#monasticism

Today, Stift Heiligenkreuz

You can read about the Holy Founders of Moansticism here:

Saint Paul of Thebes

Saint Anthony the Great

Saint Pachomius the Great

Saint Basil the Great

Saint John Cassian

Saint Theodosius the Great

"A monk is one who is separated from all and united with all."

,,The monk is the gift that the world gives to God, but also the gift that God returns to the world. Monks are Christians who want to live the life in Christ and with Christ more intensely. Therefore, a person who decides to live in a monastery first asks for this, as the Savior says in the Gospel: "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Matthew 8, 34). Afterwards, they receive the consent of the mother superior or the father superior, being called from that moment "sister" or "brother", this representing the first step taken towards the monastic order.

A period of testing this decision begins in various obediences. What is important for the one who commits to such a life, as the Holy Fathers also show, is the practice of virtues: obedience and patience, which make the ascetic worthy; silence and non-judgment, which preserve the peace of the heart. These are, in fact, also evaluation criteria for the new beginner to be accepted into the monastic community.

Rasophoria or the "beginning of the monastic image"

The next step is rasophoria, which translates as the "beginning of the holy image" or the "beginning of the monastic image", when the candidate will be called a beginner of monastic life. The main moment in the rasophoria service is the tonsure of the hair and the changing of the name, when the serving priest or the abbot utters the formula: "The servant of God (the new name is spoken here) is tonsured, in the name of the Father. Amen; and of the Son. Amen; and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let us say for him/her: Lord, have mercy". Thus, the person seeking perfection puts a good start to the life of a monk, being clothed in a cassock, kamelaukion, skouphos, and belt, receiving the prayer rope, which is also called the "sword of the Spirit".

I asked the mother superior of the Frumoasa Monastery in Iași, Stavrophora Sofia, how long it takes from rasophoria to tonsure into the monastic habit. "It depends," she replied. "To become a rasophore, at least three years from entering the monastery, and to become a nun, at least five years. It can be more, it can be less, depending on how the candidate progresses, how she manages to convince the spiritual father and the mother superior."