The Rule of the Hesychasterion of Panagia Dexiokratousis
1. Foundation of the Monastery
The Hesychasterion was founded with the blessing of a canonical hierarch as a place for schemamonks, for prayerful silence, repentance, and the ceaseless Jesus Prayer, following the example of the Holy Mount Athos.
The life of the brotherhood is directed toward the acquisition of the Holy Spirit through obedience, watchfulness, and prayer of the mind and heart.
2. Spiritual Orientation
The monastery follows the tradition of the holy fathers of Hesychasm — venerable Gregory Palamas, Joseph the Hesychast, Ephrem of Katounakia, and other bearers of the Athonite patristic tradition.
The principal path is unceasing prayer of the heart and the preservation of inner stillness.
3. Organization of Life
The Hesychasterion follows an idiorrhythmic rule, which means that each brother undertakes a personal prayerful obedience while remaining in spiritual unity with the abbot and the entire brotherhood.
Communal worship is performed on designated days and feasts, while at other times life is carried out in obedience, solitude, and prayer.
4. Seclusion of the Monastery
The monastery is closed to secular visitors.
Acceptance of guests is possible only by special blessing.The primary work of the brotherhood is prayer for the world and for all who seek intercession.
5. Relation to the World
We do not participate in public, political, or commercial activity.All service is spiritual, carried out in silence, with the love of Christ for every person, free from judgment or disputes.
6. Prayer Rule
Each brother daily prays the Jesus Prayer, reads the Hours and Psalms, observes the daily cycle of divine services, participates in the Holy Liturgy, and keeps fasting and silence according to his strength.
The main rule is not external form, but the preservation of attention in the heart.
7. Vows and Guidance
Obedience, non-possession, and chastity are observed according to the monastic order.
The Katigumen bears full spiritual responsibility for the brotherhood and is guided by the Gospel, the sacred canons of the Holy Fathers, and the blessing of the canonical bishop.
8. Relation to the Church
The Hesychasterion remains in canonical and Eucharistic unity with the Ecumenical Orthodox Church through the primate of the Most Holy Ecumenical Patriarch.
Appendix.
On Spiritual Continuity and Conformity with the Athonite Charter
The Isychastirion of the Most Holy Theotokos Dexiokratusa preserves the inner order, spiritual structure, and prayerful way of life founded upon the sacred tradition and spirit of the Holy Mount Athos, as set forth in the Charter (Χάρτης του Αγίου Όρους Άθω) of the Holy Mountain, ratified by the Holy Community (Sacra Kinotis) and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and incorporated into the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic (Article 105).
In the manner of the monasteries of the Holy Mountain, the Isychastirion maintains:
— the spirit of stillness and ceaseless Jesus Prayer;
— the order of obedience, chastity, and non-possessiveness;
— the inner unity of the brethren in Christ;
— Eucharistic communion with the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Our Rule is received in the spirit of the Athonite tradition, preserving the living breath of the patristic heritage manifested in the holy hesychasts — St. Gregory Palamas, Elder Joseph the Hesychast, Elder Ephraim of Katounakia, and others, through whom the Holy Spirit acted in the fullness of truth.
“Mount Athos is an image of Heaven upon the earth, where the grace of God abides; and whoever follows its order in spirit and in truth becomes a partaker of the same grace.” (St. Gregory Palamas, Homily on Divine Stillness)
The Isychastirion, embracing the spiritual heritage of the Holy Mount Athos, seeks not outward imitation, but the preservation of its inner path of hesychastic life, confirmed and sanctified within the Universal Orthodox Church.
Link to the Charter of the Holy Mount Athos:
