Monastic Charter

The emergence of monastic charters is associated with the emergence of communal monasticism. The first monastery charter was created by Pachomius the Great for the Tavennis monastery (South Egypt ) in 318 . The original is assigned a trial period of 10 days and the elder, who takes patronage over him. Gets a new and new monastic robe. He carries out various assignments and reads psalms. The monastery has three common prayers a day and one common meal at noon (except Wednesday and Friday, which provides for fasting). The monastery was headed by Abba , and the economy was in charge of the economic side ^[1] .

The monastic charter of Pachomius became the basis for Basil the Great when he drafted the “ Spoken Rules for Monks ” for the monastery he founded in Cappadocia . The charter of Basil has been preserved in Orthodox monasticism to this day. In the West, with its variety of monastic charters, such monasteries are called by his name: " Basilian monasteries ."

Other ancient monastic charters include the writings of St. John of Cassian of Rome, “ On the Resolutions of the Cinemas of Palestinian and Egyptian ” (in 12 books); on its basis, the charter of the Monk Benedict of Nursia ( VI century ) ^[2] was compiled for the monastery in Monte Cassino , in Italy.

Information about the rules for living monks in Egyptian monasteries of the 5th century is contained in the Narrative of St. Sophronius , Bishop of Jerusalem, and the Monk John Mosch about their visit to the Sinai Monastery (the rules of the Nile of Sinai are described).

Ancient monastic charters provided for punishments: for lying, grumbling, laziness, anger, neglect of the monastery property, etc. As a punishment for the guilty party, excommunication, deprivation of fellowship in food and prayer with other monks, temporary dry eating were provided .

The Byzantine era knew a huge number of monastic charters, they were composed by abbots , bishops , clergy who established monasteries. But the Jerusalem and Studio charters played the largest role in the development of sociable monasticism.

• The Jerusalem Charter (the charter of the Monk Savva the Sanctified , written for the monastery he founded ) regulated the order of worship to a greater extent, although it describes the monastic traditions of the 6th century Palestinian monasteries. The monastic charters of St. Pachomius and St. Basil the Great influenced the creation of the Jerusalem Statute. The original list of the Jerusalem charter, according to Simeon of Solunsky , burned down in 614 when Jerusalem was captured by the Persian king Khosrov .
• The student charter (the charter of St. Theodore the Studite , written for the Studios Monastery ), unlike the Jerusalem charter, resembles the staffing table, describing in detail the responsibilities for the monastery posts and obedience. Another feature of the Studio charter compared to Jerusalem is that it was written for monks living in the city monastery under the guidance of one igumen (Savva the Sanctified wrote his charter for monks who lived in scattered Kellian caves and gathered together in the church only for joint worship services). The full text of the Student Charter was written down at the end of the X - beginning of the XI century, until that time there were only short monastic " Inscriptions ".

The student charter was introduced in Russia by the Monk Theodosius of the Caves in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra . It was used in Russia until the XIV century , when it was supplanted by the Jerusalem charter, which became widespread in the East.

• Liturgical charter
• Rule of st benedict
• Carmelite rule of st. Albert

• Ancient monastic charters: pr. Pachomius the great, sv. St. Basil the Great, etc. John Cassian and etc. Benedict, collected by Bishop Theophanes / Comp. Bishop Theophan the Recluse ; Reprint ed. 1892 - Riga: Pilgrim-Blagovest, 1995. - 654, VIII, [10] p. - 6000 copies. - ISBN 5-87310-019-5 .

• About the monastery charter
• Church Statute History
• From the history of the monastic Charter in Ancient Russia from the sources to the XVI century (inaccessible link)