What is fed in the monastery. The food of monks for an unaccustomed layman is difficult
Located in picturesque mountains covered with dense forests, Shaolin Monastery is not only the cradle of Chan Buddhism, but also one of the centers of wushu development in China. The beauty of nature, fresh air and peace, so necessary for meditation, active martial arts and medicine are excellent conditions for healthy lifestyle the lives of monks, conducting a search for methods of "nurturing life" and its extension.
1. Constant stay in the Chan state
For one thousand four hundred years, starting from 495 AD, when the monastery was founded, its inhabitants strictly observed the norms of Chan Buddhism, bequeathed to Damo: daily long meditation, "improvement of the heart and nurturing of nature", striving "for emptiness" . A person engaged in meditation strives for peace, plunging into a “state of peace”, he acquires “emptiness”, that is, he gets rid of all extraneous thoughts, forgetting about everything around and not feeling himself.
Extraneous thoughts, according to Chinese medicine, give rise to "seven feelings (emotions)": joy, anger, sadness, thoughtfulness, grief, fear, anxiety. Violent emotions or, conversely, their complete suppression harm the "five dense organs", are the root cause of various diseases. Excessive anger is reflected in the liver, joy in the heart, sadness in the spleen, sorrow in the lungs, fear in the kidneys. So, meditation is the first secret of the longevity of the Shaolin monks.
2. The combination of orthodox Buddhism with martial arts
It is well known that there are strict rules in monasteries, according to which a person taking the monastic vows must be merciful, do good deeds, and must not raise a hand against a person. Therefore, monks are forbidden to practice martial arts. Shaolin went the other way. From the first day of its foundation, tall and strong monks demonstrated their skills in the field of fisticuffs, since the practice of life, development and spread of Buddhism required knowledge of martial arts, and only healthy and strong monks were able to keep their monastery intact. This is the second secret of longevity.
3. Knowledge in the field of medicine
Martial arts were accompanied by a large number of injuries. Therefore, the abbots of the monastery, willy-nilly, had to practice medicine, develop their own recipes and methods of treatment. Since the era of the Sui dynasties, the monastery began to send representatives to the mountains to famous healers to study the intricacies of medicine, especially healing wounds. Their number has been constantly increasing. Monks-doctors began to engage in therapy and gradually formed a full-fledged hospital at the monastery. In order to improve the effectiveness of the care of the victims, the abbots required that every practitioner of wushu had the necessary medical knowledge in four areas: the causes of diseases, treatment, prevention and medicines. Possessing knowledge of medicine, the monks studied the issues of longevity, developed methods for prolonging life. Thus, the medical secrets received by the monks from their mentors contributed to the development of the principles of longevity. This is the third secret of Shaolin monks' longevity.
SHAOLIN LIFE EXTENSION METHOD
Above, we focused on three features of the Shaolin method of life extension. However, this method has much in common with the methods of "nurturing life" of other schools and directions. Monk Xuan Gui, famous for his studies of the methods of "nurturing" and life extension, in his writings outlined the main directions of the Shaolin school, the essence of which is as follows:
- "cherishing life" through meditation;
- sunbathing;
- hardening by cold, heat and wind;
- healing the spleen with proper nutrition;
- cold water baths;
- life extension with the help of qigong;
- weight loss by walking
- strengthening the body with "hard" exercises;
- life extension with the help of the secrets of medicine;
- cleansing the body with massage;
- recovery with the help of wushu.
These directions make up a comprehensive method of "nurturing" and prolonging life, which has absorbed the long practice of Shaolin, the invaluable experience of other schools, a method that has proven its effectiveness in preventing diseases and improving health.
Nutrition principles
main food
Traditional Chinese medicine has long noted the close relationship between nutrition and human health. The Lingshu treatise says: “Upper heater turns on, passes five flavors of cereals. Qi is called something that gilds the skin, strengthens the body, nourishes the hair, irrigates like fog and dew. With the intake of food, the body is filled with qi. Getting into the bones, it has a beneficial effect on them, making them flexible. Saliva is a fluid that nourishes the brain and moisturizes the skin. Qi enters the middle heater, combines with the liquid and turns red. It makes blood."
This excerpt from an ancient treatise testifies to the important role that food plays in the functioning of the human body, which, getting into it, contribute to the formation of the nutritional substances necessary for a person - qi, blood and saliva. These nutrient substances support normal metabolism, continuously circulating, ensure the vital activity of the body.
Digestion of food is carried out mainly by the stomach and spleen. Therefore, the ancients said: "The spleen is the basis of post-natal life, the source that generates qi and blood."
The monk doctor of the Ming Beng Yue era, combining the principles of traditional Chinese medicine with his own experience, he created his own original approach to the issue of "nurturing life", brought out the daily diet of monks and nutrition during illness.
Peng Yue wrote: “The basis of nutrition is five grains, vegetables and fruits. Medicinal herbs should be taken throughout the year with food. Food should be orderly. Eating at the same time will allow you to live a hundred years.
He believed that food should be regular, varied, food should be fresh, that food should be taken at a certain time and in certain quantities that one should not consume large amounts of liquid, overeat or undereat.
In Shaolin, there are strict rules that food is taken three times a day. Every monk is obliged to strictly follow these rules.
It is forbidden to eat anything after the third meal. Breakfast in the monastery starts at six in the morning and includes two cups of liquid porridge. Lunch is at half past twelve and consists of steam pampushka or flatbread and an unlimited amount of liquid stew, at six in the evening - dinner, including one or one and a half cups of combined hodgepodge with noodles. Breakfast should not be heavy, at lunch you need to fill up as it should, and at dinner - a little less. Food should be varied. Monks are forbidden to eat meat and drink wine. Violators are punished with burning sticks and expelled from the monastery.
Meal Schedule
BREAKFAST
Time: 6 hours.
The main food: porridge from chumiza or corn with the addition of sweet potato or potatoes.
Quantity: 2 - 2.5 cups (100 g of rice or flour).
DINNER
Time: 11 o'clock.
Main food: tortillas made from a mixture of wheat and corn flour stuffed with dates or persimmons.
Quantity: 1 flatbread (250g) plus white radish, doufu (bean curd), mung bean noodles.
DINNER
Time: 6 pm. Main food: bean flour noodles.
Quantity: 1 - 1.5 cups with seasonal additions: alfalfa, celery, Chinese cabbage, etc.
Tea diet
Shaolin monks regularly drink medicinal tea, brewing it from herbs, depending on the weather conditions associated with the change of seasons. The use of such tea helps to improve the stomach, raise the "spirit" and prolong life.
spring tea : 30 g of field mint, 30 g of bulrush rhizomes, 10 g of liquorice, 30 g of Lawrer's gentian brew with boiling water and drink instead of tea 4-5 times a day, one glass, daily brewing a new portion. This infusion has an anti-infective and detoxifying effect, a good prophylactic against skin diseases, such as furunculosis.
summer tea : 18 g of large-flowered platycodon, 10 g of liquorice, 30 g of Japanese honeysuckle, brew with boiling water and drink instead of tea. This infusion has a detoxifying effect, relieves fever, is good for the throat, and is a good prophylactic against influenza. In the summer, you can also drink in small quantities the juice of fresh golden beans, obtained by squeezing the grains brewed with boiling water and crushed with the addition of sugar.
autumn tea : 20 g of forsysia hanging down, 10 g of bamboo leaves, 10 g of licorice, 3 g of dandelion, 10 g of foxglove root, brew with boiling water and drink instead of tea. This infusion promotes the formation of saliva, has detoxifying, antipyretic, diuretic and carminative properties.
winter tea : 3 g of raw ginger, 3 dates, 30 g of black tea leaves, 3 onion stalks boil and drink instead of tea. This decoction improves the functions of the intestines and spleen.
Longevity tea for all seasons: 30 g of polyflorous mountaineer, 30 g of Chinese chamomile, 35 g of hawthorn, 250 g of thick honey. Boil the first four ingredients in a clay pot for 40 minutes, drain the broth, squeeze the juice from the resulting solid mass. Pour water into a pot, put the pomace and boil, drain the broth. Repeat the procedure 3 times. Drain all the decoctions together (you should get 500 ml). Add honey and stir until smooth. Place the resulting product in a porcelain vessel and seal tightly. Consume daily after meals, 1 tablespoon diluted in half a glass of boiled water. This drink can be consumed all year round. It helps to replenish qi, nourish the blood, improve the functions of the stomach and spleen.
Wild Plants in the Diet of Monks
- Daylily lemon yellow, or common dandelion. It is harvested in the spring when it blooms. Dig up whole, wash and cut into small pieces. Then add salt and lightly knead. It can be added to other dishes. Daylily helps to eliminate heat and has a detoxifying effect. As the monks say, eating this plant for one month relieves skin abscesses and furunculosis for a whole year.
- Shepherd's bag. In spring, this plant covers large areas around the monastery. Fresh young leaves are eaten. They can be added directly to noodle soup, or boiled with salt, vinegar and a little sesame oil. Shepherd's purse is very nutritious, pleasant to the taste. It contributes to the replenishment of the blood and the improvement of the spleen. With prolonged use, it eliminates the yellowness of the face, relieves thinness, weakness in the limbs, dizziness and blurred vision.
- field mint. It grows in abundance near the monastery, filling the air with a pleasant aroma. Monks in spring and summer collect its stems with leaves, wash, cut into pieces, salt and lightly knead. The use of mint helps to improve vision, enlightenment in the head, and eliminate heat.
- Purslane . Purslane is harvested in summer and autumn. It is dug out entirely, washed and doused with boiling water. Eat, adding salt and oil. Pancakes are also prepared from it with the addition of flour and donuts. Purslane strengthens the stomach, normalizes bowel function, is recommended for indigestion and dysentery.
- Wormwood hairy. Young shoots of wormwood are harvested in early spring, washed, mixed with salt and flour and cooked on a steam grill. Wormwood helps to eliminate heat.
- Willow. In early spring, young willow shoots are collected, boiled in boiling water, taken out and eaten, adding salt and oil. Young shoots of willow can also be mixed with flour and steamed.
- Thistle japanese. The young leaves of thistle are harvested, washed and eaten raw with salt and butter, or boiled in noodle soup. Bodyak has a hemostatic effect.
