when one becomes a monk,
he becomes a new person,
his ..."old self" ...dies.
he is considered to be dead for the world,
and the world is dead for him.
he takes 3 vows,
in order to block the 3 doors,
from where through evil fights us,
since ...it wants us to be ...friends with
-pride,
-money
-pleasure
so
-he will remain obedient to his "Teacher"
-owing nothing at all
-and stay virgin
for the rest of his remaining on this world life.
Gherondas is the title of the Teacher
of the one becoming a Monk
(also called starets in Russian Orthodoxy).
The name has in its Greek roots the word "Gheros",
meaning the elderly person,
since usually it takes years of knowledge, wisdom and practise,
to become someone who knows
all the spiritual fights and wars and ways
to be able to teach
how to ...pray and be saved.
in our Church,
..."mysteries" are performed.
but no ..simple people can perform them,
not even monks, nor even a Gherondas could do so.
We need the Priest.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is our First ArchPriest!
He has the "powers" to forgive and more.
And He passed these powers to His Students,
by placing His hands on His Students,
and they did the same, passing these powers with their hands,
on the heads of their chosen students,
and in a line that comes pure, unbroken, unchanged,
up until our days, making the Orthodox Priests,
the only ones that have remained completely faithful,
direct descendants of the same powers Jesus had given us.
monks, priests, gherondes,
they are all called Fathers,
since like a father, they can advise us and help us
and show us the way, the only way,
to become united with God.
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