Vocations
The monastic life is the life of the angels, and utterly transforms a man, changing him from an earthly to a heavenly being. To become a monk of Holy Ascension Monastery, a person must be an active member of the Orthodox Church. He should come to stay as for a few days in order to see the monastery. If he continues in his interest in monasticism, he will then spend several months in the monastery as an observer, participating in all the activities of monastery life. Having discerned that God is indeed calling him to become a monk, he declares his intention to the Abbot, who will then cloth him in the black as a novice. After three years in the novitiate, or a shorter time if the Abbot deems fit, he is then tonsured as a monk.