"Here I am, Lord, I am coming to do your will! Yes, my God, I want it: your law is deep in my heart" Psalm 40:8-9

"The religious state is a stable manner of living in common in an institute approved by the Church, by which the Christian faithful, more closely following Christ, Teacher and Exemplar of Holiness, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated by a new and special title through the public vows of obedience, chastity and poverty, observed in accord with the norm of the statutes under a legitimate superior, renounce the world and totally dedicate themselves to the attainment of perfect charity in the service of the Kingdom of God for the building up the Church and the salvation of the world as a sign of the foretelling of heavenly glory".

CCEO Can. 412

POSTULANCY

Everyone willing to become a monk must be free from all hindrances and be driven by right intention. He must be suitable for the commitments of monastic life.

Postulancy is a testing period – six months to one year – which aims at the candidate’s getting acquainted with the Community and the Byzantine Rite. The candidate is supported by the Novice Master, who helps him in the discernment and the formation in Christian life prior to his admission to Novitiate.

NOVITIATE

The Novitiate begins with the Ceremony of taking the habit and lasts two years. It is an intense period of formation and preparation to monastic consecration.
The novices – guided by the Novice Master – commit themselves to ascetic training, diligent prayer, and a careful study of the sense of monastic life and vows. They study the Holy Scriptures, Byzantine Liturgy, the Typikòn and Byzantine Melurgy – as well as monastic literature and spirituality of the Oriental Christian tradition.
The candidates must practice the life they intend to pursue to be able to tackle bodily and spiritual trials. They must not flatter themselves about the life of evangelical perfection and think they can live if without struggling for salvation.

MONASTIC PROFESSION OF TEMPORARY VOWS (Rasoforato or Microschimato)

With his monastic profession the monk gives himself entirely to God. He is free from earthly ties and this makes him more fit to follow Christ.

The new-monk gets his monastic name and wears the 'little' habit – token of his consecration – which he wears inside and outside the monastery. The professed monk takes care of himself as a gift made to God and devotes himself to practicing virtues and prayer with the Novice Master’s help and guidance.

The Rasoforato (or Microschimato) lasts for three years and is followed by the solemn vows.

MONASTIC PROFESSION OF SOLEMN VOWS (Megaloschimato)

The monastic state is definitively undertaken with the profession of solemn vows and the reception of the 'great' and angelic habit.

The solemn-professed monk devotes all his life to God's service. His consecration is rooted in the baptismal one – which expresses more deeply. His commitment is deification by continual prayer, the practice of virtues, the heart's conversion, and faithful observance of monastic vows.

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