Life at the Monastery

Orthodox monastic tradition

Ascetics have existed since the beginning of Christianity. However, monastic life began to organize itself into a spiritual movement in the 4th century, when the persecution of Christianity also ended. The central regions of this ancient monastic development were Egypt and Palestine. The earliest monastic texts, on whose spiritual ideals modern monastic life is based, also date from this period.

In the current Orthodox tradition, Mount Athos in Northern Greece is considered the most significant monastic center. There are twenty monasteries on this peninsula that have continued a lifestyle according to monastic traditions without ceasing for over a millennium. The Reomäe Monastery also has its roots on Mount Athos through the spiritual father of the monastery. This gives us the assurance that our monastery represents a genuine and living experience of monastic spirituality.

In a monastery, the day is divided into three parts: prayer, work, and rest.

Prayer consists not only of communal services, but also of private prayer practiced in one's own room, or cell. Usually, personal prayer and the first communal service are done in the early hours of the morning, because night is the best time for prayer. Each monastic ascetic also becomes familiar with the most sacred texts of Orthodoxy. Prayer is the most important activity of a person, because through it he can find God and unite with Him. On major holidays, night services are performed in the monastery, which can last for many hours.

Work is a necessity not only for the practical activities of the monastery, but also for understanding the meaning of effort. Orthodox monasteries emphasize the importance of physical work, because it helps us understand that the body is involved in the spiritual struggle. The work varies from the most mundane tasks of cleaning, work in the kitchen and garden, as well as construction, to practicing crafts and the arts, or even computer work.

There is perhaps less rest in monasteries than in ordinary life, because a monastic ascetic wants to spend as much time as possible in prayer. That is why in monasteries people wake up at dawn to pray.

Orthodox monasteries are mainly coenobitic or communal monasteries – and so is the Kirikla Monastery. This means that no one in the monastery has any private property. There is no salary for work, but the monastery covers all the expenses of its residents. The ascetics wear the black monastic ascetic robe as a sign of their death to the old self, and they also change their name.

The monastery is like a big family, where everyone supports each other in mutual love. For a family to function, it must have a head: in a monastery this is the abbot of the monastery. An important principle in a monastery is obedience not only to the monastery leaders, but also to the entire community. This teaches us obedience to the will of God. Going to a monastery is often described as leaving the world behind. That is why the monks no longer have much contact with their relatives or friends, but on the other hand they warmly welcome all visitors to the monastery. For the monastics, all people are their brothers and sisters.

In order to prevent worldly influence from reaching the monastery too much, the monastics do not read newspapers, watch television, listen to the radio or engage in other forms of entertainment, but their whole life is consecrated to God.