- Chinese yam. This plant contributes to the "replenishment" of the kidneys, stops bleeding, strengthens the spleen and lungs. The monks collect it in late autumn and eat it boiled.
- tarot. It is dug up in early spring and late autumn and boiled with white radish. Taro promotes "replenishment" of the kidneys and blood.
- Hawthorn. Hawthorn fruits are harvested at the end of autumn, washed, boiled and mashed from them. Hawthorn puree is sour in taste, rich in vitamins, strengthens the stomach and improves digestion.
- Chestnut. Monks gather and eat boiled chestnuts in autumn. They taste sweet, strengthen the stomach and replenish the spleen.
- Gingo. This plant normalizes breathing, strengthens the lungs and kidneys. It is collected in 3 - 5 pieces a day, cleaned and boiled with crushed sugar. Both the fruits and the decoction are eaten.
Vitamins and longevity
The products used by Shaolin monks for food, from the point of view of modern dietology, can be divided into cereals, root crops, legumes and nuts, fruits and vegetables.
Cereals are one of the main products constantly consumed by humans. They are rich in carbohydrates, which contribute to the body's production of thermal energy, as well as protein. Grains are eaten in mixed form or together with legumes, which allows them to complement each other and to some extent compensate for the lack of amino acids in them. The amount of protein in cereals is approximately the same, they are an important source for the human body. Cereals also contain a large amount of vitamins, calcium, iron, coarse fibers.
Root crops supply the human body with thermal energy, contain many vitamins and minerals.
Legumes and nuts are high in protein and fat, especially soy. The protein content in them is higher than in vegetables and cereals. They are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, phosphatides, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.
Vegetables and fruits are rich in trace elements necessary for the human body. Leafy vegetables, for example, are high in B vitamins and carotene, as well as calcium, iron, and inorganic salts. In addition, the moisture and fiber contained in them promote digestion (see table).
Shaolin monks eat a variety of grains, mainly coarsely processed, as well as products made from beans, vegetables, and nuts. They establish their diet depending on the season and their own condition, which allows them to receive a complete set of nutrients that combine well with each other. This is the main way to maintain health and longevity. It is especially important that the monks abstain from meat.
DeYen / "Qigong and Sports" magazine, No. 2, 1995 /
CHARTER OF THE HOLY POKROVSK MEN'S MONASTERY
SOUTH SAKHALIN AND KURIL DIOCESE
CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
An Orthodox monastery is a Christian community that strictly lives according to the commandments of God, seeking spiritual perfection in the affairs of Christian life. The basis of the monastic spirit is the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself: "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" (Matthew 19:21).
St. Basil the Great in one of his conversations gives a detailed description of the monastic life. “A monk,” he says, “must, first of all, acquire a non-possessive life, bodily solitude, a decent life, have a moderate voice and a modest word, food and drink that does not cause rebellion, eat in silence, be silent before elders, listen to the wise, to equal to have love, to give love-filled advice to inferiors; move away worthless, carnal and vain people, think more and speak less, do not be impudent in words, do not allow excesses in conversation, avoid laughter, adorn yourself with shame, downcast your eyes down, and lift up your soul to grief, do not answer contradictions with contradictions, be submissive ; work with your own hands, always remember death, rejoice with hope, endure sorrow, pray without ceasing, give thanks for everything, be humble before everyone, hate arrogance, be sober and keep your heart from evil thoughts ..., take care of the suffering, cry with them to admonish the disorderly, to console the faint-hearted, to serve the sick..., to take care of brotherly love.”
A monk should more fully and completely strive in his life to embody one of the main commandments of Christ - the commandment of love: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; ...and love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).
A monk creates love for God through unceasing prayers, talking with Him, confessing to Him his infirmities, sins, and glorifying His goodness and mercy to all. A monk accomplishes love for his neighbors in the patience of their shortcomings, in constant prayer in them, in various help and mercy towards them.
While the monks were only singles, the so-called anchorites, they were saved according to the rules given to them by their fathers and their mentors, but with the advent of monasteries and numerous brotherhoods, a Charter was required that could regulate monastic life in them and contribute to a better development of the monastic spirit.
The Monk Pachomius the Great, an ascetic of the 4th century, received such a cenobitic Rule from the Holy Angel, and it formed the basis of all the other monastic Rules: St. Anthony the Great, St. Basil the Great, St. Kiev-Pechersk Monastery and later became a model for all other Russian monasteries).
CHAPTER 1. DEVICE OF THE MONASTERY
1. The Intercession Monastery of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Kuril diocese is a cenobitic monastery. He is completely subordinate to the ruling
the bishop, who is the Holy Archimandrite of the monastery.
2. The names of His Holiness the Patriarch and the ruling bishop, with their titles, are daily raised at all monastic services.
3. The ruling bishop appoints the Vicar of the monastery, whose candidacy is approved by His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod .
4. The ruling bishop, on the proposal of the Vicar of the monastery:
a) appoints the main officials of the monastery - assistant Viceroy,
confessor, treasurer, dean, housekeeper, sacristan and some others;
b) gives a blessing for initiation into the rank of hierodeacon and hieromonk
worthy persons from the brethren, as well as a blessing for monastic vows
ready for this novices;
c) bestow appropriate church awards on the most well-behaved
persons from among the monastics;
d) enrolls among the brethren those whom the Viceroy represents; dismisses persons
who grossly violate monastic discipline and maliciously go out of
obedience to commanding persons, not wanting to heed the voice of admonition.
5. The ruling bishop carries out general supervision of the monastery. With his
blessings The vicar leads the entire monastic life, including
economic.
6. A Spiritual Council should be formed to help the Viceroy.
7. The present Charter of the monastery provides for the linking of the way of spiritual
life not only with the achievement of their own goals - holiness and
the perfection of the monks, but also their bringing benefit to the people around them in the world, i.e.
spiritual and educational activities, charity and mercy.
CHAPTER 2. OFFICIALS OF THE MONASTERY
GORGEOUS
1. The viceroy carries out obedience in the monastery and conducts all monastic affairs
according to the blessing of his Rector, in connection with which he must know everything well
the needs of the monastery, in order to have constant care for everything.
2. The duty of the Viceroy is to maintain in every possible way high spiritual discipline and good order in the monastery; concern for the spiritual work and improvement of the monks; observation of the splendor and tiredness of divine services in monastic churches; taking care of the economy, the external condition of churches and other monastic buildings.
3. The vicar, as an official person and responsible for his monastery to the Rector-bishop, receives various visitors: pilgrims, foreign and domestic guests, employees of church and state institutions, guided by the good intentions and good judgment of the Church, which will serve for the good and benefit of his monastery .
4. The main concern of the Vicar is to take care of the spiritual state of his brethren, their diligence in prayer, in the worship of the monastery, their zeal in obedience and, especially, in striving for purity and holiness of life. The vicar constantly keeps in touch with the confessors of the monastery and monitors how often the brethren come to the Sacrament of Holy Confession and communion of the Holy Gifts of the Body and Blood of Christ.
5. The vicegerent, if health permits, leads all Sunday and festive monastic services, delivering teachings after them or entrusting them to other persons who are capable of this and have a holy order.
6. The vicegerent, cultivating the will of the monks, instilling humility in them, checks the fulfillment of the obediences assigned to each of the members of the monastery, and, if necessary, paternally makes comments, and even severe reprimands, up to penance, in order to admonish and correct the sinning brother , seeking in a prudent way from him recognition and repentance for the mistakes made.
7. In case of absence, illness or death of the Vicar, the Spiritual Council of the monastery, headed by the Father Assistant to the Vicar, enters into the temporary administration of his duties.
ASSISTANT GOVERNOR
1. The duty of the Assistant Viceroy is to provide comprehensive assistance to the Viceroy of the monastery in the conduct of monastic affairs, and in the absence of the Viceroy, the performance of his duties in accordance with the blessing.
2. The Viceroy's Assistant carries out the orders of the Viceroy to ensure the statutory life of the monastery and monitors the correct performance of their duties by officials.
3. All the officials of the monastery are subordinate to him. On serious violations of their duties, he reports to the Viceroy.
4. The Viceroy's Assistant has the right to keep in touch with government departments in matters related to the activities of the monastery, according to the Viceroy's blessing.
Confessor
1. The main duty of a confessor is the pastoral care of the brethren of the monastery, their spiritual condition. Performing the Sacrament of Repentance for them, he spiritually guides their lives, setting them on the path of soul salvation. The confessor, taking care of the brethren, in case of their illness or overload, may petition the Viceroy for a change or facilitation of obedience for individual monks.
2. The Confessor sees to it that all the inhabitants of the monastery regularly go to confession and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. For the monks, private conversations of the confessor will also be very useful, which will help them to better understand their monastic affairs.
3. The confessor visits his brethren, gets acquainted with the habitation of the monks, and in case of illness, he consoles and protects someone. In the field of view of the spiritual father is every brother of the monastery involved in obedience, exercising himself in reading spiritual books, in work and prayer, avoiding idleness, as the mother of all vices. The confessor should pay great attention to the obediences of the brethren of the monastery, observing and ascertaining their spiritual attitude towards them.
4. If for some reason the confessor fails to provide for all his spiritual children, an assistant may be assigned to him. In the case of monks evading obedience or careless attitude towards them, the Confessor takes this behavior into account and admonishes him at a convenient time for him.
5. The confessor makes sure that each of the brethren of the monastery passes the Sacrament of Confession at least once a week, and if one of the brethren evades this, he informs the Viceroy about it.
6. The confessor is the closest mentor to the novice monks.
7. The fraternal confessor oversees the confession of the pilgrims of the monastery, directs their confessors.
8. The Confessor assists his children in assimilating the Charter of the monastery, inclines them to obedience and teaches humility before the elder brethren and especially before the Vicar, strengthening their authority in the monastery. In confession, he does not so much accept the complaints of the penitent monk against the brethren and the Vicar, but seeks to instruct him in patience and bearing his own cross of life.
The circle of questions and answers of the confessor and the brethren is purely spiritual, and it should not concern the outer and administrative side of the monastery, which belongs to the Vicar.
TREASURER
1. The duty of the treasurer is to closely monitor the receipt and expenditure of the monastic treasury and to maintain income and expenditure books, in compliance with the rules of accountability. These books are annually submitted by the Viceroy to higher spiritual authorities for review.
2. The treasurer also monitors the condition and movement of all other types of material assets of the monastery.
3. The treasurer maintains an archive of the most important monastic documents, both economic and financial.
4. The treasurer oversees the condition and storage of inventories of the monastery property and valuables coming to the monastery.
5. The Treasurer, with the blessing of the Assistant Viceroy, issues advance money to the steward and other persons sent for purchases, and requires a report from them.
6. On the last days of the month, or in case of need, the treasurer, in the presence of the Viceroy's assistant or the dean and the accountant, opens the church mugs, counts the money and enters the total amount into the cash book.
7. The keys to the monastery mugs are kept in the treasury. A candlemaker, a shopkeeper, a prosphora seller, a librarian and an accountant are accountable to the treasurer.
AUDIENCE
1. The duty of the dean is to supervise the brethren of the monastery, their discipline and attitude towards their obediences, both in the church and in the monastery.
2. The Dean makes sure that complete silence and strict order are observed in the church during the service. For this, he appoints monks who ensure discipline in the temple.
3. In case of violations of discipline by any of the brethren, the dean's father gives instruction, admonishing him with a fraternal word.
4. The Reverend has the right to enter the cells of the brethren in order to know their everyday needs, as well as to keep order and cleanliness in them.
5. In order to preserve monastic discipline, the dean must take care that there are no strangers in the cells of the monastery - even close relatives, a meeting with whom can only be allowed in a reception room specially designated for this purpose, and then with the permission of the dean.
6. The dean places the monastic guests in the living rooms and takes care of them. The Reverend also takes care of the parishioners of the monastery. Through the inner clergy, he satisfies their spiritual needs.
7. The Reverend blesses those who have arrived at the monastery for food in the fraternal and common meal.
8. Under the control of the dean are gatekeepers, janitors, church watchmen, sellers of candles and prosphora, bell ringers.
9. The Dean may have an assistant (with the blessing of the Vicar), who, in his absence, performs the same functions.
10. It is the responsibility of the dean to constantly monitor the correct reading of the Liturgy, prayers and panikhidas of the Synodists and the notes and commemorations submitted by the laity.
11. Serious violations of discipline among the brethren report to the Vicar.
SACRISTAN
1. The duties of the sacristan include the management of church utensils, vestments, and all temple property, as well as their careful storage and use for their intended purpose.
2. The sacristan keeps an inventory of all church property and all vestry items, especially those newly received, with the establishment of an inventory number, indicating the source of receipt, century, price. If possible, the history of especially valuable temple relics, icons, and relics is included in the inventory. Valuables should be stored in a safe place. Without the blessing of the higher monastic authorities, THE INVENTIONS SHOULD NOT BE ISSUED TO ANYONE. Periodically introduce them for acquaintance to the Viceroy of the monastery, assistant to the Viceroy or treasurer.
3. The sacristy's keys must be kept by the sacristy.
4. The sacristan issues vestments for the clergy and ensures that things that require repair or washing are corrected and washed in a timely manner, and church utensils are regularly cleaned and wiped.
5. According to custom, the sacristan recloths the throne, brings the holy Antimins, as well as vessels into the Altar in vestments (epitrachel, handrails).
6. Vestments that have become unusable, covers, covers, towels, etc., upon consideration by the Viceroy or treasurer, are destroyed, for which an act is drawn up.
7. The sacristan oversees the illumination of the Altars and temples, and, especially, the cleanliness and order in the Altar, starting with the Throne, the Altar and ending with the sacristan's place.
8. Sextons, monastery tailors are subordinate to the sacristan.
9. The sacristan may have at his disposal one or two assistants, if necessary (with the blessing of the Viceroy).
The sacristan, with the blessing of the Viceroy, can acquire utensils with a subsequent report to the treasurer.
ECONOMY
1. The duty of the steward is to manage and supervise the economic and construction part of the monastery
2. He takes special care of churches, chapels, as the first shrines of the monastery. The housekeeper's care extends to the fraternal buildings, as well as to all utility rooms.
3. At the disposal of the steward are both monks engaged in monastic economic work, and hired workers, whom the steward accepts and appoints in right time for the production of various kinds of work, coordinating their work plans with the Viceroy, with his blessing.
4. The distribution of the time of the working brethren depends on the discretion of the Viceroy or assistant to the Viceroy, and the steward only ensures that everyone is conscientiously engaged in work at the appointed time.
5. The distribution of the time of hired workers depends on the discretion of the housekeeper himself, who assigns the necessary work, monitors the quality of their performance, and also pays their labor, coordinating it with the Viceroy.
6. Subordinate to the steward are: the cellar, the head of the workshops, the hotelier, all the monks working in the sector of the economy, drivers, electricians, masons, painters, carpenters and others.
7. If the steward finds it necessary and useful to carry out any improvements in the monastic economy, then he is given the right to present his considerations to the Viceroy, and after approval and blessing, he can begin to implement his plans.
The economy has a special monastic obedience - to carry out construction and household work at minimal cost, protecting the monastic treasury, carefully guarding and spending household materials.
8. The housekeeper, if desired and necessary, may have an assistant (with the blessing of the Viceroy).
9. The economy receives the right from the monastery to keep in touch with government departments in business matters, according to the blessing of the Viceroy.
10. Work in the monastic economy begins and ends according to the church - prayer.
CELLARER
1. The duties of the cellarer are to acquire the necessary food products, as well as to monitor their safety.
2. Under the supervision of the cellar is the monastery kitchen, food stores, prosphora and the refectory, in which cleanliness and tidiness must be observed.
5. The cellarer oversees that at the meal everything is always prepared according to the monastic Rule, so that the food left on the tables does not disappear.
4. Without a special blessing from the Viceroy, the cellarer should not release food to the monastic cells.
5. The cellarer takes care of the timely harvesting of vegetables and fruits for the winter period.
6. The following persons are subordinate to the cellar: refectory, cook, cellar and all kitchen workers.
7. In the absence of the cellarer, he is replaced in everything by his assistant - the refectory.
INSTALLER
1. The duties of the superintendent are to strictly observe the order of all church services, so that they are performed in accordance with the typicon and local monastic customs.
2. The setter monitors the daily readers, for the correct statutory administration of hours, troparia, kontakions, kathismas and other readings, which must be performed without errors, reverently, distinctly and artlessly.
3. The Ruler oversees the correct reading of the teachings in the temple and in the refectory and coordinates the book proposed for reading with the Viceroy.
4. The steward must draw up a schedule of church services a month in advance, which he must submit in advance to the Viceroy for approval.
5. Novice and little knowing readers should be taught the correct church reading by the usher.
6. The clerk must monitor the state of church liturgical books, and those that have become unusable must be restored in a timely manner or, with the blessing of the Viceroy, destroyed if they cannot be repaired.
7. In the obedience of the usher are: regent, canonarch, regular readers and singers.
8. The Ruler may have an assistant (with the blessing of the Viceroy), to whom he must transfer his knowledge and experience.
REGENT
1. The duties of the regent are to manage the monastery choir and to establish exemplary order in the kliros.
2. The choir should sing harmoniously and prayerfully, so that the singing touches, touches and brings spiritual benefit to all those who pray.
3. Neither the choir director nor the singers should allow jokes, laughter, quarrels, idle talk and noise on the kliros.
4. The regent instructs the canonarch to review the texts of the stichera in advance so that he can canon clearly and distinctly, making semantic stops between phrases.
5. The regent is obliged to systematically organize rehearsals of the choir, in which all singers must take part.
6. The regent submits to the steward and coordinates all divine services with him.
7. The list of chants is submitted to the Viceroy for approval.
SEXTON
1. The duties of a sexton require a very attentive attitude, since this obedience is associated with his presence in the Altar near the Holy See and the Altar, in which idle talk, laughter, jokes and everything obscene to this holy place are unacceptable. The sexton must come to the Altar in advance to prepare it for the service.
2. The sexton is obliged to attend the service, kindle lamps and a censer, prepare prosphora, wine, water, warmth and other things related to the service.
3. The sexton has the duty to look after the cleanliness in the Altar and the temple; clean the censer, candlesticks, remove dust and cobwebs from windows, icons, look after carpets, pour water from the washbasin into a specially designated and arranged place, ventilate and sweep the Altar.
4. The sexton obeys the sacristan.
5. At the end of the service, the sexton carefully checks the Altar for fire safety. Usually the side doors of the Altar are unlocked and locked by the sexton himself.
CLERK
1. The duty of the clerk is to manage the entire clerical office of the monastery.
2. All written records of the monastery, including archives, must always be in perfect order and be properly registered.
3. Correspondence of the monastery with various organizations and individuals should be carried out carefully and not be delayed.
4. The clerk accepts monastic correspondence and presents it to the head of the office. He also deals with the issues of postal orders, parcels and draws them up properly.
5. The clerk may have an assistant (with the blessing of the Vicar) who delivers and receives all monastic correspondence at the post office.
BELL RINGER
1. The bell-ringer, with the blessing of the dean, at the appointed time produces the evangelism for the service.
2. Blagovest or trezvon is made in accordance with the Charter. The nature of the bells should correspond to the established traditions of church sounds.
3. The bell ringer should not allow unauthorized persons to enter the bell tower without special instructions and need.
4. With the help of the housekeeper service, he monitors the condition of the entire belfry.
LIBRARIAN
1. The responsibility of the librarian lies in the management of the monastery library, the acquisition of the necessary books, as well as other publications, the compilation of a catalog and card index.
2. The librarian issues books to the inhabitants of the monastery against receipt.
3. The position of a librarian requires a person experienced in spiritual work, who would lend out books, in accordance with the development and spiritual preparation of everyone who wants to take a book.
4. The librarian gives damaged books for restoration in a timely manner.
Supervises the book depository, monitors the internal regime in it and, especially, fire safety.
5. The video and audio libraries are part of the library, so turning on and viewing the VCR and listening to the audio recorder is the responsibility of the librarian.
6. The librarian, through the Governor or his assistant, specifies the time and order of the library and agrees with him on the circle of persons who have the right to use the library.
PROSFORNIC
1. The prosphora maker is responsible for the quality and timeliness of the production of prosphora,
especially liturgical ones.
2. Prosphora is baked from pure, fresh wheat flour of the highest grade.
3. The samprosphorist should live in purity and reverence, being in prayer, and especially while working in the prosphora, where extraneous conversations, laughter, jokes are unacceptable, as bread is baked for the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist.
