to constant reverence and self-observation 31 . One who has put his outer behavior in order is like a well-made vessel, without holes: you can put precious myrrh into such a vessel, you can put it with confidence that the myrrh will remain intact. And the monk, having improved his customs, becomes capable of spiritual activity, which is kept intact by well-organized bodily customs; it, on the contrary, cannot be retained in any way in a monk who is upset by his outward behavior. Saint Isaac of Syria at the beginning of Homilies 56 says: “The physical activity is preceded by the spiritual, just as the creation of the body in Adam preceded the breathing of the soul into him. He who has not acquired physical activity cannot have mental activity: the second is born from the first, like an ear from a naked grain of wheat. He who does not have spiritual activity is alien to spiritual gifts.” The same monk in the 46th Word says: “I saw many great and wondrous fathers who, more than about other activities, cared about the orderliness of the feelings and the habits of the body: from this orderliness is born the orderliness of thoughts. Much happens to a person outside of his will and forces him to violate the limits set for himself: why, if he were not in constant storage of feelings, then in such cases for a long time he would not be able to come to his senses and find his previous peaceful dispensation.” In Homily 89: “In the presence of your friends, behave reverently: by doing this, you will benefit yourself and them, because the soul often throws off the reins of guarding under the pretext of love. Beware of conversations: they are not always useful. In meetings, prefer silence: it protects against many (mental) losses. Guard your sight more than your womb: because your own battle is undoubtedly easier than the external one. Do not believe, brother, that inner thoughts can be restrained without first bringing the body into a good and decent dispensation; fear (bad) habits more than demons.” When Basil the Great arrived in Antioch, then the philosopher Livanius, mentor of the Antioch School and Basil's comrade at the Athens School, asked him to deliver a lesson to his young listeners. Saint Basil fulfilled this. Having told them that they should preserve the purity of the soul of the body, he taught them in detail the rules for external behavior: he commanded them to have a modest gait, not to speak loudly, to observe decorum in conversation, to eat and drink reverently, to remain silent in front of elders, to be attentive to the wise, obedient to superiors, to have unfeigned love for equals and lesser ones, to distance themselves from the evil, from those infected with passions and those who love to please. flesh, speak little, carefully collect knowledge, do not speak without first discussing what you intend to talk about, do not talk too much, do not be quick to laugh, adorn yourself with modesty, and so on. The wise Vasily gave the young men an instruction most relevant to their outward behavior, knowing that decorum will immediately communicate from body to soul and the improvement of the body will very soon lead to the improvement of the soul 32. Particular attention should be paid to unlearning freedom in dealing with people, freedom, so much approved and so loved in secular societies. In our time, many, accustomed to free circulation in worldly life, retain it in the monastery; others, having already entered the monastery, try to acquire it, finding something especially attractive in it. The harmful consequences of free circulation are not noticed during entertainment, with inattention to oneself, with the incessant, varied action of countless temptations; but for the monastic they are disastrous. The Holy Fathers speak strongly against free circulation, which they call insolence. One day, a brother came to the Monk Agathon, who was distinguished among the fathers of the Egyptian Skete, contemporary with him, by a special gift of reasoning, and asked him: “I intend to live with the brethren, tell me, how can I live with them?” The elder answered: “Spend the entire time you are with them as you did the first day of your arrival. Throughout your entire life, maintain wandering (that is, behave in the monastery as a wanderer and a stranger, and not as a resident and member of society) and do not allow yourself to freely turn (insolence).” Abba Macarius 33, who happened to be here, asked the question: “What is the meaning of insolence (free circulation)?” The elder answered: “Insolence is like a great heat, which when it comes, everyone flees from its presence, and the fruits on the trees spoil.” Abba Macarius said to this: “Is insolence so harmful?” Abba Agathon answered: “There is no passion more fierce than insolence: it is the parent of all passions; the ascetic must refrain from taking liberties in his treatment” 34. The Monk Abba Dorotheos, citing these words of Saint Agathon in one of his teachings, says: “The elder said very well and very wisely, calling insolence the mother of all passions. She is their mother because she drives out the fear of God from the soul. If “by the fear of the Lord everyone turns away from evil” (Prov. 15:27), then undoubtedly there is all evil where there is no fear of God. Insolence manifests itself in different ways: it can be expressed in words, in body actions, or in one glance. From insolence they move on to idle talk, to talk about worldly and humorous subjects, arousing obscene laughter. It is also considered insolence when someone touches his neighbor unnecessarily, or puts his hand to his lips to stop his speech or laughter, when he allows himself to snatch something from his neighbor’s hands or push him, when he allows himself to look at his neighbor shamelessly. All this is considered insolence and occurs because a person does not have the fear of God in his soul. From such a state one can move little by little to complete neglect of oneself. For this “reason, God, teaching the commandments that make up the law given to Moses, said: “Be reverent, the children of Israel” (Lev. 15:31). Without reverence, neither true worship of God nor keeping the commandments is possible.” The daring act expressed the once sown criminal intentions and the pledge of the heart. When Judas Iscariot had already come to an agreement with the Sanhedrin about betraying the Lord, and then shamelessly lay down at the Last Supper with the