WOMEN'S ATHOS». Part 1 (Amateur translation)

A lot has been written about Greek monasticism, but mostly about the famous monasteries of Athos, Meteora, Patmos, that is, to a greater extent it is reported about asceticism in the monasteries, but the women's monasteries for some reason remained outside the focus of pilgrims and journalists. Svetlana Vyatkina, correspondent of the Perm magazine Svetoch, talked with Polina Korchakova, novice of the Greek monastery in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Life-giving Spring" on. Crete. God wanted her to live in the Greek monastery for eight months.

- The monastery of Chrisopigi is very picturesque. I like the way Greek monasteries are arranged: in the very center is a temple - this is the heart of the monastery, and around it there are cells, necessarily windows in the yard. On the outside they form a blank wall. With the external life of nuns, the door in the wall joins, which is sometimes opened. Worldly vanity does not penetrate the monastery, and she lives her own life. Our monastery was revived in 1976. There is such a story. Several nuns from Mount Meteora were blessed to find a new place for themselves. They chose for a long time and, finally, stopped at an abandoned monastery near the city of Chania. The buildings were in neglected condition, overgrown with grass. Only two old monks were at work at that time. Its monastery dates from the XVII century, the buildings were ancient. Thus, the three sisters became self-sufficient here. Clear,

- What are the means of the Greek monasteries? On missionary donations? 
"They do not have that, every monastery keeps itself." 

- Where does this opportunity come from the three nuns?

- At the monastery there is an old olive garden. Of course, it must be processed, and it is not easy - you need a lot of hands. Therefore, in the beginning, the sisters did not have money even for food. They began to plant and sell potatoes and lived on these means. Then came the new sisters, who knew how to write icons, and then they began to earn more with icon painting. Then came their own embroideress. Soon they began to gradually put in order the garden, produce and sell olive oil, olives. The monastery still lives and develops on these means. There is also a tangerine garden. So: ecologically pure olive oil, icon painting and embroidery - these are three things that bring income. There was even an opportunity to build a new monastery in the mountains in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord - 50 sisters. 

"Everyone has a separate cell?"

- In the monastery it is customary to live only one by one, this is necessary for both nuns and novices. It is interesting that the novice in Greece is called "dokimas", ie, "he who tries". In a word, a person tests herself, and if the monastic life is not in her power, then one can go and continue to live in peace. 

I have a very small but very joyful cell. The Lord blessed me so much that I took the smallest cell in the monastery, but I like it. There is a bed, a nightstand, and there is still room for prayer. 

- Did you go to Greece to study icon painting?

- Not only. We had the blessing to study also the Greek language and church crafts. We were happy with any science. But I especially like icon painting, because I always loved drawing, I even studied at an art school. If it is God's will, I would like to realize everything in life that I learned there. 

- What did you go there for? 
"In mundane clothes." The cassock is only blessed by nuns. Nevertheless, the novice's clothing looks like a monk's: long sleeves, scarf, closed neck, long skirt. 

- In Greece, the Church is not separated from the state, therefore, perhaps, there is less secularism in it? 
- What do you mean by "secularism"?

- Departure from the apostolic traditions, disregard for the statutory rules, the penetration of the tendencies of this century. For example, when the priests shave off their beards, and the cassock and cassock are put on only for service, as a uniform, and not as evidence that the Kingdom of God is not of this world. 

- In Greece, there really is not. Priests always go in cassocks, but most importantly, what I like about them is the apostolic love mentioned in the Gospel. They show love, care and patience to everyone and do not humble anyone, but only help how than they can. 

- You said that Chrysopigi is a big monastery, and by Russian standards - not very much.

- In Greece its scale. Although there are monasteries, where 120 monks are struggling. For example, in Ormylia 120 people are struggling, in Suroty - 64, in Bogoroditskaya desert, next to Thessaloniki, - 50. There are also hesychasts. 

- There are some, someone's spiritual children, buy land and build a monastery or restore the old one. They are the owners of their abode. 

- You also mentioned hesychast monasteries. 
- Yes, for example in the city of Surochi. The spiritual organizer of this monastery was the Athonite elder Paisii. In Greece, there are hesychastries, where only three nuns are working. 

"Are they Schemas?"
- Differently. For the schema in various monasteries, their terms are fixed. Somewhere two years, and somewhere and all 16. 

- Is it easy for a Greek woman to become a nun? 

"I do not know how it is in other monasteries, and in ours there is even a queue for entering the monastery, because it is considered good, and our old man is respected by all. Seekers of monasticism first come here on a visit and make friends with their sisters, that is, they enter the collective even before they actually enter the women's homes. They live, pray, well, they can help in the kitchen or go to mito / chi, that is - at the farmstead. The newcomer closely communicates with the sisters, and by the time she enters the novices - she is actually a member of the family. And there is also a blessing - not to take in our monastery more than one or two people a year.

- Tell us about your first impressions. How did you meet there? 

"Very friendly." True, in Greek we did not know, we communicated with the help of memoranda, which were written with a dictionary. First of all, they wrote about the purpose of our visit - what we want. The conversation with the Gerontissa was also carried out. 

"Is it the abbess?"

- Gerontissa means an old woman, a spiritual father. In Greece, the whole arrangement of monastic life is reduced to one person - to a spiritually experienced old man who helps sisters. It's probably like our abbess. In the first days we were placed together with my Russian companion and began to feed intensively - five times a day. The fact that we were very thin, and the sisters thought that we lived poorly, and this was a "casual" leanness - the move, the experience, the heat affected. In general, at first we fell asleep and got used to the local climate. Sisters came every now and then, asked how we feel. Gerontissa was sick at the time, but she wanted to meet with us. And then we were taken to the archondarik - we stand, we wait. In Russia, the abbess seemed to me very majestic and unapproachable, so I was worried. However, a woman entered the age of 50, like one of the sisters, and immediately us, like children, she kissed her head. Her friendly simplicity cheered us. She acted as if we were her daughters and for some reason they were absent. And everything is so sincere! Gerontissa wrote on the paper a question: "I want to know what you want and how I can help you." We answered that we ask you to teach us the Greek language, church crafts, Byzantine singing. We were blessed with an assistant nun who had a philological education. She began to teach us Greek. The daily lessons began. We were blessed to live according to the monastic charter, and the sisters get up early 

- In what time? 
- Service in the temple begins at 4 am, and the sisters usually get up at three to make a cell rule. 

- Is it difficult to live by such a charter? 

- I will not hide, at first it was very difficult for us, but an inexplicable joy came from the very way of life. At 4.00, "tata / land" began - when the nurse-alarm clock knocks on a dry tree: tata / land, tata / land, tata / - tata / - tata / land. With this beat, she bypasses the monastic cells three times, and to the third circle one must already be in the church. Tatalanda is a symbol of the construction of the Noah's Ark: as if Noah's hammer was heard, it means that you have to get on the ship if you want to be saved. 

- Beautiful and accurate image.

- Yes, so the sisters gather for prayer and, when there is no liturgy, they themselves serve, without a priest. The priest or one of the sisters utters a prayer. If the liturgy is served, then the worship ends at about 8.30. Then the sisters go to drink tea, and at 9.00 obediences begin, which last till one in the afternoon. At 13.00, everyone is obliged to come to the daylight hours, where the canon is read. The order of his canons is especially revered here by the saints. Then at 14.30 - lunch, a joint meal. Everyone gathers: an old man, a nun, before / kimasi (novices). At the meal, reading from the Fathers. Dining tables are in two rows. In the first sits the old man, for her sisters - according to the seniority of entering the monastery. In the other row, novices and guests are sitting at the tables. If on solemn days the confessor of the monastery comes, he is planted next to the gerontissa. 

"What do they eat there?"

- The food is simple and tasty. Basically, vegetables, fruits, cereals, well, and fish on holidays. Quite often, a little wine is put on the tables - to strengthen the forces. On holidays give a good red wine, and on ordinary days - light, unsweetened. In fasting days it is completely excluded. 

- They say that in Greece they live very ascetically during fasting, they eat only once a day. 

- Yes, the meal is only delivered once a day and without oil. But, frankly, you do not starve. The Lord is helping. In general, in short days there are three meals. In the morning, tea with bread and cheese is usually served. On the table can stand fruit, but their sisters do not eat in the morning. Sometimes, milk will be poured into a mug. 

- And if someone wants to drink two mugs? 
- No, there will not be two mugs, but you can add sugar to the milk as much as you want.

- Tell us about lunch, too. 

- Be sure to serve hot - fried potatoes, casserole or porridge. As a rule, there are two salads. In jars there is pure cold water. In the middle of dinner a bell rings, meaning that you can take fruit. But first they make a prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us!" Now you can take water and wine and fruits, and before that you can not, even if you want to drink, you need to show endurance. Guests, of course, can violate the rules, but the nuns observe them rigorously. 

"Can I drink during the day?" 

- Of course, because in Greece it's very hot, so I'm blessed to drink a lot. After dinner, the gerontissa can explain something from the holy fathers, stop the attention on something from the reading. This is a very important point that I really liked.

- After dinner, everyone takes a break, which lasts an hour or a half. Then, until 18.30, obedience continues. Next is the evening service, after which dinner. After supper, an "apo / dipno" is held - a Compline. At 21.00 sisters disperse to the cells. They have little time to read books or pray. Sleep is blessed for five and a half to six hours, it is believed that this is enough. Other sisters sleep for three or four hours, they did not tell us who exactly, but there are such in the monastery. Gerontissa said that those who love God come to the monastery, and for the sake of this love they give up worldly comfort. 

- These words hurt, because I can not sleep a little - my head hurts.

- The Lord gives the power to ascetic life, this is a manifestation of the grace of God, and you do not get tired as much as if you lived in peace. Arriving in Russia, I also began to sleep for seven hours, and in the monastery time for sleep was required less. This is not a human achievement, but the mercy of God. The sisters told me that our metropolitan Irenaeus has been leading an ascetic life for many years - eating hardly any food, sleeping very little and praying and taking care of his metropolia. Prayer for the children entrusted to him, he considers the first archpastoral duty, and administrative cases - not even on the second, but somewhere in the third place. The Metropolitan works a lot with young people, likes to gather young people together, so that they communicate, get to know each other, so that the church environment is updated. He simply attracts people to himself with his love.

- To what extent is the monastery connected with the outside world? Are the nuns engaged in missionary work? 

- The monastery lives, first of all, its inner life, and it is protected by the external regime. The gate opens at 6 am for those who come to pray. The doors of the monastery will open wide only at 8 am, when wishing to talk with their nuns about their problems and excursionists. Our monastery is very ancient, visitors from all over the world come to us - from Chile, from the States, from neighboring European states. Catholics, and Protestants, who are very fond of talking with sisters. In the monastery it is customary to treat every person. After a tour of the monastery, people are sure to be offered something sweet, water and a roll or biscuits.

They will close the gates at noon or at one o'clock in the afternoon. Then, at 16.30, they will open again, and at seven in the evening they will close before the next morning. While the gate is not closed, people can go to the service or talk with clerics. Every Sunday after the service in the archondarik there are meetings with a gerontissa and a priest. There people are treated to coffee with kuluraki (small cookies) and jam and talk with them. Conversations happen on a certain topic. Sometimes they talk about the events in Russia. For example, when the "Nord-Ost" tragedy occurred in Moscow, the gerontissa asked the lay people to pray for Russia, at least 100 prayers on the rosary beads. 

- Do locals come often? 
- Yes, they come all the time, they talk with the gerontissa or with other sisters, they seek consolation or advice from them. 

"Are your priests from the white clergy?"

- By itself. Two permanent fathers, while others serve occasionally. Our fathers love the gerontissa and sisters, respect the local customs. They have been serving in Chrisopigi for 20 years. One even comes from Scotland. In Greece, he found spiritual support in the person of our former gerontissa and accepted the dignity. He is an amazing person, he knows eight languages. All our fathers are so humble! 

- But the main figure of the monastery is still ... 
- Gerontissa! 

- You said that you had to visit other monasteries. 

"Yes, the Gerontissa made sure that we traveled to holy places, and we traveled all over Crete." For example, in Ormylia there is a very large convent. There you feel like on Athos, only female.

- Female Athos? Very interesting. I actually assumed that there should be such a monastery in Greece.

- First, there you immediately break away from the world, because Ormilia entered the Athos time - counting is from the sunset. The day for them also begins with the Tataland (as a beater hung a huge dry log). This monastery was built in 1975, in a very short time, and its roots - in the old mitokhii (at the courtyard) of the Athonite monastery of Vatoped. Elder Evgeny blessed his spiritual children to open this monastery. (Hieromonk Eumenius was a man of holy life, he died in 1999. Pilgrimage to Crete, we were honored to bow to his coffin in a remote village in the mountains). They say that at first the nuns were tonsured actively, as they were already prepared for tonsure. The monastery has evolved over 20 years, now it is a very strong abode, where the sisters lead an ascetic life. They pray a lot and work a lot, in this monastery a magnificent choir, very well set singing. Back in Ormylia, there is a workshop in which ancient icons are studied using a computer. The nuns examine them in layers, look at the picture of the Byzantine icon, as in the old days the colors were selected.