4. During the baking of the prosphora, all who take part in the baking of the prosphora should take turns reading aloud the 50th psalm.
5. The prosforist obeys the steward, receives flour and everything he needs from the cellarer.
6. The prosphora room is kept in proper cleanliness and order. He reports to the steward of the monastery about the repair work in the prosphoron.
MEAL
1. The trapeznik oversees the timely and high-quality preparation of food for the brethren in the cook's room and looks after the order during the meal.
2. While eating in the refectory, the life of the saints, the prologue, or something from the writings of the holy fathers is usually read.
3. The refectory attendant ensures that the rooms, tables and dishes are always kept clean in the refectory.
4. Sets the tables for the set meals of the brethren and then clears the dishes.
HOSPITAL
1. The duties of a sick person are to care for and supervise those who are being treated in the isolation ward of the monastery.
2. The sick person must be gentle, patient, compassionate and caring for the sick.
3 The sick-list provides the sick with food, drink, and medicines at the right time.
SHOP MANAGER
1. The duty of the head of any workshop (icon painting, sewing, carpentry, etc.) is to supervise the work carried out in it, as well as the workers.
2. Violations in work or abuses must be reported to the housekeeper.
3. It is forbidden to drink tea in workshops.
OFFICE MANAGER
1. The main duty of the head of the office is the diligent conduct of the personal correspondence of the Viceroy.
2. He is obliged to timely submit to the Viceroy the personal letters that have come to him, and, with his blessing, answer them, and respond to the rest of the correspondence through the clerk.
3. He is entrusted with keeping the minutes of the meetings of the Spiritual Council, their correct execution and saving.
4. Ensure that the monastics and novices of the monastery correspond only with the circle of persons of people determined by the Vicar. In cases of detection of a violation of correspondence by him, promptly report this to the Viceroy.
5. Specify in advance the agenda of the Spiritual Council and systematize the issues proposed for consideration at it.
CHAPTER 3. CONDITIONS FOR ADMISSION TO A MONASTERY
1. Who for the sake of God renounces the world and enters into monasticism, he embarks on the path of spiritual life. The motivation for it in a Christian appears as a result of his faith and inner striving for spiritual perfection, which is based on the renunciation of evil and the passions of the world, as the first condition for the salvation of the soul.
2. No previous moral way of life in the world prevents a Christian from entering a monastery for the purpose of saving his soul, as stated in canon 43 of the VI Ecumenical Council.
3. The following cannot be admitted to the monastery:
- persons under the age of majority;
- a husband with a living wife and a wife with a living husband; as well as parents with young children required by their guardianship;
- Monks who have taken tonsure in another monastery or in the world;
Spouses, sealed by a church marriage, can enter a monastery, provided that they take a blessing from the bishop for a new way of life and at the same time each enter their own monastery.
4. Entering the monastery must present a passport, certificate of marital status, military ID (or certificate of exemption from military service), write an autobiography and apply to the Viceroy for admission to the monastery. It is advisable to submit a recommendation from a clergyman.
5. After submitting a petition to the brethren, the newcomer gets acquainted with the present Charter and passes the test for three years, and if he proves worthy, according to the decision of the Spiritual Council, the Vicar, with the blessing of the ruling bishop, tonsures him into the monastic rank.
6. The period of probation can also be shortened depending on the moral stability and benevolence of the newcomer, and also if the person being tonsured was known for his pious life before entering the monastery: these include students of seminaries, students of theological academies, widowed priests and others.
CHAPTER 4
1. A novice, first of all, must carefully read and assimilate the monastic Rules, so that at the very first steps of his stay in the monastery he does not violate the order and discipline established in it.
2. The novice gives a signature that he undertakes to sacredly fulfill everything set forth in this Charter; in case of violation of the above Charter, he is subject to an appropriate penalty from the administration of the monastery for the purpose of admonishment and repentance, and in case of persistent disobedience, he can be removed from the monastery.
3. A novice must strive in every possible way for spiritual life, as the first goal of his calling, leaving secular habits, remembering the instruction of St. Basil the Great to beginner monks: “Have a modest gait, do not speak loudly, observe good manners in conversation, eat and drink reverently, remain silent in front of the elders, be attentive to the wise, obedient and in command, have unhypocritical love for equals and lesser ones, move away from evil speak little, carefully collect knowledge, do not talk too much, do not be quick to laugh, adorn yourself with modesty.
4. In relation to the Vicar and the inhabitants of the monastery, the novice must show humble respect.
5. A novice, when meeting with the Viceroy, as well as with brethren in holy orders, should take a blessing; greetings to other inhabitants can be expressed with a waist bow.
6. Entering someone else's cell should be with the Jesus Prayer and only when the answer is received: "Amen."
7. After the evening rule, all idle conversations and walks are prohibited, the brethren in silence disperse to their cells and get ready for bed, reading spiritual literature is allowed until 24.00, as well as needlework.
8. It is not allowed for the brethren to independently establish a cell rule for themselves, and also to create it at night.
9. It is fitting to unquestioningly obey the Vicar, the rulers of the monastery, remembering that Christ Himself said about Himself: “For I came down from Heaven not to do My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 6:38).
10. Diligent and diligent obedience for the beginners is a guarantee of their future spiritual growth and salvation.
11. Avoid self-will: do nothing without the blessing of superiors, even if it seems to be laudable, so as not to fall into temptation, pride and charm.
12. It is not customary for monastics to discuss or criticize the orders of the Vicar of the monastery, but, on the contrary, to fulfill them with prayer and humility.
13. If a brother does not agree with the orders of those in charge, he, with meekness and in private, may well express his opinion to the one who gave this order at his further discretion.
14. A novice and monastic should be in constant peace and love with all the brethren of the monastery, trying to be friendly and helpful with everyone.
15. No one should take to his cell any thing, even the most necessary, without the blessing of elders, remembering that any such acquisition without blessing is theft.
16. Monastics should not bring unnecessary things into the cell, fall into the sin of misbehavior. The best decoration of the monastic cell are the holy icons and books of Holy Scripture, as well as the creations of the holy fathers. A monk's cell contains the bare minimum of everything that cannot be dispensed with in it. The cell should be red not by things, but by the spirit of faith and prayer of the monk living in it. Secular and purely worldly things and belongings should not have a place in the cell.
17. Monks and novices are prohibited from drinking tea and eating in the cell, as well as bringing food products into the cell.
16. It is forbidden for the brethren to have tape recorders, cameras, refrigerators, musical instruments in their cells.
19. It is indecent for monastics or novices to speak loudly, laugh and behave freely.
20. Chastity or purity of soul consists not only in keeping oneself from vicious deeds and deeds, but also from impure thoughts as the first reasons for sin.
21. Everywhere and always it is proper for a monk to refrain from idle talk, remembering the words of the Lord: “I tell you that for every idle word that people say, they will give an answer on the Day of Judgment: for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” ( Matthew 12:36).
22. Smoking, drinking alcohol and foul language in the monastery should not even be named in it, that is, it is categorically forbidden, and violation of this ancient rule entails serious punishment, up to expulsion from the monastery.
CHAPTER 5. ABOUT SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE
1. Each monastic and novice should be under special spiritual guidance - a fraternal confessor, who should reveal his spiritual state - perplexity, doubt, difficulty, temptation and receive instructions and spiritual support from him.
2. Each of the brethren of the monastery should open his thoughts to the fraternal confessor as often as possible, but at least once a week.
3. For spiritual knowledge and growth, every monastic should, as a rule, read several chapters of Holy Scripture with great attention every day, and also diligently read the works of the Holy Fathers and other soul-beneficial literature, finding in it spiritual food and consolation.
4. A monastic without a spiritual father should not undertake anything in the spiritual work of salvation according to his own thought and will; for example, to impose a fast on oneself in excess of the prescribed by the Charter, or something else, so as not to fall into delusion and not damage one's salvation.
5. If any misunderstanding or quarrel occurs between the brothers, it is necessary to hasten to extinguish them by mutual forgiveness and humility, and immediately restore peace and love, remembering the covenant of Holy Scripture: “Let not the sun go down in your anger” (Eph. 4, 28 ).
6. A brother who violates monastic discipline may be subject to spiritual punishment through the imposition of penance, which should be viewed not as a punishing scourge, but as a necessary medicine that heals spiritual illnesses and infirmities.
7. If the sick consider doctors to be benefactors, although they give them bitter medicine, so the sinning monk should look at the penances that are given to him and accept them as good medicine and a sign of mercy for the salvation of the soul (St. Basil the Great, rule 52 ).
8. Every sinner is given penance according to his spiritual constitution and his infirmity. Just as it is impossible to treat bodily diseases with the same medicine, so spiritual forgiveness should be of a diverse nature: “Just as there is no one healing for bodily ailments, so there is no one for spiritual ones,” says St. Isaac the Syrian.
9. As a correction, the following measures can be used: removal from the fraternal meal for one or more days; fasting all week; transfer from one obedience to another, more difficult; bowing down; excommunication for a certain period from communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ; removal of the hood and cassock; transfer from a cell to another, less convenient, as well as others that the Vicar deems necessary to apply.
CHAPTER 6. ABOUT CHURCH SERVICE
1. The most important point church life is church service, a common prayerful vigil, and therefore participation in these should be the primary concern and aspiration of all those living in the monastery.
2. Evasion or careless attitude to temple prayer, to this most sacred matter, should be considered an important violation of the order of the spiritual life of the monastery.
3. The purpose of frequent long prayer is to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit in your heart by acquiring the habit of unceasing and living remembrance of God.
4. For the purpose of the magnificent celebration of divine services in the monastery, the dean, together with the steward, draw up a schedule of church services for a month in advance, indicating the names of the clergy, readers, sextons, canonarchs who take part in them, notify them of this obedience. All schedules for the temple and the monastery are signed by the Viceroy. Unauthorized violation or change of the schedule of services is not allowed.
5. Half an hour before the start of the morning service, the wake-up caller goes around all the cells with a bell and raises the brethren to prayer.
6. Each of the monastics should try to come to church without delay, before the start of the service. No one should also leave the temple before the end of the service, unless there is an urgent matter of obedience. The Dean reports to the Viceroy about the most malicious violators.
