the monastery [Theme] Page 2

All one after the other followed. Do not write you will write you. Nothing in this huge monastery could not keep his presence secret from the mother superior. The number of denunciations was measured by the loyalty of sisters Mother. Particularly zealous informer Mother complained about the ranks, they became older their obedience, assistants decently, my mother Kalaniemi, the elders in the monasteries, and then ihamaniemi sponsored mother monasteries throughout Russia.

... real monastic life is not such as it is described in the books.

For it was an important order, the Charter of her monastery, and people just need to adapt itself to the mechanism and make everything right. Adapted - well, no - you can leave. She often repeated the phrase, plucked from a book of some Athonite fathers: "Give or back off". She liked it very much.

Always afraid of those who yearn to rule over the souls. What are they doing with the bodies?

Fault was not only business but also the thoughts, and look or simply to be with the Mother on the way at the wrong time and wrong place. Everyone was sitting and thought with relief that today scold and shame him not, and the neighbor, so carried. And if the sister scolded, she wasn't supposed to say anything in my defense, it was regarded as a daring Mother and could only stronger than her anger.

Angry Mother was very scary. It was better silently to suffer a torrent of abuse and then apologize with the earth's bow. Especially in the classroom was usually given to "mothers" for their negligence, laziness and ingratitude. This is often used in sects. All against one, then against everything else.

... the talk at the meal was prohibited, everyone looked at their plates and ate quickly to catch up to the call.

The alarm bell has started to eat. First, the soup. The tureen had to bring out a clear sequence from older to younger. If you don't want the soup sit and wait for the next call. On the second bell was allowed to impose the second and salad. After the third bell - tea, jam, fruit (if any). The fourth call - the end of the meal. To put it can be no more than the fourth part of the second course, salad or soup. You can take only once, not to put, even if the food remains. You can take two pieces of white bread and two black, no more. Sharing food with anybody, to carry out, not to eat what was put in the plate, too.

A week after my arrival they took my passport, money and mobile phone somewhere safe. The tradition is strange, but so do all of our monasteries.

After I moved from Palani in nursing corps I was very surprised by one strange circumstance: around the monastery in one toilet there was no toilet paper. Neither in the buildings nor in the refectory, not anywhere. In Paloma and on the guest refectory paper was everywhere, but not here. <...>
Then I finally pried out of the neighbor in the cell that this most precious and vital the object need to have write decently, you can only do this once a week when running ruholla, and to write only two rolls a month, not more. I thought I was hallucinating. Just can't be. After all those sumptuous meals with caviar, Dorado and handmade chocolates, it was hard to believe.

... "the cult of personality of the mother", substituting here the faith in Christ, and on which everything here is based.
Scanty meal of sisters and children, consisting mostly of donated expired products, where even in non fast day rarely fish or dairy products, and about my mother's sumptuous dinners, talking about continued work without rest, exhausting about these soul lessons, about sisters, who from this life was mad, and of course - about the toilet paper! More precisely, about its absence.

In monastic life still very difficult. Arriving at the monastery, the novice begins to live a completely different life, by different rules, is faced with various temptations and difficulties among the brethren, and in himself. To help him overcome his own passions and to stand firmly on the path of spiritual life, you need an experienced mentor can not be without it. Therefore, in the ancient monasteries there was a custom: the revelation of thoughts to the mentor. It's not so much a confession as an opportunity to settle their perplexities and problems in the spiritual life, to the Council - and that Council, not an order - from a more experienced person.

- The monastery came to the Commission of abbots of other monasteries. One of the members of the Commission comes to the local Abbot, and with amazement says that the monks during prayer smoke!
- Well, what? Our monastery requested the Synod, can I smoke while praying.
- What do you say?
- What is not. And then we asked if he could pray while Smoking, and we said that it is possible.
See, it all depends on the question!

The whole company of monks pours the local well water into bottles, closes the lids, paste labels "Novo-Ararat Episcopal moisture, blessed vysokoprepodobny O. Vitali," after this H2O wholesale way to cross to the mainland in St. Petersburg and especially in pious Moscow. In Ararat, for the convenience of the pilgrims built a wonderful miracle, marvel, called "Machines with Holy water." There is a wooden pavilion, and in this ingenious machine, the invention of local Kulibin. Lowers the person into the slot of the coin, the coin falls on the valve, zaslonka open, and poured into a mug of Holy water. There are more expensive, for a dime: there polivaetsya more raspberry syrup, some special "triple blessings".