Liberating obedience in monastic life
Article summary proposed by the Contacts review with LLM assistance
This article examines the nature and purpose of obedience in the Orthodox monastic tradition. Archimandrite Symeon, hegumen of the Monastery of Saint Silouan, offers a theological meditation in the lineage of the teaching of Starets Sophrony. The central idea is that monastic obedience constitutes a path of inner liberation, distinct from any form of disciplinary submission of a military or civil order. Drawing on the Sophronian conception of obedience as a "sacrament," the author shows that the relationship between the spiritual father and the monk creates the conditions for a discernment of the divine will, thereby opening onto a participation in the Trinitarian life. The theological contribution of this article lies in the articulation between the ecclesial dimension of spiritual direction and an anthropology of freedom, restored to the heart of the contemporary Orthodox monastic vocation.
This article has not been translated yet — it is available in its French version here.
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