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Pskov-Caves Monastery

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Pskov-Pechory Monastery or The Pskovo-Pechersky Dormition Monastery or Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery ( Russian : Пско́во-Печ́ерский Успе́нский монасты́рь , Estonian : Petseri klooster ) is a Russian Orthodox male monastery , located in Pechory , Pskov Oblast in Russia , just a few kilometers from the Estonian border. Pskov-Caves Monastery is one of the few Russian monasteries that have never been closed at any point in their existence, including during World War II and the Soviet regime. The monastery has been an important spiritual centre for the Seto people .

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63-581: The monastery was founded in the mid-15th century, when the first hermits settled in local caves . The first cave Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos (церковь Успения Богородицы) was built in 1473 (its modern facade was constructed in the 18th century). After the monastery had been destroyed by the Livonian feudals, it was rebuilt by a Pskovian dyak Mikhail Munekhin-Misyur in 1519. A posad (settlement)

126-449: A calling to the eremitic life, after years living in the cenobium or community of the monastery, to move to a cell suitable as a hermitage on monastery grounds. There have also been many hermits who chose that vocation as an alternative to other forms of monastic life. The term "anchorite" (from the Greek ἀναχωρέω anachōreō , signifying "to withdraw", "to depart into the country outside

189-510: A Christian. Christian hermits in the past have often lived in isolated cells or hermitages , whether a natural cave or a constructed dwelling, situated in the desert or the forest. People sometimes sought them out for spiritual advice and counsel. Some eventually acquired so many disciples that they no longer enjoyed physical solitude. Some early Christian Desert Fathers wove baskets to exchange for bread. In medieval times, hermits were also found within or near cities where they might earn

252-610: A bishop other than their diocesan as an additional spiritual resource and, if necessary, an intermediary. At the start of the twenty-first century, the Church of England reported a notable increase in the number of applications from people seeking to live the single consecrated life as Anglican hermits or solitaries. A religious community known as the Solitaries of DeKoven, who make Anglican prayer beads and Pater Noster cords to support themselves, are an example of an Anglican hermitage . In

315-479: A living as gate keepers or ferrymen. In the 10th century, a rule for hermits living in a monastic community was written by Grimlaicus . In the 11th century, the life of the hermit gained recognition as a legitimate independent pathway to salvation. Many hermits in that century and the next came to be regarded as saints . From the Middle Ages and down to modern times, eremitic monasticism has also been practiced within

378-468: A place in the Egyptian desert, and continued in various sketes today, including several regions on Mount Athos . Members of religious orders: Diocesan hermits according to canon 603: Others: Communities: From a religious point of view, the solitary life is a form of asceticism , wherein the hermit renounces worldly concerns and pleasures. This can be done for many reasons, including: to come closer to

441-438: A sacred science is called canonistics . The jurisprudence of canon law is the complex of legal principles and traditions within which canon law operates, while the philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law are the areas of philosophical, theological, and legal scholarship dedicated to providing a theoretical basis for canon law as a legal system and as true law. The term "canon law" ( ius canonicum )

504-447: A special ceremony conducted by the local bishop after the anchorite had moved in. Medieval churches survive that have a tiny window ("squint") built into the shared wall near the sanctuary to allow the anchorite to participate in the liturgy by listening to the service and to receive Holy Communion . Another window looked out into the street or cemetery, enabling charitable neighbors to deliver food and other necessities. Clients seeking

567-441: A specific need for corporal works of mercy. Hermits are also bound by the law of work. If they are not financially independent, they may engage in cottage industries or be employed part-time in jobs that respect the call for them to live in solitude and silence with extremely limited or no contact with other persons. Such outside jobs may not keep them from observing their obligations of the eremitic vocation of stricter separation from

630-436: A view " to put together with order and clearness all the laws of the Church thus far issued, removing all those that would be recognized as abrogated or obsolete, adapting others to the necessities of the times, and enacting new ones in conformity with the present needs." It is sometimes referred to as the ius codicis ("law of the code") or, in comparison with all law before it, the ius novum ("new law"). From time to time,

693-504: A vocation to some form of consecrated life. An example of this is life as a Poustinik , an Eastern Catholic expression of eremitic living that is finding adherents also in the West. In the Catholic Church , the institutes of consecrated life have their own regulations concerning those of their members who feel called by God to move from the life in community to the eremitic life, and have

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756-484: Is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One. Catholic Church norms for the consecrated eremitic and anchoritic life do not include corporal works of mercy. Nevertheless, every hermit, like every Christian, is bound by the law of charity and therefore ought to respond generously, as his or her own circumstances permit, when faced with