7. Weekly hieromonks and deacons arrive at the service early, at least 15 minutes before the start, dress and prepare everything necessary for the celebration of the service.
8. Some of the monks, by virtue of their special obedience in the monastery, cannot attend divine services daily, for which they receive a blessing from the Vicar. Such obedience is imputed to them in the same way as prayer in the temple.
9. Clergymen who read and sing in church must do their work with unflagging attention, without haste, "with fear and trembling" and without violating the monastic Rule.
10. On the way to and from the church, one should not stop with outsiders and enter into conversations with them, and if anyone is asked about something, then one should limit oneself to a short answer.
11. In church, you can’t talk, look around, but be concentrated, listen to God, worship and yourself.
12. In view of the fact that monastic churches are visited not only by monastics, but also by pilgrims, special rites of worship and Sacraments can be performed for them - prayers, panikhidas, akathists, unctions, but weddings in the monastery should not be performed.
13. In special cases, with the blessing of the Vicar, it is possible to perform the rite of Baptism.
14. Priests, under no pretext, should take money for their needs, but give them to the monastic treasury.
15. On all days when the All-Night Vigil is performed, the brethren should be in the temple in the prescribed clothes: monastics - in cassocks, mantles and klobuks (cassocks can be removed in warm weather); monks - in cassocks and hoods; novices - in cassocks (if there is a blessing of the Viceroy for wearing it). Hoods are removed only at set times of the service.
16. Clothing should be clean and simple. The color of monastic clothes is always black and no other. For work, it can be gray, brown or otherwise, but not bright. Wearing clothes of a different color is allowed only to the Viceroy and the priestly monk with the rank of abbot with the blessing of the Viceroy.
17. If one of the brethren falls ill and cannot come to the service, he must warn about this in advance through someone or himself, the assistant to the Viceroy or the dean.
18. Priests are allowed to sit in the Altar only during the reading of the Apostle, Parimial icathism. In all other cases, it is necessary to ask for the blessings of the Viceroy. Deacons can sit in the Altar only if they feel unwell, with the permission of the Vicar.
CHAPTER 7
1. In simple days the beginning of the morning meal at 12.00. Before this, 5 minutes before this, the refectory strikes the bell 12 times and the brethren gather in the refectory. The meal begins and ends with the established prayer. In the absence of the Vicar on it, the weekly hieromonk blesses the food.
2. On holidays, when the rite of "Panagia" is performed, the beginning of the fraternal meal immediately after the end of the service and the arrival of the brethren at the refectory, which also begins and ends with the established prayer. Food is blessed by the Viceroy, in his absence - by the assistant of the Viceroy or the weekly hieromonk.
3. The evening meal begins immediately after the end of the service and the arrival of the brethren in the refectory. In the absence of the Viceroy, the weekly hieromonk blesses the food. 5 minutes before the end of the service, the ringer strikes the bell 12 times.
4. On the days when the all-night vigil is performed, the brethren arrive at the refectory in the prescribed clothes: monks in cassocks and klobuks, monks in cassocks.
5. A weekly hieromonk and hierodeacon always arrives at the refectory in a cassock, mantle and hood.
6. The meal in the monastery is a continuation of the divine service and is of a sacred nature and requires the monk to have a sacred attitude towards it.
7. It is forbidden to talk and laugh at the meal. If someone is missing something on the table, let him call the trapper with a gesture.
If the Viceroy needs to clarify something, then the right brother should quietly come up and give an answer to the Viceroy.
8. Late entry into the refectory or exit from it before the end of the meal without the blessing of the Viceroy is recognized as a violation of discipline and is reprehensible.
9. No one should take food in the cell, except for those who are allowed by the Viceroy or the Dean, as they are unable to come to the common meal due to illness or for some good reason.
10. A monastic should humbly eat the food served and not say: “This is not tasty, this is harmful to me.” He can then express his wishes and sorrows on this occasion to the spiritual father or the steward, without spreading them further.
11. For a special, dietary meal, a monastic must take a blessing from the Viceroy or confessor.
12. The brethren of the monastery are forbidden to eat food in a common meal, as well as being in it, if this is not related to his obedience.
13. The abbot of the monastery has the right to have a separate meal and a separate kitchen. He can invite to his table whoever he wants from the brethren, as well as the guests who have arrived.
CHAPTER 8
1. The bell ringing in the monastery is performed at the time specified by the Charter
and moments of service and is assigned to the senior bell ringer, who makes the ringing
either by himself or through his assistants.
2. Bell ringing relies:
a) in the morning 15 minutes before the start of the service - 12 strokes of the small bell;
b) before the start of the refectory - 12 strokes on a small bell;
c) at the end of the morning meal on the eve of the all-night vigil, the bell is struck 12 times;
d) at the meeting of the Bishop - a festive ringing;
e) before the beginning of the liturgy and in all cases provided for by the Charter.
CHAPTER 9
1. The time remaining from church services and obedience should be spent by monastics in the cell very prudently and carefully, with the desire to acquire as much as possible more benefit, but mainly spiritual, avoiding any indulgence of their passions,
2. Such useful cell activities can be:
a) cell rule according to the Charter and the blessing of the confessor;
b) reading spiritual books with an extract from them of the most lively and edifying places for monks;
c) exercise in spiritual reading, the study of the Church Slavonic language, the Church Charter and preparation for the church service;
d) needlework for the benefit of the monastery and for one's own needs with the blessing of the confessor;
e) cleaning the cell, cleaning and repairing clothes, shoes, etc.
3. The monk's favorite reference book should be the Holy Bible with interpretations on it.
4. The brethren's cell clothes should be clean, simple, without pretense of luxury.
“Vanity and bitterness come from luxurious clothes,” says Isaac Sirin.
5. In case of a serious illness, a monk can go to a doctor by leaving the monastery, having previously taken a blessing from his superiors. The monk uses the medical service of the monastery hospital in case of a sudden illness.
6. Prayer in the cell, reading the Psalter and especially the Holy Gospel - extinguish many passions of the soul and body.
7. Private contemplation elevates, sanctifies the mind and purifies the heart, brings peace to the soul.
8. The mind, according to the teachings of the holy fathers, should never be idle.
CHAPTER 10. ABOUT EXTERNAL VISITORS AND MUTUAL VISITS TO CELLS
1. Reception in the cells of external visitors is allowed only with the blessing of the monastic authorities, and during the daytime hours.
2. Female persons are not allowed in the cell under any circumstances. If a monastic needs to see close relatives, then they are received not in the cell, but in a specially appointed reception room of the monastery (monastic hotel) with a blessing.
3. Without the blessing of the Vicar, no one has the right to leave any of the outsiders in his cell for the night, and also none of the brethren has the right to spend the night in someone else's cell of his monastery.
4. Monastics and novices do not have the right to enter into communication with visitors to the monastery and relatives without receiving the blessing of the Viceroy, his assistant or dean.
5. The brethren, with the blessing of the confessor, may visit each other in their cells for spiritual conversation or to help the sick and the elderly, but not for empty talk and fun.
6. After the evening rule, the monk must remain in his cell, except for those special cases when he calls the spiritual authorities or needs to visit the sick, etc., having received the blessing of the assistant of the Viceroy or the dean for this.
CHAPTER 11 CONDITIONS OF ABSENCE FROM THE MONASTERY
1. Exit from the monastery can be twofold: out of obedience, out of official necessity, at the request of those who have a respectful personal need for it.
2. If any of the monastics needs to leave during the daytime hours (before the beginning of the evening service) for a short time from the monastery, then for this it is necessary to have the verbal permission of the Viceroy, and in his absence - his assistant or dean. When traveling home, to other cities or villages, even for the most insignificant period, one must write a petition addressed to the Viceroy indicating the reason, the exact address of one's trip and the time of return.
3. Regular vacations do not correspond to the monastic way of life, therefore leaving the monastery for a long period is carried out only when absolutely necessary (for emergency treatment, illness or death of relatives and other cases), as well as for business trips. But in each individual case, the Viceroy has a special judgment on this, so that the time spent by the brother outside the walls of the monastery does not harm him spiritually.
4. Those sent in view of special need for obedience in the city or other places outside the walls of the monastery must immediately return to the monastery after the end of this obedience.
5. Monks in holy orders, released outside the walls of the monastery, do not have the right to serve as priests without the permission of the ruling bishop of the area where they are
arrived and where they wish to serve.
6. The brethren of the monastery are forbidden to visit the monastery hotel without the blessing of the Viceroy, his assistant or dean.
7. Monastics should in every possible way avoid leaving their monastery, even for the shortest time, remembering that the walls and the spirit of the monastery are best protection from various temptations and temptations. Every monk, having been in the world, returns to his cell spiritually worse than he came out of it: this is what the holy ascetics teach.
8. Let us force ourselves, brethren, to acquire the good habit of patiently staying in a monastery, leaving it only when absolutely necessary. St. Anthony the Great once said about this: “Like fish, remaining on land, die, so monks, staying with worldly people, outside the monastery, lose their disposition towards silence. As a fish tends to the sea, so we must strive to our cells, so that, slowing down outside of it, we do not forget about internal storage ”(Alphabetic Paterik).
CHAPTER 12. SPIRITUAL CATHEDRAL
1. To help the Vicar, the Spiritual Council of the monastery should be formed,
which includes:
- Viceroy;
- Deputy Viceroy;
- confessor;
- treasurer;
- dean;
- economy;
- sacristan;
- cellar;
- head of the office;
as well as, if necessary, other persons of the monastery with the blessing of the Viceroy.
2. After listening to the opinion of the brethren, the Viceroy must discuss everything himself and do what he finds more useful.
3. The brethren should offer their opinions to them with all humble submission, not daring to defend with perseverance what they have thought up.
4. Decide the last decision is the will of the Viceroy, which he considers more salutary, and everyone must submit to him.
5. No one in the monastery should follow his own will or impudently enter into a dispute with the Viceroy regarding his orders for the monastery. Anyone who dares to do so must be subject to the prescribed measures of correction.
6. Let the Viceroy himself do everything with the fear of God and with the observance of the truth, remembering that he will certainly give an account of all his judgments to God, the Most Righteous Judge.
7. If it is necessary to do something insignificant in favor of the monastery, then the Vicar can only use the advice of the elder brothers, as it is written: “do nothing without advice, and when you do, do not repent” (Sir, 32, 21).
