Novices

Did you know that novices have always been an integral part of the monastic community?

Those of them who passed the obedience test joined the ranks of monastic fraternity of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

Their life choice aimed at becoming a monk could be clearly testified by clothes that they wore. According to the monastic order, there existed a special winter/summer “dress code” novices had to adhere to. In winter they had to be dressed “... not in robes, but in kaftans or underpants of black cloth, sewn with sheepskin”, in summer - in “cotton cloth”. It was appropriate to wear simple leather boots, have a leather belt and “cover the head with a pointed cap made of black simple cloth”.

However, in 1826 Lavra’s Ecclesiastical Council focused its meticulous attention on the “indecent” look of some novices and choir brothers, who were dressed in robes that could be worn only by monks, had colored pants that were untucked into their leather boots, tied their necks with white ties, covered their heads with hats and helmets ... and in such garments attended the Liturgy in the churches ..., provoking and tempting secular worshipers, the nobles and visitors from distant cities to do the same”.

By reading this, one might think that the then Lavra novices were real “dendies”. But it was not that simple.

After ten years of efforts aimed at eradicating “seductive liberties”, run in the heads of pilgrims who tried to copy the appearance of Lavra’s novices, Rev. Father Pankratius wrote that “novices who are strapped for money wear those dresses that they have, and those who have enough money, put on the uniform agreed upon in the institution”.

The truth is that simplicity is often deceptive ...

Natalia Lytvyn

Captions to the illustrations:
1. Near the monastery shop of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. 1907(?)