819-472: Is recognized by law as one dedicated to God in consecrated life if he or she publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond, and observes a proper program of living under his direction. Canon 603 §2 lays down the requirements for diocesan hermits. The Catechism of the Catholic Church of 11 October 1992 (§§918–921), comments on

882-450: Is the positive law that emanates from the legislative power of the Catholic Church in its effort to govern its members in accordance with the Gospel of Jesus Christ . Fernando della Rocca used the term "ecclesiastical-positive law" in contradistinction to civil -positive law, in order to differentiate between the human legislators of church and state, all of which issue "positive law" in

945-650: The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches promulgated in 1990 by Pope John Paul II . St. Raymond of Penyafort (1175–1275), a Spanish Dominican priest, is the patron saint of canonists, due to his important contributions to canon law in codifying the Decretales Gregorii IX . Other saintly patrons include St. Ivo of Chartres and the Jesuit St. Robert Bellarmine . The period of canonical history known as

1008-651: The Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem in the first century has developed into a highly complex legal system encapsulating not just norms of the New Testament , but some elements of the Hebrew ( Old Testament ), Roman , Visigothic , Saxon , and Celtic legal traditions . As many as 36 collections of canon law are known to have been brought into existence before 1150. The history of Latin canon law can be divided into four periods:

1071-462: The Council of Trent to the promulgation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law which took legal effect in 1918. The start of the ius novissimum is not universally agreed upon, however. Edward N. Peters argues that the ius novissimum actually started with the Liber Extra of Gregory IX in 1234. The fourth period of canonical history is that of the present day, initiated by the promulgation of

1134-459: The Council of Trent (mid-12th century–16th century). The spurious conciliar canons and papal decrees were gathered together into collections, both unofficial and official. In the year 1000, there was no book that had attempted to summarize the whole body of canon law, to systematize it in whole or in part. The first truly systematic collection was assembled by the Camaldolese monk Gratian in

1197-656: The Orthodox Church and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches , hermits live a life of prayer as well as service to their community in the traditional Eastern Christian manner of the poustinik. The poustinik is a hermit available to all in need and at all times. In the Eastern Christian churches, one traditional variation of the Christian eremitic life is the semi-eremitic life in a lavra or skete , exemplified historically in Scetes ,

1260-852: The Roman Catholic Church , in addition to hermits who are members of religious institutes , the Canon law (canon 603) recognizes also diocesan hermits under the direction of their bishop as members of the consecrated life . The same is true in many parts of the Anglican Communion , including the Episcopal Church in the United States, although in the canon law of the Episcopal Church they are referred to as "solitaries" rather than "hermits". Often, both in religious and secular literature,

1323-587: The Society of St. John the Evangelist , now has only solitaries in its British congregation. Anglicanism also makes provision for men and women who seek to live a single consecrated life, after taking vows before their local bishop; many who do so live as solitaries. The Handbook of Religious Life , published by the Advisory Council of Relations between Bishops and Religious Communities, contains an appendix governing

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1386-478: The deity or deities they worship or revere, to devote one's energies to self-liberation from saṃsāra , etc. This practice appears also in ancient Śramaṇa traditions , Buddhism , Jainism , Hinduism , Kejawèn , and Sufism . Taoism also has a long history of ascetic and eremitic figures. In the ascetic eremitic life, the hermit seeks solitude for meditation , contemplation , prayer , self-awareness, and personal development on physical and mental levels, without

1449-583: The hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organization and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the Church. It was the first modern Western legal system and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, while the unique traditions of Eastern Catholic canon law govern the 23 Eastern Catholic particular churches sui iuris . Positive ecclesiastical laws, based directly or indirectly upon immutable divine law or natural law , derive formal authority in

1512-462: The ius antiquum ("ancient law") extends from the foundation of the Church to the time of Gratian (mid-12th century). This period can be further divided into three periods: the time of the apostles to the death of Pope Gelasius I (A.D. 496), the end of the 5th century to the spurious collection of the 9th century, and the last up to the time of Gratian (mid-12th century). In the Early Church ,

1575-622: The ius antiquum , the ius novum , the ius novissimum and the Codex Iuris Canonici . In relation to the Code, history can be divided into the ius vetus (all law before the 1917 Code ) and the ius novum (the law of the code, or ius codicis ). The Eastern Catholic canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches , which had developed some different disciplines and practices, underwent its own process of codification , resulting in

