Schema

The Orthodox Church does not have different orders of monastics as other church do. We do not have Franciscans, Benedictines, Augustinians, etc. Each having its own rule. Ordinarily, the rule of prayer and life most Orthodox monks follow is that laid out by St. Basil the Great. Though we do not have not have different orders of monks following different prayer rules, Orthodox Christian monks do have ranks, the highest of which is the Great Schema. These schema monks are kind of like the superheroes of prayer.

I have only witnessed one miracle since become Orthodox, and it involved one of these schema monks. I had just entered a church and a schmamonk entered the church through a different door. He was old, stooped over a cain. And I was afraid of him. He looked right through me all the way to my heart and I could feel him knowing me. But he felt sorry for me. Then the miracle happened. He came to me, but he did not walk. He floated to me. Yes, I mean there was air between his feet and the floor. We talked briefly and even though he saw my black heart he made me welcome.

I don't imagine all schemamonks float instead of walk, but they all live a life of concentrated prayer and asceticism. You can read more about them here. Oh, I think the picture above is actually a schemanun, not a schemamonk. In Orthodoxy, monks and nuns live the same life.