Abstract
In the context of “fluid modernity”, one may perceive a need to preserve and protect basic patterns, with the labor playing an important role. Each culture develops and substantiates its own attitude towards work. Hesychasm has been the spiritual foundation of Russian society since the time of Sergius of Radonezh. As a consequence, in the spiritual practice of hesychasm physical work was an essential part of the life of hesychast monks. Studying the Legends of Old Russian Saints and the charters of coenobitic monasteries shows that the Old Russian monasticism had embraced the Doctrine of St. Gregory Palamas about unity of spiritual and bodily in man's earthly life and the possibility of cleansing the body from sin as a basis. In the praxis of Russian hesychasm, spiritual labor was inseparable from physical labor, which did not contradict the practice of internal doing, but always closely accompanied and supplemented it. The soul and body worked tied together. Since spiritual labor was complex and difficult, the physical labor of a monk was meant to be no less difficult. In order to ordeal themselves, the hesychast monks left the livable conditions of monasteries for alienation of the north-east of Rus', and thus found themselves in more severe conditions where only intense physical labor ensured their survival. The soul was solidified through hard work. The strengthened soul, in turn, became the basis for overcoming the trials chosen by the monk and achieving the goal of unity with God in earthly life.
Published Version
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