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(1) About new monks. 1. A novice monk, who has recently renounced the world and everything in the world, and who has entered into the feat of monastic life, if he has retired from the world for the sake of God and truly wants to learn this art of arts, and does not want his removal from the world to be in vain, must from the very beginning, with all zeal and diligence, do deeds of virtue. As a guide to this, I want to give some kind of written outline of the beginnings of this science of sciences, that is, monastic life, for beginners who have recently left the world and entered the monastery, this ascetic, like some kind of school. And this is the advice I give to them and to those who will come after them, according to the tradition that I also received from our fathers. One must know that he who has put off the earthly man with his wisdom, under the image of putting off worldly garments, and has put on the heavenly man, under the image of taking on the monastic image, has a duty, getting up at midnight before Matins, to perform the prayer rule assigned to him for this purpose and then go to church for Matins, together with all the brethren, and there it is great to pay attention to the entire sequence of the service, listening to the sixth psalm, psalms and prescribed readings from the fathers; Moreover, let him not allow himself to loosen the limbs of his body and stand disorderly or lean against walls and columns; He needs to have his hands reverently folded in front, and stand with both feet equally on the floor, keep his head motionless, not turning it this way and that, but tilting it down; let him not become distracted in his mind, not be curious about what one or the other is doing, and not move towards the careless people who secretly talk and whisper among themselves, but let him keep his eyes and his soul from wandering here and there and as intensely as possible listen to one prayer, reading, sung troparia and read words of the Divine Scripture, not missing a single word without benefit and taking care to feed his soul with all this, so that, Having come to contrition and humility, she received enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. Also, my brothers, and fathers, and children, I beg you all together and I give you this as a soul-saving rule, try to initiate such a work of virtue, or, better to say, the work of God (for which we will receive reward from God according to the measure of our labors), so that, if possible, not a single service takes place without tears. For if you, my brother, get used to doing this, then in a short time you will succeed, grow in spirit and reach a perfect husband, according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ. When you begin to force yourself to ensure that not a single church service goes through without tears, then over time you will become so accustomed to this good deed that tears will become as if natural for you. Then your soul will begin to feed on the psalms that you read or listen to, and the troparia, and absorb their divine thoughts, and your mind, through what you read, will rise up and rise into contemplation of the mental. Then you will finally begin to cry with great sweetness and, being in church, feel as if you are among the holy Angels. Also make it an unchanging rule for yourself - never leave the church before the priest says the very last prayer (that is, dismissal - through the prayers of the holy fathers, etc.), without any extreme need or bodily need, but always patiently stand in your place until the end, as the Divine Scripture says: he who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 10:22). For this, first you will receive help from God without feeling it yourself, then over time you will begin to feel this God’s help with the feeling of your soul, and a little after that you will experience it in some kind of divine enlightenment. When the morning service is over, when you leave the church, do not start idle conversations with this or that and do not scatter your mind here and there, but hurry straight to your cell and there, having completed the prayer assigned to you for this, take up either your needlework, or the obedience given to you, or reading. Never remain completely idle in your cell, so that idleness does not teach you all kinds of evil, which I do not find it necessary to tell you about. But don’t wander around the monastery and don’t be curious about how someone does their handicrafts or fulfills their obedience. Keep silence and distance yourself from everyone: that is true wandering. As much strength as you have, just pay attention to yourself and your handicrafts. Do not go to anyone’s cell, except perhaps your spiritual father and the one to whom the abbot or some other manager of the monastery sends you. But even at the same time, when walking where you were sent, make sure not to say or listen to anything that does not relate to the matter for which you were sent, and, having finished it, quickly return back. If, while going back and forth, you see that a brother is sitting somewhere alone or with others and they are having a conversation at an inappropriate time, bow to them and pass by in silence, and do not approach them and do not sit with them, remembering the words of the psalmist David, who says: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, and does not stand in the path of sinners, and does not sit on the seats of destroyers ( Ps.1:1). For such people are truly destroyers, that is, corrupting souls, just as St. Paul says: good customs are corrupted by evil conversations (1 Cor. 15:33). So do not sit, my beloved brother, with those who talk idlely, and do not say to them: let me also listen to what you are talking about. But, as I said, having bowed to them, pass by and move on in your obedience, maintaining silence and wandering (keep yourself in feeling and in your relationship to others like an alien wanderer). You will remain silent if you say to yourself: and what good do I have to say, so meaningless and bad that I am not worthy to speak, not even worthy to be counted among people? But you will preserve