What is a cell? Enchanted by silence: cell of a Carthusian monastery

Karen Markaryan

Today I will tell you about the amazing cave monastery complex of Armenia - GegArd or GekhArd, as one of the two letters “g” of the Armenian alphabet sounds in the middle, reminiscent of the guttural Ukrainian...

Geghard is both an ancient place of prayer (40 km from Yerevan), and one of the Christian shrines, founded, according to legend, in the 4th century by Gregory the Illuminator himself, and a museum under open air. UNESCO included in the list of World Cultural Heritage not only the complex itself, which is understandable, but also everything surrounding the monastery, the gorge! Insanely beautiful! But this, of course, would not be enough. In the local, often steep cliffs, at the dawn of Christianity, monks carved out many caves here with the simplest iron tools (now there are 140 of them)! And they lived in them, prayed and brought faith to people.

At least even in this picture you see a little white cross to the right of the center? This is also a famous cave for something, or rather, for someone... However, everything is in order. There will be little text, many pictures...

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from a height of 2 thousand meters, past the monastery complex, not even a river flows, but a stream, which, rolling between the stones, gradually turns into a river. This is exactly the same AzAt river running through the gorge that I showed in the post about the Armenian “Parthenon” - the Temple of the Sun God in Garni is the only pagan temple preserved in Armenia. Garni is located about nine kilometers from Geghard. Therefore, tourists usually visit both of these wonderful places. First - Garni, and then - Geghard, where the highway, in fact, ends, resting on the spurs of the mountains, which are in front and on both sides...
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this is a bridge across a river leading to the left bank... They say that the bridge itself (except for the metal railings) is also quite old...

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but we remain on the right bank. It was getting dark, the sun was literally sliding behind the monastery, gilding the upper reaches of the mountain ranges above it. Therefore, it was necessary to hurry with the photographs. This one was made from behind the monastery wall.

Until the 12th century this place was called AirivAnkh ( cave monastery). It was here that, since pagan times, a spring with healing powers had been flowing in the cave. He still hits...

Therefore, Gregory the Illuminator founded the first temple here. Then other buildings of the monastery appeared. But in 923 everything was barbarically destroyed by the Arabs under the leadership of the governor of the Arab caliph in Armenia, Nasr. All valuables, including manuscripts, were looted and burned... An earthquake completed the matter...

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We enter the monastery complex from the rear, on the eastern side... In the 12th century, under the patronage of the military leaders of the Zakaryan brothers, the monastery came to life...

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This - main church Geghard: Katoghike (1215), but not the first. We entered from the east, and the main entrance was from the west. Literally above and to the left of it a hundred meters is the cave church of the Holy Mother of God (1164). It was built, like Katoghik, by the Zakaryan family. It is said that the relics of St. Andrew and John the Baptist were kept in it. Now this shrine is awaiting reconstruction:
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While we are ascending to the cell of Gregory the Illuminator himself along the narrow ancient steps, I will explain why Ayrivank became
Geghard Ankom (spear monastery).

According to legend, during the revival of spiritual life here, the so-called Spear of Destiny or the Spear of Longinus was transferred here, with which Christ was delivered from torment by a Roman soldier, who later took the name Longinus at baptism. It was brought to Armenia by the Apostle Thaddeus. And “gehard” in Armenian means the tip of a spear. That’s how this place changed its name to Geghardavank or, in short, Geghard. True, in the 18th century the Spear of Destiny, like the relics Noah's Ark were transported from here to avoid loss in main temple of all Armenians - Etchmiadzin. I showed what the Spear and many other Christian shrines look like in the post - “The Cup of Peace” and the treasures of Etchmiadzin...

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and these khachkars - “cross-stones” and crosses carved directly into the rocks (the patterns are not repeated on any of them) date back to the 11th-13th centuries. Even the names of the masters who created some of them have been preserved...

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rock cross close up...

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and this is the cell, according to legend, of Gregory the Illuminator himself. Above the entrance, his name is engraved in Grabar (Church Armenian) so that no one doubts. Yes, there are small windows above the entrance and above other rooms of the “cells” specifically to remove the smoke of candles and, possibly, fires, which the monks used to warm themselves in winter, covering the entrances with bundles of brushwood:

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Here they prayed and burned candles...

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The cell consisted, as a rule, of three rooms: central and side. In all of them it was barely possible to turn around, and straightening up to full height was also problematic. On the left, you could probably not only pray, but also lean your head on the ledge at night, laying the same brushwood under you and wrapping yourself in sheep's clothing...

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The real educators of their people worked in the monastery - historians, philosophers and musicians. Gospels, missals, collections of church hymns, descriptions of life famous people were copied by the monks of the monastery and spread throughout the world. Some of these documents are now kept in the national libraries of Berlin, Paris and, of course, in the Matenadaran (museum-institute of ancient manuscripts and books) in Yerevan...

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Let's look at the facade of the Katoghike Church. In total, they say about Geghard that it has two floors ( most of- in the rocks) 7 churches and 40 altars were cut down... It is difficult to count the altars, but there are no fewer churches with tombs, if not more...

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The central entrance to the church is decorated with a wooden door - a luxury for rocky Armenia. And above it are stone patterns of bunches of grapes and pomegranates. Well, doves are messengers of good:
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and above there is a mica window (as it seemed to me) and the family coat of arms of the Zakaryans: a lion lifting a bull. To the right of the window is a sundial...

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In 1225, a huge quadrangular porch to the Katoghike church was built, one of the walls of which was replaced by a rock. This one, visible in the photo, with four columns inside...

After the Zakharyans, Geghard and the surrounding area were acquired by the family of princes Khakhbakyan-Proshyan in the second half of the 13th century. To the glory of the monastery, which received generous patrons. During their reign, the cave church of Astvatsatsin (Virgin Mary) and two tombs for representatives of their clan were built on the first and second floors. Cells were also built in the surrounding rocks. For example, the famous Armenian historian of the 13th century, Mkhitar Ayrivanets, lived and worked in one of them.

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this is the entrance to the cell-chapel to the left of the entrance to the narthex...

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and this is what the stone decorations look like above the entrance to the church complex in the vestibule, which contains several churches and tombs...

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the columns are decorated with patterns and crosses... Crosses are also in the altar parts. We walk in complete darkness and almost silence. You can only hear a leisurely story about the churches of the monastery of its abbot, Father Taron. Rare light pouring from small holes in the domes creates some kind of magical atmosphere. I click the camera almost “by touch”))

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the crackling of candles adds solemnity and warmth...

