To be taught Jan 25, 2020
From Michael Ruse:
Some writers of the Church, like Dionysius the Areopagite, considered taking monastic vows and living as a monk to be a sacrament. Monastic tonsure is much like baptism. Accepting death to gain life. It is done once in your life, like baptism, and that submersion into death begins a new path in life that requires bearing one’s cross. It represents a spiritual death and joy in resurrection of one’s spirit. The monastic clothing and accessories symbolize the meaning of monasticism, which primarily focuses on contemplation. That contemplative life is, in fact, a battle done with prayer. For this reason, when the abbot gives a monk a prayer rope, it is called a sword.
How can you become more dead? You could choose to become a monk. There are many similarities between monasticism and marriage. Just as with marriage, becoming a monk requires the participation and agreement of the community, the priest presides, the Eucharist is celebrated, and most of all, a requirement of a willing heart without compulsion. Marriage and monasticism must be freely chosen. Just as in a marriage, there is a paradoxical mixture of mourning and joy that reminds us that spiritual joyfulness comes from mourning over a realization of our own woundedness. Just as a monk leaves family and familiar life behind, so too does a man leave his father and mother to be joined to his wife. There is a leaving and union that happens in both types of spiritual yokes.
Another important aspect of monastic tonsure is found in the story of the Prodigal Son. It is a passage that is contained in the liturgy for the tonsuring a monk into the small schema. It is a story that reflects a free decision to repent from a realization of powerlessness and a wounded life but also from a recognition that we are not completely helpless if we go to our Father’s house. It’s a father-son relationship that is restored. Becoming a monk is also a husband and wife story that reflects how Jesus Christ loves His Church and he gives everything for us. The order of services contains wedding terminology. The word to describe a decision to be a monk is “betrothal.” This wording indicates that a lay person enters into a monastic community as if by marital vows. Join us all Saturday, Jan 25, 2020, at 4:00 p.m. to learn more of this beautiful, encouraging yoke that Christ has given us another way to unite ourselves to the Holy Trinity.