8. The head of the chancellery specifies the issues submitted for decision by the Spiritual Council in advance through the Viceroy and reads them in an orderly manner before the Council.
9. The Spiritual Council meets as needed, but at least 4 times a year, its decisions come into force after the approval of the minutes of the meeting by the Viceroy.
CHAPTER 13
1. Human infirmities are so great that the most beneficial institutions for others remain fruitless, or not always and not in everything fruitful. Either due to weakening of attention, now due to corruption, now due to enemy temptation, falls often occur in violation of not only monastic rules, but also the Divine commandments.
Therefore, it is necessary to use measures of correction and admonition, so that if it becomes necessary to expel someone, expel him in the confidence that there is no more hope for his correction.
2. The rules that apply to the correction of the fallen constitute the rules of punishment or penance.
3. The judge of all is the Abbot of the monastery, he alone has the right to punish any of the brethren.
4. The remaining officials, to whom the Charter prescribes the supervision of the brethren, must make corrections to the sinner up to 3 times, and if he does not correct himself, then report this to the Viceroy.
5. If such officials do not care about the correction of the brethren and do not report violations to the Viceroy, then they themselves must be punished.
CHAPTER 14. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL FROM THE MONASTERY
1. Monks who have betrayed their vows and begun to live shamefully, defaming the Holy Church and their monastery, after repeated exhortations and disciplinary sanctions, are removed from the monastery as unfit for monastic life and as bringing temptation to the environment of monastics.
2. A monk removed from a monastery leaves his monastic robes.
3. If any monk who was removed from the monastery or who voluntarily left it later, having known his fall, returns and asks to return to the monastery, such a one can, after considering his case, be accepted, but already in the category of newcomers.
4. From those who have been removed or arbitrarily left the monastery and again wished to return to it, a written promise should be required to continue to lead a life in accordance with the Gospel and the monastic Rule.
5. In the event of the death of a monk, all his property, according to the inventory, is transferred to the warehouse and is the common property of the monastery.
CONCLUSION
This monastic Rule, as a guide for monastic life, must be fulfilled with prayer and zeal, to the best of our ability, for the sake of salvation and spiritual growth.
BY THE PRAYERS OF OUR HOLY FATHERS, LORD JESUS CHRIST, OUR GOD, HAVE PARTY ON US. AMEN.
Despite the fact that modern Old Believer calendars contain precise indications regarding fasting and fasting days of the year, the true Old Russian traditions of eating and fasting are still little known. Today we will talk about fasting in the monasteries of the Russian Church before the church schism, and on the basis of old documents we will reconstruct now forgotten monastic dishes.
Small home charter
The dietary guidelines of the modern Old Believer calendars of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, the Russian Old Orthodox Church, the Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church relate to the use of certain types of products on the days of the church year. Attention is concentrated mainly on five parameters of the meal:
fast food;
fish food;
food with oil;
food without oil(meaning without vegetable oil);
xerophagy(today this refers to uncooked food, fresh vegetables or fruits).
It is believed that all these instructions are taken from " Small house charter”- a book compiled in the 19th century and which became a kind of collection of statutory instructions regarding fasting, meals and cell prayer. And although there is an opinion that the “Small House Rule” unites a certain amount of pre-schism church tradition, including the customs ancient Russian monasteries and parish churches, in fact, his instructions go back mainly to one book - the Typicon ("Church Eye"), published in 1641 under Patriarch Joseph and, according to legend, associated with the ancient charter of the Jerusalem monastery. It should be noted that the New Believer charter in terms of fasting does not differ in any way from the Old Believer. They are completely identical because they have the same source.
Pea slurry
However, neither in the "Small House Rule", nor even more so in the modern Old Believer calendars, can one find information directly related to the food tradition of pre-schismatic Rus'. What did they eat in Rus' on holidays and fasts simple people, what is the clergy, and what is the boyars? What dishes were served in numerous monasteries? Almost nothing is known about this, and studies and documents that talk about it are not widely available. Small remarks, occasionally published in popular historical literature, provide very modest information on this topic and are mainly limited to general words about the piety of ancient Rus'. Usually in such cases they quote, oddly enough, foreigners. Thus, speaking of the diet of Great Lent, one usually recalls the writings of the archdeacon Paul of Aleppo who visited from Macarius, Patriarch of Antioch, at the invitation of Patriarch Nikon, Moscow in 1654-1656:
“In this post, we endured great torment with him, imitating them (Russians - approx. ed.) Against our will, especially in food: we did not find any other food, except for a smear similar to boiled peas and beans, because in this post, in general, it’s completely do not eat oil. For this reason, we experienced indescribable agony.”
Also, information sometimes slips that in northern monasteries, like Solovetsky, “dry” (dried fish) was allowed during Great Lent, because there was absolutely no bread in those places, and the monks were forced to eat fish. However, due to the lack of widely known and published historical documents, information about "sushi", like any other fish used in the Great and Assumption Lent, is criticized by some zealots. According to such authors, the Studite Charter, which indeed allowed the repeated consumption of fish during Great Lent (not only on the Annunciation, but also on the day of the 40 martyrs, the acquisition of the head of St. John the Forerunner, St. Alexis, the man of God, the righteous Lazarus and some others) has not been used in Rus' for a long time. They note that even centuries before the church schism, the ban on fish in monastic institutions fully met the requirements of modern church calendars, and during Great Lent, indeed, the main dish was pea mash, mentioned by Paul of Aleppo.
Secrets of the monastery habitants
Unfortunately, it so happened that there is no complete research work dedicated to the daily meal in ancient Rus', both monastic and parish, in different strata, different classes of the population. In order to compile such a study, you need to study dozens, if not hundreds of documents. To a greater extent, the documents of the monasteries have survived to this day. These are various kinds of inventories, daily routines and charters. It takes years to study all that have survived, so let's try to see what lies on the surface. On the website of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in the section "The main collection of the library of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra", we find the "Obykhodnik" of 1645. It contains not only liturgical instructions, but also food. We find there an indication of the food charter of the first Saturday of Great Lent:
« Boiled with butter for the brethren, and dry rubbed in a sour brew, and not fish. And we drink the wine set for the glory of God, if two cups are received. Likewise, in the evening, two bowls. In the evening shchi and dry peas mixed with a lot of butter».
What conclusions can be drawn from this? Sush (dried fish), apparently, was used not only in the regions of the far north, where there is “no bread at all,” but, as we see, in the central monastery of the Russian state. The indication “dry land, not fish” clearly means that in other places (which are not indicated) fresh fish was allowed, and the indication was made in order to avoid mistakes in cooking according to the monastery charter of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Unfortunately, “sush” (dried fish), popular before the schism, is not mentioned at all in church calendars today, although you can buy it in most Russian grocery stores. You can also pay attention to the solid number of bowls of wine consumed in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.
In the "Obikhodnik" of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery there are not so many indications of a domestic nature. But there are other "Obykhodniki", with more detailed description household regulations. One of them belongs to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.
This document is well known and was even published by the Indrik publishing house in 2002. This "Obikhodnik" gives a detailed description of almost every day of Great Lent, as well as other days of the church year. Skip the liturgical instructions, let us look at the refectory regulations of this famous monastery concerning the second week of Great Lent.
On Monday: On that day, the brethren eat brotherly bread, retka, kvass, in bowls in large water, cabbage crumbled with horseradish, oatmeal, turnips, or mushrooms or milk mushrooms with garlic. And on which days the brethren are dry-eating, then there is no serving and a bowl of kvass.
On Tuesday: The brethren eat in tables for a quarter of brotherly bread, crackers, borscht shti with juice, kvass from a smaller cellar in large bowls, peas or porridge juicy. If on this Tuesday or on any other days of Great Lent the Finding of the head of Ivan the Baptist, or the 40th martyr, or new saints: Euphemia of Novgorod, Demetrius of Prilutsky, Alexei Metropolitan, Macarius Kolyazinsky, Jonah Metropolitan, then eat white bread, barley kvass in large bowls , shti, in a bowl, lips in juice or cabbage are heated with butter, grated peas with butter, caviar or korowai, porridge juicy or pea noodles with pepper, chetsu serving.
On Wednesday: Eat dry food: broth bread, retka, kvass, in large bowls water, cabbage with horseradish, oatmeal, turnips or mushrooms or milk mushrooms with garlic.
On Thursday: Eat in the tables for a quarter of bratskoy bread, shti borsch juicy, crackers, bratskoy kvass, peas or porridge juicy.
At five: Eat dry food: bracket bread, kvass, in large bowls, water, cabbage with horseradish in bowls, oatmeal, turnips or mushrooms with garlic.
On Saturday: They serve as a cathedral for Tsar Ivan, for his burial for the brethren of food: white bread, a bowl of fake kvass, shti with pepper, tavranchyug sturgeon or porridge with salmon, grated peas with butter, caviar or korovai, pies, but if there are korovai, otherwise there are no pies . They make food for people. In dinner, brotherly bread, shti, kvass in large bowls from a smaller cellar, at the rate of kvass.
In the 2nd week of fasting: Eat white bread, shti, in a bowl of barley kvass, in bowls, lips in juice or cabbage greta with butter, grated peas with butter, caviar or korowai, porridge or Gorokhov's lopsha with pepper. On the same day, in dinner, brack bread, shti, a bowl of kvass yachnovo in large bowls, kvass in staves.
What's interestnigwe seeabout the pre-schism monastic life, in terms of modern cliches?
Firstly, although the Kirillov Monastery belongs to the northern monasteries, there was bread at the meal of the monks. And there was no lack of it. On holidays, instead of rye, white bread or pies were served, the filling of which depended on the charter of the day.
Secondly. The monastic meal was very varied not only on fast days, but even on the most strict fast. On the harsh days of “dry eating”, a sufficient selection of dishes was offered: “bratsky bread, retka, kvass, in large bowls, water, cabbage with horseradish, oatmeal, turnips or mushrooms or milk mushrooms with garlic.” This, by the way, partly refutes the story of Archdeacon Pavel of Allepsky about the extreme severity and unbearability of the Russian fast.
