The Skete at Crosswood CentreThe Stavrophor Monastic (Cross-bearing Monk)
"Take up your cross, and follow me."
The earliest monastics did not always find it necessary to say that they had forsaken everything to follow Christ for ever, but the times were different then. Today, our lives are longer, but even in the face of economic and social turbulence, there are those for whom the prospect of a lifelong commitment in relationship is not only possible, but entirely correct. So it is that there are those in our jurisdiction who, having responded to God's call and entered into relationship with God in the monastic life as Riassophore monastics, find that after a suitable period of time, it seems right to seek to make an explicit public statement or witness, analogous to a formal betrothal, to the effect that they will remain in that relationship permanently. This seeking too is a response to God's call. The Metropolitan-Archbishop gives assent after having determined that the individual has an appropriate understanding and level of self-discipline, dedication, sincerity, and humility.
It should by no means be understood that a Riassophore nun or monk is any less fulfilled than a Stavrophor. The Studite Rule, as well as many contemporary monastic writers, reject any sense of stratification in monastic life that might imply greater blessedness or merit for some and not for others. Furthermore, the Metropolitan-Archbishop has noted that monks and nuns are not, ipso facto, holier, closer to God, or more worthy than other Christians. If there is any seniority, it is only one of courtesy, corresponding to the date of entry into monastic life, and out of respect for the virtue of one another's life; but those who come at the eleventh hour are no less honorable than those who come at the third, the sixth, or the ninth hour. God's call - the timing and nature of that call - to each is personal and specific: some are called to the life of the Riassophore, while others are called to live as Stavrophors; some are called early in life, while others are called at a more advanced age. All, however, are monastics, and as St Benedict reminds us, 'they should each try to be the first to show respect to the other' (Rom 12:10).
Some say that in the early days of monasticism, all monks were tonsured to the Great and Angelic Schema, and as time went by, the Small Schema or Stavrophor (in Slavonic, the Krestonosets) state came to be distinguished, with a somewhat lesser degree of asceticism.
It should be remembered that monasticism began and in large measure continues as a lay movement within the churches of God, linked directly to and arising out of the sacrament and vows of Holy Baptism. The service of monks and nuns, therefore, focuses not so much on parish ministry but on prayer, teaching, listening, hospitality, spiritual direction, alms giving, and a lifelong commitment to personal spiritual growth and formation. Monks and Nuns are called to embody the work of Christ, who at the Last Supper became as a servant, and washed the feet of the disciples gathered with Him. The monastic sacrament, similarly, is that of hospitality, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the greater glory of God. The monastic, as a living icon of Christ the Servant, welcomes the visitor, the poor, the friendless, and the needy, as they too are living icons of Christ. As St. Benedict says, "let all guests be received as Christ."
At the same time, the Metropolitan-Archbishop has pointed out that the monastic is an icon of the laity, in that the vocation is an intensification of the experience, commitment, and life associated with the call of Holy Baptism. The monk or nun reflects to other Christians and monastics exactly who they are called to be. Moreover, the monastic, fulfilling the Baptismal calling, calls all baptized Christians to fulfill their particular calling.
Like St Herman of Alaska, St Maria Skobtsova and St Elizabeth the New Martyr, monastics of this jurisdiction are called to diakonia, to bring the gospel message from the church to the streets, marketplaces, farms and offices, and are called to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit those in prison and hospital, thus consecrating and sanctifying human relationships, work, and daily life, making each of them a sacramental activity for the love of Christ, by the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit. A number of monastics are also ordained and involved in productive, fulfilling and important parish work and sacramental ministry, while others have significant administrative positions within the jurisdiction, but these situations are to be considered neither the norm nor the general expectation. By the same token, it must be noted with enormous joy that a great many non-monastic clergy of this jurisdiction -- dedicated worker-priests and deacons -- in addition to their various sacramental ministries and secular employment, are actively and energetically involved in bringing the light of Christ to the marketplace, the workplace, and to schools, to the great benefit of their communities, families, and parishes.
The focus of the monastic vocation, like that of the Baptized Christian, is that of prayer, striving for union with God, service to others, and transformation. In the Orthodox-Catholic Church of America, the monastic, having once committed to Christ in response to the baptismal call to holiness, strengthens that commitment to discipleship by embracing the vowed life in a public act of monastic consecration. That expression of a commitment brings into being a monastic style of Gospel living which frees the members to listen to the Spirit in their search for God. In the Byzantine tradition, the Stavrophor, or cross-bearer, wears the polystavrion, a symbolic garment that reminds the monastic of the obligation to enter more and more deeply into the Christian vocation, taking up the cross daily in order to follow our Lord and Savior. With the polystavrion, the monastic wears the paramand, a piece of cloth symbolic of the yoke of Christ, approximately five inches square embroidered with a cross and the instruments of the passion. A wooden cross is worn over the chest, attached to the polystavrion, the cords of which pass over and under the arms and hold the paramand centered on the back.
Such external aspects as clothing are far from superficial, but bear witness to an interior orientation by which the monk or nun strives daily for God, living according to a monastic rule, and under the guidance of a monastic superior. That orientation is the heart of the vocation. In this jurisdiction, Riassophore nuns and monks prayerfully and attentively read and re-read several monastic rules (e.g. Rule of the Master, Rule of St. Basil, Rule of Pachomius, Rule of St. Augustine, and Rule of Benedict), remaining open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in order to discern the one rule by which he or she will endeavor to live in vows. Still, activity and ministry figure significantly in monastic life, and so in addition to a monastic rule, Riassophore and Stavrophor nuns and monks engage regularly in the activities of daily liturgical prayer, the Jesus Prayer, some other form of centering prayer, lectio divina, and regular participation in the life of their local Orthodox Christian communities. Furthermore, as noted above, the monastic vocation is one of sacrificial servanthood, and so with the blessing of the Metropolitan-Archbishop, the monastic seeks ways, in voluntary or paid employment, to provide for those who are in need of any kind of assistance.
Certainly, there are many Orthodox Christians who will say that they do all this already, and this is natural, for the monastic vocation arises directly from Holy Baptism. To any one of these it may be remarked that he or she has a 'monastic heart'. These brothers and sisters, endeavoring to live the Christian life in this way, may find that it would be spiritually beneficial to reach out to others 'of a similar mind' for mutual support and friendship, for as Saint Basil of Caesarea said, "if you live alone, whose feet will you wash?" The monastic life places us in a new, cooperative relationship with Almighty God, with the universe, with the environment, with other people, and with ourselves, so that we may live in this world a life that more closely resembles the life of God's eternal and perfect Kingdom. The vowed Stavrophor monastic enters more intentionally into a formal and perpetual commitment to God, and strives to incorporate the jurisdiction's monastic values and characteristics (discussed in the introductory essay on monasticism) into her or his daily life. Implicit in that commitment are the traditional vows of stability, chastity, non-attachment, and obedience.
As noted elsewhere, the monastic commitment to chastity, or 'purity of heart', calls us to single-hearted pursuit of our relationship with God, which then sharpens our experience of human solitude, impels us to deepen our life of prayer, and focuses all of our intimate human relationships within a context of freedom and non-exclusivity as children of God and heirs of heaven. Chastity deepens our life of prayer, sensitivity to one another, and mutual love in family and community. Friendships that are honest, simple, and free provide additional encouragement to living out this aspect of our lives.
The commitment to poverty, or non-attachment, calls us to live simply and to share our goods and resources with those in need. We choose to be free from the thoughtless accumulation of unnecessary material goods. We hope, thereby, to witness to dependence on God and the primacy of the reign of God. As much as possible, we seek to share our resources with those who have less than we do, and we stand with the disadvantaged and disenfranchised. Acknowledging that we are caretakers of our earth, we call ourselves to understand more deeply our relatedness to creation and to work for justice and peace in the natural world as well as in society.
The commitment to obedience, which we understand to incorporate kenosis, suggests that as monastics, we seek to empty ourselves to allow the discernment and fulfillment the will of God as it is manifested in our own lives, our communities and our families. Such discernment is done in an atmosphere of dialogue, understanding, and shared responsibility. As dispersed idiorrhythmic monastics, we are called to work and pray to discern of the will of God for ourselves and for our communities, and in the calling of individuals to ministry positions which fulfill that discernment. This obedience, for us as individuals, suggests that we be eager to forego personal ambition, professional success, and sometimes even personal preference in order to serve the welfare of the church. That commitment to obedience carries within it the notion of commitment to change and eagerness for growth and transformation: to put off the old self and to put on Christ. The monastic understands clearly that it is only by the grace of God that we can do anything, but at the same time understands how important it is for each of us to strive wholeheartedly to permit ourselves to be transformed by that grace of God, as clay in the hands of the potter. It is only in this kenosis that internal transformation, that deification, can occur, and with it, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, and of that peace that is beyond all understanding.
Continuing commitment to the monastic way of life is the purpose of vowed stability. Stability provides the opportunity for monastics to grow in faith, in mutual love, and in reverence. Ours is a culture of sound bites and short-short stories where people move across the country every few years; stability calls us to the long view. It takes time and a certain sort of leisure, as well as a kind of detachment from the busy-ness of daily life, to enable the monastic to hear the whole story, to get to know the whole person, to read the whole book, to "stay put" and send down roots. Nuns and monks are called to take the time to get to know one another, so that they can work and pray together, for it is in stable, committed Christian community that kenosis is possible and that God's grace and generosity may more easily be discerned. Hand-in-hand with stability is the ancient Western vow of conversatio morum: of the conversion of manners and of life; that is, the vow to engage and persist eagerly and wholeheartedly in the monastic way of life, in order to serve God and one another, and in order that the whole creation may be transformed and transfigured.
The entry into the vowed life as a Stavrophor is unquestionably the defining moment of monastic life, inasmuch as it is a perpetual, irrevocable betrothal of the individual to God, the return of the creature to the Creator, the return of the prodigal to the Father. It is the beginning of the restoration of the divine image in humanity. It is, at the same time, not the final step of a long journey, but the first step into that relationship with the Holy One. It is the wholehearted joyful reply uttered by one who hears the Lord's voice in the invitation to the dance, and finds the strength, courage and grace to surrender in eager love.
Monastic Habit of a Stavrophor
The monastic may choose either Greek or Slavic style garments and the color will always be black.
The garments required are:
1. klobuk or skufia, or apostolnik (no cross to be embroidered on the head covering)
2. inner/undercassock
3. outer cassock
4. leather belt worn on the inner/undercassock
5. Small/Lesser Schema "stole" on the inner cassock
6. polystavrion (optional)
7. mandiya when in chapel (optional)
8. prayer rope on the left wrist
9. Crosses to be worn:
Clergy Monastics:
-- Deacons - wood
-- Priests - silver metal
-- Bishops - panaghia
Non Clergy Monastics -- no cross or a wooden cross
