§ 210. Entry Into Monasticism

It is free to everyone to enter monasticism. No estate, no calling, and indeed no transgression that someone may have committed, can prevent the person concerned from entering monasticism, should he wish. The 43rd canon of the Council in Trullo describes the monastic life as a life of repentance (ἐν μετανοίας ζῆν) and commends it to everyone who wishes to devote himself to such a life. But since this life must be conducted according to the corresponding rules, and the monastic fellowship is regulated by positive laws, certain qualities have been established that the person who wishes to enter monasticism must possess, and he must afterward show in deed that he is worthy to be a monk. The competent authority judges the qualities of the candidate for monasticism before receiving him into the monastery, while the rest is judged during the canonically prescribed period of probation.

1. The qualities required of a candidate for monasticism are, some, of a physical character, and others, of a juridical character.

There are two qualities of physical character, namely:

a) The prescribed age. The canons distinguish the age for entering the monastery for the sake of training in monastic life and for probation, from the age for taking the monastic vows. For entry into the monastery, the 40th canon of the Council in Trullo prescribes that the person concerned must have completed ten years from birth. As the motive for receiving persons into the monastery at so young an age, the canon adduces that everyone ought to be encouraged to choose well and not deliberate long over this. But the same canon does not allow the monastic superior himself to do this on his own authority, nor does it regard this as a general norm; rather it ordains that the competent bishop is to decide whether a ten-year-old child is to be received into the monastery, or whether one should wait until that child is older. The ordinary rule in this matter is the prescript of the 18th canon of Basil the Great, according to which canon a person of sixteen or seventeen years may be received into the monastery, for by then he has already passed the age of childhood and understands what he is doing, whereas declarations made by someone before those years Basil, in this same canon, regards as childish utterances (παιδικὰς φωνάς). Once the person concerned has been received into the monastery, he may at once begin the period of the corresponding probation, and once he completes the probation—by which time he is already nineteen or twenty years old—he may then be deemed worthy of investiture with the rason, and thus become a rhasophore monk, provided his spiritual father issues him the prescribed certificate for this. The taking of the monastic vows must come later—for monks, by analogy with the corresponding prescript of the 126th canon of Carthage, when they are twenty-five years old, and for nuns, in the sense of the 15th canon of Chalcedon, when they are forty years old.[1]

b) Sound mind. When the person concerned is to take the monastic vows, before he does so the competent official asks him whether he does this knowingly and is not compelled to it by anyone. To be able to answer such a question, he must be of sound consciousness and reason. Accordingly the canons ordain that one may not be received into monasticism who is feeble-minded (ἠλιθιότης), insane (μαινόμενος), or in general afflicted in mind. The tonsure that a hegumen might perform upon such a person has no validity whatsoever, and the hegumen himself is subjected to penance for his ill-considered act.[2]

As regards the qualities of juridical character, the canons forbid receiving into monasticism persons who are not free of established social obligations. The state laws require the same. This rests upon the general and constant rule of the Church, that service to God and to the Church be complete and unhindered by a person’s external relations to the world, and, on the other hand, that the lawful rights of the state and the lawful duties that every person has as a subject of the state not be undermined under the pretext of that service. Accordingly:

a) a person who is bound by marriage cannot enter monasticism. This is permitted only in such a case where husband and wife mutually agree of their own free will, and the wife consents that her husband become a monk, or the husband that his wife become a nun.[3] But even in such a case the party concerned is not permitted to receive the monastic tonsure immediately after the agreement; rather at least three months must pass after that time, so that the constancy of the decision may be observed, and so that it may be seen whether no harm will come to the family concerned from it. The resolution of such an agreed dissolution of marriage falls within the competence of that court which adjudicates matrimonial suits by right. Upon an affirmative resolution of such a question, and since the marriage between the persons concerned is then considered by law to be dissolved, the party who remains in the world is permitted to enter a new marriage, should he or she wish it.[4]

b) A minor cannot enter monasticism without the consent of his parents or guardian; nor likewise can one whom his parents compel to become a monk.[5]

c) One who is bound by some public office cannot be received into monasticism unless the competent authority permits it; nor likewise can persons who are under judicial process or who are burdened with debts.[6]

d) It is forbidden to receive someone into monasticism for money, for this is regarded as simony, just as is the reception of someone into the clergy for money.[7]

e) In keeping with the vow that the person concerned must take, that he will never possess anything of his own, the 6th canon of the Ninth Local Council ordains that a candidate for monasticism, before entering the monastery, must dispose of whatever property he happens to possess. If he has living children and possesses some estate, he is obliged to divide that estate by law among his children, and whatever portion remains after that must pass into the ownership of the monastery; should he wish to divide his whole estate among his children, in such a case he must also set aside for himself a share equal to theirs, and that portion of his passes to the monastery. The same holds also for the parents of one who wishes to become a monk.[8]

2. Probation (δοκιμασία). Before the person concerned is permitted to enter the monastic order, he is obliged to undergo, under the guidance of an experienced elder monk, the corresponding probation—that is, he must train himself well in the monastic rules and show his sincere and firm intention to devote himself to monasticism. This probation must last three years. This is ordained by the 5th canon of the Ninth Local Council, and must be strictly observed, “except in the case where some grave illness supervenes that compels the three-year period to be shortened, or where the man is a devout one who has, even in secular dress, lived as a monk, for in the case of the full probation of such a man six months suffice.” The same canon threatens the hegumen with removal from the office of hegumen should he receive someone into the order without probation.[9] The task itself of guiding the probationer concerned and preparing him to be worthily readied for monastic tonsure is entrusted, by the 2nd canon of the same council, to the monastic superior, the hegumen. In our Kormchaia there is mentioned a “poruchnik” [surety, sponsor], an older monk who must take the probationer concerned under his direct supervision, and guide him and confirm him in the exact fulfillment of all the monastic rules;[10] while in the 79th rule of the Nomokanon appended to the great Trebnik [Euchologion], this older monk is called “prijemets” (ἀνάδοχος, godfather), similarly to how a godfather at baptism takes upon himself the care for the Christian upbringing of his godchild.