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Do you notice that there are practically no icons? Where did they come from among the rocks and mountains? That's why there are so many stone crosses:

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this cross is in the first (1240) cave church of the AvazAn (Pool) monastery, which was carved on the spot ancient cave with a spring. Somewhere here there is an inscription on inside dome of the architect Galdzak, who turns to his descendants with a request to be remembered in prayers...

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Everyone, young and old, tries to drink from the holy spring that comes out of the rock. The spring forms a font in the stone floor, flows through a narrow hollow right in the Avazan Church until it disappears underground... Here it is close up:

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Candles have been lit here for 800 years...

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and this is in the rock church of the Virgin Mary - the stone chair of the Proshyans...

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one of the only two icons that I noticed here is located in the altar part of the Katoghik (cathedral, church true faith). This one shows the Virgin and Child...

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here is the only chandelier that I saw in the entire monastery complex...

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and here is the second icon: The Baptism of Christ...

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then we go upstairs. There are also cells and khachkars here:

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and this is a narrow passage to the Proshyan tomb. It has absolutely amazing acoustics. And the voices of the abbot of Geghard Father Taron and the abbot Armenian Church in the Baltics of Father Khosrow, who organized our trip to Armenia, they sound magical... I take pictures focusing on the voices...

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then with a flash I snatch out another series of crosses carved into the rock of the tomb. Everything is quite ascetic...

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we go outside. Behind a small fence are monastic hives...

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I can imagine what kind of honey you can get when there is such a luxurious acacia and fragrant mountain flowers nearby...

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the sun has not completely set yet, so I have time to photograph the modern monastery buildings... Although the pictures (almost all) have to be lightened a little...

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and this is what the central gate to Geghard looks like

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and wonderful mountains - the left spur of the gorge, opposite Geghard...

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and this stone very successfully fell into the courtyard of the monastery in the mid-70s, coming off the neighboring slope and going half underground, without hitting absolutely anyone along the way. Now, literally everyone who comes to Geghard likes to take pictures near it and in it... So I will have a photo with you as a keepsake...

Stories

Men in Black . As a journalist, I lived for a week in a cell at a monastery in Yurovichi.

Olga Deksnis

Have you ever thought about leaving everything and joining a monastery? It seems almost impossible to decide on this. Home, work, friends, travel... But there are people who once took and abandoned old life. Why? Who are these people? Journalist Olga Deksnis lived for a week in a women’s cell at a monastery in Yurovichi and found out what made Belarusians dress in black.

Early in the morning at the entrance to the monastery I am greeted by a smiling Abbot Auxentius- rector of the temple, head of the monastery. He has a lot to worry about: now he’s getting his second higher education, is the chairman of Church court, leads the parish in the Kalinkovichi Church, and also edits and updates the website. In addition, he manages to give assignments in the monastery and maintain discipline.

Here is your cell - the so-called women's cell - Father Auxentius hands me the key to the room with a high stone carved ceiling.

The village of Yurovichi in the Kalinkovichi district of the Gomel region is a storehouse of historical and cultural values. It is one of the most tasty morsels on the map of Belarusian tourism. Every schoolchild knows that here is the site of a primitive Belarusian man. It was this hilly area that Ivan Melezh wrote about in his novel “People in the Swamp.” There is also a Jesuit Temple of incredible beauty and complex history, dating back to 1710–1746 years of construction. Today it has been transformed into the Holy Nativity of the Theotokos monastery and the Holy Nativity of the Mother of God Church. I've wanted to come here for a long time.

The room that was allocated to me has two windows, a table, a chair, four free beds for female pilgrims and laborers (the latter come to help the temple in their garden, at a construction site, in the kitchen, and financially). I quickly settle down in a new place, throw my suitcase and hurry after the priest.

Here we have a refectory,” he continues the tour of the monastery. - You will eat at nine, two and seven in the evening. By the way, do you want to have breakfast? The ringing of a bell will call you to the table.

Two male workers work in the kitchen; they also live in the monastery. Their working day begins at 5.30 am and not with a cup of coffee, but with processing yesterday's milk. Cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream are made from it. The menu is drawn up by the chief accountant, and later approved by the rector. And food directly depends on donations.

There is never meat on our menu,” says Leonid, a gray-haired cook with a long thin beard. Seeing my camera, he turns away and explains: Christianity prohibits taking photographs. - I know that in other monasteries you can eat the meat of those “who do not chew chewers and who do not have cloven hooves.” We absolutely do not have pork. We prepare, in particular, from milk, sour cream, cottage cheese, fish and vegetables.

Leonid is a former railway station employee. He has been living in the monastery for two years. He also tested himself in another monastery - in Odessa.

To get there only for the night, the leaders of the Ukrainian monastery called Yurovichi and took my reference,” recalls Leonid. - And the next morning they asked me a question: am I going to become a novice or am I returning to my homeland? The novice is the first step, then comes the monk, and then the monk. And I didn’t agree - I wasn’t ready. And they don’t need workers. They have 130 monks who manage to do everything themselves.

In the corridor we hear a small bell ring three times, a man in a blue kitchen robe calls everyone to the table.

Today for breakfast: oatmeal with fresh cow's milk, fresh strawberries from the garden, tea, loaf and plum jam. Before eating we receive a blessing from Father Pavel. Standing at the table, we read “Our Father.” Everyone sits down, eats silently and listens to the complete collection of works of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov - this is a specially adapted reading for modern people. It is read out by worker Sasha:

Chapter 38. “Everyone who has entered a monastery and accepted the good yoke of Christ must remain in non-covetousness, being content with what is most necessary and being protected from excess in clothing, in cell utensils, in money; The property, wealth, and treasure of a monk should be our Lord, Jesus Christ; Our gaze must be constantly directed towards him.”

Sachet He’s only 23 years old, he has a history of drugs, and “thanks to” them he has a second disability group. Today Sasha is burning with the desire to devote himself only to God. Once and for all. Reluctant to talk about himself. He prays wherever possible: in the corridor, on the street and, of course, in the Church of All Saints. He also sings. He is in good standing here.

When the prayer ends, Father Pavel rings a small bell and gives a blessing for departure. Father sees that I can’t cope with the clear time frame of “line of prayer - breakfast time”, he pats me on the head and calms me with a smile: “Eat, eat!” Later it will become a good joke.

