When monks are asked: why do they go to the monastery, they answer: “They don’t go to the monastery, but they come.” Do not sorrow and misfortune force you to leave the world. The love of Christ calls to come to the monastery. Being a monk is a calling.
When a person seeks to serve the Lord and takes the tonsure, he voluntarily goes to suffer with Christ, is crucified with Him. And they don't come down from the cross, they take it down.
It is a great feat to be a real monk.
There were many monasteries before the revolution, more than 1200. In the 70s there were about 15 of them, now there are more than 500 in Russia. All of them have been opened in recent years. Our monastery is probably one of the first of its kind: it is not being restored, but is being built.
... The Svyato-Vvedensky Church was inactive for 50 years. One of the recently glorified ascetics of piety, Elder Leonty, who spent 25 years in prison, said that the time would come, this temple would be opened, and the whole world would know about it. That time has come. In 1989, when the future parishioners of the Vvedenskaya Church went on a hunger strike, demanding the return of the temple, they learned about the Holy Vvedenskaya Church not only in Russia - television, radio, newspapers, magazines here and abroad wrote a lot about it.
Two years of struggle for the temple - and now it is returned to believers. He then imagined a miserable sight: the walls in huge holes - traces of driven logs, the temple was all wounded, as if after shelling, the windows were broken, the roof was leaking (instead of a roof made of tin - a tarpaulin painted with green paint). But the main thing was to start serving God, to start preaching, because for 70 years of godless power, the people were hungry and thirsty for spiritual food - the Word of God. At first, sermons were delivered both at the beginning and at the end of services. On Sunday evenings, all the people sang the Akathist to the Mother of God in a singsong voice, and then the priests went out to the pulpit, they were asked in writing and orally questions about faith and the salvation of the soul, to which answers were immediately given. This tradition continues to this day...
At the Holy Vvedensky Church, a small community was formed, several sisters, mostly singers. A petition was submitted to Archbishop Ambrose, he to His Holiness the Patriarch with a request to bless the convent at the temple. On March 27, 1991, a new monastery appeared - the Holy Vvedensky Convent.
The monastery was a little over six months old when Vladyka Archbishop Ambrose of Ivanovo and Kineshma performed the first cassock tonsure. Vladyka would say to each sister loudly and drawlingly: “Our sister Catherine is cutting the hair of her head as a sign of complete obedience.” It was very solemn, beautiful, and all the laity, young and old, were drawn to see how it was all done. The sisters took off their headscarves, combed their long hair (and some had short hair - they had not yet grown out of the world). When Vladyka tonsured the sisters, it seemed as if he had taken a tree, uprooted it, and transplanted it from one place to another, more reliable place—handing over the sisters into the hands of God. Such vows were then performed in our monastery more than once.
235 nuns labor in the monastery. The sisters keep coming... When there were 100 people in our monastery, I had a dream: His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II comes to us and asks: “How many sisters do you have?” “About 100,” we say. “Are you still thinking of recruiting?” - "I would like another hundred" ... And then he blessed, crossed his hand and said: "God bless." This is a dream, but the number of our residents is growing.
Every day they ask. Both young and old. Many elderly people would like to end their lives in a monastery, and every time we explain that we have a large subsidiary farm, a lot of work, that they cannot do it. And the monastic charter is heavy: services in the temple are held every day in the morning and in the evening. In addition to the service, there are a lot of different obediences on the territory of the monastery and outside it, on the sketes, where there is a subsidiary farm: cows, goats, more than 200 beds of vegetables, potato fields. It is necessary to sow, plant, weed, harvest, preserve, preserve vegetables. And all this requires strength. We need to clothe all the mothers (and there is a lot of sewing work), to feed everyone (we have up to 300 people at the table every day). So the family is big, there are many worries.
Each monastery resembles a bee hive. Each bee in the hive does its job: some fly to reconnaissance, looking for nectar; other bees collect it; others in the hive put things in order; the fourth - guard. That is, each bee carries its own obedience, but in general there is one reward for all, all bees are loved and respected.
It is the same in the monastery, everyone has their own obedience, but in general a common cause is going on, there is prayer, service to the Lord, help to neighbors: in prisons, hospitals, schools. Spiritual activity is taking place. The goal of bees is to get honey, the goal of monastics is to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit...
And the Lord does not leave us with His mercy. He blessed our monastery with the relics of the holy saints of God: St. Basil of Kineshma and Blessed Alexy of Elnat. Both of them labored for the Lord in our region, both suffered from the godless authorities.
In August 2000, St. Vasily Kineshma and Blessed. Alexy Elnatsky canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.
And one more consolation: since December 1998, a miracle has been happening in our monastery - icons are streaming myrrh. Already more than 12 thousand icons exude a blessed myrrh. Peace is the mercy of God, in a visible way the Lord confirms that He is with us.
The Lord blessed me to found a nunnery. Let this not confuse anyone: the history of the Church knows many examples when monks gave life to women's cloisters.
I am often asked: “How do you manage with so many sisters? Where is it easier - in a male monastery or in a female one? I always answer: “It’s easier in men. There is less resentment, jealousy, tears.” Novice novices bring with them a lot of worldly things, and monasticism is an angelic rank. “The light of the monks are Angels, and the light for people is the monastic life.” So we strive to get rid of everything worldly in ourselves and to acquire the spiritual.
Vocation
A monastery is not walls. The monastery is people. And the spirit in the monastery depends on what they will be. The holy fathers say that whoever wants to go to a monastery must have patience, not a cart, but a whole train. People of different ages, different upbringing, different education, characters gather in the monastery, they “grind” to each other, polished like sea pebbles. There were sharp corners and worn off. The pebble became even and smooth.
The monastery presents a great opportunity to learn spiritual virtues. You can bring your soul, your character to a perfect state, if, of course, you take this seriously. Then there will be no melancholy, despondency, despair in the soul: there will find peace and tranquility in the soul. In obedience, a person will find satisfaction and joy. He can become so accustomed to fulfilling any obedience with joy that there will be neither murmuring nor displeasure. By the sweat of his face he will work for the glory of God. And drops of sweat, according to the testimonies of the holy fathers, the angels of God will collect and carry to the Throne of the Lord in Heaven as drops of martyr's blood. Therefore, monasticism is considered a feat.
There are three types of asceticism to which the Lord Himself calls. The first feat is foolishness, when a person receives unceasing heartfelt prayer from the Lord as a gift, and, being reasonable, puts himself insane in front of everyone - foolishness. Everyone, seeing these oddities, scolds him and condemns him. This path is difficult, for the elite. The Monk Seraphim of Sarov says: “Out of a thousand holy fools, it is unlikely that there will be one not for his own sake, but for the sake of Christ.”
The second type of asceticism is wilderness living. A person goes to a deserted place: to the mountains, to the forest, to the steppe. You need to have a special disposition of the soul for this. In the desert there is an unceasing struggle, spiritual warfare, because the demons beat and beat the hermits incessantly. And they catch up with despondency, and despair, and melancholy. A true ascetic endures all this courageously, with patience and humility overcomes the great anger of demons. Without a calling, without a special providence of God, this feat cannot be carried out. If a person goes to the desert without spiritual preparation, he will not stay there for a long time. The demons will be kicked out in no time.
The third path, to which the Lord Himself calls, is monasticism. The monks are the soldiers of the army of Christ. We have many military units in our country, where soldiers constantly serve, monitor the inviolability of the borders of our Motherland. Their service is to ensure that the population slept peacefully. Monasteries are also a kind of frontier parts, the monks stand on the border of the invisible world. Warrior monks pray to the Lord to protect the people from the invisible enemy - the devil, from his attacks and wiles. Because the more monasteries there are in Russia, the better for her, for her people. The more active temples there are, the more prosperous and lively the souls of people will be. We live by the prayers of the saints, by the grace of God that descends upon us. The monastic prayer, constantly going to God, asks for heavenly support and grace for all the people.
In monasticism, a person leaves the world, sacrifices himself to the Lord and tries to live in purity.
Each person has his own calling. Not everyone can be doctors, artists, good singers, pilots. The Lord gives his own to each, calls each on his own path. In the same way, the Lord calls a person to monasticism.
Any monastery is the threshold of paradise. If a person lives holy, the Lord does not leave him, gives him strength, gives him strength and patience.
The key is obedience.
A monastery is a moral institution where the character of an Orthodox Christian is forged. The monastery has its own laws. The most important thing is obedience. Without obedience there is no salvation. It is necessary to obey the spiritual mentor, mothers, elders in rank. We must try to do our obedience work with love, but not be addicted to it. They will bless for something else: “Glory to God,” and go to do something new.
Usually in the monastery, the nuns must go through all the obediences. For what? To know the severity of obedience and to do indulgence to another. When I was ordained a hierodeacon at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, they sent me to the refectory for obedience. And I learned what a great burden to work there! It was necessary to get bread at 6 in the morning, prepare tables for breakfast for the workers, feed them, clear the table, prepare tables for the brethren's dinner (for 100 people), cut bread. At dinner, distribute a second to each, again put the tables in order, prepare everything for dinner, then clean up ... Evening prayers, and you come to the cell at 11 o'clock in the evening. You don't leave the refectory all day long. Moreover, you need to call the bakery to bring bread, get everything you need for dinner from the cellarer, make kvass (200 liters) every other day, and all day you need to feed everyone: both latecomers and visitors. And when my obedience was changed and another brother was appointed, I sympathized with him, I knew how hard it was. And then always after dinner he helped to collect the dishes, take them to the dishwasher.
In the old monasteries, the monks have already been hardened, they have spiritual experience, and they can set an example. And in our monastery everything is from the world, and to everyone who comes again, we say: “In our monastery they don’t swear, everyone tolerates each other. If you see flaws in another person, know that you see your own sins. To the clean everything is clean, and to the dirty everything is dirty.”
And the monastery has every opportunity to deal with its shortcomings: getting up at 6 o'clock, midnight. Divine Liturgy, a common meal, obediences, evening service, evening prayers - all this attunes a person to spiritual life.
For 15 years I have lived in monasteries, and nowhere have I seen any of the brethren fall into despondency. But in women's monasteries this happens, and, I must say, often for no reason: if he finds it, that's all. Apparently, the female soul is more vulnerable, defenseless, and therefore is subjected to frequent temptations.
Be that as it may, each of the sisters works in her own obedience. Something is not going well, they will come to repent (after all, not everyone was accustomed to work), and things are going. Everyone has to work - the monastery lives on self-sufficiency. We ourselves dig beds, sow, field, harvest. As they say: as you stomp, so you slosh... For some, it is difficult at first: they lived in the world, secular songs and television programs still remained in their heads. They know many artists, singers, maybe they even liked to flaunt in secular clothes and make up before. But gradually they wean themselves from this, reconcile themselves. And if one of the youth in the courtyard starts a secular song, the older sisters will look at them so sternly that they fall silent.
And since prayer is common in the monastery, the Lord covers all shortcomings, which is why the holy fathers say: “Good, brethren, live together.”
Photo of Hieromonk Mitrofan, inhabitant of the Nilo-Stolobenskaya desert.
Hegumen Valerian (Golovchenko)
Father Valerian, where do you serve?
Ideally the monk must be in the monastery. But I belong to the so-called "parochial monasticism", i.e. I serve in the parish. Let us immediately recall that in the best book on monasticism, The Order of Monastic Tonsure, it is clearly stated: “Whether you abide in this monastery, or in a place where, out of holy obedience, you will be told.” Monks are assigned to live in a monastery, or where obedience is assigned - in parishes. As a rule, they are sent to places where it is difficult - to "problem" parishes, which, due to their disorder, will be very difficult for married clergy. After all, a married priest must, among other things, take care of his family. So I serve in a parish, but I live alone in a city apartment.
At what age did you take the tonsure, how did you come to this decision?
I took monastic vows when I was 25 years old. I accepted it quite consciously, not under the influence of any external circumstances. At the age of 21, after serving in the army and a year at the Polytechnic University, I entered the seminary. Even then I thought that, most likely, I would become a monk, I would choose the path of the black clergy.
Why do people become monks?
I'll tell you the main reason. It's the same for everyone: God called! This internal reason is so strong that you cannot do something else, otherwise you will cease to be yourself. I want to say that I never seriously regretted my chosen path. Yes, I have moments of weakness, in the end, I have a bad mood. It happens that I get tired of difficulties, piled problems. But with God's help I somehow overcome it!
But don’t monks experience deep disappointment, monastic life “by inertia”?
I didn't have that. I won’t sign for everyone, but most of them don’t. They say: "In order not to be disappointed, you should not be fascinated." Enough sober and balanced approach. And romantic impulses are not a reason to for life become a monk.
That's why they don't lure you into monks, they rather dissuade you from monasticism. When a young man expresses a desire to enter a monastery, the monks themselves dissuade him: “Where are you going! Go get married, have kids, do something useful in the world!” And they will be pretty tough to do it. This has its own meaning. They look at how consciously this decision is in a person, how firm he is in the desire to go this way. So that he can understand himself at the very beginning. Therefore, before monastic vows (the beginning of monasticism), a rather long probationary period is given - these are years obedience. Only in exceptional cases can a person be tonsured without a probationary period - if those who make the decision have known him for a long time, if he has been a parishioner of this monastery for most of his life.
But there are cases when young people are lured into monasticism, pushed towards monasticism and agitated to become monastics?
Let me tell you straight away: I don't think it's good. Inciting someone to any action: be it monasticism, or the priesthood, or a change of job, a change of residence, the priest must use his power (and he, as a shepherd, has a certain power over his flock) with great responsibility for what he advises. He must think ten times whether he can answer for this person.
I did not call anyone to monasticism. And if I advised some person to think about taking holy orders, I still do not regret it. So I try to treat this issue with great reasoning. If someone decides that he really needs this monasticism, please. But calling someone to the monastery just like that, for the sake of free labor... It will turn out to be a "collective farm named after Jesus Christ", and not a monastery!
What percentage of monks leave the monastery? Were there any stretch marks in your memory?
In my memory, there has never been anything like this – renunciation of monasticism and removal of monastic vows. But there were departures from the monastery after several years of novitiate, and more than once. This practice is encouraged by the confessors of the monasteries - the person understood himself, realized that this was “not his”. But over the years of obedience, I acquired something for my soul. A novice has every right to leave, to marry if he wishes. There's nothing wrong with that, it's normal.
As for the departure of a tonsured monk from the monastery, yes, I had to deal with it. But, to be honest, in 18 years of ministry, I became aware of only a few such cases. I talked with these people, here I understand both the motivation that led me to monasticism and the motivation for leaving monasticism. These people are sincerely sorry, they are confused in themselves.
What is the motivation?
Well, a man went to monasticism without thinking, from external causes, from some kind of romanticism. In monasticism itself, I was seduced only by the external image, and not by the inner content of monasticism. And then, in the same way, he was seduced by romance and the outward brilliance of worldly joys.
We can say that I myself made a mistake when I became a monk. It can be said that those who tonsured him a monk were also mistaken. It's just that I think God doesn't make mistakes! And if He allowed a person to take monastic vows, then he probably had the opportunity to realize himself as a monk. And if a person did not use this opportunity, rejected it, then it is entirely on his conscience. It's my personal opinion.
Do you think it was better for him to stay and be a hypocrite for the rest of his life? Perhaps the reason for the negative attitude of some towards monasticism is precisely that they have repeatedly observed these "failed" who continue to live in the monastery?
Let's start with the fact that the monks just leave the world so that they are not "observed" like guinea pigs by those who have nothing else to do in life. People go to a monastery for the sake of correcting their souls, and this is a permanent process, not everything works out right away.
And why immediately "hypocrites"? To make it easier to explain, let me use an analogy. Monasticism can rightly be called the "spiritual guard" of the Church. And, just like in the troops, the guard is not only a beautiful uniform, “epaulettes and aiguillettes” (or “hoods and mantles”). You know, in the trenches, under the onslaught of the enemy, even the guards behave differently. Someone is fighting, and someone, out of fright, can hide at the bottom of the trench. Is he a hypocrite? About it talk well sitting in a warm chair.
Of course, there will be one or two who will leave the position, run to the rear (or leave the monastery). It would have been better for them not to go to the guard, but to cook somewhere in the wagon train. The work is also necessary and important. But after all, they themselves wanted feats, although they were warned that it would be difficult. Alas, the ascetics of them did not take place ...
But the one who, maybe, was scared at first, but eventually mastered himself, then he will fight with dignity. Therefore, do not rush to pass judgment on those who, as you think, are still negligent in their monastic life. Over time, they may well turn out to be real ascetics, saints. People are not born saints, they become saints. And even if someone does not succeed, he still has time before death. Until the very last breath.
But if the departure from monasticism took place, how is this regulated? How do they feel about it? Is this considered a perjury or an indelible disgrace?
It is immediately obvious that most of those who ask such questions are under the impression of secular literature and films, mostly Western ones. It seems to them that when a person leaves the monastery, this is a whole procedure, a procession. There is nothing like that. Comes and says: "I have decided to leave." They ask him if he thought well, did he think when he came here? But to hold, grab by the hand, no one will.
This is not treated with condemnation, but with sadness. It's a pity for a man - because he is confused in himself. What relationship does he have with the Church? Very often the Church is viewed as a public institution, as a structure, but the Church is a voluntary society. There are many people who do not belong to the Church in any way, or belong very formally. They live on their own. I'm not just talking about priests or monks, I'm talking about the laity as well. And the Church lives by its own rules, like every family or society. But no one will throw stones at the one who has left the monastery, they will not chase him with draculas, etc. How he will be perceived, in the status of a layman or in another way, is decided in each specific case.
Yes, it’s not very good that he left, but you need to remember that it will not be people who will judge him, but God. And the Church relies on God's will. May the Lord, as He knows, take care of this man and his salvation. Not to us, not to the Church, he made his vows, but to God. May God take care of him. He lived with us - it did not work out. Well, no one keeps you by force in the monastery. This must be remembered.
Is there a rite of passage?
And how do you imagine it? When shearing, four small strands of hair are cut off. And when they cut him back, two hefty monks hold his hands, dip his head in office glue, and glue his hair back?! Did you laugh? Me too.
In the late Middle Ages, there were impromptu attempts to give the "cutting" a certain ritual form. Fortunately, they did not take root, because from the theological point of view they have no basis.
When a person wants to leave, he gives up his monastic vestments. As a rule, these things are burned - this is how all obsolete consecrated objects are disposed of. And hardly anyone wants to wear it. This is the material aspect. In addition, there is the ecclesiastical legal aspect. In church documents, they make out that he simply is no longer so-and-so. Unstrapped please don't give yourself away for a clergyman or a monk. And that's it - he goes to himself calmly, where he wants.
In general, he will not be persuaded to stay. Just ask if he thought well.
One often hears the opinion that monks are those who convinced themselves of something, inspired themselves with something due to sleep restriction or other needs, brought themselves to exhaustion and became easily suggestible?
The question is, aren't monastics idiots who "prayed and prayed" and "convinced themselves of something"? Long before the secular world tried to ask this question to the Church, the Holy Fathers answered it long ago. They have written entire volumes of books on delusion. charm, or seduction - this is when a person begins to wishful thinking. The Church long ago gave this phenomenon an unequivocal assessment as a distortion of spirituality, as a negative spiritual experience of some.
The monk sleeps as needed, as long as necessary to restore strength. And, if something similar arises with him from overwork, most likely, he will talk about it with his confessor. Or the brethren will notice that he is starting to act oddly and will return him to earth so that there are no voices or visions. What patristic theology calls divinity, is very different from mentally drawing "Cheburashki who has no friends."
For a Christian, God is a real-life Superpersonality, and not an "imaginary object." The Holy Fathers have always said: "Don't imagine, don't dream, don't turn on your fantasy." BUT thinking about God is a daily activity in the context of my relationship with God. Not obsession, not obsession. "Visions" are, as a rule, to a psychiatrist. We are fed up with the unhealthy mysticism of the TV screen, for us it is sure to be some kind of miracles and visions. Yes, in Christianity there is a place for both miracles and the revelation of God. But the Church treats this with great reasoning, always critically and skeptically checks everything in order to separate the wheat from the chaff.
It seems to many that the Church considers visions precisely as divine revelation. What do you say to that?
Well, first of all, revelations are not always visions. Personally, I have no experience of visions. Secondly, on the topic of personal mystical experience, the Church advises to communicate only with your confessor. About those people who had the experience of Divine revelation, we learn after their death. Because the people who spiritually younger, they simply won’t understand it, they won’t accommodate it. And those who spiritually older, they will hit you in the neck and say: “Why are you talking about this?”
My advice: stay away from a person who screams at all corners that he has visions. Similarly, if a doctor tells you that aliens have appeared to him and advised him to anoint you with a magic ointment "for all diseases." Most likely, you will be careful not to go to such a doctor, rightly suspecting that it was not aliens who appeared to him, but he had delirium tremens. You will go to a regular GP. If he cannot help, he will send you to the professor, but not to the psychic that the aliens appeared to. Sometimes you can meet "professors of spiritual life" (the Church calls them elders), but mostly you will meet with "district therapists".
What do monasteries live on, if not subsistence farming feeds them?
Today, there are few monasteries that live almost by subsistence farming. Monasteries are different, but the main source of income for the monastery is voluntary donations. One monastery stands in the middle of the capital, where believers often come and donate. And the other is in the wilderness, and it’s good if they have a well-wisher, a sponsor who helps them in any way he can.
Then, excuse me, the monks are beggars? Do they always ask?
No, not beggars. I know from experience. There is a very good term in mathematics: necessary and sufficient conditions. The Lord sends to man not what he wants, but opportune- that which is necessary for the good, that which does not cripple it, will not kill it. Exactly as much as needed. Well, for example, why do you need 50 loaves of bread now, which will blossom in you? One is enough for you.
You don't go to a monastery to make money. Funds are needed to support all this. Monks are not beggars. They have dedicated themselves to God, and God takes care of them... through people.
But about the fact that they do nothing. “What are you doing in the church? You don’t wave your hammer, they came, they read it - and that’s all ?! Remember this question, we will return to it later and answer in more detail. People who ask such questions themselves frankly admit that it is difficult for them to stand even for an hour in church and pray for their loved ones. Believers know that participation in worship (and not presence as a tourist) is hard even just physically. Prayer is hard! What can it be compared to? This is the cry of your heart. If you scream loudly, your throat will hurt. Praying for people is hard work! And who knows, maybe many of the skeptics and companions of this age, and even detractors of monasticism, are still alive only because somewhere some monks are praying for them.
According to most people, monks are stupid, lazy people who do nonsense and waste their lives?
No, I don't think so. I've had occasion to wonder why I'm doing this. And, probably, those people who thanked me for something are evidence of this.
Understand, a monk does not live for himself. Can you imagine that you will be constantly in limbo, you will constantly solve someone's questions? You will not live for yourself, as most people live. You will live for others: for the brethren of the monastery, for the parishioners. For those who come to you with questions, for advice. But not for yourself! You become not self-centered, but Christ-centered. And your love for Christ will be embodied in "and whoever comes to Me I will not cast out" (John 6:37).
People come to you with questions, and you waste time and energy on them. Yes, I have no time to be lazy. I do not suffer from a lack of work, neither physical nor mental. I always have a job. And there is always a lot of it.
If it's as hard as you say, does it make you want to do something easier? Live for yourself?
God entrusted me with this work, and I will not leave it! Of course, I am also a living person. And I, like any person, have grief, despondency. Only monks have temptations that are much more subtle.
What is the difference between the temptation of a layman and a monk? For a layman, temptations are like a blow with a log, like a knockout. You lost consciousness, but then moved away, came to your senses. And monks are pierced by a thin, sharp needle. There is no blood, there is no external injury, but internal hemorrhage leads to death! Therefore, monastic temptations are more subtle, penetrating deep inside.
There are periods of despondency, but they are resolved, thanks to the experience of those who have walked this path before me. But the desperation you mentioned never happened to me.
If monks want to help people, can they study to be a doctor, or other professions where you need to help people, or help orphanages, nursing homes instead of “growing cabbage” in a monastery?
Yes, this is a common idea about what they do in the monastery, and about what is good. Probably, it is necessary to be defined in terms. We understand differently good, we interpret the same word in different ways. The point is that secular perception understands good how well-being- "good to receive." And for Orthodoxy good is, first of all, grace- "good to give." Even in the words themselves, this vector is visible - “towards oneself” or “away from oneself”. Therefore, when the world says “what is good”, it means the search for material wealth. Like, “helping the disabled means setting up a lot of houses for them.” I do not argue, this is also necessary. And it is better that these nursing homes do not exist - that the elderly people are not thrown out of their homes into nursing homes. The question is difficult...
And if I say that it will be a great blessing to “kill our pensioners so that they do not suffer”? I don't think so, but when we talk about "what is good and what is bad", we should always remember the ambiguous understanding of the good. The question is what do we take as a standard, according to what(or by To whom) we verify it good? Religious humanism, Christian in particular, verifies the good according to Christ. Based on the gospel experience: what would that gospel Christ, whom I know not only from the book, but also from my own experience, say? What would He say, being next to me? Is “my good” in the spirit of the gospel?
And there is another standard - secular humanism. You know, after all, fascist concentration camps in Germany were considered a boon! Wars and many terrible atrocities were considered a boon! More recently, at party meetings they called: "Pests - to be shot!" And we, for the most part, enthusiastically approved of it. But the "benefits" of collectivization and dispossession result in victims of famines.
We help the disabled, the sick, the unfortunate, and the needy. But we help with reasoning! And the help that the world offers is often worse than deliberate harm.
Difficult question...
Yes, it's a difficult question. This is a separate question about humanism.
But often the help of the Church and monasticism is perceived only as spiritual nourishment, but what if a specific job is just “carrying out pots” in orphanages?
Believe me, there is also this. I will give an example: in one of the monasteries, there is a nursing home, and the monks take care of the old women, some of whom are out of their minds. Pots are taken out, diapers are changed. Or a monastery, in which an orphanage of 200 children, who are fully cared for by nuns. But monks who do specific things will not advertise in the newspaper, will not trumpet their charity at all corners.
And someone's opinion that they "do nothing" - they care little. You know, a person who wants to see good will see good, but a person who wants to see dirt will only see it. But I will tell you that even those who do not know how to do what the monks can do can take out the pots.
And what can monks do that is so special?
The monk devoted himself to prayer and communion with God. His business is to pray for the whole world, and for those who do not pray for themselves.
Many people think that monks are those who can’t do anything, don’t want to think, solve problems, and these people go either to the army or to the monastery?
It would be a great mistake to regard both the monasteries and the army as simply loser's haven. It is a pity that such an attitude towards their army has been formed in society. After all, it is not for nothing that they say: "Who does not want to feed his own army will feed someone else's." However, our conversation is not about the army. Although, in part, the analogy is appropriate. A society that has turned away from its roots, negatively and skeptically about its faith, easily becomes the prey of visiting occult "mahatmas", sectarian preachers and gypsy TV fortune-tellers. Which we are saddened to see.
What about losers... I think that there is a certain percentage of such people in monasteries and in any armies. But by no means do they set the tone there, determine the essence of what is happening. I know quite a lot of monks who, if they had not gone to the monastery, would have become successful businessmen in the world, perhaps millionaires. But they found something more important, higher for themselves. How can I tell a person about this touch of Eternity, if he has never thought about Eternity at all?
Remember, in the Gospel of Luke, how Martha "took care of a great treat" (Luke 10:38...42)? After all, Christ did not reproach Martha for the futility of her labors. I just noticed that what her sister Maria was doing at that time was much more important and necessary - just talk to God. Are we often able to put aside the daily fuss for the sake of this conversation, for the sake of prayer, communion with God? The monks left the world just for the sake of this, having chosen the touch of the Eternal as their life's work.
How do you see your ministry, how does it benefit society?
I serve God and people. God does not need anything, He needs everything. He gave me this life so that I could learn something by serving Him. There are a lot of people around me who constantly need me for something, for whom I will sacrifice my time, health, and many others. If necessary, I will sacrifice my life. Believe me, these are not empty words.
What will happen if women are allowed on Athos?
And what will happen if a gypsy camp is allowed into your apartment? Athos will cease to be Athos, as well as your apartment will cease to be your apartment. Well, there must be somewhere a place where rules apply? What happens if women are allowed in the men's room? And what will happen if a corps de ballet is released on the football field during the match?
I also have a door, not armored, but with a lock - just so as not to roam. What should someone do in my apartment? What should women do on Athos? Take a look?
And if everyone suddenly becomes a monk en masse, then there will be no people in the world?
No, they won't.
Actually, such a question nipadetski strikes with the power of thought! It is immediately clear that for those who set it, not only the cerebral cortex works, but also its wood itself ...
And if everyone en masse goes to the fire department? There will be no fires, but there will be no medicine either.
The percentage of monasticism fluctuates within certain limits. And in the era of church prosperity, and in the era of persecution, their number is approximately the same. Therefore, in large quantities - will not!
I must say about the common mistake of people asking such questions. I don't know where they saw so many monks, where their monks so scared. There aren't many monks! There are statistics on the ROC website that indicate the number of monasteries and the number of monks - there are not many of them. Compared to the total number of inhabitants, there are only a few monks! If we compare how many students of theological seminaries go to the monastery in the process of studying, or sometime after its completion, then the proportion of 80/20 is clearly traced. Of the seminarians, 80% get married, 20% go to monasticism. And the percentage of those who are disappointed is very small. After all, as I have already said, they give quite a long time to think before becoming a monk.
You are constantly considering going into monasticism for external reasons, but I tell you that people come to monasticism because God has called. I'm not saying they are the best or the worst, they are what they are. And there will be no mass departure to the monastery.
In monasticism they do not hide, as in a hole. In monasticism they climb like a rock.
How can monks give up the natural sexual need that humans cannot live without? Do they just have a natural physiology?
With a lot of hard work. If you try to give up this without giving up many other things, nothing will come of it. The refusal of monastics from intimate life cannot be considered in isolation from the entire monastic asceticism. Chastity is achieved only in the context of the entire ascetic feat. Many books have been written about this. I won't say it's easy. At the same time, please note that the monks are normal healthy people, not socio-, not sex-, not psychopathological. Not impotent, not perverts. People come to monasticism with very different temperaments and different physical strengths.
There is a very simple and at the same time very difficult ascetic practice - when you avoid it. Over time, you rebuild your thinking, consciousness, you are not obsessed with sex. The task is not just to abstain, but to get rid of the sexual attitude to the world. When you don't see people as sex objects. In a normal healthy person, there is no sexual attraction to close relatives. It's a bit like when you perceive all people as close relatives. The physiology of the monks is the same as that of all people. But the monks have centuries of ascetic experience, experience in curbing the desires of their flesh. This is not just "libido sublimation". Everything is much simpler and more complicated ...
Are there homosexuals among the monks?
No more than among doctors or the military, or trolley bus drivers.
Is it possible today that not a single interview is complete without a mention of pederasts? It seems that society can no longer live without "this topic", like "Watson without a pipe" (from a joke).
And how do you feel about it?
I to this I don't belong!
The attitude of the Church to this is unequivocally biblical - negative, as to sin.
I'll be honest, I don't know anything about homosexuality, I'm just not interested. I try not to mess with them. I don't care, it's their sins. For me, even thinking about it is disgusting, I have enough of my own sins.
I am a sinful person and I am disgusted with such people. But when I accepted repentance from such people, I had a completely different feeling - for me there was no person dearer than a repentant sinner! Whatever sins he had, not only homosexuality. For example, I also do not like flayers - those who enjoy the suffering of living beings. For me, this is disgusting, and when a person repents of this, I am incredibly happy for him.
But in monasteries this should not be?!
You understand that people do not come to the monastery from the moon. Until recently, it was embarrassing to talk about it, but now it has become fashionable. Turn on the TV, flip through a few channels, and you will definitely be shown pederasts. They show films and programs where this topic is in the spotlight. How should I be "tolerant" to this? Do you agree that this is great and normal? No, I reserve the right to "intolerance".
Believe me, as a practicing priest who has taken many confessions, I know what it is and what it leads to. Nothing good. Yes, if somewhere in the monasteries it is, it's bad. As in any family, relationships can be normal and abnormal. And already the family gets rid or does not get rid of these sins and vices.
Why do monasteries, despite the vow of non-acquisition, have property, sometimes even a large one?
Yet again, necessary and sufficient. The monks have their own household, the monks build cells. Monastic property and the personal property of monks are by no means a luxury. Monastic cells - the same hostel, where does the "big property" come from? Watch movies, read idle fables - and let's look for "monastic treasures"!
But the monks know much better than other people that they will not take anything material with them to the grave. Because they remember it every day. By the way, “ancient monastic things” are valuable precisely for their history, as a memory of past owners.
Actually, I already answered this question in my story "The Greedy Monk".
Monks have the property that allows them to devote more time to prayer. This is "prosperity for grace," as paradoxical as it sounds. It is not "for itself".
What do you think monks should just not go anywhere and wait for God to feed them? Will it fall into your mouth? The words of Christ about not having to worry about material things, adapting for the modern user, can be rephrased as follows: “do not bother with material goods.” This is how monks live!
Modern society is obsessed with consumerism. All social life is built on this principle today. Many people live only by buying something, and then buying something new in return, and so on. The monks are trying to get out of this consumer whirlwind. For example, I have furniture that is three years younger than me, but I brought it to normal so that it was not shabby. And when a person changes furniture, a car, an apartment every year, he simply has not decided on his desires and needs.
When you know exactly what you need, it becomes much easier, it helps to live.
In preparation for the interview, one of my colleagues, a journalist, said: “What can a monk answer if his whole life is built on one big lie?”
I just feel sorry for such a disbelieving person. People who do not believe in anything want to see around them the same unfortunate and disillusioned as they are. It's easier for them. When you see a pious person, you can try to imitate him at least in some way. And you can say that this does not happen. A wicked man would very much like there to be no decent people. Because the very presence of decent people exposes the untruth of his life, makes his existence unbearable. So they live according to the principle "you die today, and I tomorrow."
Today, some only do what they show to the whole world on the Internet contents of their stomachs, which climbs from all sides. Being unable to do something good, to bring something good into this world, day and night they simply throw dirt on everything, polluting and poisoning everything around them.
I myself am not a perfect person, with my passions. There are things that I do not hide, but do not advertise. But I want to try to be better tomorrow than today.
How can monks withdraw from the world when thousands of people need nourishment?
Believe me, the one who seeks nourishment will always receive it even from those who have left the world. But those who just want to kill time in idle chatter are really worth running away from. For their own good!
I didn’t run far at all - I don’t live in a monastery, I serve in a parish, I work with people, I conduct youth conversations. You can learn about all these activities if you wish.
But in monasteries such work is not carried out, is it?
Some do, some don't. And this is their right. You know, there are talkers, and there are silent people. Someone to be a missionary, and someone a hermit. Do not look at monastic work so one-sidedly. In general, when someone says “only this way and nothing else” - stay away from this person.
The manner of doing is different. The form can change, but only to the extent that it implies the same content.
Can a monk use an expensive telephone, a car, occupy a large living space, buy expensive products?
It is possible, but it is not good. I have already said: necessary and sufficient.
The system must be adequate to the user.
What is the salary of a monk, who do you turn to in case of need?
When I was in the seminary, they paid me some small money, they gave me monastic clothes. Since I serve in a parish, the parish council pays me, like any priest, a salary. Similarly, in a monastery, the monastery council pays the monk a salary depending on where the person works and what his needs are. All this is done with deliberation.
This question has never bothered me. In principle, "sometimes thick, sometimes empty." I can say that I have attentive parishioners who will always help me. I have many friends. If it's going to be really tight, I'll ask them. Mom and dad are pensioners. We also help each other.
If I wanted to earn money, I would not become a monk. I have enough, because I understood exactly what and how much I need for my needs. People suffer from a lack of money because they do not understand their needs. Many things are bought only because it is prestigious, because “everyone has”, cult, etc. And the monks use the necessary. And if a monk has many missionary trips, if he needs a car, the Lord sends.
Speaking of cars. Why don't monks, when they are given an expensive car, sell it and don't give money to the poor? Or buy an expensive car with the donated money?
If a monk was presented with an expensive car, and he sold and distributed the money to the poor, you will not hear about it in the news. There are many such cases, trust me. It's just not in the gospel tradition to advertise it.
Farther. Imagine that a monk is given a cheap old rusty car. As a result, the monk must be retrained from a monk into an auto mechanic, who will tinker for hours in this junk. After all, he needs a car not for street racing, but for trips to the sick, dying, for missionary work, for the fulfillment of the monastery's economic assignments. And here the car seems to be, but it is not! Do you think a monk would be more useful that way?
Sell and give away? Somewhere I already heard it! It seems that one not the best gospel character has already offered to sell myrrh and do good to all the poor (John 12:3...6). Say that too much reasoning? Is it really easier, as Sharikov said: “What is there to think? Take everything and share! Tried - didn't work. Money will go to the benefit of a person when he is ready.
Beggars often do not want to work on principle, they have shovel allergy. Here you will take an average homeless person from the street, buy him an apartment, give him all the material benefits. What will happen after a while? In a week the apartment will become a hangout, all the money will be spent on dubious entertainment. All this will not work for him if he himself is not mentally prepared for such a “gift from above”. Therefore, everything should be done with reason.
I conducted an experiment several times: a person asks for bread, I say, come with me to the supermarket, I will buy you not only bread, but food for several days. Guess where they send me? Because they ask either for cash for their “watchers”, or for a bottle. After all, they asked for food and drinking is not a priority. So the “share everything” method doesn’t work!
There is such a good rule that will help you serve on the street with reason. Just take a look around. Surely needy people live in your yard, house, front door. Take a specific person and help him, just like that. This will be your charity, and not indulgence in begging.
Why, instead of being someone creating something, did the monks close themselves? After all, even psychologists can give spiritual consolation, and monks could become them?
The entire first part of the question shows that for a person good is only material. I have already spoken about this - we understand the word differently good.
And secondly, about psychologists. To paraphrase the words of one of Steven Seagal's movie heroes, I will answer: "Let's just say, I'm also a psychologist." But the question of spiritual consolation primarily concerns not all monasticism, but monastic priests.
The ministry of a priest includes psychological help, although it does not dwell on it. I will not explain in detail the difference between psychotherapy and spirituality. Speaking figuratively, spirituality is like a cube, and psychotherapy is just a square. Psychotherapy, psychology is only a kind of flat projection, only a small image of understanding what the human soul really is.
There is a more obvious difference between psychologists and priests. Going to an appointment with a psychologist, you carefully examine the contents of your wallet for how many minutes of professional activity you are able to pay. And pre-think your questions and specify the problems - just in order not to waste time and, accordingly, money for nothing. When communicating with a priest, this, alas, is not required! After all, he promised to deal with your problems not to Hippocrates, but to God Himself. Here they come sometimes just chat, not knowing what they want and are looking for, absolutely not considering either their own or other people's time.
A priest simply does not have the moral right to refuse consolation to a wounded, starving soul. This is why you have to devote all your time to it. Practically all my life. This is the cross of the priesthood, that part of the Cross of Christ, the image of which we see on the chest of the clergyman.
Why did monks hide themselves in monasteries from the world?
Monasteries are different. There are hermits, and there are missionary monasteries. Here you need to understand one thing: if the parish church is made for the needs of the parishioners, then in the monastery church all the parishioners are guests who were allowed to participate in the worship of the monastic community. This begs the question, what right do you have to deprive them of the opportunity to unite in communities, and to live together and pray in seclusion? The monks allowed the laity to be present at the service, but did not allow them to go to their cells. This is for the same reason why we do not let everyone into our apartments.
You know loneliness is not as scary as forced intercourse. A modern person often suffers from the fact that he simply has no time even to think, to be alone with himself, to talk with God. The monks go into seclusion just for this - to talk with God.
But the activities of the monasteries are closed. Should everything be open?
If you want openness, start with yourself - report in the newspaper what you do at home. If there are any crimes in the monastery, then it is the business of law enforcement agencies to monitor this. If there are church offenses, the church hierarchy monitors this.
Everyone has the right to personal space and freedom. The monks also have them, only they use them in their own way.
Then why do monks comment on the events of modern life?
Monks have a view of this world from the outside.
Does the world often not ask their opinion?
Not certainly in that way. First they ask, and then they say: “Why are you interfering!”
The world is looking for the view of an outside observer, the view of someone who is outside the system of consumer values. Monastics can give an answer about how and what they see in the world. Of course, this opinion can be very subjective - after all, monks are people, not earthly angels. They may not know any aspects or nuances of worldly life, etc. However, this same answer can be quite objective, due to the knowledge of human souls. For virtues and piety, as well as vices and sin, are the same in all ages. Here are the questions that people come with, they are very often repeated, although people consider their problems to be unique.
Monasteries are a kind of accumulator of the spiritual experience of the Church. It is for this experience that they turn there.
The pace of life is increasing every day. I have already said that modern man simply has no time to stop and think. The flow of information falls upon people today with the roar of Niagara Falls. And in the whirlwind of these splashes, a person snatches out particulars without perceiving the whole. It is for a view from the outside, for an assessment of the holistic picture of what is happening, they turn to the monks.
Can monks use computers or anything else technological?
Since when has it become a sin to be a comprehensively educated and literate person? The presence of a secular education is not an indispensable condition for monasticism, but a high intellectual level has been demanded by the Church in all ages. By themselves, education and erudition do not make a person good or evil. But, you see, a literate person is capable of more than an ignoramus. The only question is whether he will use his knowledge for the good.
Back in the years of my youth, Soviet consciousness tossed between fables about the "stupid priest" and enthusiastic legends about "seminary education." So until the end, you see, and did not have time to decide ...
Today is exactly the same. “They don’t know how to use the Internet!”?! And then: “Oh, they use the Internet!” Whatever you do, you won't please! After all, the question is not how, but for what you use it. After all, you can also cut bread with a knife, but you can also cut people. Everything must be used for the spiritual benefit of one's own and others.
Do you play computer games?
Once! Moreover, I have already become computer game character- one of the heroes of the famous game series bears my name, the other is a 3D model of my appearance.
How do you feel about communication on the Internet, blogs, online communities?
Personally, I always prefer live communication to a computer. On the Internet, I prefer offline communication (correspondence by e-mail) - it is more reasoned. Live magazines and blogs amaze with an abundance of ambition, ignorance and banal illiteracy. Although there are pleasant exceptions.
However, encyclopedic information for me is always preferable to someone else's. fabrications. Regarding Odnoklassniki, etc. - I have more than enough real friendship with those I know than playing friendship with those I don't know. By the way, for whom is information collected about the details of the biography of "classmates" and other "VKontakte"?
In a world where the sinner cannot hide, neither can the righteous...
Do you go to the cinema? Watch TV?
I watch mostly those films and programs that serve me missionary bridges. I need to know what people are talking about in order to build a conversation from it. In order not to look like an alien who does not know who our president is, etc. You can, of course, live without it, but it will be difficult to communicate with people in an accessible form. However, some topics in the mass media, I still will never study.
Why do you think people think that there are a lot of monks?
Already explained. Partly because monasticism is a thorn in the eye for them. This is where xenophobia kicks in. Man sees not like him. This irritates him wildly, he cannot understand him, he is afraid of him, and he sees monks everywhere (Jews, fascists, Chekists, homosexuals - underline as necessary).
A monk is walking down the street, and already he becomes the object of close observation. I can say for myself, if I go into a store in monastic robes, everyone immediately becomes keenly interested in the contents of my shopping basket. Moreover, whatever they see there, everything will annoy them. If I buy myself rotten potatoes, they will say: “This is what they eat!” If I buy myself some delicacies: “Here, they are snickering!” Although I buy simple products - the same as everyone else.
“Can you do it? Buy white bread! After all, now is the post ?! All at once become such experts in fasting! Many perceive fasting as a diet, and accordingly reason. For 70 years, many traditions have been interrupted. And people, not knowing where to get exactly the church teaching about faith, began to think hard. Unfortunately, d For many, religion has become a set of rituals and taboos, and not a living communion with God..
I always insist on the conscious performance of rituals. On a free self-prohibition on something, as your conscious will. On reasonable self-restraint, and by no means on the simple performance of some kind of ritual. Everything must be done in a meaningful way.
What gives you confidence in choosing a path?
The word "gives" can be interpreted in two ways. What reinforces my confidence? Or what does it lead to this certainty?
I am strengthened by the fact that so many people have passed this path with dignity, I know about many of them firsthand - from direct communication. I live in it, I live in it - it's natural. All this is confirmed by my constant monastic practice, which I do not control myself, I also consult with the confessor, I do not pull myself out by the hair. Constantly I verify myself. You know, any precise device needs to be verified - compared with the standard.
Second question: why? It may sound trite, but “I want to live my life in such a way that it would not be painful and insulting for the aimlessly lived years”. I have already helped many people as much as I could. I brought something good. I also know about the bad things that I brought into this world, and I want to correct it, if possible. I want to correct myself. My whole life is just an entrance exam to Eternity...
Why did you agree to the interview?
I don't need to advertise. I am already quite well known from books, publications, television programs, from conversations with young people in the Ioninsky Monastery and from my parish service. After all, there is my site website, where everything I wrote is laid out.
I agreed only because my good friend asked me to give this interview. I suggested that he go to a monastery - the monks there are better than me. But he insisted that I be the one to answer these questions. Moreover, speaking in a worldly way, I spend my time and energy for free, instead of, as you say, caring for the sick, sleeping, lounging, contemplating some visions and other things that you can think of.
How do you feel about attacks on monasticism and frequent negative attacks on monasticism?
I take it very simply. Any answers to "uncomfortable" questions are missionary way. And the path of the missionary lies between two well-known quotations from the New Testament. On the one hand: “Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who requires you to give an account of your hope with meekness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15). And the other side of this path: “Do not give anything holy to dogs and do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample it under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matt. 7:6).
If a person, not knowing something, being skeptical about something, asks sincerely in order to find out, I am ready to spend all my time to explain it to him. What if a person asks in the style of a police investigator who is not interested in your answer ... He is not waiting for your answer, he is waiting for you started to get confused. I will not talk to such a person - this is a waste of time, both mine and his. So when someone asks me about something, I allow myself to ask a few questions to find out how interested the person is in the answer, whether he is listening to me or not.
I am for a constructive dialogue, and for this you need to immediately define the concepts. I don't like those who just sprinkle with filth, who don't want to know anything and just "mark the territory" with their wickedness. He doesn't care what to mock, what to throw mud at. Is there really nothing left in their souls but dirt? Are they really no longer able to bring something good and positive into this world? Although in relation to them, even the very secular Internet advises “do not feed the trolls”! I just feel sorry for these people. It is a pity that they spend their lives on this, forgetting that ours is not so long. I think the older they are, the more they will understand that it is not worth spending your life on this.
I am for dialogue with everyone, for normal human communication. I do not at all consider anyone lower or worse than me, even if we stand on different life positions, adhere to different points of view, views. Although I reserve the right to refuse communication. But these are people, and as a Christian, I must treat them with love. Without persuading myself I want to remember all the time that Christ was crucified for them, even if they still don’t know anything about it...
Interviewed.
Many unchurched people are perplexed by the fact that young healthy guys or girls, who have their whole life ahead of them, go to the monastery. It has been firmly established in society since Soviet times that the monastery is the end of all life. But the monks themselves, smiling, answer: "This is not the end, this is just the beginning."
It is believed that most often people leave the monastery out of great grief. But then it is not clear why a person should doom himself to even greater suffering in the monastery walls? Meanwhile, everyone, monks and laity, understand that there is peace behind the walls of the monastery. There are no worries here that burden us in the world: you don’t need to go to worldly work every day, cook, children don’t distract you, most importantly, you don’t need to worry about how to feed your family, how much money to save, and how much you can spend. No need to endlessly go shopping and buy food, clothes, furniture, building materials. After all, doing all this, we live the precious minutes of our lives, although we can spend them on something much more important.
In the monastery, life goes on like in one big family: everyone does their job conscientiously. The needs of the monks are very modest, therefore, it does not take as much time and effort to provide themselves with everything necessary as it takes for the laity. Thanks to this, the monks have more free time for prayer, participation in divine services, reflections on their spiritual life. Undoubtedly, the monastic life is very difficult, full of difficulties and worries, but at the same time, it provides an opportunity for close communion with God, and this is a great joy for which people go to the monastery.
Hwhat is monasticism
Monasticism is voluntary martyrdom, taking on the cross and carrying it meekly until the end of life. St. John of the Ladder says that a monk is a warrior of Christ, waging an unceasing spiritual battle with his passions for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
A person who wishes to take monastic vows makes 3 vows:
1. Vow of obedience or renunciation of one's will. He undertakes to obey the hegumen or abbess and the spiritual father, who from now on will guide the monastic in spiritual life.
2. Vow of chastity or celibacy - renunciation of married life for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
3. Vow of non-possession. The monks, having nothing in their property, except for personal belongings, live in the monastery and care only about the welfare of the monastery, and not about personal needs.
Even in the Ancient Church there were holy ascetics who devoted their lives to the feat of prayer: they left 
into the wilderness, shut themselves up in pillars and ceaselessly offered up prayers to the Lord. The ascetics did not want to live next to the pagans and fulfill the laws of the pagan rulers. For example, it was obligatory for all Romans to visit the terrible spectacles in the Colosseum. How could Christians go and watch how wild beasts torture their poor brothers in faith? Many fled to deserted places from persecution and lived here all their lives.
When Christianity spread throughout Europe, pagan customs and mores still remained in society. It was distressing that the licentiousness of morals was observed in the Christian society itself. Striving for the ideals of Christian life, a huge number of believers preferred to "Christian" society life in communities with strict rules - the first monasteries.
The difference between the spiritual state of society and the gospel commandments is still very great, and there are still many who want to follow the narrow path of monastic feat after Christ.
What do monks do
Today, life in the monastery is different from what it was in ancient times. In addition to daily prayer, monasteries are actively engaged in educational and social work, building 
temples and cells, in addition, many of them are subsistence farming. Growing crops, embroidering baptismal sets for boys with their own hands, making candles, scarves, rosaries and much more in workshops and factories, they sell their products, and build temples with the proceeds. Monastics can find work in the monastery according to any ability and specialty. This is singing, and the sale of church utensils, and social projects, and publishing, construction, education, medicine, and much more.
Marriage or monasticism - ways to salvation
The life of marriage is also full of difficulties, so we should not think of marriage as something unworthy of the most able and active Christians. If you live in marriage according to the gospel commandments, then such a life can be even more difficult than in a monastery. Perhaps a mother who raised four children could do serious work in the monastery and help dozens of the destitute. But she devoted the best years of her life to her children: she had no days off, no breaks, taking care of her large family. In turn, the father of the family could move mountains with at least a little personal time, but he is busy from morning to evening at work to feed the family and put the children on their feet. In addition to constant concern for children, the Orthodox family is also called upon to become a model of Christian life and an example for many non-church families, and this is not an easy task.
Undoubtedly, monasticism is a feat, just like Christian marriage, and only the person himself decides which way he will go to salvation.
A luxurious comfortable bus runs from Tomsk to Narga. But at the arrival station, it looks like a foreign body. Life here is tough, squat and unprepossessing. A foreign bus - soft, tall and beautiful. But the primitive ferry in its style fits perfectly into local realities. Looks bad. And by value - an unsurpassed worker. It performs a connecting role between the banks. On the other side of the broad Ob River is the unusual village of Mogochino. My path is right there.My companion is a girl. The private trader who brought us “to the water” takes only ten rubles for the fare, and even gives change with his sympathy: “The ferry will be only in an hour. Oh, and you will freeze while you wait for him! After the "Tomsk summer" there really is some kind of "pole of cold". However, this former Narym region has always been famous for its student population.
I have already been to Mogochino. About four years ago. In winter. In December. Then there was also a temperature extreme. Fifty degrees below zero.
The river rose only at night. The locals gave categorical advice: “Determine for an overnight stay and wait. There are no roads on the other side. Here under the water beat the keys. If you go now on the ice, you will easily fall into the hole. And at that moment I saw two figures. They wearily walked from the river to the bus stop, dragging small sleds with luggage behind them.
The frosty grandfather put the girl on the bus. He waved his mitten at her and immediately set off on his return journey. I asked him to be my guide. He nodded without saying a word.
We walked in silence. In some places, you could hear the crackling of ice under your feet. Closer to the middle of the river, grandfather turned around for the first time and asked: “Who are you going to?” He reacted sharply and viciously to my answer, quickly ending his monologue with a biting phrase: "The enemy's brat!" Then he swore and ran away from me like the devil from incense. I couldn't catch up with him. He is light, and I have a bag with heavy photographic equipment on my shoulder. I tried to follow in his footsteps, but they were immediately swept up by the snow. My grandfather abandoned me. On the halfway.
... The ferry sailed. On his fallen "jaw" we climbed onto the deck. And then the same embittered grandfather rushed towards us. Jumped out as if from an ambush with arms wide apart. Everything inside me trembled. And he scooped up the girl in an armful and joyfully exclaimed: “We are waiting for you! You are our family!” Then he brought a sheepskin coat from the motorcycle and carefully threw it on his long-awaited granddaughter.
My grandfather did not recognize me or did not want to recognize me. But if he had asked: “To whom am I?”, then, like last time, I would have had to answer: “To the monastery.” And the attitude towards him here is extremely ambiguous. This spiritual abode, as if specially created in the Siberian hinterland, so that the relationship between the state, the Church and society was visibly manifested in a limited living space.In various places, I specifically asked the monks about the number of pilgrims arriving in recent years. It is inexplicable, but the desired relationship was not. Logically, it should have been.
It has already become an axiom: if the head of state plays tennis or skis, there is a rapid growth of followers throughout the country. But in the spiritual realm, everything is deeper and more incomprehensible. The role model doesn't work.
Vladimir Putin, as president of Russia, and then as head of government, visited Russian monasteries many times. Prayed for them. He stood in front of the icons, not as a "candlestick", but as a humble Christian. He spoke several times clearly about the moral necessity of returning to the Orthodox faith. And after visiting the Ipatiev Monastery, he left a symbolic note: "... The revival of Russia will also be associated with its revival."
Only for the Mogochin grandfather, such a path looks disastrous. And he comes from his own practice. The monastery looks right into the window of his house. The real "churchmen" live in the neighboring hut. Moreover, the grandfather in his views is no exception to the general series. The locals hardly go to the built temple. But ask them about faith and the overwhelming majority will answer: “Orthodox!” At the same time, the temple is not empty. Other parishioners constantly pray in it. The same Orthodox. But others.
Monasticism in the Soviet dictionary was characterized as an emerging "form of passive protest against the inhuman conditions of life, as a gesture of despair and disbelief in the possibility of changing these conditions."
AMAZING FACT
The first work here began in 1989. Under the command of monk John (Lugovsky). With a handful of devotees. From scratch.
The current abbess of the monastery, nun Irina (Seliverstova), will never forget that difficult period, because she herself did not believe in the implementation of her plan: “The Mogochi community opposed our deeds. They said: we don't need a church, it's better to build a kindergarten. And the lumber mill was still working with might and main. In three shifts. Its director took and reassured all the locals: I will not give them a bar and there will be no church in Mogochino. Never"
Everything was done and is still being done by monastics exclusively “on donations and with God’s help.” Twice a fire destroyed all their work. Even the erected church burned down. They built a new one. Even better. We are convinced that soon the Holy Transfiguration Monastery will appear on the nearby Voloka. There are already several monks in his “staff”.
And the village itself is barely breathing. The sawmill, where he used to hold on, has been taken away. Mogochintsy remember him with nostalgia. The enterprise was one of the most powerful in the country. As many as seven Berezka stores operated in the village, selling scarce imported goods. But the residents of Mogochin themselves sawed off the branch on which they “sat”. They cut down all the valuable forest around them for seventy kilometers. A new one will now grow only in a hundred years.
The only developing "enterprise" in the village is the monastery. Moreover, its population is not limited to those who live in cells. There is also a community "behind the fence", which has about a thousand people. And they go to the monastery from everywhere. Including from Israel, Poland, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine ... But the majority are Siberians. Among them - "God's servant Natalia" - this is how she introduced herself to me.
- In the world, love for one's neighbor is an empty phrase, - she says confidently. “We are sinful and cursed. Every man for himself. We don’t know what we are doing… I worked in court for thirteen years. There was a misfortune ... I did not find help anywhere. Nobody responded. Everyone turned away. She herself came to the monastery and brought the child here. And now I'm fine. Faith would strengthen me ... I am of little faith. Completely without it from the world came. And here I live, as in Christ's bosom ...“And I am Valentine’s slave,” another worker introduces herself. — I have traveled a lot around the world as a pilgrim. But it didn't show up anywhere. And here the soul told me to stay. And now I live here in love and goodness.
Of course, one can explain the withdrawal from the world by religious fanaticism. But I had to talk with many, and not only in this monastery. It was at the beginning of perestroika that many people came to the monastery just for a piece of bread. Then we went for the spiritual. Moreover, about half of the monastics have higher education. Some have advanced degrees. As they explained to me: they don’t go to the monastery. Here they come. Those who "left", in their majority, will return back. The road to the temple does not start at the bus stop.
The current occupancy of the monasteries is like a diagnosis of the moral state of the state and society, in which the fragile intellectual and cultural layer is ruthlessly crushed by the roller of economic freedom. A new reality emerged that many were unable to accept. They began to feel unwanted and rejected in it.
A kind of confirmation of this is the statistics. Over the past fifteen years, the Russian Orthodox Church has acquired about eight hundred new monasteries and their courtyards. The fact is amazing, because such a rapid growth of monastic cloisters has never been in our history since the time of the baptism of Russia.
From a conversation with the novice Lyudmila:
“I want to go back… No, not to the world…” she tells me. “There is no peace in the world now. Like there is no true love. I want to go back to myself. Become human. Because before that there was a process of ossification ... I became like a barrel of tar. And bit by bit, bit by bit, now you're wiping it all away... Every bad word, every movement, every bad look of mine... It's black... And all this needs to be cleaned up.
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“I came to God, and my soul finally calmed down. Before that, in order to know the truth, I traveled a lot. And only here I received joy from the spiritual. This is my piece of paradise.
- But the locks on the cells indicate that not everything is so blessed?
- What is open can become a temptation for the worldly. In order to prevent sin, sometimes you need to protect people from temptations.
“You have no freedom of choice here. Completely cut off from information. Can this path be called self-improvement?
- I am very glad that I am protected from TV, books, newspapers. There is no need. But with a blessing, we may be allowed to read, for example, Dostoevsky ...
— And Chekhov and Tolstoy?
- Only Alexei Tolstoy. But if we have time, we mostly read spiritual books.
Do you really think that it is impossible to remain human in the world?
- I didn't succeed. You can't be free there. You can't tell anyone the truth there. The truth hinders a person… Your revelation is immediately used against you. You need to adapt, you need to lie, you need to flatter ... Everywhere you need to play yourself in some role. I could no longer do this ... And sometimes I reached an inner cry: how can I live on after this ?! And in the end, I began to be afraid of people and do good... My soul closed.
OTHER JOYS
Nun Joanna is one of those who never complain about hardships.
- It's a completely different life! Other joys, she says. - It is - in a world without money, there is no life. And we have. In everything - invisible love. How else? After all, our monastery accepts infirmity. That is, people who no longer need anyone. They will perish in the world. And those who know the life of other monasteries are surprised at this. They don't take them there. And our father always says: bear each other's infirmities.
My stereotypical idea of monks collapsed immediately. Mogochinsk monks are not peculiar hermits of cells. And they cannot be, because you will not be fed up with prayers alone. All the able-bodied are unskilled laborers from morning to night. There are about five hours left for sleep. Free time - almost none.
Mother Anna explained to me: to become a nun, you need to go through the endurance of time and resist worldly temptations and temptations. This is followed by the adoption of vows: non-possession (renunciation of property), chastity (celibacy) and obedience (absolute obedience). But before that, there are two more steps in the hierarchy. Novices and those working for the monastic needs have the status of workers. Those who receive a blessing on the path to monasticism are called novices.From a conversation with a nun who recently took tonsure:
- What is your name? - I ask.
“Valentina,” she answers confidently, and immediately catches herself. - Ouch! Sorry. I keep forgetting... I don't have a worldly name now. Mother Barbara, I.
For a week I ate their meager food in the refectory. It's hard. And not because they only feed twice a day. Here is a typical lunch menu. For the first - watery cabbage soup. On the second - barley. Carrot salad. Sour brown bread. Tea. Moreover, porridge, here, like everything else, is not “spoiled” with oil. Meat is a prohibited product. Even chicken broth is not allowed. The only exception is fish, but it also appears on those rare fast days that are akin to holidays.
“For the worldly, our life seems wild,” Mother Anastasia enlightened me, explaining that everything with them is subject to asceticism.
But only asceticism is the easiest. The most difficult thing is to get rid of "internal sins". Humility and unquestioning obedience is the norm. And obedience is not just a job. This is much more: a sober look at oneself in the name of moral perfection.
Theophan the Recluse described this path of the novice as follows: “... from the very entry into the monastery, he betrays himself whole-heartedly to an experienced mentor and puts himself in such a state as if his soul had neither its own mind nor its own will. Having suppressed self-confidence and self-will through that, he soon gets rid of the arrogance characteristic of gifted people, acquires heavenly simplicity and is perfect in the labors and virtues of obedience.
I had to see this "heavenly simplicity" on the faces of some young novices. With circles under the eyes and early wrinkles. All in sight. Traces of internal struggle - you can’t paint over with cosmetics. It is strictly prohibited here. But they still remain only women, knowing that they will never have either family happiness or the usual human love.Many do not stand such a test. Escape from the monastery. They return to the very life that before that seemed to them "a fiend of evil"
But when I asked the local administration about those who had left, it turned out that the village "turnover" with a solid "minus": over the past twenty years, the number of secular population has decreased by almost five times. And the monastic "arithmetic" with an optimistic "plus": a constant average annual increase - about a hundred people. Abbot John is sure: “At the current pace, Mogochino will almost completely become a monastic settlement in twenty years.”
And this means that not only the community will increase to four thousand people, but also the traditional land surveying among the population will become a thing of the past. Here they constantly divide themselves into categories. At the beginning: on the indigenous - not indigenous. Then, in Soviet times, to locals and exiles. Because people objectionable to the authorities were massively exiled to this former Narym backwoods. Now a new division: on their own and monastic.
It is noteworthy that over the previous three centuries, there never was a temple in Mogochino. And the commandant's office of the NKVD was. And there were gulag zones around. And in the ground here lie without any crosses - thousands of innocent victims. It has long been said about these places: "God created paradise, and the devil - the Narym Territory"
SEE THE HOLY
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“I have lived a beautiful life,” he told me. - The entire work book is written with thanks. And in my heart it’s a shame ... I am already seventy-three years old. But still have to work like Papa Carlo. Because the pension is meager.
He sat down on a log and, having learned the reason for my arrival, continued, richly flavoring his speech with the interjection “aha”:
Natalya Erfort, the head of the Mogochinsky registry office, is also not well-disposed towards the “churchmen”:
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I went to the store for shopping and a woman immediately flew at me, like a natural disaster, immediately starting to “drill” me with her questions, like a gimlet:
- Who you are? Where? What party and bloc do you represent?!
The saleswoman loudly explained:
- This is our main communist Smirnova Nina Timofeevna.
Nina Timofeevna, proudly tossing her head, paused theatrically and continued her “interrogation”. When she found out that I was living in a monastery, she immediately ranked me among the “enemies”. At the same time, she did not react in any way to my argument that there simply was no other hotel in Mogochino.She triumphantly handed me a propaganda paper with a triumphant exclamation:
- Read!!! - and immediately switched to a religious topic. How many fools go to the monastery! Why can't they pray at home? Fools. And who came? Drug addicts and drunkards!
- Are you an atheist? - shouting over her, I asked. And at that very moment, the "chief communist" lost all her ardor, and said softly.
— I have a house icon. I pray. Only I can’t learn the prayer in any way… And my husband, despite the fact that he worked in the district committee of the party, gave a hundred rubles for the chapel… But I don’t go to church.
- Okay. We agree. Make us capitalism. Just not wild! And do not build monasteries, but factories!
Impressed by this performance with an unusual "intermission", I asked the director of a rural school, the former head of the local administration, Valentina Buvaeva:
— Why are many residents of Mogochin so aggressively disposed against the monastery?
Do you want people to treat you differently? Here, at the heart of the village is the working class, brought up on the fact that they blasphemed the Church all the time. I myself, you know, how many times I was scolded in my youth for bad atheistic propaganda! I don’t even want to think about it… And the rejection of the monastery will continue for who knows how long. As a historian by education, I will say that Russians always have two extremes: either exalt or destroy.
As for the "uplift" did not have to wait long. Returning to the monastery, I saw a huge crowd of monks in front of its gates. Man fifty. Worker Alexander Gubaidullin separated from this mass:
Have you ever seen a holy man? - he asked.
- Not. Didn't have to.
- You'll see now.
- Who are you waiting for?
- Mother and father.
Two hours later I went out to the gate again. The crowd was still waiting.A Jeep Land Cruiser appeared on the road. Abbot John was driving. He immediately drove into the yard. He nodded to open the gates of the garage, which is located directly under the abbot's balcony. Went inside. But he did not come out to the "spiritual children" who were waiting for him.
- Saw? Alexander asked me with delight. - Holy man! I grinned, but Alexander did not see my reaction. He looked down at his feet and spoke earnestly. I don't know what would have happened to me if it wasn't for him. Perhaps he would have completely disappeared ... Amazing kindness and love emanates from him ... I live only thanks to him ...
After this incident, it was necessary to unravel the riddle of the identity of the local priest - the confessor of the monastery, hegumen John. But he was in no hurry to meet with me. In contrast to the leadership of the Mogochinsky “village council”, which always has an “open day”. The power here, albeit somewhat hectic, but really - the people.
DUALITY
True, the Mogochin government has weak administrative resources, and the monastery is a "heavyweight". According to Soviet criteria, it is a city-forming enterprise. The largest local landowner. Is it a biased comparison? But according to experts, the Orthodox Church, after the restoration of “historical justice”, should also become the most powerful non-state owner in Russia.
I immediately remembered the words of Alla Detlukova. She said them, specifically emphasizing that she was speaking on behalf of the authorities, as the head of the settlement:
- In Mogochino, the Church is not actually separated from the state ... And if fate turned out to be that God gave us a monastery, then we must live on the basis of such a reality! Although many do not understand this. When the gate tower leaned in the monastery, then, according to the complaint of the population, the authorities flew in from above. And one of the leaders says: “Come on, destroy everything!” But he doesn’t know our life at all, and I answered him: “As long as there is no blessing from the father, I won’t do anything!” And he told me: “Are you not the head here ?!” No, he does not understand anything ... We have two powers here. We may be the only such settlement in the country. And you have to come from life. Maybe that's why we peacefully exist. Without invading each other's spheres. We have only one people. And we do one thing.
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— Who has the real power in Mogochino today?
“The monastery plays a very respectable role in local life there…” he began to speak, carefully choosing his words. – The backbone of the community, thanks to Abbot John, has been created strong. And this is very important, because the village is deeply depressive... To be honest, I myself am not that much of a believer either. At least I don't cross myself in plain sight, as some do. But I think that the spiritual core should be in each of us. And it is in this respect that the Church can seriously help in strengthening it.
- On the example of the Tomsk region, can we talk about the real separation of the Church from the state?
- Legally? Yes. And in life… Well, what kind of division can there be in Mogochino?! Just like in some other small villages where there is a church. But what can I say, when I myself obliged all the heads of administrations to contribute to the construction of churches. We will help financially, as we helped in previous years. Within the law. And I think this is a good thing.
From a conversation with mother Joanna, who completely parted with property in the world, and gave all her personal money to the needs of the monastery.
“Humbling oneself and enduring people is the most difficult thing in monastic life,” she says. “In the beginning, many people came to us not under the influence of the heart, but for the sake of the stomach. Here, after all, they give you a corner and porridge. And as an indulgence in the city went, salaries began to be paid - they stretched back. Now there are more of those who came to save the soul. After all, the world does not know the purpose of human life. But I don't blame them for it.
— Mother Joanna, it seemed to me that now people go to the monastery not only for spirituality, but also for kindness…
- Basically, we have here those who are thrown out of life. And we live according to the commandments of Christ. Now, if I quarrel with someone ... Then my prayer does not go. I have no peace in my soul. And that person is suffering too. I fall into his knees: forgive me, I say. We hug him. And it's not feigned. This is a need. This is to restore peace in your soul. You understand that the evil one pulled your tongue ...
– A secular person is taken by surprise by this “ritual” of forgiveness, but, nevertheless, one of the nuns told me that “she did not become less of a sinner in the monastery” ...
“I would say the same about myself. It's just that the closer to the light, the more stains you see on your clothes.
NOT TO THE WHOLE WORLD
- In the village, for the sake of salvation, not only pious Christians come here, but also drunkards, drug addicts. Has the social situation deteriorated in the village?
“That’s enough of ours,” she answers calmly. - At first it was like: something happens somewhere, they shout: damned churchmen! You start to understand - local. Drug addicts, of course, come to us ... But they also become normal people. True, not all ... In general, I do not envy Father John. He acts out of Christian love… It is difficult… I look at him and think: how much easier it is for me! And he has the hardest ... Back-breaking work! But there was never a time when he refused to help the village.
- And how the father fights for the children! - Alla Vladimirovna throws up her hands, - After all, we had a case ... We sent the child to an orphanage, to Sarafanovka. The family there is so ... There was no other way out. Batiushka found out… In general, we were forced to bring this child back. Can you imagine?! And he took him under his wing. Moreover, many monastic families have adopted children. This is their tradition.
Here it must be recalled that before the revolution in Russia there were no orphanages or homes for the elderly.
Alla Detlukova cannot understand only one thing: why do many monasteries have a mess in their own estates? They themselves explain: we think more about the soul ... But the locals do not believe this explanation. For them, this fact is the talk of the town. However, like another remarkable case, but already directly related to the Mogochin people themselves ...The sweeping Ob in these places is dashing and reckless. It happened that floods washed away entire streets in nearby villages. In Mogochino, a dam protected them from this disaster a long time ago. But one day she could not stand the big water. From the local administration they immediately began to “shout” over the radio about an urgent collection. They ran around the village to call people. But the whole world did not come out to meet the trouble of Mogochin. Left to stay at home. And the monastery inhabitants appeared on the dam in fifteen minutes. They saved the village from flooding. And if Mogochino is a small model of the current state of our society?
I will ask this question during a conversation with Abbot John. And he will answer: “So it is all!”
LIKE A WHITE CROW
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For several years he worked at the Novosibirsk diocese "with a broom and a shovel." This was the period of his gradual break with worldly fuss. Then he built a temple in Cherepanovo. Metropolitan Gideon said: “You built it yourself - you yourself will serve!”
He was tonsured a monk in 1988 with the name John.
We are sitting with him in the abbot's room. According to rumors, it should be a "luxury apartment". But around the long table is a warehouse of everything and everything. And on its edge is the workplace of the monk Matthew. Here is the kitchen. Near the wall is a row of parcels that the novices complete to be sent to prisons.
At first glance, Rector John looks like a stern man. But the impression is deceptive:
“When I embarked on this path of creating a spiritual abode… I began to cry,” he began to tell. - I understood that the more people, the more you will encounter ingratitude, betrayal, selfish interests ... And I have to appease everyone, feed, drink ... Do good. It was scary. The whole load is on me. The responsibility is terrible. Maybe I would like to drop everything and go into seclusion now. But the abode is my cross. And, having taken the cross, one must follow the path of faith and virtue. Where does this path lead? I know! To Golgotha.I will try to ask him about the joyful, but he does not seem to hear me:
“Our community makes everyone nervous. They don't work there, they work for us. They don't give birth there - they give birth here. We are like a white crow.
- But maybe the problem is that you yourself do not take a step towards Mogochino. Do they only see what is up to the monastery wall?
- What is the next step to take? The temple is here. What are we to do: take a whip and drive them here?! What right do I have to do violence to their souls. It is impossible to enslave the free will, which is given from above. And it is given to us for that, so that we freely come to faith. A slave is not a pilgrim. And then everyone will be rewarded for everything.
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- By and large, we, such as we are, do not need either the authorities or the diocese. Nobody. Except God.
This categorical statement, probably, was facilitated by the situation that developed at that moment. The prosecutor of the Molchanovsky district, Gennady Kalyuzhny, filed a lawsuit “in defense of the rights and legitimate interests of an indefinite circle of persons” to ban the operation of all the buildings of the monastery. The reason is the lack of proper documentation.
The form is correct. Only for eighteen years did representatives of various branches of Tomsk government come here. Including the aforementioned prosecutor. No claims were made. And suddenly it turned out that the state finally decided to put old nuns on the street.
I meet Lyudmila Klyucharova near the monastery wall. Her house is opposite. It is she who has not given a quiet life to this monastery for several years. The wall blocks the sun. But the court did not satisfy her demands. The wall remained where it was. She began to prove that water from the wall flows directly into her garden. A ridge was built in the middle of the road. Now Lyudmila is outraged that cars drive near her gate. And when the gate tower leaned - a new round of indignation.
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I fight for decency. For honesty. For the truth. And if it wasn't for that wall, everything would be fine. Everyone tells me that I am against the church… And maybe I am two or three times more of their believer… After all, when they arrived, we lived with them soul to soul. They didn't have anything back then. And now look... Where did they get this wealth?!
The most surprising thing is that Lyudmila Klyucharova, occasionally, but goes to pray in the temple, located just behind this very wall.
And before that, Abbot John had another trouble. Two monks and four nuns arbitrarily and, as stated: "forever" left the monastery. What is unacceptable according to the vows taken. The reason for this was their rejection of “satanic Russian passports and TINs.” True, Hierodeacon Cyprian came to his senses and returned back.
After all this, the monk Matthew approached the abbot John and said: “Father, we must accept the Charter of the monastery in order to maintain order!” The abbot replied: “We will accept the charter when we completely lose our conscience”
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Have you seen the eyes of their children? - Tatyana Veselkova, the shop assistant, will ask me. - They are clean. Light. Immaculate. Amazing. Our children are not like that.
This is how she will speak about children from churched families.
— We are beginning to adopt the methods of work of the monastic school. After all, they are preparing students individually. They teach children to reason and express their thoughts. Learn to prove your point. Which is very difficult from a pedagogical point of view. And from birth, they teach them to work through the game. Church children are educated. And the fact that this is not the first time they have brought the Grand Prix from Moscow, becoming the winners of the Gifted Children of Russia forum, is a well-deserved result.
True, there is one problem. Monastic schoolchildren continue to take tests and exams at the state rural school. And teachers are forced to give them “wrong” fives, for example, for such an answer in natural history: “God created the Earth”Abbot John will say about this: “You understand - we teach our children not only to believe in God, but also in Russia.” And only then it will become clear to me what he is really doing. What the state does not do. He creates in pain a conscientious people for his country. And at the same time he tries to become better.
Nun Anastasia taught monastic children, and at the same time she herself was tormented by the question: “Why did Moses lead his rebellious people through the desert for forty years, when it was possible to go the whole way there in less than a year?” And she found a wise answer: “In order for only a new generation, born not in Egyptian slavery, to enter the Promised Land.” And then she asked herself: “How many more years will the new Moses have to lead us ?!”
FROM EACH OF US
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These points of view have remained in their unchanged relevance today. The only difference is that the Church after the Soviet period began its revival virtually from scratch. When its separation from the state was proclaimed two decades ago, it turned out that it had never had any experience of operating in such an isolated state. Just like in power. After all, beginning with Peter I, a chief prosecutor was appointed at the head of the Holy Synod, and the Church was reduced to the level of a state department.
And now, in the new conditions, unforeseen problems arise that are "diplomatically" bypassed by the "sovereign" parties and society.
I ask hegumen Siluan (you heard his voice when you went to this page), rector of the Bogoroditse-Aleksievsky monastery in Tomsk:- Do you also, like in other monasteries, do not formalize labor relations and do not make pension contributions?
And he explains to me:
We don't keep work records. A monk is a monk.
But there are still novices and laborers...
— Yes, but it is wild for us that they receive money in the monastery. After all, initially we do not take them to work. And our legislation does not at all imply that a person can work without receiving a salary.
- That is, someone who is expelled from the brethren or who left of his own free will ends up with a long-term dash in his life?
“This is not an internal church problem. It is generated by the wrong attitude of the secular authorities to the monasteries.
It turns out that on the borderline between the state and the church, a person turns out to be a creature without rights. Having left the world, he cannot return to it without feeling his inferiority. And this problem is even more aggravated when the one who comes to the monastery acts according to the commandment of Christ: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow Me”Complete ambiguity and on the "restoration of historical justice" - the transfer of property to the Church. So far, there has been no intra-church discussion about this. Government agencies operate at the cabinet level. Society is silent. And we are already on the very threshold of a fateful decision.
I'm going to the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. in Yeniseisk. They speak of him as the "father of the Siberian cities" and "the city - a monument." But at the same time they always emphasize the main thing - the “Orthodox city”. At the end of the century before last, there were 33 churches and 59 chapels here. And all this for several thousand inhabitants.
Today Yeniseisk is a good-natured and very provincial city. My long-term attempt to have dinner somewhere pointed to the sad reality of starving to death. But on the other hand, communication with the Yenisei people made it possible to reveal a remarkable fact. Almost all believers here. By the way, the Assumption Church, with the exception of a very short period, was active under the Soviet regime. And among the most respected people here they name not the heads of the city and the district, but the clergy.
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There are two monasteries here and also - a problem on a problem. Moreover, the female arbitrarily snatched off the territory from the city and does not let anyone in there. Nothing has been handed over to him yet, and he has already become a state within a state.
He is a modern educator and preacher. It was on his initiative that one of the very first Orthodox gymnasiums in the country was created in this Siberian city. Moreover, today it is financed by the state. And father Gennady considers this an example of the right relationship between the parties. Parents have a free choice: which school to send their child to.
Talking to him is surprisingly easy. He answers the most difficult questions, not hiding behind the typical phrase "for all the will of God." Regarding the opponents of “demonic passports and TINs,” he answers with the dictum of Solomon: “The wicked one runs when no one is chasing him ...”
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“Our Church must understand that it is now facing a difficult choice. How could we not lose our spiritual face when solving material issues! Already today all the priests have turned into superintendents. This is fundamentally wrong. We need to engage in preaching and community building. And I would not have been embarrassed by that fact if the temples had not passed into the absolute property of the Church. Why? Because its material side has been created for a thousand years and it is rightfully the property of all of Russia. We have Orthodoxy - the religion of the people. And you need to start from this. I believe that the responsibility for historical heritage should remain with the state. And this is what should be enshrined in law.
Father Gennady paused and confidently continued:
- Russia today without a spiritual core. She is ashamed of her Orthodoxy. But only Russia without the Church will not survive. This is my conviction. She would cease to be Russia without her. It will already be something else. And when today they talk about the search for a national idea ... It is. Holy Russia. The national idea is holiness. And if we refuse it, then we simultaneously cease to be Rus. And the Church will survive because it is not a human institution. She is from God.
I remembered how mother Joanna, before starting a conversation in her cell, put me on a stool under the door lintel. And on it is an invisible cross. She made sure that I did not come in the guise of a devil, and quietly said the secret: “Not everyone in the world will perish, and not everyone will be saved in the monastery. It depends on each of us."
Let me explain with a secular example: you love to draw. Love very much. You want to draw every day. You nafig did not give up to draw by order. All the more, you didn’t give up on going to illustrators and working on Abramovich’s yacht. And you really, really didn’t give up working as a manager to draw on weekends between laundry and cleaning, because in the evenings there is no time to sit down, decompose.
That's why artists have residences, telecommuting, grants, patronage, a market, and so on. To do it under normal conditions and all the time.
So, instead of drawing, we will have a spiritual life. For us, it is a specialty and recreation at the same time. The entire Maslow pyramid in one bottle - and even, according to some sources, with the possibility of saving the soul (option: getting rid of suffering).
We are where we are interested. We have tons of literature here, air, the proximity of nature, creativity, extremely good food and time to pick life with all concentration. We live the way half the people in the city dream of living and are afraid to live, and we have not the slightest remorse, because we are convinced of the individual importance of this work.
Why should we give it up - for the sake of daily sin, the flight for capital, the noise, the lack of time for mental work? Really? Let's better you to us.
It is directly characteristic of "spiritual" people that they cannot write directly, humanly, they are drawn to allegories, some examples. They also hid behind anonymity for some reason. You are cunning, my dear, in general, like a demon. And with the importance of your work, you cover up something much less personal, which your conscience will still remind you of. Lying to yourself is your own business - you have to live with it, but the laity and capitalists have absolutely nothing to do with it.
To answer
CommentSince the question did not touch on a specific religion, the answer can be about the general psychology of monasticism. Some people are not interested in the state and society as such. All this seems like an unnecessary hindrance, obscuring the sun. Such "nishtyaks" of society as marriage-family, work-success, company-recognition - do not attract the same as salty sweet tooth. These people do not believe in civilization as the goal of being. It's not that other beliefs forbid it - but it's just hard to believe. In a word, there are people with other existential goals. This is the pre-religious foundation of monasticism. (By the way, sometimes it does not become religious, it remains "Hikkan"). And here the commentators have already shown their intolerance to this. You can even understand them: it infuriates when someone next to you ignores your reality, but does not appreciate your values.
I think it would be wiser if the monks and celibates themselves answer this question. Sent requests to experts, m b will answer. It would be interesting to read. I will only try to describe the types from which one can understand the reasons for their departure. I do not slander anyone and do not exalt anyone, I write as I see and as I think.
A sociophobe and part-time religious fanatic who did not work out with his personal life, perhaps that could not have worked out initially. You can't criticize such people just because they are like that, but on the other hand, it's good that they left society. They do not bother society and they themselves are comfortable. Such monks and nuns, sharp, caustic, never smile and by and large I would even describe them as aggressive. On the other hand, having tried to understand them, perhaps this disfavor is understandable. He left the world, and my colleagues (people from the world) and I came to his comfort zone and he feels discomfort because of this. Well, this is my guess, I don’t know what’s going on in his head, and there’s no big desire.
A radical altruist whose worldly (secular) life did not work out. Yes, there are such examples in life. They are smiling on the contrary, constantly seething with work (by the way, if someone thinks that in monasteries the monks sharpen their hair and only pray - this is not true, they have a lot of work, which are called obediences), they can even cheer up good good-natured jokes. Very pacifistic people, they won't hurt a fly. There are, unfortunately, fewer of them. However, I think that such a type fortunately remains in society, that is, in the world, to a greater extent. I admire such people, because it is really hard for such people. Not only have they left society, they are also forced to endure the antics of other monks in terms of drill and banal human stupidity. However, they still remain positive, fly in the clouds and these leeches are not capable of harming them. Although, I think they are still prone to resentment, like any person.
The most ordinary people, just like you. It’s just that some kind of misfortune happened in their life, for example, a spouse died in a car accident, or they didn’t find themselves in ordinary life, became withdrawn, or problems with reproductive activity / libido and they simply have nothing to do in the world.
The church is a haven for the holy fools, therefore, in the monastery there are people with a variety of mental illnesses. I do not mean that all the monks are mentally ill, I just write that there are some. Of course, they chose not the best method of therapy, but I think such things are not treated, and a person still wants to fill his life with meaning, so he found this meaning in religion.
People who can be said to have already lived their lives, celebrated the anniversary of 50 kopecks and, due to their religious zeal, decided to devote the rest of their lives to religion in their old age. Well, if a person does not want to live in a pensioner's house, he has the right to do so.
Now, of course, there are no such monks anymore, because socio-cultural relationships have changed, but before there were monks who were forced to become monks in order to save their lives, for example. Medieval history is full of such examples.
Church careerists. You see, if a person is a monk, this does not mean that he is a good person, and even more so that he is a good monk. As a rule, such people do not stay in monasteries, but they are monks.
Foolishly. This is an option for people ranging from the very young to about the age of about 45. The age when a person can create / work / live a family life, devote his existence to other people, but puts an end to himself, is disappointed and goes crazy alone. In fact, one can ask the question "Why do people go to totalitarian sects?" the motives will be very similar in this case. It is these people, I think, that need to be dissuaded and saved from such a fate.
Maybe I missed something, what I remembered, I wrote. In conclusion, I want to note that if a person is a monk, then this is not a reason to admire him. You have no idea what is going on in his head, why he became a monk and what he did in worldly life. In general, the official opinion of the Church (at least of the Orthodox Churches, I think that of the Roman Catholic Church too) is that the monastic life is never more holy than the life of an ordinary layman. It's like in the Tibetan proverb that circulates on the Internet "It's easy to be a saint sitting on Mount Taishan. It's much more difficult to remain a saint sitting in the bazaar" - this is very relevant. Living in a society is much more difficult, there are a huge number of problems and temptations. A monk, perhaps, has only one single discomfort in the absence of the fact that he does not have his own woman, from here so many psychoses grow in him. A man has so many family problems that you need to endure your own woman, raise children and constantly monitor yourself so that his complexes are not tolerated by his wife and his children, as well as work, annoying parents, etc. A crazy circle of problems that in the monastery is simply absent. By the way, the monastery is in principle not the best place. Any place is mainly people, and these people have left society, and you are trying to bring this society to them in the monastery. So, when they tell me that someone wants to live in a monastery ala to meditate / pray / think about life, it becomes ridiculous to me. In my opinion, the best way to meditate and defuse all the accumulated slag in life is a mug of pava with your best friend while talking about life or fishing, for example. Well, nobody forbids going to church to pray, we don’t live under communists. Well, one more thing, it can definitely be noted that a person goes to a monastery not because of a good life. So I would not call monks happy people, however, I do not deny that monks can find their own happiness in the monastery. You are looking for Me not because you saw miracles, but because you ate bread and were satisfied.
27 Strive not for the food of corruption, but for the food that lasts to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for God the Father has set His seal on Him.
(John 6:26,27)
Even the answer, which is in a hat from the monastic "anonymous" partly confirms this: "fresh air, full board, a good view from the window, the food is extremely good and you can philosophize about being at your leisure, etc. And as a bonus - they promise kind of salvation - what else do you need, a complete package!?!?"
Therefore, sometimes not entirely correct motives can be corrected over time, etc. But this is a coming to Christ Himself, but the Monasteries are not Christ Himself, it is a kind of community with its charters and rules, which in itself is not perfect, therefore, the difficulties increase here. Why do I say so? Because there is a lot of evidence that not everything is so decorous and noble in monasteries, but there are excesses, there are manipulations, there are multiplied human weaknesses that make salvation for a person from the world even more difficult. In order not to be unfounded, I will give some evidence from one former novice.
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