other apostles; he did not stop to reach out to the vessel with salt and take the salt together with his Teacher and Lord. The Lord pointed to this act, seemingly unimportant, as a sign of a traitor (Matthew 26:23). Free circulation often occurs due to motives of people-pleasing, double-mindedness, and the weakness of moral rules and will. Protecting from these principles of free circulation, the Monk Barsanuphius the Great and his disciple John the Prophet say: “Acquire firmness, and it will remove from you freedom in dealing with your neighbors, the cause of all evil in man! If you want to get rid of shameful passions, do not treat anyone freely, especially those to whom your heart is inclined in the passion of lust. Through this you will also free yourself from vanity, for vanity is mixed with people-pleasing, and with people-pleasing is free circulation, and free circulation is the mother of all passions” 35. “Avoid insolence as from death” 36. It is obvious and understandable to everyone that free behavior, which very easily and often turns into the greatest insolence and impudence, is the cause of quarrels, anger, and resentment; but not everyone knows and understands that free circulation ignites the strongest lustful passion. Let the beloved brethren know this, who are beginning the invisible field of martyrdom and who have undertaken to fight the passions of the flesh and spirit, so that by the grace of God, which overshadows the efforts of the ascetic, they may defeat them and receive for their victory the crown of salvation from the hand of Christ. In general, it must be said that a monk is subject to completely different laws than a lay person, and needs the strictest observation of himself, constant caution, constant distrust of his mind, heart and body. A monk can be likened to a greenhouse flower, and a layman to a field flower. It is impossible to meet such beautiful and precious flowers in the field as are found in the greenhouse; For this reason, greenhouse flowers require special care, cannot withstand bad weather, and are damaged with little fresh air, while wild flowers do not need any care or supervision, grow in freedom and easily tolerate air changes. All the holy fathers command monks to exercise the strictest self-care and self-care. From an apparently insignificant circumstance, a monk can experience the greatest temptation and fall. One careless touch, one insignificant glance, as proven by countless experiments, suddenly changed the monk’s entire spiritual disposition, all the heart’s pledges, his very way of thinking. You have to protect yourself and protect yourself. The aforementioned Venerable Agathon used to say: “Without the greatest observation of oneself, it is impossible to succeed in any virtue” 37 . Beginners, from the very moment they enter the monastery, must pay all attention to protecting themselves with reverent skills and customs, study them and make every effort to acquire them, even if this costs considerable labor. A good skill, acquired with difficulty in youth, turns into a natural property and accompanies the one who acquires it everywhere. He who protects himself with good bodily habits can accumulate spiritual wealth with trustworthiness: it will be preserved intact, being protected from everywhere by good bodily habits. On the contrary, a harmful habit can in the shortest possible time take away all the spiritual wealth accumulated over a long time, accumulated through the most intense feat, with the loss of health and strength, so that a new accumulation of wealth becomes extremely difficult. Especially the cause of such spiritual disasters is the habit of free circulation and the frequent absences from the monastery and from the cell associated with it and giving rise to it. Brethren! Let us pray to the Lord, combining with prayer our own diligence, that He would instruct us in the reverence He commanded, that He would guard our lips (Ps. 140:3) and our other members, as well as our feelings, which, if not guarded, become open doors for sin, through which it enters the soul and kills it. Amen. Ladder, Word 1, ch. 18 and 19, according to the Russian translation of 1851. Ladder, Word 4, ch. 3 and 5. This is how monasticism is called in the writings of many holy fathers: in the discourse on the discourse of St. Cassian the Roman, Philokalia, part 1, in the teachings of Abba Dorotheos; in the word of Saint Simeon, the New Theologian, and so on. Ladder, title of Word 28. Church Charter, ch. 37 and Ladder, Homily 19, ch. 5. Ladder, Homily 28, ch. 3. Venerable Pimen the Great. Alphabetical patericon. The most careful service from the reader was required in ancient monasteries. Venerable Cassian, book 2, ch. 11. For a mistake when reading, the reader was subjected to penance. Venerable Cassian, book 4, ch. 16. Borrowed from the Church Charter, the following Psalter and from the customs of the most comfortable Russian monasteries. Venerable Abba Dorotheos. Lesson 3, about conscience. Venerable Nil of Sora, Homily 5, article on the measure of food. St. Gregory of Sinai's chapters are very useful, chapter 18. Philokalia, part 1. There and in the Alphabetical Patericon. Message to the monk Nicholas. The one who wrote these rules, visiting the most experienced elders at the beginning, noticed this commendable custom among them. Life of St. Simeon, New Theologian, manuscript; There is a life of this saint of God and a printed edition of Optina Pustyn. Venerable Abba Dorotheos, teaching 4 about the fear of God. Saying of St. Isaiah the Hermit. Alphabetical patericon. St. Isaac of Syria, Homily 8, and St. Simeon, New Theologian, ch. 125, Philokalia, part 1. Alphabetical Patericon and Ven. tale, article 10. It is obvious that these rules in their essential principles must certainly be observed, as they contain the decrees of the apostles and holy fathers, as belonging to the moral tradition of the Church. It is just as obvious that in small details relating to external deanery, it must be applied to the requirements and position of each monastery. Chet'i-Minea, life of St. Basil the Great, January 1. Not the Great, but another, later monk of the Skete. Alphabetical Patericon and Memorable Legends. Guide to the spiritual life of Saints Barsanuphius and John, answers to questions 256 and 258. Saint Isaac of Syria, Homily 9. Alphabetical Patericon and Memorable Legends, article about Abba Agathon. You might be interested in: