Монах и монашество

What is a monk? A monk is the fulfiller of all God's commandments. And all the commandments come down to two: 1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength... 2) and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27). These two commandments combine the entire law and commandments of God. Angels in heaven in love. The whole life of a monk should be love. Every monk who endures everything complacently has a martyr's crown. External monasticism is an exercise in deeds: fasting, vigil; This also includes attendance at church services in good appearance, sobriety 3 and so on. And internal monasticism is a struggle with passions, purification of the heart. What crucibles a monk has to go through on his monastic path from beginning to end! This is where the Jesus Prayer is needed, and without it not a single soul can stand it. A monk must always be in the throes of birth, as it were, until he reaches the measure of the age of completion of Christ. And while our old man 4 is still alive, he makes himself known through all sorts of passions, melancholy, despondency, and what is now painful for such a person will later be a great consolation for him, for example, going to services. Then the psalm word will be applicable to such a person: I rejoiced when they said to me: “Let us go to the house of the Lord” (Ps. 122:1). Then everything in him will be filled with light and joy in the Lord. Monasticism is external and internal. You cannot ignore the external, but you cannot be satisfied with it alone either. External monasticism can be likened to plowing the earth. No matter how much you plow, nothing will grow if you sow nothing. So inner monasticism is sowing, and millet is the Jesus Prayer, which illuminates the entire inner life of a monk and gives him strength in the struggle; it is especially necessary when enduring sorrows and temptations... Monasticism is the bliss that is only possible for a person on earth; there is nothing higher than this bliss. And this is because monasticism provides the key to inner life. Bliss is within us, we just need to discover it. Complete bliss is in heaven, in the future life, but its lowest level is on earth. In that life it only continues. Not all monasticism consists of a cassock and porridge. He put on his cassock, began to eat porridge and thought: I have now become a monk. No. External things alone will not bring any benefit. True, you need to wear monastic clothes and fast, but that’s not all. A lamp, until it is lit, does not justify its purpose - to shine. What is missing? Ogonyok. Both wick and kerosene are necessary, but if there is no fire, if it is not lit, it does no good to anyone. When it is lit, light will immediately flow. It’s the same in monasticism: appearance alone does not bring any benefit; an inner fire is needed. Monks, in general all our brethren, are also people, and since they are people, they necessarily have their own passions and vices: one is proud, another is evil, another is a fornicator, and so on. All these people came here, to the “hospital” (in Optina Pustyn), to be treated for what, and they are cured with the help of God. Seeing the vices of the brethren, we must try not to judge - this is our motto. All people are weak, everyone has passions, but we must forgive. You might be interested in: