The Angelic Life a vision of orthodox monasticism The Angelic Life a vision of Orthodox Monasticism Copyright © 2021 St. Nilus Skete P.O. Box 18, Ouzinkie, Alaska 99644 USA www.stnilus.org [email protected] All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Revised First Edition (September 2021) ISBN: 978-1-7338849-0-7 hardcover ISBN: 978-1-7338849-1-4 eBook Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2019937759 Most quotations in this book are under copyright by their respective publishers. We are deeply grateful for their permission to republish them herein. The following publishers requested that their copyright be explicitly mentioned: Excerpts originally published in Byzantine Monastic Foundations Documents: A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders’ Typika and Testaments, edited by John Philip Thomas and Angela Constantinides Hero, © 2000 Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Trustees for Harvard University. Excerpts originally published in The Ladder of Divine Ascent, The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, and The Life of St. Symeon of Emesa, Copyright © Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, used by permission, all rights reserved. Excerpts originally published in The Fathers of the Church: Iberian Fathers, Braulio of Saragossa, Fructuosus of Braga, translated by Claude W. Barlow, © 1969 The Catholic University of America Press. Excerpts originally published in Abba Dorotheos: Discourses and Sayings, translated by Eric Wheeler, Copyright 1977 by Cistercian Publications, Inc. © 2008 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota, are used with permission. Excerpts originally published in Abba Isaiah of Scetis: Ascetic Discourses, translated by John Chryssavgis and Pachomios Penkett, Copyright 2002 by Cistercian Publications, Inc. © 2008 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota, are used with permission. Excerpts originally published in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, translated by Benedicta Ward, Copyright 1975 by Cistercian Publications, Inc. © 2008 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota, are used with permission. Excerpts originally published in Pachomian Koinonia, Volume Two: Pachomian Chronicles and Rules, translated by Armand Veilleux, Copyright 1981 by Cistercian Publications, Inc. © 2008 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota, are used with permission. Excerpts originally published in St. Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel, Commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict, translated by David Barry, Copyright 2007 by Cistercian Publications, Inc. © 2008 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota, are used with permission. Excerpts originally published in The Monastic Rule of Iosif Volotsky, New Revised Edition, translated by David M. Goldfrank, Copyright 2000 by Cistercian Publications, Inc. © 2008 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota, are used with permission. Excerpts originally published in The Rule of the Master, translated by Luke Eberle, Copyright 1977 by Cistercian Publications, Inc. © 2008 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota, are used with permission. Excerpts from the following books are reprinted by permission of Paulist Press, Inc. www.paulistpress.com: Celtic Spirituality (CWS), translated and introduced by Oliver Davies, with the collaboration of Thomas O' Loughlin, Copyright © 1999 by Oliver Davies, Published by Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ; Gregory Palamas: The Triads (CWS), edited with an introduction by John Meyendorff; translated by Nicholas Gendle; preface by Jaroslav Pelikan, Copyright © 1983 by Paulist Press, Published by Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ; John Cassian: Conferences (CWS), translated by Colm Luibheid; introduced by Owen Chadwick, Copyright © 1985 by Colm Luibheid, Published by Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ; John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent (CWS), edited and translated by Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell, Copyright © 1982 by Paulist Press, Published by Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ; Nil Sorsky: The Complete Writing (CWS), edited and translated by George A. Maloney, SJ, Copyright © 2003 by Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus, Published by Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ. The Angelic Life Contents About This Book ............................................................................................................. vii Introduction ...................................................................................................................... ix Preface ............................................................................................................................ xvii I) Becoming a Monk.......................................................................................................... 1 1) What is a Monk? ................................................................................................. 1 2) The Novitiate ...................................................................................................... 5 i) Whom to Accept ......................................................................................... 5 ii) Age Limits ................................................................................................ 12 iii) How to Evaluate a Novice ........................................................................ 16 iv) When to Tonsure a Novice ....................................................................... 17 v) The Departure of Novices ......................................................................... 18 3) Renunciation of the World ................................................................................ 19 4) Stability ............................................................................................................. 36 5) The Monastic Struggle ...................................................................................... 41 II) The Abbot ................................................................................................................... 45 1) His Characteristics ............................................................................................ 45 2) His Responsibilities .......................................................................................... 50 3) Making Corrections .......................................................................................... 55 4) Punishments ...................................................................................................... 61 5) His Authority .................................................................................................... 66 6) Governing Souls................................................................................................ 73 7) Mistakes by the Abbot ...................................................................................... 76 8) Hearing Confessions ......................................................................................... 81 9) Seniority ............................................................................................................ 86 III) Obedience.................................................................................................................. 91 1) Reason for Obedience ....................................................................................... 91 2) Requirement for Complete Obedience .............................................................. 99 3) Harm of Partial Obedience.............................................................................. 105 4) Disobeying Harmful Orders ............................................................................ 108 5) Obeying Harmful Orders ................................................................................ 113 6) Obedience and Freedom ................................................................................. 117 iv The Angelic Life IV) Virginity .................................................................................................................. 126 1) Reason for Virginity ....................................................................................... 126 2) Value of Virginity ........................................................................................... 127 3) Angelic Nature of Virginity ............................................................................ 130 4) Duration of Virginity ...................................................................................... 132 5) Superiority of Celibacy to Marriage ............................................................... 136 6) Inferiority of Virginity .................................................................................... 142 7) Virginity of Soul ............................................................................................. 144 8) Acquiring Chastity .......................................................................................... 147 V) Monastic Behavior ................................................................................................... 150 1) Schedule .......................................................................................................... 150 2) Prayer .............................................................................................................. 153 3) Prayer Technique ............................................................................................ 160 4) Vigil ...............................................................................................................