She became a nun at age 64.

According to the documents, the monastery is for men, but there are only four monks in it, among them the leadership is larger. According to unofficial information, new servants of God are reluctant to join it. This is due to the fact that the monastery and temple have been in a state of chronic construction and restoration, or rather, uncertainty, for about 100 years. Simply - closed. There is practically no arrival. I myself saw tourists driving past the temple and turning around when they saw the boarded up door.

Two elderly nuns live in the temple: 80-year-old Lavrentia And 85-year-old Macaria. As Father Avksentiy jokes, “we inherited it” (from 1993 to 2005 there was a convent here - author’s note) and help mainly with prayer. They also give away a million for food from their pensions.

New unusual names women received upon tonsure. Wanting to get into the nuns’ cell, I receive from them a long cotton skirt with a flower and a small cross on a thread.

Be sure to wear a skirt to church and to the refectory,” says Mother Lavrentia, and I nod my head and agree to the new rules of life.

Otherwise, your clothes are completely out of place,” she smiles and looks at my tight gray jeans.

Mother Lavrentia came to God already as a pensioner. Previously, she was an accountant, milkmaid, and nurse. According to the laws of the Orthodox Church, a woman up to 40–45 years old can take monastic vows. The age range is not accidental. They should benefit the temple not only with prayer, but also with help in the courtyard. Mother now works in a church shop. She can’t even remember why she decided to “leave”.

Two years after my husband’s death, I came to see the monastery in Khoiniki, and stayed there,” says Mother Lavrentia. - You know, before that age I had a consumer faith: light a candle, remember someone, color eggs, get some water.

How did your children react to your decision to join a monastery?

I had three of them: two daughters and a son,” says mother. - One died not long ago. At first they seemed to react with misunderstanding, distrust, and reluctance. Over time we got used to it. And now we are happy. Every year on Radunitsa, with the blessing of the abbot, I come to see them. I go to the cemetery, my mother, husband, and daughter are buried there. Children also sometimes come to see me, but it’s all expensive. Last year, sisters came to visit, one from Lithuania, the other from Russia. They lived here and liked it very much.

“Once I dreamed of the Virgin Mary”

85-year-old Mother Macaria walks out the door and hurries to the “Home Room” - a small church in the monastery itself. I follow her, shouting loudly (the woman has difficulty hearing): “Can I ask you just a couple of questions?”

I have time to read the psalter now! - she responds to my unexpected shouting, diluted by the delicious acoustics of the high ceilings.

The main time is devoted to prayer in the temple. All notes brought “for health” and “for repose” and much more are reported around the clock by monks and nuns.

Tell us your story, how did you come to the monastery?

“I was 70 years old, no husband, no children,” says mother and hints that there is absolutely no time for talking. - One day the Virgin Mary dreamed of me and said: “Go to your cell.” So I came when called. Immediately to the Khoiniki Monastery, and then we were transferred here. All my life I worked as a cook. But I always liked monasticism. I immediately worked as a cook at the temple, and then my legs could not bear the load.

In the garden plot of the temple complex, work is in full swing from morning to evening. Young monk Seraphim watches as volunteer construction workers install new wooden windows, also donated by an unnamed entrepreneur.

Seraphim is the son of a priest, he is only 27 years old. He took monastic vows two years ago. Now he studies at the Orthodox Academy.

I came here on vacation, stayed for a month and liked it,” says the monk. - I quit my job - from electrical networks. My parents were shocked, which is why I delayed the decision for a long time. But I realized that the further I went, the more doubts I had.

What is the difference between a monk and a priest?

The most important difference is the inability to have a family. I looked at my friends who were the same age, who managed to get married and divorced, and I was satisfied with this point.

Why does a monk need education?

Weird question. But in general, this is necessary for the parishioners. Here a person comes to you with a question: which icon to pray to, how often and what to do. And everyone’s situation is different: someone’s son is in prison, someone’s husband drinks, someone’s daughter married the wrong person. And you need to give advice: it is important to be an interlocutor.

Later in the conversation, Father Avksentiy also answered this question for me.

Education is necessary so that monks do not spread obscurantism and look at life sensibly, he explained. - Simply ignorance of the fundamentals of faith, including dogmatism, often gives rise to all sorts of superstitions.

In the morning there is a service, in the evening there is also a mandatory religious procession

Each new day in the monastery begins at seven in the morning with a service, at five - evening prayer and procession. If the service is a liturgy, then it can last more than two hours.

Each monk and worker is assigned his own area of ​​work: someone cuts wood, someone is responsible for cows and chickens. Thus, Father Pavel is in charge of the hives, 36-year-old worker Sasha is in charge of the garden.

After breakfast, I go weed the strawberries, at this time I talk with Sasha, who refuses to be photographed, but is happy to talk about himself.

How do you like it here? - I pull out the grass and conduct a dialogue.

My mother got sick, she couldn’t walk at all in recent months, I had to quit working on the collective farm and look after her,” recalls Sasha. “They didn’t give her a group; they lived only on her pension. Already, when she was dying, there were a couple of months when we took advantage of benefits for medicines. A month after my mother died, my brother hanged himself. I ended up becoming very depressed and ended up in the hospital.

Sasha says that heavy tranquilizers made it difficult for him to return to work: after leaving the hospital, he became insensitive and constantly wanted to sleep.

“Once at home, near the icons, I heard a voice - a church chant,” he says. - The singing was repeated endlessly and I already thought I was going crazy. I called my neighbor and told her: “Listen, can you hear singing?” On her advice, I began to go to church, serve there, and these chants stopped. I still don't know what it was. Later I ended up in another monastery, but I didn’t like it there. And here I felt at home. Both the garden and the land. And my soul is easy because I am constantly in church. Now I want to do everything to become a monk. I read a lot and learn to sing.

Does this mean you will never start a family?

In the world - no, here I want to give it to God.

While we were talking, he came up Father Pavel- a third generation priest. His brother is a priest, and his sister is an abbess in a convent in Riga. His father taught him to “talk” to bees from an early age.

By the way, if there is fish on the table, it means it was the work of Father Pavel - he is an avid fisherman, he went to Pripyat. Father has a special love for life. Later I noticed that he could simply hug a person who came to him, talk to him, calm him down, kiss him on the head, like a little one. It’s especially funny when he calls his 85-year-old mother “youth.” Loves to play with children who come to the service.

