Why did the ancient ascetics wear chains? The meaning of the word chains in the Orthodox encyclopedia is a tree What are chains in Russian.

Chains are various types of iron chains, stripes, rings worn by ascetics on the body to humble the flesh and subjugate its spirit. The weight of the chains could reach tens of kilograms, and their wearing has always been a secret and intimate affair. Initially, the chains were the property of ascetic monks. St. Gregory the Theologian wrote about them thus: “Others wear themselves out with iron chains, and, thinning the flesh, thin out sin together.” According to the severity of the ascetic ideal, the monks in the feat itself were not content with an ordinary analav, as soon as a sign of their struggle with the flesh, a desire arose to influence the will more sensitively through the impact on the body. Wearing a chain is a kind of ascetic exercise, with the aim of exhausting the body in a continuous effort to completely, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, to crucify one's flesh with passions and lusts (Gal. 5, 24). It has essentially the same meaning as the carrying of large weights, stones and sand baskets, which took place for the humility of the flesh among the eastern hermits of the first centuries of the Christian Church.

In Rus', wearing chains already in the 11th-12th centuries became widespread among ascetic monks. Reading the Kiev Caves Patericon, we learn that Saints Theodosius († 1074), Mark Cave († c. 1102) and John the Long-suffering († c. 1160) wore iron on their bodies. So, the Monk Theodosius, while still a youth, “came to a blacksmith and ordered him to forge an iron belt, with which he girded himself.” The Monk Mark Cave, who diligently dug graves for the brethren of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, “placed on his loins the iron that he wore all the time of his life, awake day and night in prayer.” The Monk John the Long-suffering, the Hermit, who struggled with carnal passion for about thirty years, not only diligently fasted and deprived himself of sleep, but also “decided to put heavy armor on his body”, exhausting himself with iron for a long time.

An ancient tradition brought us information that the founder of the Polotsk Spassky Monastery, St. Euphrosyne, also performed the feat of wearing a chain for many years. By the grace of God, in our time, the chains of the saint were acquired - iron chains weighing 7 kg. In 1991, they were found in the ancient Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior. The nun appeared in a dream to a pious parishioner of the Church of the Savior and commanded her to take the chains in the attic of the church. In 1998, the shrine was handed over to the Bishop of Polotsk and Glubokoe Theodosius (Bilchenko) for storage in the Spaso-Evfrosinievskaya monastery. The chains are placed in an oak carved shrine with a canopy, where until 2007 the relics of St. Euphrosyne rested. People who worship chains with faith receive healing of mental and bodily ailments.

Sources:

1. Lives and deeds of the saints of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra with the appendix of selected akathists. Minsk, 2005.

2. Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, or legends about the life and deeds of the Saints of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Kyiv, 1991. (Reprint. reproduction of the 3rd edition of 1903).

3. Orthodox encyclopedia. M., 2001. T. II.

4. Archive of the Polotsk Spaso-Evfrosinevsky monastery. Chronicle of the Spaso-Evfrosinievsky Monastery for 1991-2011.

01/28/2017| Storchevoy S.V.

Why did the ancient ascetics wear chains?

In remembrance of the Passion of the Savior and the martyrdom of these apostles, they were worn to subdue the flesh.

The custom of wearing chains was accepted by ascetics not arbitrarily, but sanctified by the deeds of the Lord Himself and His supreme apostles Peter and Paul.

Many of the saints wore heavy chains. So, the hermit Markian wore them weighing 2 pounds; Eusebius surpassed both this and the other, namely Agapit, who wore chains of 1 pood 10 pounds: he took their chains and attached them to his 3 poods, so that he wore a weight of 6 poods 10 pounds. Even the wives mentioned by Marina and Kira carried great burdens and, moreover, for forty-two years! Rev. Simeon the Stylite once took at the beginning of his exploits (at the age of eighteen) a rope woven from date branches, which was used to get water from a well, very rough, and wrapped it around his naked body from the hips to the very neck. Nineteen days later, the rope cut into the body to the bone, the body itself festered, worms appeared and a terrible smell. The brethren of the monastery where he lived freed him from this torment by force. Then he put on an iron chain, twenty cubits long, which, however, he also later removed. When the chain was unforged, up to twenty worms were found under the piece of skin on which it was put on! In Holy Rus', many blessed and holy fools for Christ's sake wore chains.

