A Letter on Monasticism by Mother Petra, Christ the Bridegroom Monastery

Nothing offends worldly sensibilities like a young, educated woman who leaves all her worldly potential—a career, a home of her own, marriage and family, travel and other pleasures—to enter a monastery. Who would do such a thing?! Even within the Church, many people who think that religious life is well and good for others recoil at the prospect of their daughter or sister or friend leaving them to follow Christ in such a radical way. They cannot comprehend why a woman would make such a choice. Love alone can compel the soul to renounce self and surrender to the asceticism of a communal life centered on prayer and hospitality, at the expense of her personal preferences, satisfactions, and control.

A wise priest has said to me, “You go to the monastery to die. If you go for any other reason, either you will leave, or your motivation will be purified so that is why you stay.” Our daily, ego-emptying, hidden deaths (for that is what obedience requires: detachment from one’s own will and the embrace of the will of Another, in imitation of Jesus Who prayed to the Father, “Not my will, but Your will, be done”) are the way we live out our love for Jesus Christ. The monastic life is our response to the invitation of Jesus Christ to be conformed to Him in a such radical way. As the Bishop speaks over us at our life profession, “It is for Christ that you renounce all.” No other motive is valid or sustainable than love of Christ unto death.

In The Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. John Climacus expounds upon the steps by which the soul ascends to God. In the very first step, “On the Renunciation of Life,” he explains the right motivation for embarking upon the monastic journey: “The man who renounces the world because of fear is like burning incense, which begins with fragrance and ends in smoke… But the man who leaves the world for love of God has taken fire from the start, and like fire set to fuel, it soon creates a conflagration.” To enter the monastery for any other reason than a longing to be burned up with love for God—such as the hope of “earning” God’s love, in search of a sense of belonging or fulfillment, or because one hasn’t yet found another satisfying vocation—is a faulty place to begin.

Love yearns to give all to the Beloved. As St. Francis enjoined his brothers, “Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves, that He may receive your all who gave His all to you.” Yet the monastic life is not gloomy! Rather, it is a path to true joy. As we are stripped of all the things we mistake as essential to self—the hobbies, earthly relationships, entertainments, powers of productivity, opinions, control over our image—we discover true freedom! In other words, as our passions are slowly purified, we are set free to become our true selves. We learn that our value lies not in what we do, but simply in our being beloved by the Father! We are astonished to find in our poverty the treasure of His Love, and thus we find true peace.

Solomon tells us, that “stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire.” (Song of Songs 8:6) This fire of love consumes everything—and gives everything, that is, union with the Holy Trinity Himself. We live our earthly life filled with the hope of pilgrims on the journey to our heavenly Homeland. St. Paul’s words to the Church at Colossae could have been addressed particularly to monastics: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ Who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Col. 3:3-4)

Isn’t that precisely what you desire for yourself and those you love? The unspeakable glory of God?

Note: In the Christian East, monastics are not “other” than the laity in the sense that they have a separate calling. Rather, they are (in the words of St. John Paul II in Orientale Lumen) “a reference point for all the baptized.” Monastics are called to live to a radical degree that to which all baptized Christians are called: A life of prayer, penance, and self-denial in pursuit of union with the Holy Trinity. This Christian life manifests the light of Jesus Christ amid the darkness of the world.

Monasticism: A Witness of Faith by Very Rev. Archpriest Dennis Hrubiak (Retired) 

When we think about monasticism all sorts of images come to mind.

We picture monks in black robes with long beards walking silently to the chapel for prayers. We see nuns with covered heads walking side-by-side in two straight lines as they disappear through the doors of the monastery.

We imagine all sorts of things about monasticism.

Regardless of whatever we may imagine, and regardless of whatever we may think about our images of monasticism, one fact remains: the monks are witnesses.

Women and men who take seriously their baptismal commitment and live that commitment radically -- these men and women are monks. The monk internalizes and lives the liturgical command to "commit ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God." The monk is the icon of Christian perfection.

Are you courageous enough to show our culture what Christian perfection really looks like, right here, right now?

Are you selfless enough to possess nothing of your own in the face of a consumerist culture that teaches you to determine your self-worth based on your net-worth?

Are you in love with Jesus Christ enough to consecrate the gift of your sexuality to him in the face of a culture that sensationalizes non-commitment and indulgent sexuality?

Are you dedicated enough to accept a life of total obedience to the Gospel in the face of a culture that glorifies "me and my way" as the only means to a so-called happy life?

To be a monk means to love passionately, to pray fervently and to live boldly the total commitment to Jesus Christ and to his Gospel of life. Our culture desperately needs the monk to show us what a relationship with God really looks like.

Our church needs the monks to show us what that relationship really looks like. The way the monks worship together shows the church how to pray. The way the monks live together, work together and hold all things in common show the church how to be community. The monks show the church how to be church.

So, if you have a deep personal relationship with God, love your Byzantine Catholic Church, and desire to live that love radically, maybe monasticism is for you.

Please spend some time exploring this site and reach out if you have any other questions. Above all, continue to pray, and be assured of my prayers for you. BE NOT AFRAID!