Do you want to see the bees? - Father Pavel frees the hive from down pillows and calls me. - Don’t be afraid, as long as I’m here, they won’t touch you, I shouted at them! Take it in your hands - I take it and shake, hundreds of bees in my hand. - Look, these are honeycombs, we buy them, and the bees themselves stretch them and fill them with honey. This is the uterus - it is the main one. If she flies away, her entire extended family will die. A bee can lay from 500 to 1.5 thousand eggs per day, and after 19 days new bees will be born.

After some time, Sasha says that it’s time to wash your hands and move to the refectory. Today for lunch pea soup with vegetable broth, rice and fish cutlet.

Worker Sasha reads the Teachings again, during which he lost his appetite and just wanted to disappear.

Chapter 42. “On keeping away from acquaintance with the female sex.”

“Reverend fathers, our holy monks of all times, carefully guarded themselves from acquaintance with the female sex. Entry of women into ancient monasteries was prohibited... The union of the sexes in existing form its natural (fallen nature). Virginity is higher naturally. Consequently, whoever wants to preserve his body in virginity must certainly keep it away from that body, the union with which is required by nature.”

After reading the prayer, the abbot devotes time to informal conversation.

“I want to conduct a small test between us,” he intrigues. - Everyone, please answer me this question, but it’s a little tricky: where would you like to meet Jesus in your life - in freedom or in prison?

There is silence in the “hall”, and I take the first answer into my own hands, as they say.

I would like to meet him in prison, I would have more time to “stop and think” and communicate with him, I say.

An interesting thought,” Father Avxenty picks up my thoughts. - In fact, we all want freedom. But more often we come to Jesus precisely when trouble strikes us in life. Alas, it is precisely in the most difficult moments of life that we are most open to him. But there is no need to be afraid of trials, they are given to us so that we can think about a lot of things.

"Simone, my girl"

Milk, cottage cheese and sour cream on the monastery table - thanks to the efforts Valeria. He himself comes from Ukraine, served in the Soviet army, was demobilized in Mozyr, and got married. He has been living in the monastery for four years.

We go with him to the backyard of the monastery. I slap fresh cakes behind the commander-in-chief in the barn where three cows and three small calves live. Valery changes noticeably when he sees animals.

Oh, my little miracle, she gave birth,” the man changes his tone and kisses the animal. - Oh, my beauty, how she poses... Simone, my girl, let's get up.

And the cow, as if understanding the words, gets to her feet.

My standard question “why” is answered frankly:

Because he’s a loser, it didn’t work out worldly life“, two families have fallen apart,” Valery sighs and installs a milking machine for Simone. - From the first marriage there is an adult son, from the second there is also a son, he is nine years old.

For 12 years I worked as a housekeeper in Moscow for wealthy people. They have a country house. There I earned about 800 dollars a month and spent no more than a hundred. Food is free, housing is provided - I had a separate house. I came home for two weeks in the summer and two weeks in the winter. Transferred money to my wife...

We walk around the barn, looking at the offspring.

What do I want to say about the temple? - we sit on a bench where we can smell the strong smell of animals. - You know, we are generally bad with advertising. But there is no advertising, because the main temple has been closed for many years. I wish people would come here. And the temple could earn something. Do your own creative workshops. And so, we do everything on our own - food from the garden.

Disappointment

At the entrance to the monastery stands wooden house. It is open to those who have lost a roof over their head and are ready to help the monastery with their hands.

26 year old Glory originally from Russia. Once upon a time, my mother and I fled from the scandals that constantly existed in their family to Blue-Eyed. He studies vocals and sings in a folk choir in a neighboring village. Always polite. Here is a responsible worker: from the kitchen and “going to the store” - to complex construction work. Vyacheslav was the only one here who openly wanted to talk:

Disappointment brought me here,” he lowers his eyes, purses his lips and answers awkwardly. - Disappointment in love. Our relationship lasted a year, and somehow everything didn’t work out. This was very painful. So I came here at the call of my heart. I live at the temple every other week. All good. But it still takes time to come to your senses and start living as before.

If you want to help the revival of the monastery, this can be done in different ways: money, labor, building materials, things, products.

The monastery is located at the address: Gomel region, Kalinkovichi district, village of Yurovichi, st. Gornaya, 9.

The governor is Abbot Avxentius (Abrazhey Andrey Eduardovich).

Tel.: 8 02345 59292; +375 29 730-11-56.

Requisites

THE HOLY CHRISTMAS OF THE BORN MONASTERY in the village of Yurovichi, Kalinkovichi district, Turov diocese. UNN 400440204, Belarus, 247722 Yurovichi village, Kalinkovichi district, Gomel region, st. Gornaya 9, account number 3015660172019 Central CO No. 7 Directorate of OJSC "BELINVESTBANK" for the Gomel region. Bank code 151501739.

Sberbank of Russia card 4279 0800 1029 4062 is valid until 10/18 ANDREY ABRAZHEY.

The monk's cell is red not with things. Monasteries today attract the curious, and the monk is looked at as some kind of curiosity that causes bewilderment: taciturn, stern face, long-haired, bearded - “It is the will of God that it grows and does not need to be touched!”, to whom young people who want to follow the monastic path turn for advice - to warn them in every possible way from haste, from thoughtlessness, from frivolity in this matter: to undergo the test - to make irrevocable vows. The future monk is only allowed to pray and work (perform obediences). . Strangers were received at the monasteries. Alms were sent to prisoners languishing in prison, who were in poverty during famine and other misfortunes. Often the greatest sinners were transformed into the greatest righteous people in the monastery. The only and bad association: as if he was looking at me through the sight rail! Later I learned from others that the monk, a former officer, in Afghanistan was obliged to torture and execute prisoners. Returning to his wife and daughter, he was unable to get along with the family, and nothing worked out with regard to employment. There was even a suicide attempt. So he came to the monastery. He asked about other monasteries. I’m talking about Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda (Vladimir region): about the bell tower from which a man descended on homemade wings, and Ivan the Terrible put him on a barrel of gunpowder for this, about the famous library and how 2,200 novices-brides were introduced to Ivan the Terrible. The Tsar pointed to Marfa Sobakina! “Have a modest gait, do not speak loudly, observe decorum in conversation, eat food and drink reverently, remain silent in the presence of elders, be attentive to the wise, obedient to those in authority, have unfeigned love for equals and lesser ones, avoid the evil, speak little, carefully collect knowledge, do not talk too much, do not be quick to laugh, adorn yourself with modesty" (St. Basil the Great) Conversations and reading - only on Orthodox topics. He can leave the monastery completely at any time. Monks who accept the great schema take even stricter vows. They change their name again. Instead of a hood, a cowl is worn that covers the head and shoulders. The schema-monk's diet is even more meager. Holy Mother of God. Every year in Moldova a religious procession is held with this icon. The monastery was ravaged and burned three times, but each time the monks found St. the icon in the ashes, intact and facing the ground (traces of fires on the scroll are barely visible). A bright young woman from a neighboring village worked in the monastery bakery. I decided to help her - bring buckets of water from the well. He bent over the bucket, when suddenly the chain with the cross got caught, broke and fell into the well! In his cell he only told how he dropped a cross into the well, and the monk commented: “The Lord’s warning!” There was something He didn’t like about you!

