Similarities / differences in Eastern and Western monastic life

[MarysLittleFlower]

I'm hoping someone could help me out with this I've noticed there are some posters here who are Eastern, - I assume that Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox have similar if not the same traditions in monastic life? In any case anyone is more than welcome to post including Roman Catholics  I'm just looking for any information!

I'm Eastern Catholic but lacking a parish of my rite, I attend a Roman Catholic parish. I'm also discerning religious life... but I've realized I know next to nothing of Eastern monastic life. (mostly I'm familiar with the Tridentine Latin Mass spirituality). How is Eastern monastic life similar/ different? I'm sure there must be differences for example I'm aware that "monastic orders" is a very Latin rite thing. I've been discerning mostly with Roman Catholic orders (I might need permission to enter one though), but I'd be interested in learning of Eastern ones too. The only one I know so far is this one and they seem wonderful: http://www.christthebridegroom.org/

I know there must be many details that are different: the habits, the prayers... and some things similar like the Liturgy of the Hours. But here are some questions I had

- Do Eastern communities have daily Divine Liturgy?

- Do they usually have an apostolate or are they usually contemplative?

- what is their daily schedule like?

- are there differences in general spirituality? I mean - of course Eastern monasteries would have an Eastern spirituality... but how does this affect the monastery in ways that make it differ from Roman Catholic orders? (sorry for this ridiculously complex sentence.. I just mean: how does the spirituality make the monastery different than in the West?)

thank you :D

Edited April 18, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower

[Egeria]

Some possibly scattered initial thoughts:

You're right about not having Orders (and even less Congregations) which were a later western thing that only developed in the second millennium. In the East there is really only the monastic tradition that is both one and also varied, so that there is considerable variety among monasteries, yet also a common core that is recognizable. 

In terms of spirituality, the East has more in common with the earlier western monastic tradition (think Benedictine tradition) than it does with the various movements that developed in the West in the course of the second millennium, although it may live that reality in a slightly less organized way. But the Rule of St Benedict, and especially Chapter Seven on humility, presents a thoroughly Orthodox understanding of monastic life.

More practically, a daily Liturgy is very unusual, although I'm told that it does happen in very large monasteries. But I'm not sure that all the monastics would attend it.

There is no clear-cut distinction between apostolic and contemplative life in the East as there is in the West. The basic identity is monastic and contemplative, but depending on the monastery and the circumstances, some work that would be considered apostolic in the West may be undertaken. There is also not the strict enclosure that one finds in the West (there were never things like grilles) but there is still a basic sense of enclosure although this varies from monastery to monastery. For example, in some monasteries, guests eat with the community in the refectory, while in others they eat in the guest quarters. One wouldn't normally go out without the blessing of the abbess, but she would be likely to give that blessing for legitimate reasons.

The daily schedule varies from monastery to monastery. As in the western monastic tradition, keeping vigil at night is a strong tradition and on Mount Athos the night office is at something like 2 am. But not all monasteries (especially in western countries) can manage this and so there is variety, just as there is in western monasticism. 

The Prayer of the Hours largely correspond to the Hours found in the West, but in Eastern monasteries the various hours are more likely to be combined. The Eastern Office is also more "hymnography-heavy" than the western one and it's not easy for smaller communities to pray the whole Office. In some places not all monastics are present for all offices, while in others the Jesus prayer sometimes replaces (parts of) the Office.

Talking of which, while this does depend on particular traditions, the Jesus prayer tends to play an important role in Eastern monasticism. But perhaps that's stating the obvious...

I'm assuming you're in the US from the Christ the Bridegroom reference. Although they're men, one good source of information (and possible guidance) might be Holy Resurrection Monastery in St. Nazianz, http://hrmonline.org From what I have seen of them before they seem rather solid. I seem to remember that there was a women's monastery connected to them, but can't remember what it was called.

Also, while it's some years since I read it, Pope John Paul II's Orientale Lumen might be worth reading as, from what I remember, it gives a pretty good presentation of the eastern vision of monasticism. 

http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1995/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19950502_orientale-lumen.html

Hope that helps and that it's not too scattered 

 

 

[Sponsa-Christi]

Really interesting post, Egeria! 

One other Eastern Rite community in the U.S.A. that I know of is the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light. (http://maroniteservants.org/cms/) Their foundress, Sr. Marla Marie, is Maronite, but originally entered the Latin Rite community of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate. The Maronite Servants are an active, apostolic community. 

There are also Byzantine Carmelites in Pennsylvania, but I don't know too much about them. 

[MarysLittleFlower]

Thank you for the replies!  

I actually live in Canada but most communities I hear about in general are in the US. We really need more growth of religious life here in Canada. If anyone knows of any Canadian monasteries that are good please let me know

[MarysLittleFlower]

I'm kind of surprised that there is no daily Divine Liturgy in most Eastern monasteries? I thought its something that is not present in most parishes but does happen in monasteries? Daily Communion is something that would be really important to me and I think receiving Communion so often is also more emphasized in the West? For this reason and because I love Adoration I've been looking into Roman Catholic orders but I still want to learn about Eastern religious life too and also discern that. But just a question if anyone knows, how often would an Eastern nun typically receive Communion? I'm just asking because frequent like daily Communion is something I'm really drawn to and my SD has recommended as well 

 

Edited April 19, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower

[MarysLittleFlower]

I hope it doesn't seem in the above post like a criticism of the Eastern communities... its just that I'm trying to imagine living there and daily liturgy and Adoration have been such major components of how I've been imagining religious life to be that its honestly a bit of a challenge. I still want to learn and I'll go where God wants especially as I'm Eastern canonically I think I should learn about this. But I was told if i enter a Latin community I'd need to get permission. Whatever God wills... However I have to say that my emphasis in spirituality is very Eucharistic and the communities I'm most drawn to are those that spend much time before the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration. I realize this is not an Eastern tradition so I wouldn't find it in the East. Also daily Mass is what structures my whole day and my goal is to receive Jesus daily - so I'm trying to match my discernment with my spiritual life as well. Its confusing because since I'm Eastern I wonder if I almost have some sort of obligation with this but at the same time it would involve a huge change in spirituality. So I'm looking into Latin orders too and getting permission. 

Please don't get me wrong I love the East and the West and the East has many very beautiful things too - I love the icons, the chant, and the prayers in the liturgy. I'm just talking about my spirituality here and how it has this Eucharistic emphasis with Communion and Adoration. I guess in time I'll see where God is calling me if its religious life

[beatitude]

I'm kind of surprised that there is no daily Divine Liturgy in most Eastern monasteries? I thought its something that is not present in most parishes but does happen in monasteries? Daily Communion is something that would be really important to me and I think receiving Communion so often is also more emphasized in the West? For this reason and because I love Adoration I've been looking into Roman Catholic orders but I still want to learn about Eastern religious life too and also discern that. But just a question if anyone knows, how often would an Eastern nun typically receive Communion? I'm just asking because frequent like daily Communion is something I'm really drawn to and my SD has recommended as well 

 

​MarysLittleFlower, I am not Eastern so others may have better information, but I think one issue here is the length of the liturgy. A Western Mass with a short five-minute homily can be conducted in under half an hour. The Eastern Divine Liturgy tends to be much longer. I've been to an Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy that went on for three hours, and this is standard for them on Sundays! I doubt it would be practical to have that every day, especially if the priest isn't solely devoted to the monastery.

You should also remember that our Western custom of receiving frequent Communion was not always practised as it is now. In medieval times people would often receive only twice a year. That changed over time, but it was only Pope Pius X who really pushed for us to receive frequently. In 1905 he granted the whole church permission to receive communion every day, which had not been possible before without special consent (for example, St Therese was given permission to receive four times per week). That's not so long ago in the grand scheme of things.

Edited April 19, 2015 by beatitude

[MarysLittleFlower]

​MarysLittleFlower, I am not Eastern so others may have better information, but I think one issue here is the length of the liturgy. A Western Mass with a short five-minute homily can be conducted in under half an hour. The Eastern Divine Liturgy tends to be much longer. I've been to an Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy that went on for three hours, and this is standard for them on Sundays! I doubt it would be practical to have that every day, especially if the priest isn't solely devoted to the monastery.

You should also remember that our Western custom of receiving frequent Communion was not always practised as it is now. In medieval times people would often receive only twice a year. That changed over time, but it was only Pope Pius X who really pushed for us to receive frequently. In 1905 he granted the whole church permission to receive communion every day, which had not been possible before without special consent (for example, St Therese was given permission to receive four times per week). That's not so long ago in the grand scheme of things.

Thank you for the reply! Yes I see what you mean about the time issue... I guess all I'm saying is that for me personally daily Mass and frequent Communion is very important. I know there was a time in the West when people received only once or twice a year but I think in this case it was related to Jansenism and from what I read, this was displeasing to Our Lord. Of course in the East they have Communion way more than that so I'm not at all comparing the two situations! For me personally the day is just not the same without Communion and I struggle much more with sin without it. I miss Communion on the days I don't receive. As a nun I'd love to start the day with Communion and to adore Jesus in the Host in Adoration. I love the East and will go where God calls me but these things are so important to me that its honestly kind of a struggle to learn of this difference in Eastern monasteries. But I love much in them too. I hope anyone Eastern reading this would not be insulted... I'm Eastern myself too. My spirituality has just went a certain way and now I need to relate it to my vocation anyway God's Will be done.

[beatitude]

Jansenism took root in the seventeenth century and remained into the eighteenth. The custom of receiving Communion only once or twice a year was medieval and predated Jansenism by hundreds of years. It was normative once. I am not saying I agree with it or like it, just pointing out that how we approach the Eucharist has changed - once people thought that it was so special you should prepare for a long time and not receive it often, now people feel it is so special you should receive whenever you can! In both cases the intentions were good, even if the practice is different.

I am like you. If I entered a religious community I would want daily Eucharist. There is nothing wrong with that, and if your confessor has advised daily Communion, then that should be one of the things to look for in a community.

Edited April 19, 2015 by beatitude

[Egeria]

MLF, I sort of understand where you are coming from (perhaps?) as I would once have thought it impossible to enter a community without daily Mass, and I would get quite uncomfortable when I was somewhere where I couldn't attend Mass or receive Communion. However, I have changed and (although I can't really verbalize this well) a shift in my experience of the Eucharist was actually one of the things that led me to Orthodoxy. (Though I should probably also admit that there is a difference to how I experienced these things inside and outside a monastery - I have also known other western monastics who wished that they could celebrate and receive the Eucharist less frequently, not out of a rejection of it, but precisely because they increasingly realize that it is something that we can only approach in "fear and trembling" - and because in a monastery you have the whole Office that regulates and carries your life and, in this context, there is a danger of the Eucharist becoming just one more "thing").

But to react to some points...

Most concretely, in the Orthodox (and one Melkite) monastic communities that I know, they tend to celebrate the Liturgy three or four times a week, depending on the availability of a priest.

Beatitude is right about the length of the Liturgy - there is no such thing as a quick, 30 minute Liturgy in the East! But it's not just the length of the Liturgy itself, but also the preparation involved. In monasteries that I know, not all sisters would necessarily receive Communion at all Liturgies (though they would receive regularly), but only when they had consciously prepared for it and received a blessing from the abbess or spiritual father to do so. And the prayers of preparation the night before can take a good 45 minutes, if done in their entirety.

With regard to frequent Communion, there was a move away from it in both East and West (for slightly different reasons, but I can't remember the details), and both East and West have rediscovered it in the last century or so (though this varies from place to place in the East), though in somewhat different ways, Though the East did not go as far as the West did. In the East there was no tradition of daily Mass as this - together with Adoration - was tied up with changes in western sacramental theology in the late Middle Ages.

Underlying this is, of course, a somewhat different understanding of and approach to the sacraments that is not so easy to put into words because it is lived and "caught" rather than "taught." I remember an Eastern Catholic abbot, speaking about the western practice of Adoration, saying that it feels all wrong for an Eastern Christian because we do not gaze at the Body and Blood of Christ on the altar, but our instinct is to avert our eyes and prostrate ourselves before them.

[totustuus20]

The Byzantine discalced carmelites have Divine Liturgy every day. I believe that just as in the Roman Rite, it is dependent on the order. 

[MarysLittleFlower]

Egeria, I think I sort of understand what you are referring to but I guess my understanding of Communion is really shaped by things like the Sacred Heart devotion. Im all for reverence which is why I started attending the Tridentine Latin Mass since I love how they receive Communion kneeling there... I tend to think that its not so much the frequency of Communion that might make it a habit rather that our love is not enough - me included. I have read of Saints who received Communion daily with great love and reverence and never got used to it.. The argument might be made that we are not yet Saints, and while that is true, the way I see Communion is that its a union with Jesus that He wants and longs for, and it brings Him joy. It is not a fearful thing though we may feel our unworthiness much. But He told St Gertrude that to some He gives more reverence and to some more love, there is always both but we humanly speaking find it hard to concentrate on both together to the same intensity. I think I'm drawn to frequent Communion because of the benefit it gives and I believe that Jesus wants very much for us to receive Him. Its a soul that He has waited to unite Himself with. as He said to the Apostles "with desire I have desired" for the Last Supper. My view of this has been influenced by things Jesus told the Church through the Saints and mystics.. I do often feel unworthy to receive but my SD told me I should, and when I obey I'm always glad I did. Anyways I realize your perspective might be different because I know the Orthodox see frequent Communion a bit differently but just wanted to share mine I think I've just been thinking of Jesus' longing for us to receive Him, unworthy as we are... Of course this doesn't reflect on our worthiness but on His love. for this reason I am drawn to communities with daily Mass. I find the whole day and my prayers are different when i didn't have Communion. Its like it regulates the day for me. Thanks for replying

Edited April 20, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower

[MarysLittleFlower]

The Byzantine discalced carmelites have Divine Liturgy every day. I believe that just as in the Roman Rite, it is dependent on the order. 

That's interesting! Do they have a website?

[MarysLittleFlower]

Sorry if I'm being too argumentative about this... I appreciate all the time put into responding to my question I think maybe I should speak to my SD about the topic of frequent Communion. Because my understanding is that our feeling of unworthiness shouldn't keep us away from Him rather we should approach Him more with trust..  Otherwise its like we feel cold and stay away from the fire. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the Eastern approach though.. Its probably different if you're not allowed to receive more, rather than if you were told to, but still feel afraid. My understanding was influenced by things Jesus told the Church through the Saints about His longing for souls.  I also read of various Saints who were so humble and felt unworthy to receive but longed for each Communion so ardently and received Him daily. I'll ask my SD... I hope I didn't offend anyone. I just realized how much this affects my perception of God in general and if a community I discerned with didn't agree with daily Communion I would struggle. I fall easily into scruples and I think frequent reception of Communion can help me have more confidence. It is something that makes me think of God's mercy so when I hear about it being more humble to receive rarely I have difficulty getting that. I'm not questioning the humility or reverence involved which is beautiful and I believe that is pleasing to God. I tend to believe its good to receive anyway and to give Him this unworthinessunworthiness - and the more unworthy, the more confidence.  Hopefully that makes sense... I really believe Jesus wants this with souls. He is always in the Tabernacle alone..  

Edited April 20, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower

[totustuus20]

http://www.byzantinediscalcedcarmelites.com/ here is that website! I just want to say that I totally understand where you're coming from! I received my sacraments of initiation in the byzantine church but I have been attending Roman Rite mass since I was 7. When I was looking for orders I wanted to find an order in the Ruthenian Rite, but I wasn't able to find a good fit for me.