Generally speaking, although the great saints wore chains, only some of them, and many did not want to put them on, although they could do this without harm (meaning from vanity) for their souls. They did this out of humility, setting an example for others. For example, Rev. For the mortification of the flesh, Seraphim of Sarov wore only a large five-inch iron cross under his shirt on a rope, but he did not wear a chain (also hair shirts) and did not advise others.

His reasoning on this subject can be cited as exemplary, summing up the experience of the ancient ascetics (described by Epiphanius of Cyprus, Jerome, Apollonius).

“Whoever offends us in word or deed,” he said, “and if we endure insults in the gospel way, here are our chains, here is the sackcloth! These spiritual chains and sackcloth are higher than the iron ones put on by today's people. True, many of the holy fathers wore both hair shirt and iron chains, but they were wise and perfect men and did all this out of the love of God, for the complete mortification of the flesh and passions, and for the subjugation of their spirit. Such were our Russian Orthodox saints: Rev. Theodosius of the Caves, Theodosius of Totem, Basil the Blessed and others. But we are still babies, and passions still reign in our body and oppose the will and law of God. So what will happen if we put on both the chains and the sackcloth, and we will sleep, eat and drink as much as our hearts desire? We cannot endure even the slightest insult from a brother magnanimously. From the chief’s word and reprimand, we fall into complete despondency and despair, so that we go out to another monastery in thought and, with envy pointing to our other brethren, who are in mercy and power of attorney with the boss, we accept all his orders as an insult, for inattention and ill will to yourself. How, therefore, there is little or no foundation in us for the monastic life! And all this is because we talk about it a little and listen to it. Is it possible, in such a state of mind and life, to encroach on the feat characteristic of wise and perfect fathers, to wear chains and a sackcloth?”

They left the world and went into the caves - to find the light there. On September 15, the Orthodox Church remembers St. Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves, the founders of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and the fathers of Russian monasticism

In his youth, following the example of the Syrian ascetics, he wore chains. An iron chain with a cross, the weight of which reached 15 kilograms, had to be put on like a shirt - putting your hands under the shoulder pads. On his feet - iron shoes, in the blood erasing feet. On the head - an iron hat. All this Theodosius, who was then not even eighteen years old, did to pacify the spirit. He followed the words of Gregory the Theologian: where the flesh becomes thinner, sin also becomes thinner.

Later, when Theodosius became abbot of the Kiev Caves Monastery, he would warn young monks against excessive asceticism. All because before his eyes, too many will not stand the test of the flesh and fall into delusion: under the guise of angels, they will begin to see demons, and some will seriously believe in their ability to fly. This test is too difficult for the spirit - excessive asceticism.

EXODUS

Everything in his youth hindered his union with the Church. The father is a princely servant, indifferent to theological issues. After the birth of their son, the Theodosius family moved from the village of Vasilevo near Kiev to Kursk. The mother dreamed that her son would follow in the "serving" footsteps of his father, three times she refused to bless her son for monastic vows.

In 1032 Theodosius left the house forever. The target of the 25-year-old man was Kyiv, and later a more specific place - the cave of monk Anthony. Theodosius believed: the illustrious hermit would see zeal and not drive him away. And so it happened.

Anthony embodied everything that Theodosius aspired to. A native of the city of Lyubech, which is next to Chernigov, he visited Palestine and took tonsure on Mount Athos - this is what his life says. According to other studies, Antony's tonsure took place in Bulgaria. Sources agree on one thing: upon returning from his wanderings, Anthony settled in a cramped cave on the banks of the Dnieper. The cave was dug by the priest Hilarion, who lived in it before the arrival of Anthony and in the future became the Metropolitan of Kyiv - the first metropolitan of Russian, not Greek origin.

But Anthony was not the only one who settled in a cave on the Dnieper hills. According to the “Sermon on Law and Grace”, already in the time of Prince Vladimir, the first Christians began to settle near Kiev. However, they were not monks in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, they were associations of believers near churches. The inhabitants of these associations did not undergo tonsure and did not have a charter - they only gathered together for worship.

The life of Anthony says that he spent his days in severe asceticism. His main food was water and dry bread, and he ate bread every other day. From morning to night, Anthony deepened the cave, and at night he performed prayer vigils. Less than two years later, the stories of the hermit, who broke all ties with the world, reached the farthest corners of Rus'. The disciples were drawn to Anthony.

THE CAVE TRIBE

When Theodosius, who had not reached the age of thirty, appeared at the cave of Anthony, he was already over fifty. In our time, this is the age of the prime of life. But then - given the enormous life experience of Antony and the shorter life expectancy of people in general - he was already respectfully called the "old man." (According to other sources, the meeting of Anthony and Theodosius took place later - when the first was under seventy, and the second - about forty years old).

At that time, two monasteries were already operating in Kyiv - St. George and St. Irina. Why, then, are Anthony and Theodosius called the fathers of monasticism? The fact is that these monasteries belonged to the so-called. "princely" monasteries. Their founder was a “ktitor”, a trustee, in this case, Prince Yaroslav. The monastery was maintained entirely at his expense, which gave the prince the privilege of recruiting "staff" himself, as they say. In turn, the Kiev Caves Monastery arose in a "classical" way. At its base lie the ascetic feat and the glory of its inhabitants.

Theodosius' hopes were justified. Anthony accepted him, allowed him to live nearby, and soon allowed him to be tonsured. It was held by the priest Nikon, whose identity historians still argue about. Some believe that Hilarion, the future metropolitan, was hiding under the name of Nikon, in whose cave Anthony once settled.

Students continued to flock to Antony. The caves grew. Not all monks were able to endure the burden of penance. With many, there was a clouding of the mind: from hunger, from difficult living conditions, they began to rave, see hallucinations, cultivate obsessive thoughts in themselves. Perhaps, a number of historians believe, this was the reason why Antony eventually left the caves and moved on, digging out a new dugout for himself. In this new gate in 1073 he found his death.

In turn, Theodosius succeeded in monastic deeds so much that in 1062 he was elected abbot of the monastery. Under him, the monks erected the first wooden building and left the caves. Then the monastery received its charter - created on the basis of the code of rules of Theodore the Studite, a Byzantine monk.

HIDDEN STONE

He continued to wear sackcloth - coarse clothing, and for the duration of the fast he retired underground. But the chains - those same iron chains - were put aside and the monks were not encouraged to wear them.

The crushing walls of the caves, the withering of the flesh, the skin erased by iron - they should not become the real basis of monastic life. Being in adulthood, Theodosius came to the conclusion that the true spirit of the monastic community lies where work is in full swing in people's hands, and prayer does not stop on their lips. He professed this principle until his death in 1074.

The relics of Saints Anthony and Theodosius remain hidden in the depths of the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Maxim Frolov

Chains - various types of iron chains, stripes, rings worn by those fleeing on a naked body, to humble the flesh; an iron hat, iron soles, a copper icon on the chest, with chains from it, and so on, which were worn by great ascetics to humble the flesh.

The chains were originally the property of ascetic monks. Here is how St. Gregory the Theologian: "Others wear themselves out with iron chains, and thinning the flesh, thinning sin together." In accordance with the severity of the ascetic ideal, the monks in the feat itself were not content with an ordinary analav, as soon as a sign of their struggle with the flesh; a desire arose that this sign would more sensitively influence the will through its impact on the body.

In the scientific sense, wearing a chain is a kind of ascetic exercise, with the aim of exhausting the body in a continuous effort to completely, according to the Apostle, crucify one's flesh with passions and lusts (Gal.5.24). It has essentially the same meaning as the carrying back and forth of large weights, stones and sand baskets, which took place to subdue the impulses of the flesh among the eastern hermits of the first centuries of the Christian Church.

Reverend Seraphim of Sarov

There is a legend, which is told in the Life of his Diveyevo edition, that Father Seraphim secretly wore chains weighing 20 pounds on his chest and 8 on the back, and an iron belt, which even more bent his hunched figure to the ground. And as if in frosty time he put a stocking or a rag under the iron. But this is not exactly verified. There are no such chains left anywhere. And according to the Sarov elders, Father Seraphim wore a large five-inch cross on a rope in the gate on his chest. Probably, this gave reason to talk about chains. In any case, it is known that he subsequently did not advise others to excessive external exploits. Instead, he commanded a spiritual struggle over himself and over his spiritual passions. One day—that was many years later—a barefoot wanderer from Kyiv, accompanied by a Sarov novice, came to the monk. At that time, the elder was squeezing the sedge with his bare hands. Immediately he ordered to bring the stranger. Having blessed him and seated both guests next to him, the far-sighted Father Seraphim immediately began to advise the barefoot visitor to leave the path he had chosen: stop praying, put on shoes and take off the chains ... But they were not visible under the clothes of the wanderer ... And you need to return home: there his wife, mother and children are waiting and yearning for him. “I think,” Father Seraphim added, “that it’s very good to trade in bread, but I have a familiar merchant in Yelets, you just have to come to bow to him and say that poor Seraphim sent you to him, he will accept you in clerks." After instructing the wanderer again, the monk let him go with love.

On the way back to the monastery, the pilgrim revealed to the novice that everything had happened just as the perspicacious old man had said: before he had been engaged in the grain trade, then out of love for God, but without blessing, he decided to leave his family, procured an annual passport, put on chains, took off his shoes and barefoot began to walk around the monasteries, thinking that this would please God. Now, without a doubt, he saw his wrong and will obey the commandments of the holy elder. Novice John (Tikhonov) told himself that for a long time he dreamed of wearing chains to kill the body and, finally, got them, but first went to Father Seraphim. The great old man, seeing him, saw through the conceited intention of the inexperienced scribe, who had read the lives, and, smiling, said before he opened his mouth: “This is what I will tell you: Diveyevo babies come to me and ask for my advice and blessing: one is to wear chains , and others are hair shirts, then what do you think, is their road something, tell me? Understanding nothing, the novice replied: “I, father, do not know.” Father Seraphim repeated the question. Then he already guessed that the perspicacious old man was talking about him, and asked him for blessings on the chains. - How can you not understand? After all, I am telling you about this, - said Father Seraphim. And further explains the folly and futility of this feat for such unsettled people. – Many of the holy fathers wore chains and hair shirts, but they were wise and perfect men; and all this was done out of the love of God, for the perfect mortification of the flesh and passions and the subjugation of their spirit. But infants, in whom passions reign in the body, opposing the will and law of God, cannot do this. What does it matter if we put on chains and a hair shirt, and we will sleep, and drink, and eat as much as we want ... We cannot endure even the slightest insult from a brother magnanimously. From the chief’s word and reprimand, we fall into complete despondency and despair, so that we go out to another monastery with thought and envy, pointing to our other brethren, who are in mercy and power of attorney with the boss, we accept all his orders as an insult, for inattention and ill will to yourself. Judge for yourself from this: how little or not at all there is in us any foundation for monastic life, and this is all because we think very little and listen to it.

The convicted novice did not begin to wear the chain, but he nevertheless left the Sarovsky monastery after. There was no foundation, that is, obedience. However, a case is known when Father Seraphim blessed the hermit Anastasia Logacheva, in monasticism Afanasia, to wear chains to subdue carnal lusts when she was only about 23 years old. She was later the founder of the Kurikha women's community in the Nizhny Novgorod province. And usually Fr. Seraphim advised instead of exploits compulsion and exercise in good deeds. Here is what he said to one layman who secretly thought about Kiev: “They reproach - do not reproach, they are persecuted - endure, they blaspheme - praise, condemn yourself, so God will not condemn, submit your will to the will of God, never flatter, love your neighbor: your neighbor is your flesh. If you live according to the flesh, you will destroy both soul and flesh, but if you live according to God, you will save both. These are more feats than going to Kyiv or even further.”