1638-493: The 11th century, commonly known as the Decretum Gratiani ("Gratian's Decree") but originally called The Concordance of Discordant Canons ( Concordantia Discordantium Canonum ). Before Gratian there was no "jurisprudence of canon law" (system of legal interpretation and principles). Gratian is the founder of canonical jurisprudence, which merits him the title "Father of Canon Law". Gratian also had an enormous influence on

1701-427: The 1917 Code of Canon Law on 27 May 1917. Benedict XV, in his bull of promulgation, refers to the motu proprio Arduum sane , which was issued by Pius X, March 17, 1904, and gave rise to the 1917 Code. In that memorable pronouncement the late Pontiff stated the reasons which prompted him as the supreme Pastor of souls, who has the care of all the churches, to provide for a new codification of ecclesiastic laws, with

1764-463: The 1983 Code of Canon Law legislates in the Section on Consecrated Life (canon 603) as follows: §1 Besides institutes of consecrated life the church recognizes the eremitic or anchoritic life by which the Christian faithful devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude, and assiduous prayer and penance. §2 A hermit

1827-557: The Monastery's life, appeared. Over a million copies were printed and over 3 million digital copies sold worldwide by 2012. In 2012 its English translation won a first prize at New York's Read Russia 2012 Festival. Its translator Julian Henry Lowenfeld was baptized into the Orthodox faith that same year, on Holy Saturday , in Moscow's Sretensky Monastery , where Archimandrite Tikhon was hegumen at

1890-544: The Old Testament, it may be said that the desert of the urban hermit is that of their heart, purged through kenosis to be the dwelling place of God alone. So as to provide for men and women who feel a vocation to the eremitic or anchoritic life without being or becoming a member of an institute of consecrated life, but desire its recognition by the Roman Catholic Church as a form of consecrated life nonetheless,

1953-456: The anchorite's advice might also use this window to consult them. Catholics who wish to live in eremitic monasticism may live that vocation as a hermit: There are also lay people who informally follow an eremitic lifestyle and live mostly as solitaries. Not all the Catholic lay members that feel that it is their vocation to dedicate themselves to God in a prayerful solitary life perceive it as

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2016-723: The attack of the Polish army led by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz and Aleksander Józef Lisowski and Swedish army led by Gustav II Adolf . As a fortification Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery lost its importance after the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. In 1920–1944, Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery belonged to Estonia. The monastery was one of the few acting male monasteries in the USSR , having been saved from destruction by Pechory being Estonian territory before World War II . In Soviet times, famous Russian mystic Sampson Sievers briefly lived and served in

2079-799: The canons is not just doctrinal or moral in nature, but all-encompassing of the human condition. The canon law of the Catholic Church has all the ordinary elements of a mature legal system: laws, courts , lawyers , judges. The canon law of the Catholic Church is articulated in the legal code for the Latin Church as well as a code for the Eastern Catholic Churches. This canon law has principles of legal interpretation , and coercive penalties. It lacks civilly-binding force in most secular jurisdictions. Those who are versed and skilled in canon law, and professors of canon law, are called canonists (or colloquially, canon lawyers ). Canon law as

2142-538: The case is closed"). A common misconception, the Catholic Encyclopedia links this saying to St Augustine who actually said something quite different: " jam enim de hac causa duo concilia missa sunt ad sedem apostolicam; inde etiam rescripta venerunt; causa finita est " (which roughly translate to: "there are two councils, for now, this matter as brought to the Apostolic See, whence also letters are come to pass,

2205-500: The case of universal laws from promulgation by the supreme legislator—the supreme pontiff , who possesses the totality of legislative, executive, and judicial power in his person, or by the College of Bishops acting in communion with the pope. In contrast, particular laws derive formal authority from promulgation by a legislator inferior to the supreme legislator, whether an ordinary or a delegated legislator. The actual subject material of

2268-449: The case was finished") in response to the heretical Pelagianism of the time. In the first millennium of the Latin Church , the canons of various ecumenical and local councils were supplemented with decretals of the popes ; these were gathered together into collections. The period of canonical history known as the Ius novum ("new law") or middle period covers the time from Gratian to

2331-433: The circumvallate city") is often used as a synonym for hermit, not only in the earliest written sources but throughout the centuries. Yet the anchoritic life, while similar to the eremitic life, can also be distinct from it. Anchorites lived the religious life in the solitude of an "anchorhold" (or "anchorage"), usually a small hut or "cell", typically built against a church. The door of an anchorage tended to be bricked up in