Two brothers came to the monastery. The eldest is a doctor, candidate of science, and the youngest: abandoned school, got involved with bad company, was registered with the police. They gave the three of us an obedience: to build a barn for hay. A few days later, the younger one was replaced: he became scandalous, irritable, violent - it was impossible to work together! - Humble yourself! He should receive communion this evening - this is what Satan does to a person before communion! Tomorrow my brother will be different.

That's exactly what happened!

In the basement of a monastery in the Kherson region, the monastic brethren were brutally shot, and for many years now, when painting the walls, the dark silhouettes of the murdered monks appear.

Amazing simplicity in everyday life was characteristic of all Russian saints. An exact copy of the chapel of St. Cyril of Belozersky, which the Cyril monks built in the 17th century instead of the ancient chapel of the saint, which had decayed over time, has survived to this day. N.K. Nikolsky, not without reason, assumed that this building was originally not a chapel, but the cell of the founder of the monastery (since Pachomius Logothet in the Life of the Saint did not mention the chapel anywhere, but spoke about the cell). So we have the opportunity to imagine what the first cells of the monks who explored the forest deserts looked like. They were as simple as the notorious steamed turnips that the monks ate. The cell of St. Cyril is “an ordinary, unpretentious Northern Russian cell (in the Life of St. Adrian of Monza, his cell is directly called a cell. - E.R.). Made of pine, four-walled, cut into a castle of logs, hewn both outside and inside. The covering is made of boards fastened with nails to the rock on two slopes. A small low door with a window in the form of a small hole leads into a room 3 arshins 4 arshins long and 4 arshins high to the roof. IN south wall a small “window” was cut, closed from the inside with a wooden latch. There is no ceiling, the floor was made later" ( Nikolsky. Part 1. Issue. 1. P. 65). Thus, the first cells were so small that one person could barely fit in them; they consisted of only one room. From outside you could hear what was being said inside.

Subsequently, the cells began to be made more spacious; usually a vestibule was added to them, in which they made a closet and a “anteroom” - a covered porch. Such cells are described in the lives of Saints Alexander of Svirsky, Martyry of Zelenetsky, Euphrosynus of Pskov, Irinarch of Solovetsky. In the Solovetsky Monastery, in the vestibule of the cells, a “service candle” (lantern) usually burned at night. To illuminate the monastery and cells they used blubber - the fat of sea animals.

An accurate depiction of the monastic cells is presented in a miniature from the early 18th century depicting the Nilo-Sora monastery. Monastery Reverend Neil stood in a swamp, therefore, in order to somehow protect itself from dampness, cells here were built on a high basement. In the upper part of the wall they made drag windows (the name comes from the word “drag”, that is we're talking about about windows closed with wooden bolts). They were small to keep the cell warm during severe cold, and at the same time sufficient to stick your head into them and talk to the visiting brother.

In the 16th century, in the cells of the Kirillov Monastery, the “finishes” were “pressed”; at least a large number of such endings were kept in a warehouse in the treasury chamber in 1601.

Woodsheds were usually placed next to the cells - sheds where firewood was stored. The cells were heated in black, the smoke came out through the windows. In 1621, the Kirillov hieromonk Ferapont wanted to set up for himself a white cell with a German stove, but he was not allowed ( Nikolsky. T. 1. Issue. 1. P. 39).

In cells they usually lived in twos or threes, in hermitages - strictly one at a time. Initially, the cells were placed at some distance from each other. The creation of single cell buildings was a rather late phenomenon; in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, for example, such buildings were installed only in the 17th century. In the monasteries, the cells were located a stone's throw away, so that from the window of the cell one could see only one cell and not hear who was struggling towards God.

With the growth of wealth of the monasteries, the appearance cells, the communal law of equality gradually fell into oblivion. In the 16th century, some of the Kirill elders, who were tonsured among wealthy boyars and princes, had cells with several rooms and premises for servants. Elder Jonah (Sheremetev) could house up to ten slaves in his cell and even had his own cookhouse. On this occasion, Tsar Ivan the Terrible angrily exclaimed in his message to the monastery: “Is this the path of salvation if in the monastery the boyar does not cut off his boyars, and the serf does not free himself from servitude?” “And in the local monasteries, until recently, equality was maintained between slaves, boyars and merchant men” ( PLDR. 2nd half XVI century M., 1986. P. 163).

The indispensable desire to distinguish oneself in some way from other people is a general property of human nature, and the monks were no exception. True, they had few opportunities for this. Some sophistication in clothing, a higher cell than the next one, a wider window or an apple tree under the window - that’s the whole choice. The first abbots of the monasteries always resolutely fought against such originality. When Reverend Daniel became, by the general choice of the brethren, the archimandrite of the Pereyaslav Monastery, the first thing with which he began his pastoral activity was to rebuild all the monastic cells in the same way. He said to the brethren: “You have very high cells with stairs going up, like rulers and nobles, and not as required by monastic custom. And you, brothers, remake them according to the humble monastic image.” The monks were very dissatisfied with the abbot’s command, but did not dare to openly contradict, they only said among themselves: “They brought all this upon themselves, they wanted him to be our archimandrite, but did not know that he would ruin our customs” ( Smirnov. P. 40).

The Monk Joseph of Volotsky, in his charter, required that the monks living in the service yards have the same cells as the monks in the monastery, and not have large windows or special cellars. “And if anyone starts planting apple trees, cherries, or any other vegetable near their cells, let the cathedral elders forbid him!” - the monk was worried ( VMC. September. Stb. 604). The monk did not even have the right to repair his cell without the blessing of the abbot.