On festive, fast days in the Cyril Monastery there was the following list of dishes. The first dish consisted of ear soup (soup), borscht or cabbage soup, cabbage soup with pepper, cabbage soup with pepper and eggs; tavranchuga (stew): fish and turnip. Second course: cereals, peas, pea flour noodles, mushrooms: salted, dried, in their own juice. A special article was a variety of fresh, dried, salted, dried fish, the quality of which was incomparably higher than modern; black and red caviar, kalachi, pies with various fillings: berry, vegetable, mushroom and fish; pancakes, milk, cheese, etc.
In addition, according to the decisions of the Stoglavy Cathedral, in some cases other indulgences were allowed in the monasteries:
Yes, in great and honest monasteries, princes and boyars and commanding people great and infirmities or in old age are cut, and they give in exchange great and patrimonial villages according to their souls and their parents in an eternal commemoration, and therefore, for infirmity and for old age, laws are not supposed to be refectory walking and cell eating; put them to rest after reasoning with food and drink, about such keep kvass sweet, and stale, and sour - whoever demands what, and the food is the same, or they radiate their own peace, or send from their parents and do not torture them about it.
Third. Kvass played an important role in the monastery meal.. It was served on almost all fasting days, not to mention fast days. Even on Holy Saturday, at sunset, the brethren gave counterfeit kvass and ukrukha (buns) at a rate of “strength for the sake of the body, and not for lust and satiety of the stomach.” Everyday kvass are called: ordinary, fraternal. As researcher T. I. Shablova writes, fraternal kvass probably means the simplest and most inexpensive oat and rye kvass. Festive kvass were of 4 varieties: honey (honey, honey), counterfeit (barley, mixed in half with honey), barley (barley, wheat) and semi-yan (probably barley, mixed with oatmeal or rye). Kvass was served in bowls or staves (glass-like vessels) with a volume of about 150 grams. Today, kvass and mead have practically disappeared from church life and have become secular drinks.
Fourth. In the middle of the weeks of Great Lent, on revered holidays, caviar was supplied. In the charter of the Kirillov Monastery, such holidays were: "heads of Ivan the Baptist, or 40 martyrs, or new saints: Euthymius of Novgorod, Demetrius of Prilutsky, Alexei Metropolitan, Macarius Kolyazinsky, Metropolitan Jonah." Also, caviar was supplied on Palm Sunday along with fish. Rudiments of this ancient tradition can be observed in some Old Believer parishes, in which it is allowed to cook fish “if the rector blesses” on patronal holidays.
Fifth. On all Saturdays of Great Lent (except Great Saturday, which, in fact, does not apply to Fortecost), fish was supplied to the Cyril Monastery. There are also indications about fish in the charter of Palm Sunday:
Food for the brethren: white bread, frying pans with ear or shti with pepper, fake kvass, two fish, pancakes with honey, similar bowls. On the same day, in dinner, brotherly bread, shti, to the extent of barley kvass in large bowls, two fish, topping.
The fish table was timed, as a rule, for funeral fodder: Saturdays 1 and 2 - for Tsar Ivan the Terrible, 3 and 5 - for Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich (son of John IV and Anastasia Romanovna), and 4th - for Abbot Christopher (3- hegumen of the monastery, disciple of St. Cyril). In addition, on the 1st Sunday of Great Lent there was a healthy fodder for the king, also with fish. In total, according to the Cyril Charter, fish was supplied 8 times during Great Lent.
Tavranchuk. Recipe
One of the most interesting and mysterious dishes mentioned in the "Obikhodnik" of the Kirillov Monastery is called "tavranchuk". Soviet historian V.V. Pokhlebkin(1923-2000) talks about this dish like this:
“Tavranchuks are both meat and fish, because the meaning of this dish is not in its nutritional composition, but in the method of preparation. It is more correct to call it taganchuk - something that is cooked in a tagan, that is, in a ceramic, clay pan-bowl, in a crucible. Tavranchuks were cooked in pots, in a Russian oven, with long languishing. The liquid environment was minimal: a little water for fish, sometimes half a glass of milk, onions, roots - parsley, dill; for meat - a glass of kvass, onions, pickles and the same spicy herbs. The fish was chosen differently: pike perch, pike, perch, carp; meat - mostly lamb brisket.
The pot was placed in the oven, and as soon as it warmed up (after a few minutes), it was poured over with beaten eggs (for fish tavranchuks) or, in addition, a rag was tied around the throat of the pot, which was covered with dough. Then the tavranchuk, sealed in this way, was placed in a heated oven for several hours to languish. The elimination of the Russian stove, first in cities and then in rural areas, led to the disappearance of tavranchuk as a dish, because in other conditions, in a different way, this dish did not turn out tasty».
In the "Obikhodnik" of the Cyril Monastery, tavranchuk is mentioned quite often. But interestingly, it was prepared for the Saturday meals of Great Lent as one of the options. fish dish: « tavranchyug sturgeon or porridge with salmon". Under the monastery tavranchuk, one must understand fish tavranchuk, without meat, sour cream and other products that can be used only on fast days. Here are the main ingredients of tavranchuk, a dish very popular in the monastic diet of the 17th century.
It is better to wash and soak salted milk mushrooms before cooking, because a sufficient amount is already present in pickles. Also, parsley root, celery root, black pepper, currant or bay leaf, onion are used as ingredients, depending on desire and taste.
All this is cut into cubes.
Prepared products are stacked in layers in a pot or cauldron, and then placed in a Russian oven, as an option - in an oven at a temperature of 170 degrees and languish for several hours. Some recipes suggest pouring additional water or kvass. Others advise languishing in their own juice, adding vegetable oil.
There are many tavranchuk recipes on the net with the indicated proportions of products, which, however, differ significantly from each other and not all of them are equally good. Much depends on the amount of liquid, temperature and languishing time in the oven. However, with due skill, experience and, most importantly, desire, you can try a real monastic dish that our ancestors ate in the 15th-17th centuries.
Great Lent is one of the strictest fasts in the church calendar. This year it will last until mid-April. Why do people put on weight while fasting? How not to restrict food, but at the same time fast? What days of the week can you afford butter, squid and how to cook lean dumplings? The AP correspondent received an invitation to dinner at the Church of the Annunciation of Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia. About the correct attitude to abstinence - from the first lips of the nuns of the convent.
Monastic lunch
The nuns meet the third morning of Great Lent without breakfast, they allow themselves only a little prosvira - consecrated bread. For lunch, lean borscht, without meat, boiled buckwheat, black bread and pickles - tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms with onions and tea.
“We usually have dinner with what is left from dinner,” says the nun Nila (Semernya), who manages the monastery.
The refrigerator in the monastery kitchen contains mainly canned vegetables. “Sometimes there is both cheese and meat here,” nun Nila smiles. Fast foods will not appear in the temple for almost two months, until Easter.
- The principle of cooking during fasting is very simple: cook the same soups, but do not put meat in them, cook the same dishes, but without prohibited products - dairy, eggs. It's actually very tasty! the manager of the monastery assures.
This year, the patriarch blessed to eat fish on Saturday and Sunday, in the past, fish was on the menu only on Sunday. Sunflower oil is excluded on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The most severe restrictions are the first 3-4 days of Lent and its last - Holy Week. Ascetic monks these days lead a particularly ascetic lifestyle and diet - they include only prosvir and holy water in the menu. The assistant to the manager of the Annunciation Women's Church, nun Susanna, who has been observing Great Lent for 18 years in a row, now refuses hot drinks and does not even drink tea - she eats potatoes in their uniforms, boiled beets, and vegetables. Matushka is 66 years old, annual abstinences have made her tastes unpretentious. “I don’t remember when I last ate sausage, although I used to love it very much. I thought I would never be able to wean from it, I bought it for the last penny. And then, when she accepted monasticism, apparently, the grace of God came down, ”she says. However, priests are also tempted.
- The first week I really want to eat something. Especially after Shrovetide, pancakes with sour cream. The body is rebuilt for a long time and is difficult, but with prayer God helps, - admits the nun Nila.
Maybe candy
Many are mistaken, perceiving fasting as a diet. “This is a very wrong approach. Fasting is not a preparation for the beach season, but a means of helping us fight our passions,” exhorts the nun Nila. By the way, this year the rules of abstinence are a little softer.
- The Patriarch blessed to eat fish on Saturday and Sunday, last year the fish was on the menu only on Sunday. Sunflower oil is excluded on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the temple manager notes.
Therefore, the weekend for fasting people turns into a feast of the stomach: they cook dishes stewed with butter, baked in the oven and fried. And it is precisely during dietary restrictions that nuns, on the contrary, often gain kilograms. “Because there are practically no proteins on the menu, more carbohydrates,” explains the nun Nila. Appetite increases during fasting - often low-calorie borscht is poured not into a plate, but into two. Moreover, there are no portion prohibitions in food for the Orthodox.
— We had more than 50 jars of pickles prepared for the winter. We will eat 15 of them during Lent,” the manager of the monastery counts.
Also, nutritious food is not prohibited in fasting: cereals, pasta and even sweets. In the temple of Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, they prefer caramel to tea.
Who can not fast
“It is better to eat meat than to eat your neighbor. Fasting is not in food, but in the soul, ”the nun Nila derives the main rule. Beginners in the monastery are advised not to fast without the blessing of the priest and choose a shorter period of abstinence. In total, Orthodox Christians have four multi-day fasts a year - in addition to the Great, Assumption, Christmas and Petrov. It is better to start with the Dormition Fast, which is two weeks long. It is possible for the laity to fast without being limited in food. “Make it a rule to quit smoking during Lent, it will be much more difficult. Or do not swear with a neighbor: always greet her and smile, no matter what the scandal with her is. This is a great spiritual work!” mother remarks.
“We need to limit ourselves to entertainment, not go to restaurants, spend more time with family, pray for the departed and our neighbors, repent of sins, pay attention to our neighbor — help those in need, visit the sick,” advises the assistant to the manager of the temple, nun Susanna.
Even deeply religious people can afford not to refrain from fasting on special occasions - if illness or profession does not allow certain foods to be excluded. “These are hospital workers who are on duty around the clock, truckers. If the driver refuses to eat, he will feel dizzy, an emergency will be created. It’s better to fulfill your duties, on which people’s lives depend,” says the nun Nila. Fasting cannot be forced, so in Christian families they can cook according to the usual recipes for children.
- In ancient times, during the Great Lent, babies were even weaned. Now children from the age of seven receive communion and confession, it is desirable that from this year they observe fasting,” notes mother Susanna.