2394-596: The context of religious institutes in the Christian West. In the Catholic Church , the Carthusians and Camaldolese arrange their monasteries as clusters of hermitages where the monks live most of their day and most of their lives in solitary prayer and work, gathering only briefly for communal prayer and only occasionally for community meals and recreation. The Cistercian , Trappist , and Carmelite orders, which are essentially communal in nature, allow members who feel

2457-713: The distractions of contact with human society, sex, or the need to maintain socially acceptable standards of cleanliness, dress, or communication. The ascetic discipline can also include a simplified diet and/or manual labor as a means of support. Canon law (Catholic Church) Jus novum ( c.  1140 -1563) Jus novissimum ( c.  1563 -1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of

2520-545: The eremitic life as follows: From the very beginning of the Church there were men and women who set out to follow Christ with greater liberty, and to imitate him more closely, by practicing the evangelical counsels . They led lives dedicated to God, each in his own way. Many of them, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit , became hermits or founded religious families. These the Church, by virtue of her authority, gladly accepted and approved. ... Hermits devote their life to

2583-575: The eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament (i.e., the 40 years wandering in the desert that was meant to bring about a change of heart). In the Christian tradition the eremitic life is an early form of monastic living that preceded the monastic life in the cenobium . In chapter 1, the Rule of St Benedict lists hermits among four kinds of monks. In

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2646-543: The faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life The canon law of the Catholic Church (from Latin ius canonicum ) is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by

2709-614: The first canons were decreed by bishops united in " Ecumenical " councils (the Emperor summoning all of the known world's bishops to attend with at least the acknowledgement of the Bishop of Rome ) or "local" councils (bishops of a region or territory). Over time, these canons were supplemented with decretals of the Bishops of Rome, which were responses to doubts or problems according to the maxim, " Roma locuta est, causa finita est " ("Rome has spoken,

2772-471: The first ecumenical council, Nicaea I , was held, kanon started to obtain the restricted juridical denotation of a law promulgated by a synod or ecumenical council , as well as that of an individual bishop. The term source or fountain of canon law ( fons iuris canonici ) may be taken in a twofold sense: a) as the formal cause of the existence of a law, and in this sense of the fontes essendi ( Latin : "sources of being") of canon law or lawgivers; b) as

2835-514: The history of natural law in his transmission of the ancient doctrines of natural law to Scholasticism . Canon law greatly increased from 1140 to 1234. After that, it slowed down, except for the laws of local councils (an area of canon law in need of scholarship), and secular laws supplemented. In 1234 Pope Gregory IX promulgated the first official collection of canons , called the Decretalia Gregorii Noni or Liber Extra . This

2898-463: The material channel through which laws are handed down and made known, and in this sense the sources are styled fontes cognoscendi ( Latin : "sources of knowing"), or depositaries, like sources of history. The Catholic Church has the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, much later than Roman law but predating the evolution of modern European civil law traditions. What began with rules (" canons ") said to have been adopted by

2961-478: The monasteries of these orders are in fact clusters of individual hermitages where monks and nuns spend their days alone with relatively short periods of prayer in common. Other orders that are essentially cenobitical, notably the Trappists , maintain a tradition under which individual monks or nuns who have reached a certain level of maturity within the community may pursue a hermit lifestyle on monastery grounds under

3024-596: The monastery. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the monastery has flourished. Currently the monastic community numbers over 90 who through their pastoral labors live the tradition of asceticism and eldership as witnessed recently by the Archimandrite John (Krestiankin) . In 2013 the monastery marked the 540th anniversary of its existence. In 2011 a book by one of its former inhabitants Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) Everyday Saints and Other Stories , reflecting

3087-464: The normal sense. Examples of ecclesiastical positive law are fasting during the liturgical season of Lent , and religious workers (monks, nuns, etc.) requiring permission from their superiors to publish a book. The word "canon" comes from the Greek kanon , which in its original usage denoted a straight rod, was later used for a measuring stick, and eventually came to mean a rule or norm. In 325, when

3150-406: The permission of their religious superior to do so. The Code of Canon Law contains no special provisions for them. They technically remain a member of their institute of consecrated life and thus under obedience to their religious superior. The Carthusian and Camaldolese orders of monks and nuns preserve their original way of life as essentially eremitic within a cenobitical context, that is,

3213-482: The praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude, and assiduous prayer and penance. (Footnote: CIC, can. 603 §1) They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because he

