- Geronda, a sexton must be dressed in a mantle, even in summer, in the heat? I’m just drenched in the heat in the mantle.
"Well, well ... Now, monasticism is so monastic! .. What can you say ... Rev. Athanasius of Athos, wearing a thick robe and heavy cross, and we ... What are we now! While in Australia, I saw a sexton in shorts in a temple. In this form, I told him, they go to the beach, swim in the sea. And to me he answers, “it’s more convenient.”
They start with this, slowly move on, and then get to the point that they say: Let's throw off the cassocks so that the sun does not bake us. Does the mantle interfere? Drop it! The handkerchief interferes, do you sweat? Drop that too! Yes, yes, we are heading for it. You are my brother, but if it’s hot, then every monk should take care of himself. Let him put on less clothes under the cassock."
- Geronda, some are perplexed: "Does the cassock make a man a priest?"
"And you look, for example, at two olive trees - one with leaves, and the other without them. Which of the two do you like best? With or without leaves? At one time, the issue of canceling the wearing of cassocks by priests was vividly discussed and some came, hoping to receive a blessing from me on this!
- Geronda, a person brought trousers to us to the monastery for an Orthodox priest. Is it necessary to take a blessing from him?
“What a blessing there is! Whoever brought the priest the trousers, you should have told him this: “We apologize, but in our monastery it is customary to give a cassock to clergy. Is it possible to come to the convent to the priest in trousers? This is not appropriate. If you are not ashamed of the one who brought it to you, or the priest himself, then why should you be ashamed to give him a cassock? Once I met at the airport a young archimandrite who flew abroad in mundane clothes. “I am the father of such and such,” the archimandrite advised me. “Well, where is your cassock?” I asked him and, naturally, I did not take blessings from him."
- And some, Geronda, argue that, having become more modern, the clergy will do more good.
"When Patriarch Dmitry, while in America, visited the Theological School of the Holy Cross, some reverent American students approached him and said: “Your Holiness, the clergy must become more modern in our era!” And the Patriarch answered them: “St. Cosmas of Aetola speaks that when clergy turn into laity, laity turn into demons! ” He answered them well. He was prepared a magnificent room, with a luxurious bed, rich furnishings, and he, seeing all this, said: “Where will you settle me? In this room? Bring me some kind of cot. By humbling himself, the clergyman becomes less a candidate for the devils. ”
They start with this, slowly move on, and then get to the point that they say: Let's throw off the cassocks so that the sun does not bake us. Does the mantle interfere? Drop it! The handkerchief interferes, do you sweat? Drop that too! Yes, yes, we are heading for it. You are my brother, but if it’s hot, then every monk should take care of himself. Let him put on less clothes under the cassock."
- Geronda, some are perplexed: "Does the cassock make a man a priest?"
"And you look, for example, at two olive trees - one with leaves, and the other without them. Which of the two do you like best? With or without leaves? At one time, the issue of canceling the wearing of cassocks by priests was vividly discussed and some came, hoping to receive a blessing from me on this!
“What a blessing there is! Whoever brought the priest the trousers, you should have told him this: “We apologize, but in our monastery it is customary to give a cassock to clergy. Is it possible to come to the convent to the priest in trousers? This is not appropriate. If you are not ashamed of the one who brought it to you, or the priest himself, then why should you be ashamed to give him a cassock? Once I met at the airport a young archimandrite who flew abroad in mundane clothes. “I am the father of such and such,” the archimandrite advised me. “Well, where is your cassock?” I asked him and, naturally, I did not take blessings from him."
- And some, Geronda, argue that, having become more modern, the clergy will do more good.
"When Patriarch Dmitry, while in America, visited the Theological School of the Holy Cross, some reverent American students approached him and said: “Your Holiness, the clergy must become more modern in our era!” And the Patriarch answered them: “St. Cosmas of Aetola speaks that when clergy turn into laity, laity turn into demons! ” He answered them well. He was prepared a magnificent room, with a luxurious bed, rich furnishings, and he, seeing all this, said: “Where will you settle me? In this room? Bring me some kind of cot. By humbling himself, the clergyman becomes less a candidate for the devils. ”
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