When a monk took monastic vows at the monastery, he received a cell with all the necessary equipment. This was the ancient rule of monasteries. Later, the custom of giving a contribution to the cell spread. In this case, the monastery built a special cell for the monk, but this was precisely what destroyed the communal rules.

Cell property was also simple, cheap and necessary, but the monk should not have considered it his own. “If you want to live in a common life,” said the Monk Joseph, “renounce every thing and have no power even over the cup” ( VMC. September. Stb. 526). Perhaps only icons and books were the personal property of the monk in the monastery.

In the eastern corner of the cell there were always icons and a large cross with a Crucifixion. In front of them stood a candlestick, a lectern; here the monk performed his cell service prayer rule. There were several shops along the wall. It was here, on a bench in the red corner, that the Monk Martyrius of Zelenetsky once saw the Most Holy Theotokos sitting after prayer.

The monks used their cell rooms in different ways. For example, the Monk Martyrius prayed and read in his cell, and slept in the closet. The Solovetsky worker John, on the contrary, prayed in the closet and slept in his cell. The resting place was usually a small couch; The monks, as a rule, slept on simple rogozins. Then the monks began to have pillows with pillowcases and “beds.”

Necessary items of cell life were a Kumgan - a copper washstand with a spout and lid, a tub and a water jug. Next to them, as usual, hung a towel. Soap was also used in monastic life; inventories mention “jambs” of plain and Kostroma soap. Some cells had “fighting clocks”: “with pepper and weights” or “strings”. In addition to benches, there were also leather chairs in the cells.

The monks of the monasteries did not have any utensils or food; they were forbidden to even have a table. Outraged by the new order in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Tsar Ivan the Terrible wrote: “And you first gave Joseph the Clever a pewter dish in his cell, then they gave it to Serapion of Slutsk, they gave Jonah Ruchkin, and Sheremetev was given a table in his cell, and his own cookhouse” ( PLDR. 2nd half XVI century P. 153). “Until now, in Kirillov they didn’t keep an extra needle and thread in the cell, not just other things.”

Especially grave sin for a monk it was considered secretly keeping money in his cell. For this crime, the Monk Euphrosynus of Pskov promised the monks the most severe punishment: “If they find silver or gold in the cell of a living monk, let them burn him on his head, but if after death, let him not bury that monk in the monastery, but drag him out in a pit.” They will fill it up and put what they found with it and say: Let your gold or silver be your destruction. And let them not see him off or remember him" ( Serebryansky. Book 4. P. 512). Once a similar incident occurred in the monastery of St. Dionysius of Glushitsky. A certain brother died, and the monks found 10 nogatas in his cell (a nogata is an ancient coin). Venerable Dionysius ordered to bury him along with the money so that they would testify against him at the Last Judgment. With great difficulty the brethren managed to beg the abbot to forgive the deceased ( RSL. Tr. No. 603. L. 33–33 vol.).

By Rule of the Fifth Ecumenical Council The monk could not have anything of his own, but he transferred everything to the monastery. In the cenobitic monastery it was strictly forbidden to say: this is yours, and this is mine. The Monk Cornelius of Komel believed that a monk cannot have his own property not only in his cell, but also outside the monastery: in the city, with his friends or relatives ( FIRI. T. 4. P. 685). According to the rule of the Komel monastery, if a new monk came to the monastery with his property, then he was assigned a probationary period of one year, and the property was sealed in the treasury. If a monk left the monastery after a year, then the property was returned to him; if he remained, then it went to the monastery treasury ( Right there. P. 702).

By refusing to own property, the monk fulfilled one of the main monastic vows - the vow of non-covetousness, and thereby cut off from himself the passion of love of money and love of things. The Monk Nil of Sorsky said that the fight against these passions is not difficult, you just need to understand that the Lord himself takes care of our needs. But if the passion of love of money strengthens in a person, it leads him straight to destruction; it deprives the monk of spiritual purity and the ability to pray. “Holy Scripture says that if a person is overcome by pride or love of money, then the demon no longer fights with him, because only this passion alone is enough for this person to perish” ( Tradition and charter of Nil Sorsky. P. 47). That is why the abbots watched the cell life of the monks so closely.

"Clothes and clothes"

The monks received clothes and shoes from the abbot, treasurer or housekeeper. According to the charter of the Monk Cornelius of Komel, monks were supposed to have two clothes: one old (everyday, work) and the other good (festive) and two pairs of shoes, and all excess had to be taken to the treasury. The monk was not allowed to ask for clothes from worldly people or from monks of other monasteries. Some monks, wrote the Monk Cornelius, wanting to have beautiful and rich vestments, do not want to go to the treasurer for clothes, but say: “I will not ask him, otherwise he will not give me what I want. But I’d better ask my friends.” The Monk Gerasim Boldinsky was more lenient towards such desires: if a monk did not want to receive clothes in the monastery, then he was given two rubles a year to purchase them.

The set of clothes of an ordinary monk in the Volokolamsk monastery included: two robes (one new, one old), two hoods (new and old), two cassocks, three scrolls (one new, two old), two pairs of boots (new and old) , one pair of stockings, two winter and two summer skufyas (kamilavkas), two fur coats. But monks, inclined towards a more ascetic life, could refuse additional - old clothing and have only one new clothing of each type. Serious ascetics, on the contrary, had only one old mantle, cassock, etc. But all the monks, without exception, received two or three scrolls, since these clothes had to be washed most often. The treasurer who issued the clothes kept strict records and controls so as not to inadvertently give too much. It was impossible to have two robes and ask for a third. To obtain new clothes, the monk had to hand over the old one. If someone wanted to have three fur coats, then he returned one of the two robes or cassocks, etc. to the treasury.

Monastic clothing, as a rule, was simple and inexpensive. The Monk Euphrosynus of Pskov instructed his monks this way: “Have ordinary clothes, homespun clothes (a homespun cloth is coarse, undyed cloth. - E.R.), and not from German cloth and wear lamb fur coats, without down.”

The first abbots of the monasteries themselves set an example of the extreme non-covetousness of their brethren. The Monk Ferapont of Monza wore bast shoes instead of boots, other saints wore “plesnitsy” (wooden shoes) or “kaligi lychny” (shoes made of bast, the same bast shoes).

The things of St. Kirill Belozersky have survived to this day. For us it's not only greatest shrine, but also the rarest material document of its time, because it is extremely difficult to imagine the appearance of monastic clothing or household items from inventories and lives. St. Cyril's fur coat is not made of down, but of black sheepskin, sewn with fur inside, has a straight turn-down collar, and the buttons are made of intertwined leather cord ( Inventory of 1601, p. 271). The saint's winter kamilavka (usually called a hood) is knitted from camel wool, and the edge is edged with sulfur wool thread. Setting off on a long journey from the Moscow Simonov Monastery to Beloozero, the Monk Kirill apparently took with him a wicket - a leather pouch on his belt and a wooden ladle in a traveling case. The kalita is made of thin two-layer leather, with the help of two intertwined leather cords it is attached to a leather belt (the length of the belt is 168 cm, the width is about 4 cm; the belt is fastened with a wooden buckle). The gate has three compartments, covered with an external flap, which is stitched along the contour with small stitches of white threads. The valve is decorated with a vignette and an image of a bird and a four-petalled flower ( Inventory of 1601, p. 271). The monk's ladle has a surprisingly elegant shape; it was once covered with red paint. The traveling case consists of two pieces of thick leather tapering at the top, which form a semicircle at the bottom. The edges of the case are curved and stitched with a strip of rawhide, its free edge serving as a handle ( Right there. pp. 271–272).

The saint's liturgical clothes - phelonion and surplice - are also extremely simple. They are made of pale gray mukhoyar (paper fabric mixed with wool), the lining of the phelonion is made of gray linen, and the cross is made of blue damask. The mantle and sleeves of the surplice are made of blue silk with a light green ornament of stylized flowers. Even for their time, these things were simple and cheap. But for us they are much more expensive than those embroidered with gold and precious stones. Sometimes it seems that time has spared them as material evidence of the greatest humility of the soul of our saints. These things bear the stamp of that historical authenticity that always so keenly permeates the soul. They allow us, through the depths of centuries, to see our saints as real people, dressed in their simple and multi-sewing vestments.

Some monks (Nil of Sorsky, Daniel of Pereyaslavl, Simon of Volomsky), following the example of the ancient ascetics, wore hair shirts. The hair shirt of the Monk Nile has survived to this day.

The Holy Fathers called this clothing “the heaviest (that is, the heaviest. - E.R.) weapons in spiritual battle." Monks are often called the army of Christ. Explaining the symbolism of monastic clothing, the holy fathers constantly used military terminology: klobuk - helmet of salvation, paraman - armor of truth. As in any army, so in the monastic army there are heavily and lightly armed warriors. The hair shirt was considered the weapon of a warrior who went into battle with the most formidable enemy. It is no coincidence that, even in appearance, hair shirt resembles chain mail, only it is knitted not from metal links, but from prickly wool (for example, camel). They put the hair shirt directly on the naked body, under the scroll, to depress and humble their flesh.

Another instrument of humility was chains. Some monks who constantly wore chains had the nickname verizhniks. But usually this feat was accomplished in secret. In the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery in Vrlogda, the ancient chains of Saints Demetrius of Prilutsky and Ignatius of Vologda are still kept, and in the church in the village of Ust-Kubenskoye (near Vologda) there are two chains that, according to legend, belonged to Saint Alexander Kushtsky. The Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery also preserved chains from the late 14th - early 15th centuries, which monastic tradition attributed to the Monk Kirill himself. They consist of two crosses with the image of Golgotha. Using eighteen metal plates, these crosses were attached to the chest and back. Another large forged cross, consisting of two metal plates (cross size 26.5x18.3x0.9 cm), was suspended from a metal chain. In addition, this set also included a metal belt with a buckle and a ring that was worn around the neck; it consisted of four metal segments ( Inventory of 1601, p. 272). In the 19th century, the Tver Museum kept chains that came from an unknown Tver monastery. They were a hoop that was worn on a belt; two crosses were attached to the hoop with iron chains ( Zhiznevsky. P. 139). The chains weighed 13 pounds (that is, about 5 kg 850 g). One can imagine what the prostrations that the monk performed in such vestments cost.

The heaviest type of chains were, perhaps, metal hats, which some saints wore on their heads. In the Life St. Anthony Dymsky says that the saint exhausted his flesh in this way. The hat, according to legend, belonged to Saint Anthony, was kept until the 19th century in his monastery. The wide brim of the hat was nailed to the crown with thick nails, and it weighed more than three kilograms.

But special kind monastic asceticism, which replaced any chains, was almost complete contempt for all the needs of one’s body. His friend and associate, Elder Serapion, lived in the monastery of St. Euphrosynus of Pskov. He was a great worker, the first to go out to the most difficult obediences and the last to return. He knew the Psalter by heart and always sang psalms while working. But most of all, he loved solitary prayer and did not waste a single minute of his life. When pilgrims came to the monastery of Euphrosynus with alms for the monks, the visitors were invited to the common refectory. Here, after the meal, the Monk Euphrosynus usually talked on spiritual topics with guests and brethren. But during conversations Elder Serapion always went into his wretched cell and shut himself up there. His cell was dark and cramped, and he never cleaned it. Elder Serapion did not wash his face, he only washed his hands. And he wore clothes so shabby and dirty, “strewn with lice,” that none of the monks wanted to take them after the elder’s death. Then the clothes were taken out and placed at the entrance to the monastery for the poor, but the beggars and wanderers did not touch it. His abstinence in food was beyond human measure. When the monks wanted to clothe him in funeral vestments, they saw that Serapion’s body was literally “bones connected by veins and skin” ( PDPI. T. 173. pp. 70–71).

Such extreme asceticism is more reminiscent of the stories of ancient patericons and the lives of Egyptian and Palestinian ascetics. There are few such stories in Russian lives. Compliance with the measure was still more typical of the monastic life of Russian monasteries. The 1601 inventory of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery lists “all kinds of old man’s clothing” kept in the state chamber; this inventory gives us the opportunity to find out what kind of clothing the monks wore at that time. There are a lot of references to “white brother’s boots,” which, apparently, were the most popular monastic shoes. In winter, as a rule, they wore sheepskin coats; they were “fluffed” (covered) with “irish koshes” (irkha - skin treated like suede). Fur coats made from merlushka (lamb), marten and deer skins are also mentioned. Winter skufi were made from marten, whiting and murrelet. In addition to skufas, the monks wore three hats (fox, marten, and marten) and shapki (a cloth hat lined with marten on the inside) in winter, and black hats in the fall and spring. In cold weather, on the road they usually took mittens made of wolf hair or wolverine with them, and at home they mostly used mittens made of hake; if it was not very cold, then they wore simple leather mittens. The set of monastic clothes also included “ports” (pants) and stockings: knitted bearskin and “felt”.