wandering and the practice of withdrawing from others if you think and say within yourself: who am I—insignificant, worthless, a hillbilly, a poor man—to dare me to go to someone else’s cell? And who, seeing me, will not turn away from me and disdain me as an abomination? Is it possible that when I come to someone, he can’t say about me: what does this disgusting person want, has he come to desecrate my cell? If you lay your sins before you, then you can think and say all this about yourself with all your heart, as I said. Even if at first you will not be able to say this about yourself with all your heart, but little by little, with the help of Divine grace, you will achieve this, that is, to truly consider yourself as such. Just listen to me, humble one, and begin to speak and do with God as I said, and God will not leave you, for He loves you a lot and wants you to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. Having spent the time like this before the Liturgy, then go, my brother, back to the church and stand there, as I ordered you to stand during Matins, not forgetting about crying. Stand with fear and trembling, as if you saw with your own eyes how the Son of God incarnate sacrifices Himself for you - and if you are worthy and have received permission from your confessor, approach with fear and joy, and partake of the Most Pure Mysteries, and after your dismissal, go together with all the brethren to the meal. Here, if you are destined to serve, perform your service with such pure and unflattering love, as if you were serving Christ Himself, and not men, and have all the brothers as saints, or, as I have already said, as Christ Himself, and give them everything they need with such love, as if you were giving them your soul and all of yourself willingly, being convinced that you receive sanctification from serving, which is not for them. If you sit down to a meal with others, be careful not to reach out to the food with unruly impudence before your elders begin to eat and before the priest blesses the meal; Having begun to eat together with your brothers and fathers, observe great modesty and silence and do not speak to anyone at all, but listen to the reading, so that, just as you feed physically with dishes, so you also feed mentally with the divine words of the holy fathers, for since you are twofold, consisting of soul and body, you must also feed yourself, both mentally and physically; Nourish your body, as sensual and earthly, with sensual and earthly food, and feed your soul, as spiritual and divine, with divine and spiritual food from the words of God. At the same time, do not be curious about which parts are placed at the meal, which are larger and which are smaller, but whichever part will be given to you, eat with thanksgiving and abstinence, avoiding full satiety and thinking that you are not worthy to sit at the common meal of the brethren, say to yourself: who am I, a beggar and worthless, that I am worthy to sit and eat with such saints? Saying this, in your mind, with all your soul, consider yourself a sinner, and just as some poor man, dressed in rags, if he finds himself among important, rich and luxuriously dressed persons, is ashamed and does not dare to approach or approach any of them, so always keep yourself among the brethren - always choose the last place, ashamed to sit above anyone, since all others are rich in virtues, and you alone are naked and poor in every way. virtue, why is it unworthy to handle them and even look at them. Also, from the very beginning, as soon as you begin to eat food, remember your sins and say again to yourself: will it not be a condemnation for me to eat these dishes lying in front of me? From my youth I have not done anything pleasing to God, who created them and gave them to us as food, and I have not fulfilled His holy commandments, so how can I, worthy of all condemnation, dare to eat from His blessings? With what face will I eat and drink and console myself with these holy fathers, I, an evil and indecent servant who has alienated myself from my Master, before I repent and receive forgiveness from the man-loving God, as others eat and drink, who either did not sin at all, or, having sinned, repented and received forgiveness from God? No, I will not eat like them, but I will take so much food and drink just to live, and thereby I will oppress, torment and show myself, so that God, seeing my self-oppression and arbitrary sorrow from above, will have mercy on me and forgive me many of my sins. So always reason and think in your mind. Also set a rule for yourself - never eat your fill, but eat much less than you need - and stick to it; equally determine the measure of water to drink - one or two cups, and drink at one specific hour of the day. When you sit at the table, do not listen to the thought that will inspire you to eat food of your choice, and as much as possible, beware of reaching out to what seems good, but eat what is put in front of you. But again, if from what is in front of you, be it vegetables or some other dish, you especially like something and the thought tells you: take this and eat it, strive as much as you can, not to be overcome by such a thought, and do not touch it. For Adam was expelled from paradise for no other reason than because the fruit of the tree seemed to him beautiful and good to eat, and he ate it. Why do those who wish to return again to that paradise, or, better to say, to the kingdom of heaven, have a duty to maintain abstinence, even in the consumption of vegetables, without inventing excuses to the contrary, so that otherwise little by little they will not reach great harmful lusts. If the brothers sitting with you offer you to eat and drink more, do not answer them anything other than, folding your hands and bowing your head, rise up and say in a meek and quiet voice: forgive me. And not only in this case, but in every other case, answer this way. So - neither you yourself give to anyone else from your excesses (leftovers at the table), nor do you take anything from anyone else. If you do not drink wine, do not take it, even under the pretext of giving it to another brother, except in the case when a stranger comes to you in need. Never allow yourself to share a common meal with anyone, or have an afternoon meal, or have dinner again, for any reason, because a lot of bad things happen from this, and these are the devil’s snares that seem to be good, but inside they contain deadly poison. Those who believe me and keep my words will escape these snares. With the help of God's grace, he will remain untempted and unharmed by the devil. Those who love worldly life under monastic garb are overthrown and fall into the abyss without feeling it themselves. But you, my beloved brother, desire to keep what I have said to the point of being ready, if need requires, even to die for it. For you will not be able to escape the demon of gluttony in any other way. Know, however, that when you begin to do this, the devil will not allow you to do this, but will raise up all the careless and lazy people against you, who will begin to condemn you, revile you, make fun of you and cause a great many all kinds of troubles in order to force you to give up your good intentions and stop such deeds leading to the salvation of your soul. But don’t look at this, for if you patiently endure all this, you will find great help and abundant consolation from God and our Savior. If, when others are sitting at the table and eating, you are either serving, or sitting like that, or whatever else you are doing, look, do not forget to say to yourself in your mind: if I had repented properly and received remission of my sins, then, of course, I would eat and be comforted along with my brothers, but as I, the unfortunate one, have made myself worthless by my shameful deeds, then I will receive righteousness according to my deeds. And, saying this, curb your belly as much as you can. Never seek or desire pre-eminence, but hate it with all your heart, since it is the cause of pride. And your humility will exalt you, and the fact that you seek to occupy the last place will make you first, for it is written: everyone who exalts himself will humble himself, but he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:14). When, finally, having risen from the meal with the brethren, you thank God and the priest makes the proper dismissal, then go silently straight to your cell, and, having closed the door, take the book in your hands and read a little. Then, if it is summer time, lie down on your matting and sleep a little pine. If you take care not to be full and eat very modestly, eating only bread and water and vegetables, and then in moderation, then you will not sleep for long, but will soon wake up. If it is winter, then, after reading a little, take up your needlework and sit at it until they strike for Vespers. Then go to church and stand with fear and great attention throughout Vespers, not talking to anyone at all. At the end of Vespers, if you can abstain and not eat or drink anything, making it a rule to take food once a day, it will be better, for from this you will receive great benefit and help for your nightly prayer and vigil. If you can’t, then eat only one paximad (bread in two ordinary prosphoras, mostly dry) and drink one cup of water, except for any weakness. Then, having offered the prayers of Compline to God along with the others, bow at the feet of the rector, as if falling at the feet of Christ the Savior, and, having received his blessing and venerated the holy icons, go silently to your cell, without starting conversations with anyone. Having entered it, close the door and take the book in your hands. After reading three sheets of paper, stand up for prayer and pray to God silently so that no one can hear you. Pay attention, however, to stand with a cheerful soul, enclosing your thoughts in prayer and not allowing them to deviate towards various deeds and things. At the same time, cross your arms in front of you, keep your legs straight and motionless, close your eyes so that they don’t look at anything and don’t scatter your mind; Lift up your mind and all your heart to the mountain, to heaven, to God Himself, with tears and sighs asking Him for mercy. Have the psalms determined by your spiritual father, which are more crushing, arouse tears of repentance and are within your power. Psalms, genuflections and the time of standing must be determined for you, according to your strength, so that your conscience does not convict you and say that you have the strength to still stand and praise God. Have also other specific prayers containing thanksgiving and praise to God, which you read, such and such in the morning, and such and such in the evening. Having finished your prayer, read a little again, then sit down to do your needlework and sit until three o’clock in the morning (ours is nine o’clock). After this, get up and, having read “Undefiled,” lie down on your mat, sealing your entire body with the sign of the cross. Having slept until midnight, get up and do further as I told you above. Add to all this the confession of your thoughts to your spiritual father, if possible, every hour; if this is impossible, do not let at least a single day pass without confessing them. Immediately after Matins, test yourself well and reveal to your spiritual father what happened to you, having firm faith in him and not diminishing it in the least, even if the whole world condemned him and reviled him; although you yourself will find something reproachful in it, do not give in to temptation, hearing what Christ the Lord says: Judge not, and you will not be judged (Luke 6:37). If you struggle like this every day, then be sure that God will not hesitate to visit you from above, but will send you help from His holy habitation and the grace of the All-Holy Spirit will come to you. Thus, little by little, succeeding, you will grow in spiritual growth until you become a perfect man, to the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ, being enlightened by the Holy Spirit with the light of reason and shining like the sun, with the light of those who live with you, and glorifying in word and deed God, who gave you the grace of His Holy and Life-giving Spirit. To him is due all glory, honor and worship, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: