How Should One Be Tested Before Becoming A Monk | The Voice Of Orthodoxy

How Should One Be Tested Before Becoming A Monk | The Voice Of Orthodoxy: Those in cities or villages who desire to depart for cloisters and tend to themselves must first enter a Monastery and be duly taught anchoretic conduct, and for three years submit to the Prior of the Monastery in fear of God, and to fulfill obedience as befits in everything; and thus, by confessing a predilection for such a life, as one that they have embraced with all their heart, they should be tested by the local president (bishop). It is wishable, though, that they spend another year waiting patiently outside the cloister, so that their purpose may become even more evident. This kind of information they shall provide, as proof that they are not in a pursuit of glory, but as ones who are striving after this quietude for the sake of that which is actually good. After the completion of such a long time, if they have persisted in this predilection, they can be cloistered, and they shall never exit from there whenever they wish to, by departing from that isolation, except if it be for a mutual advantage and benefit, or some other necessity forcing them to the death, then let them be drawn towards this, and this, with the blessing of the local Bishop. […]