On Wednesday, October 18, Metropolitan Ignatios of Demetrias presided over the Vespers of the feast of the Prophet Joel and Martyr Uaros at the Holy Monastery of Timios Prodromos, Greece.
During the Vespers Service, he performed the Rasophoria of Sister “Katerina from America”, who was named Nun Theofroni.
In his homily, Metropolitan Ignatios stressed the importance of the dedication of young people to God, the grace of God, as well as the importance of their ministry to the Church and the world. He also referred to the continuous progress of the Monastery,
and to the Monasticism, which will remain unchanged and substantial, until the end of times.
Finally, the Metropolitan stressed how wonderful is the fact that young people decide to devote themselves to God, especially nowadays.
What is the difference between novitiate and rasophoria
The person who enters the monastery and wishes to become a monastic must first go through two stages: the novitiate and the rasophoria.
The novitiate is a trial period, in which the brother or sister spends time in the monastery to figure out if they have an authentic vocation for monasticism. Rasophoria is a stronger covenant that the novice makes with God, often likened to the betrothal.
The transition from rasophore to monastic is made during the rite of the monastic tonsure, during which the rasophore takes the three vows that lay at the foundation of monastic life: obedience, poverty, and chastity.
Source: Basilica.ro
