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On becoming a monkWhen someone enters the monastery to become a monk, he spends six months in the monastery as an Oblate Brother, a time spent proving that he has the genuine desire to follow monastic discipline for the sake of his own repentance and the saving of his soul. Afterwards he is tonsured and begins
a novitiate of at least three years until the time of his profession of monastic
vows. In the Benedictine tradition, a monk takes vows of stability (to remain in
the same monastery for the rest of his life), obedience (to surrender one's own
way of doing things to the complete judgment of the Abbot), and reformation of
life (to lead the life of monastic discipline in life-long poverty of temporal
goods and in complete chastity in the war against concupiscence). Also, monks
are not permitted to smoke, to cut the hair of their head or beard, or to drink
alcoholic beverages other than wine (which may be had in only small quantity).
Additionally, all monks are expected to study the principles of our Faith in
great detail, especially by reading and displaying competence in the works
written by the Orthodox Fathers of the Church.
One basic requirement for the entry into the
monastery is full adherence to the Orthodox Faith, i.e., that Faith taught by
the Orthodox Church. Any non-Orthodox person seeking to become a monk or nun in
any of our monasteries must first undergo "Have this mind in you that was in Christ Jesus, that even though He was Equal to God, He did not think that Being Equal to God was to be Clung to, but emptied Himself, Becoming Obedient even to the death of the Cross" (Philippians 2: 5,6).
On becoming an oblate
Orthodox monasticism is frequently referred to as the Angelic Life
since it is an attempt to transcend the bodily passions in order to free
the soul thus allowing it to make its way to God. Not everyone is able
to enter a monastery in order to live one’s Orthodox Faith in this
intensity. Yet throughout the history of Christian monasticism the
faithful have made their pilgrimages to various monasteries.
 Not
so few Orthodox Christian laity have taken up residence in some
geographic proximity to monasteries wherever they may be found. In the
ancient Orthodox West, this need for an affinity to and spiritual
guidance of monks was recognized as early as the ninth century. Prior to
this, both in the Rule of St. Benedict (Art. 59) and in the writings of
St. Gregory the Great we find the practice of noble families dedicating
one of their sons to God by allowing him to be raised and educated in
the monastery. Such is the term “oblation”, to offer unto God. We hear
this in word used in the Eastern Liturgy regarding the Holy Eucharist,
“We offer this oblation of peace”. Eventually, in Western monasticism
there developed “Intern oblates” who were layman who lived and worked in
the monastery as monks except that these had not taken vows. Then there
were the “Extern Oblates”, those who had attached themselves by affinity
and guidance of a monastery but lived their Christian life in-the-world. It is possible today, though rarely, to find Intern Oblates of some form thereof in Orthodox monasteries. By far the common and easiest connection the average Orthodox layman can make with the monastic life is as an Extern Oblate. One who qualifies as a candidate to the Oblates of St Benedict are Orthodox Christians who are, at least, 17 years old. They may be either married or single, layman or clergy in good standing with their ruling bishop. They have completed a one year novitiate as an Oblate Novice under the guidance of the Vicar for Oblates or the Abbot of the monastery to which one will be attached. During this one year of training, the Oblate Novice becomes familiar with the Rule of Saint Benedict and its application to an Oblate’s life, learns to pray the Divine Office in Gregorian Chant and meditates in the fashion of Lectio Divina. One learns about what is particular to Benedictine Spirituality and its connection to the Orthodox Christian way of life. Additionally, the novice reads the life of St. Benedict, Benedictine history and martyrology. This is the standard novitiate as observed at the Abbey of the Holy Name in West Milford, New Jersey. Upon completion of the novitiate the Vicar for Oblates or the Abbot considers the candidate’s ability and dedication in fulfilling this vocation of oblation. If accepted, the candidate graduates by means of a Service of Oblation or the tonsure of an oblate. This para-liturgical Service is one’s initiation and acceptance before God and His Church into a deeper observance of the traditional Orthodox Christian Faith.
ALL ARE CALLED…to live the Christian life of discipleship. THOUGH FEW ARE CHOSEN…to be apostles, evangelizers, priests and monastics who have freely given their lives to Christ, in Whom they shall have Life abundantly! Do you feel called to a life of prayer and communion with God? The Archdiocese of New York & New Jersey (within the Holy Orthodox Synod of Milan) is a missionary minded community dedicated to reaching out to all persons of West European background leading them home to the Church of their forefathers of the first millennium, namely the Orthodox Church, that ancient Catholic Church in Western Europe until the year 1054 a.d. Personal & communal prayer is at the focal point of our life in Christ. Within our Archdiocese, as throughout the Milan Metropolia, we have parishes, missions and monastic institutions observing either the Eastern Rite (Slavic-Byzantine) or the ancient Western Rite (Anglo-Roman or “Sarum“). Combined with liturgical prayer, the Holy Mysteries (sacraments) of the Church and private devotions there is the active aspect. That is the actual living in Christ and reaching out to others with the Love of Christ made real within and through us by Divine Grace and our cooperation (synergy). Indeed the Holy Orthodox Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. There is only One Body of Christ therefore Christ established only One Church. The Orthodox Church is a fellowship of Divine Love, a spiritual family, which both strengthens our human relationships and gives to us more than the world is able. If you feel you have a vocation to serve God through His Church or if you wish simply to become
you are welcome
to correspond with us.
Please
Contact His Eminence, Archbishop John
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catechesis, profession of Faith,
adjuration of heresy, and Baptism and/or Chrismation, and must demonstrate that
he or she lives the Orthodox Faith in the life of the Church's cycle of worship.
Also any candidate for the monastic life must have a true and humble zeal marked
by a sorrow for all his or her sins against God, and a firm conviction of his or
her own lacking of knowledge in the discernment of a life of spiritual and
mystical progress. For these are the reasons that men bind themselves under the
Holy Rule and the direction of an Abbot, knowing full well that we are sinful
men gathered in anticipation of the dread Judgment of Christ, at which the
ancient Fathers of the Church assure us that even the Saints shall tremble.