Monasticism

Discuss how Orthodoxy teaches that the path to holiness through family life and monastic life leads to the same destination which is One in Christ. Focus to clarify misunderstanding that monasticism is a different goal even though style of life is different.

Reference Materials

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The following materials are offered as sources for information and ideas but please remember to properly give credit if material is used in your writing! If you forget to use references, or your references are incomplete, your work can seem like an empty postulation or create suspicions of plagiarism.

Articles

1. Spirituality, H.G.Dr.Yuhanon Mar Diascoros (MOSC)
2. Monastic Life in the Syrian Orthodox Church, Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church for the Eastern United States
3. List of Monasteries in India, MOSC website
4. St. Basil's Monastic Vision, Jason Borges (Cappadocia History)
5. Who is a Ramban?, Fr. KM George
6. Way of Life, Fr. Jacob Mathew

Videos

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Podcasts

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Book Excerpts

1. The Ladder of Divine Ascent by St. John Climacus
2. St. Basil and his Rule: A Study in Early Monasticism by E.F. MORISON

Scripture

In order to help our children grow in the Orthodox Faith in North America, a decision was made to standardize all materials to the Orthodox Study Bible (DSWA Kalpana DSWA/C/016/2010, October 28, 2010). Please continue to pray and support the development of a fully approved translation based on the Peshitta, and our textbooks will educate on the various translations and historic development of Scripture.

• [Proverbs 4:24-4:28]

  "Let your eyes look straight forward, And let your eyelids assent to righteous things. Make straight paths for your feet And direct your ways aright. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left, But turn your foot from an evil way; For God knows the ways on the right hand, But those on the left are perverse; And He shall make your paths straight And guide your steps in peace"

Liturgical Resources

The Ministry of Liturgical Resource Development (LRD) was created in July of 2015 (DSWA Kalpana DSWA/C/10/2015, July 24,2015) to promote the translation, versification, and publication of vital English liturgical resources. Today most of our Sacramental offices are available and the "Service Book of the Holy Qurbono" and "Shehimo: Book of Common Prayer" are available in print. Wherever possible references will be made using LRD resources given the easy access to these materials to the faithful in North America.

Holy Qurbono

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Other Hymns

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Other Prayers

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Promion and Sedro

• Saturday Evening Promion
  • Praise be to You, Lord, the true High Priest! The penitents offer glory to You, the holy ones offer praise to You, the righteous ones offer their pure lives to You, the monks offer their virginity to You, and the saints offer exaltation to You. O God, make us worthy to praise You always along with the penitents, to adore You with the holy ones, to glorify You with the righteous ones, and to sing ‘Hallelujah’ with the upright.

Quotes

Patristic Quotes

• [St. Basil] "The heart is made ready to receive the imprint of sacred teaching, and this making ready involves the unlearning of knowledge deriving from evil habits. To write on wax, one has first to erase the letters previously written there, and to bring sacred teaching to the soul one must begin by wiping out preoccupations rooted in ordinary habits."
• [St. Basil] "Monasticism is nothing else than life according to the Gospel"
• [St. John Climacus] "All monastic life may be said to take one of three forms. There is the road of withdrawal and solitude for the spiritual athlete; there is the life of stillness shared with one or two others; there is the practice of living patiently in community."

Other Quotes

• [Vladimir Lossky] “There is also a great richness of forms of spiritual life to be found within the bounds of Orthodoxy, but monasticism remains the most classical of all”
• [Archimandrite Vasileios (Gontikakis) of Iveron] “The light radiating from the true monk contains the force of revelation. With him (the true monk) you feel infinitely calm and serious, filled with light, and your confusion is wordlessly resolved. You love Christ and life; you do not fear death. Such monks – unknown, nameless, full of light – still exist. I know one of them. He shines and overflows: such words express the truth about him to a certain extent. He contains this inexpressible joy within an earthen vessel, small and fragile, from which flows a joy that fills everything around him. He easily lives everywhere and in all conditions, in a special and unique manner. He finds his home everywhere, for he always burns with love for others. Wherever he sets foot, he finds solid ground, for he steps back to allow others to pass before him. He always expresses himself as needed and finds the right words, for he has never lied to anyone, never hurt anyone, and never set foot on any creature, but has consoled the wounds and pain of the entire world.”

Syriac and Greek Words

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