Curiously, Great Lent today has gone beyond the scope of Christian culture. It is often followed by secular people. “The soul is a Christian for everyone, but some keep it like in a cage. They say: "Yes, I do not believe." We all believe! Something happens, we say: “Lord!”. If a person fasts, it is not just like that. In time, little by little, he will come to God. Many come to him already in adulthood, - Mother Susanna is sure.
Fasting people are allowed shrimp and chocolate
It is a myth that during a long Lent, Christians get tired of the same food. “Once we made a list of dishes for fasting, and in seven weeks we did not have time to cook them all!” Mother Susanna is surprised. The list of lean recipes includes borscht, cabbage soup with sauerkraut and fresh cabbage, pickle, all kinds of soups with different cereals. Spring in convent put on the table okroshka.
“We cook it with carbonated water, add grated forehead, potatoes, fresh cucumbers, onions and mayonnaise sauce, which does not contain eggs,” says nun Susanna.
Fasting is not a preparation for the beach season, but a means of helping us fight our passions.
A wide choice of salads: you can cut a vinaigrette, lean Olivier (without sausage), and in fish days- "Herring under a fur coat." Vegetables are baked, fried with soy meat, stuffed. “We stuff peppers with rice or millet with carrots and onions, we cook cabbage rolls in the same way,” nun Nila gives an example. There are a lot of pastries on the lenten menu. The dough is prepared on water, without eggs and milk. “To make it soft, you need to add a little vegetable oil,” the nun shares gastronomic subtleties. And you can cook dumplings and pies with cabbage, potatoes, mushrooms and berries.
From sweets, you can honey, jam, drying, any lean pastries and even chocolate. From drinks - compotes, fruit drinks, juices, kissels, kvass. Some exotic dishes for our table can also be called lean - for example, tofu cheese or shrimp. “But the table should be simple, moderate. It is better to avoid expensive dishes and give alms,” says the nun Nila.
Dumplings with radish
— Once we cooked dumplings with black radish. The radish needs to be grated on a fine grater and soaked in water several times to remove the bitterness. Then salt it and add butter to the filling. The dumplings are juicy and tasty,” says Mother Susanna.
I always thought monastic food was bread and water. But one day I found myself in the monastery refectory - and my opinion completely changed. I have never tasted more delicious meals in my life. What's the secret? The monks of the Holy Panteleimon Monastery, on Mount Athos, always welcome pilgrims cordially. The law of hospitality is strictly observed here - first feed, then ask questions. However, no one will bother you with questions even after dinner: everyone, they believe, has his own way to the temple.
We were not at all surprised by the modesty of the meal: bread, buckwheat, seasoned with stewed vegetables, pea stew with herbs (which in worldly life you won’t even look at and certainly won’t look at), baked potatoes with sauerkraut, fresh cucumbers and kvass. There were also olives (by the way, as they explained to us, you can eat them with pits) and dry red wine (at the bottom of the mug). But the taste of these dishes… He amazed us!
The most appropriate word in this case is ‘unearthly’. I asked one of the monks about this. He silently raised his eyes to the sky and quietly, without the slightest hint of instructiveness and edification, answered: ‘It is important with what thoughts, not to mention words, a person starts preparing food and the meal itself. Here is what is written about this in the ‘Kiev-Pechersky Paterikon’: ‘It was given to one elder to see how the same food differed: those who blasphemed food ate sewage, those who praised honey. But you, when you eat or drink, praise God, because the one who blasphemes harms himself.
Sauerkraut was with carrots, beets and fragrant dill seeds. It was they who gave the usual for us, Russians, winter harvesting an amazing taste. And, as the monks said, such cabbage is very useful for the good functioning of the stomach. Above a mound of cabbage, laid out in simple aluminum bowls, rose a gleaming soaked apple. Several of these apples must be placed in each tub when sauerkraut is sauerkraut. They also give it a special flavor.
Meat delicacies and pastries are not for Athos monks. In their opinion, gluttony is a dangerous trait that entails diseases of the body and various mental ailments. Fatty foods ‘salt the soul’, and sauces and canned food ‘thinn the body’. For the monks of Athos, eating is a spiritual process, somewhat of a ritual act.
Prayer - during the preparation of this or that dish (in this case it will definitely succeed), a short prayer before sitting at the table, a prayer after eating food. And the very atmosphere of the spacious and bright refectory, the walls and ceiling of which are painted with paintings on biblical scenes, turns a modest monastic dinner into a festive feast and a feast of the soul. ‘Likewise, a layman’s kitchen,’ the monk told me, ‘should not be a place for family squabbles and political discussions, but only a refectory.’
Most recently, I happened to visit the Goritsky Resurrection Convent, which opened in 1999. In the monastery refectory, sisters Yulia and Nadezhda carried out their obedience. They were young, hardly more than twenty in appearance, but they handled the kitchen utensils confidently and without fuss. Novelties of technological progress, such as mixers and vegetable cutters, bypassed these holy places.
The nuns do everything themselves: and the dough is kneaded in large vats by hand, and the butter is churned with hand buttermilk. Yes, and the monastic meal is prepared not on gas in dishes with a non-stick coating, but on a wood-burning stove, in cast iron. Because, say the nuns, and it turns out more tasty, rich and fragrant.
I watched the younger Nadezhda shred the cabbage, and admired: the strips were thin, thin, one by one, as if each one was measured out. I salted it lightly, sprinkled it with vegetable oil, laid out a flower on top of thawed cranberry beads and dill sprigs - not a dish, but a picture, it’s even a pity to eat, and put it aside with the words; ‘Let the cabbage give juice, then you can put it on the table’.
I heard somewhere that monks shouldn't decorate their meals nicely, so I asked Sister Nadezhda about it. ‘Well, what are you,’ she replied, ‘God cannot be against the beautiful, as long as it comes from a pure heart, does not become an end in itself and does not lead to bitterness if something does not work out. I generally noticed,” she added, “that I have become very good at cooking here, although I have never studied it, and I have not yet accumulated much worldly culinary wisdom. It’s just that when there is peace in the soul and love for the world and those who live in it, everything you do turns out well.
As she said this, she was carving up a herring to prepare an aspic of salted herring minced with mushrooms. The nun soaked dried porcini mushrooms in advance in cold water and now put them on fire. After they were cooked, they passed through a meat grinder and mixed with finely chopped herring fillet. I added black pepper, chopped onion to the minced meat and ... began to paint a new culinary still life.
She formed a herring from the minced meat, carefully attached the head and tail, put small, parsley, small water lilies of boiled carrots around and poured everything with mushroom broth mixed with swollen gelatin. It turned out a lake with an appetizing fish inside.
“You can,” she said, seeing my enthusiastic look, “decorate your dish as you like. Yes, and it is not necessary to cook it using dried mushrooms. It’s just that my sisters and I collected so many of them over the summer and autumn ... And you, if you don’t have dried ones, take ordinary champignons. Although, for me, not a single mushroom grown in ‘captivity’ can compare with forest ones.
Such a spirit comes from them! .. I must say that the dinner for which Sister Nadezhda prepared her 'culinary masterpieces' was not a festive one, and of the guests it was attended by only a few travelers like me, who were real then pilgrims can be called a stretch. But here they accept everyone and do not ask how strong your faith is: once you have come, it means that your soul asks.
In addition to aspic, Nadezhda prepared several more unusual mushroom dishes. For example, mushroom cheese, caviar and some unusually delicious cold appetizer. Dried mushrooms for her are soaked in water for an hour, and then boiled in salted water until tender. They, as the nuns said, can be replaced with fresh ones: champignons or oyster mushrooms.
In this case, it is enough to boil the mushrooms, finely chop, mix with chopped onions, add salt if necessary and pour over the sauce. It is prepared from grated horseradish diluted with a small amount of strong bread kvass and mushroom broth. The dish is not spicy, but only with a slight aftertaste of horseradish, which should not interrupt the taste of mushrooms.
Of the cold appetizers on the table, there was also boiled beetroot with a spicy sauce made from boiled egg yolks, grated horseradish and vegetable oil. This dish was very familiar to me, but I tried boiled beans fried in oil for the first time - very tasty. The dish, as the sisters told me, is prepared, albeit simply, but for quite a long time.
Beans must first be soaked in water for 6-10 hours, then boiled in salted water until tender, but so that it does not boil, put in a colander, dry slightly on fresh air and only then fry in vegetable oil until golden brown. A couple of minutes before readiness, add browned onions to the cauldron, salt, season with spices to taste and remove from heat. The beans are served cold.
While Nadezhda was conjuring (although such a word is not very suitable for a nun) over cold dishes, Julia was preparing the first and second. The first was the monastery borscht with beans and kalya (soup cooked in cucumber pickle) with fish. For the second - pilaf with vegetables and raisins, lean cabbage rolls, pumpkin repecha - something like a pumpkin casserole with rice: pumpkin and rice for this dish are pre-boiled separately from each other, then mixed, beaten whites and yolks are also added to the minced meat and spread everything in a greased form.
It turns out something between a pastry and a second course. For dessert, the sisters made an apple pie and poppy seed cakes with honey - poppy seeds. And although the dough was kneaded without the use of butter, it turned out lush, tender, and the filling ... Baking with poppy seeds is generally my weakness.
As you can see, the nuns ate and treated the pilgrims without meat at all. But believe me, we didn't even notice it. On the days of fasting, the number of dishes on the table, as the nuns said, decreases, fish, eggs, and dairy products disappear. But the meal at the same time does not become less tasty and, of course, remains just as satisfying.
Saying goodbye to the hospitable sisters, I asked if they had heard of ‘Angel Curls’ jam? They say that this recipe was given to the abbess of one of the Spanish monasteries by the Virgin Mary on the night before Christmas. Pumpkin fibers (in which the seeds are hidden) are boiled in sugar syrup along with pureed hazelnuts. ‘No,’ said the nuns, ‘we haven’t heard, but we also make jam from pumpkin fibers, which most housewives simply throw away. You just need to separate the fibers from the pulp and seeds, dry slightly (air-dry).
Prepare sugar syrup, pour it with fibers, leave for a day, and then cook like our jams - five minutes: 3-4 times for five to seven minutes, (It is important to completely cool the jam after each cooking and only then put it on fire again.) and cook monastic cuisine at home. Perhaps then the upcoming post will not seem so insipid and difficult.