Clothes were washed either by the monks themselves or by hired people. Since the 16th century, the oldest tower of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery has been called the Svitochnaya Tower, since “little ones” lived in it and washed scrolls for the brethren. In the Volotsk Monastery, during the life of St. Joseph, the monks themselves washed their scrolls on the river and dried them here, hanging them on bushes and trees. And such was the purity of morals then, exclaims the author of the Life, that the scrolls hung for several days and no one took them.

About the bath

Baths are practically not mentioned in the lives of Russian saints. The Monk Euphrosynus of Pskov, referring in his charter to the authority of the Egyptian ascetics - Anthony the Great, Pachomius the Great, Saint Ammonius - forbade monks to wash in the bathhouse. Except for “great illness or need,” the monk, according to Euphrosynus, should not have exposed his body. As the most convincing argument against the bath, Saint Euphrosynus cited in his charter an episode from the life of the Palestinian saint, Theodosius the Great. For a long time there was no source in the saint’s monastery, and the brethren constantly suffered from a lack of water. Then the monk ordered everyone to fast longer than usual and to pray especially for the gift of water. And one day a source of clean and tasty water flowed from the mountain. The joy of the brethren knew no end. But time passed, and the monks began to ask the abbot to create a bathhouse for them near the “God-Given Spring.” Saint Theodosius condescended to the weakness of the monks and ordered the construction of a bathhouse. But after the monks washed in it, the source dried up. And no matter how the monk prayed, water did not appear in him. Then he ordered the bathhouse to be destroyed, and the source began to flow again ( Serebryansky. Book 4. P. 521).

But not all the holy fathers were so categorically against the bathhouse. From the charter of the Studite Monastery in Constantinople it is known that the monks of this monastery visited the bathhouse no more than once every two months (only during Great Lent it was not allowed to wash in the bathhouse). The monk came to the abbot and took a blessing for the bathhouse, the abbot gave him a special “seal”, which he gave to the bathhouse. The monastery apparently had an agreement with a certain bathhouse, according to which the monastery from its treasury paid the cost of soap for all the brethren and lay people who worked in the monastery, so that the monks themselves, when they came to the bathhouse, no longer paid anything. The monastery even had a special “movie gate” through which the monks apparently entered the city for these purposes. It is obvious that in the Studite monastery, located in the capital of the empire, there were completely different approaches to life and hygiene than in the Egyptian and Palestinian monasteries. Therefore, the Russian monks, who greatly revered the Studite Charter, still had the “canonical” opportunity to use the bathhouse. There is a mention of the bathhouse in the Life of St. Anthony of Siya. A certain brother Karion, while at a monastic service on the Sie River, often went to the bathhouse “for the sake of old age and his illness.” One day two strangers came to him with rods and, inflicting wounds on him, said: “Don’t let it be your custom to go to the bathhouse often” ( RNB. Soph. No. 230. L. 304 vol. - 305). As we see, in the Life it is not the use of the bathhouse itself that is condemned, but only its frequent visits. Baths, if there were any, were built outside the walls of the monastery. Thus, on Solovki a fraternal bathhouse was built on the canal leading to the Holy Lake. But since when it existed there is unknown.

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A monastery is not only a stone or wooden religious building. People live in the monastery - novices, monks. And each of them has his own small home - a cell.

The meaning of the word cell

Words similar in sound and meaning exist in many languages. IN Greek there is a word κελλίον, in Latin - cella, in Old Russian - kelia. They all mean approximately the same thing. The meaning of the word cell is a small room, a modest dwelling of a monk.

Most likely, this word came into the Russian language during the baptism of Rus'. Since Rus' was baptized according to the Greek model Orthodox Church, then the word itself is apparently of Greek origin.

Monastic cells

The cells are located in special buildings - fraternal buildings or dormitories. In Russian monasteries, one or two monks live in cells. The rooms have a simple appearance. Furniture usually includes a table, a chair or stool and a bed. Instead of a bed there can be a trestle bed.

Often in a monastery cell there is a small individual iconostasis made of small icons. Almost every room has a shelf for books. These are monastic and religious books. He spends all his free time, of which the monk has little, in his cell. Here the monks spend time in prayer, doing handicrafts or reading spiritual books.

Actually, monastic life has remained almost unchanged for centuries. Usually monks are busy with obediences or prayers. Obedience, speaking in simple language- These are chores. Monasteries maintain their buildings and structures in good condition on our own. Only for special or dangerous work are outside specialists hired.

Sometimes, especially in ancient times, monasteries were located in secluded places, sometimes in caves and mountains. And, accordingly, the cells were carved into the rocks. The most famous such structure is the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Of course, today monks no longer live in these caves.

Monks - chroniclers

When there was no printing in the Russian state, books were written by hand. And it was the monks who wrote them in their cells. It took months and even years to produce – to write – one book. They wrote them on separate sheets of paper, which were then stapled and covered with a strong cover.

Books were not only written anew, but also rewritten. These were unique printing houses. From one book many copies were made. The circulation, of course, was not in the millions, as it is now. These were still single copies. You can't write much by hand.

In general, in ancient times education was concentrated in monasteries and churches. There are still Sunday schools. And once upon a time this was the main type of education available to the bulk of the country’s population. At that time these were parochial schools.

Not only books were written in the narrow monastery cell. The history of the country was recorded in the cell of the monk-chronicler. It is from such chronicles that today it is possible to find out what happened in those distant times.

The most famous monk chronicler is Nestor. This monk lived in the above-mentioned Kiev Pechersk Lavra. It was thanks to his works that “The Tale of Bygone Years” was born in 1113. It tells the history of the Russian state from 852 to 1117. Subsequently, the chronicle was rewritten and supplemented many times.

Men's and women's monasteries

Monasteries are a complex of buildings and structures for religious and economic purposes. As a rule, there are several churches and temples on the territory of the monastery. And they are kept in working and safe condition by the monks. They live here, on the territory of the monastery, in cells located in separate, special buildings.

How do people get into monasteries? Differently. Each person who decides to devote his life to serving God has his own destiny. And those who come to the monastery are rarely asked the reasons that led him to this. Unless the person himself wants to talk about it.