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3276-521: The rest of society, or having entirely or in part withdrawn from society, for any reason. The word hermit comes from the Latin ĕrēmīta , the latinisation of the Greek ἐρημίτης ( erēmitēs ), "of the desert", which in turn comes from ἔρημος ( erēmos ), signifying "desert", "uninhabited", hence "desert-dweller"; adjective: "eremitic". In the common Christian tradition the first known Christian hermit in Egypt

3339-455: The selection, consecration, and management of solitaries living outside recognised religious communities. In the Canon Law of the Episcopal Church (United States) , those who make application to their diocesan bishop and who persevere in whatever preparatory program the bishop requires, take vows that include lifelong celibacy. They are referred to as solitaries rather than hermits. Each selects

3402-527: The supervision of the abbot or abbess. Thomas Merton was among the Trappists who undertook this way of life. The earliest form of Christian eremitic or anchoritic living preceded that of being a member of a religious institute, since monastic communities and religious institutes are later developments of the monastic life . Bearing in mind that the meaning of the eremitic vocation is the Desert Theology of

3465-419: The term "hermit" is used loosely for any Christian living a secluded prayer-focused life, and sometimes interchangeably with anchorite/anchoress , recluse , and "solitary". Other religions, including Buddhism , Hinduism , Islam ( Sufism ), and Taoism , afford examples of hermits in the form of adherents living an ascetic way of life. In modern colloquial usage, "hermit" denotes anyone living apart from

3528-412: The time. 57°48′35″N 27°36′55″E  /  57.80972°N 27.61528°E  / 57.80972; 27.61528 Hermit A hermit , also known as an eremite ( adjectival form : hermitic or eremitic ) or solitary , is a person who lives in seclusion . Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions . In Christianity , the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives

3591-617: The universities by papal letters at the beginning of each collection, and these texts became textbooks for aspiring canon lawyers. In 1582 a compilation was made of the Decretum, Extra, the Sext, the Clementines, and the Extravagantes (that is, the decretals of the popes from Pope John XXII to Pope Sixtus IV ). The third canonical period, known as the ius novissimum ("newest law"), stretches from

3654-642: The world and the silence of solitude in accordance with canon 603, under which they have made their vow . Although canon 603 makes no provision for associations of hermits, these do exist (for example the Hermits of Bethlehem in Chester, NJ, and the Hermits of Saint Bruno in the United States; see also lavra , skete ). Many of the recognised religious communities and orders in the Anglican Communion make provision for certain members to live as hermits, more commonly referred to as solitaries. One Church of England community,

3717-541: Was Paul of Thebes ( fl. 3rd century), hence also called "St. Paul the first hermit". Antony of Egypt (fl. 4th century), often referred to as "Antony the Great", is perhaps the most renowned of all the early Christian hermits owing to the biography by Athanasius of Alexandria . An antecedent for Egyptian eremiticism may have been the Syrian solitary or "son of the covenant" ( Aramaic bar qəyāmā ) who undertook special disciplines as

3780-416: Was built next to the monastery, which would later grow into a town. In 1550s-1560s, Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery and its posad were surrounded by a wall with towers (eventually, these fortifications were rebuilt in 1701). The monastery became an important outpost for defending the western border of Russia. In 1581–1582, it withstood the siege laid by Stefan Batory ’s army. In 1611–1616, the monastery repelled

3843-852: Was followed by the Liber Sextus (1298) of Boniface VIII , the Clementines (1317) of Clement V , the Extravagantes Joannis XXII and the Extravagantes Communes , all of which followed the same structure as the Liber Extra . All these collections, with the Decretum Gratiani , are together referred to as the Corpus Iuris Canonici . After the completion of the Corpus Iuris Canonici , subsequent papal legislation

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3906-578: Was only regularly used from the twelfth century onwards. The term ius ecclesiasticum , by contrast, referred to the secular law, whether imperial, royal, or feudal, that dealt with relations between the state and the Catholic Church. The term corpus iuris canonici was used to denote canon law as legal system beginning in the thirteenth century. Other terms sometimes used synonymously with ius canonicum include ius sacrum , ius ecclesiasticum , ius divinum , and ius pontificium , as well as sacri canones (sacred canons). Ecclesiastical positive law

3969-554: Was published in periodic volumes called Bullaria . In the thirteenth century, the Roman Church began to collect and organize its canon law, which after a millennium of development had become a complex and difficult system of interpretation and cross-referencing. The official collections were the Liber Extra (1234) of Pope Gregory IX , the Liber Sextus (1298) of Boniface VIII and the Clementines (1317), prepared for Clement V but published by John XXII . These were addressed to

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