Along with marriage, which is the way to live "according to nature", there is also monasticism, which is the way of life "over nature". The Fathers of the Church of the East and West recognize a supremacy of the monastic to the matrimonial life, not for itself, but for the salvation which it offers to the faithful.

Monasticism and marriage

John Chrysostom speaking of virginity, and consequently of monastic life, says: "Virginity in itself is neither good nor bad, but it becomes one of them in the intentions of those who practice".[1] Those who choose the monastic life choose a charismatic life, not suitable for everyone, because God gives gifts to each other. It is charismatic because it exceeds the laws of nature and therefore the natural status of man,[2] while marriage is in the world the social dimension of the faithful’s life  projected in eschatology. Milestone of monasticism is Christ, he alone is the source and inspiration of monastic life, the prototype and archetype, that the monk is called to imitate actively, abandoning in his grace that sanctifies him.

The Monk is the tangible proof, the perpetual indication, the constant reminder of the true way forward: to become saints and "perfect" as your heavenly Father is perfect. In the history of the Christian East hermits, anchorites, ascetics, cenobites, small and large monastic communities, led the "wilderness" in the noisy city, becoming, through their silence, their thinking, their writings, their way of life, proclaim the Gospel message: "... one thing we need" (Lk 10,41). The monks try to show and evoke that the only purpose of those who choose their way of life - and even those who have been baptized into Christ - is to achieve as much as possible perfection in Christ. Therefore, they become one with Christ and achieve total victory against the adverse powers.

Monasticism, as the authentic expression of the tradition of the Church, has always shown us the way to follow to reach the perfection of the Gospel. The monk lives intensely grades (or mystical stages) of therapy for the soul: purification, lighting, divinization, leading to Christian perfection, that is, the deification of man, where the created meets the uncreated and joins to it.

Means and methods for healing

The holy Fathers, the masters of the monastic life, have taught wisely what means and methods are to employ by those who need to heal from the passions that darken their soul and then acquire the spiritual health. How practically is this healing? One of the key elements that characterize  monasticism is the  dynamic effort to apply fully the therapeutic process. The monk began his "journey" with the following three degrees of spiritual perfection already indicated: purgation, illumination, deification. Aware of what they are and what they are seeking, the monks acquire, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, humility, conversion,  physical and mental purification, to wish for martyrdom and to be persecuted in the name of Christ. In other words they want to live in all their fullness  God's commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind ... and your neighbor as yourself" ( Mt 22:37, Lk 10:27).

Who has set out to follow this "narrow way" and to practice the "spiritual fitness" is called a triple renunciation: renunciation of the world and what comes from it; giving up one's will; renunciation of vainglory. These three waivers, voluntarily accepted by monk, correspond to the elevation of three crosses, which exercise it in the "spiritual fitness" and adorn his life.
Of course, one wonders: what are the three crosses? Who gives it? How does the monk experience them? These questions are important today in a society that teaches us otherthing with respect to the waiver. The first is external, the Fathers teach, and concerns the trials and sufferings; and the second comes from the "inner struggle" against the wishes of the world and the passions that dominate the soul, preventing the action of the Holy Spirit; the last, the most difficult, is also inner and leads to total abandonment to the will of God.

Towards maturity

These three waivers, or crosses, are associated with three rebirths, obtained by purification of the soul, with the light of reason and the deification of all existence. So: crosses, waivers and rebirths are the long-continued course of monk to spiritual maturity. To the East this spiritual journey is called asceticism, whose aim is to reach the pure prayer and apathy, that is, the total departure from everything that comes from sin and leads disorder in the soul.
The three vows that the monk offered to God are the necessary complement of the ascetic life. The first is that of obedience, which aims to rid the monk from a strong passion of vainglory. Prototype for this is the same Christ who became obedient to the Father even unto death (cf. Phil 2:8). And while Adam and Eve by their disobedience brought sin and death into our history, monk with his voluntary obedience removes all passion and receives humility as charisma, prayer and divine nature, thus eliminating sin and death.

The second vote is that of virginity that stands out in bodily and psychic or spiritual: it helps to overcome the passion of carnal pleasures. Through it the monk is dedicated totally to God turning every love according to the flesh in love that has as its object only God.[3]
 The third vote is that of poverty, which helps to heal the passion of avarice-greed. Living in poverty, the monk is called to compete against the passion of owning, of greed and excessive attachment to material goods,[4] which make man selfish, arrogant and self-referential. The three vows are the core of Orthodox asceticism and lead to the love of God and the divine philanthropy that fights the root of all passions: love of oneself.

Prayer: the main work of monk

In addition to everything so far expressed, it should be added that the asceticism of monk focuses in research to grant his life with that of God. Without divine grace, which seals the ascetic exercise, you have only human works consigned to death. This convergence is realized and manifested in its highest expression in prayer. That's why it is the main work of monk: before work and rest it is prayer, the fruit of which is the simplicity, pure love, humility, patience, meekness, gentleness and other similar virtues. The monk to achieve this goal is called to get rid of everything that is superfluous and alien to the prayer, reaching which is considered the essence of monastic renunciation.

However, it is to point out something else: the asceticism of both the monk, as of every believer, should be closely accompanied by the conversion / metanoia. The Greek word metanoia - which translates in Italian with the term conversion - means change, transition from one state to another. According to this meaning the monastic life is a incessant change, continuous conversion, a constant search for God: every day, every hour, every moment.
We end with a striking image: God is the living water, the monk the person trimmed him. In his life of  conversion this thirsty is multiplied all the time: the more he convert, the more the monk thirsts for God.