DISCIPLINE IN ORTHODOXY
In the Orthodox tradition, discipline is not simply a matter of effort or performance. It is a way of life. It teaches us that every daily act can become an offering, a path of sanctification, an exercise in humility.
Spiritual discipline: the asceticism of everyday life
Pray morning and night. Get up even when your body resists. Read the Scriptures even when your mind is distracted. Stick to your fast. Observe vigils. Confess. Come back. Start again. Again.
It is in this perseverance that the freedom of the Christian is forged. As Saint Isaac the Syrian says:
“Without voluntary discipline of the body, no one has ever progressed in the spiritual life.”
This rigor is not a straitjacket, but a ladder to heaven. It frees the soul from the passions that bind it.
Work Discipline: Labor and Sanctification
Work has always occupied a central place in monastic life. "Ora et labora" ("Pray and work") is not just a slogan: it is a rhythm. Manual or intellectual work, when done with attention, modesty, and prayer, becomes sanctifying.
Working with discipline is not about submitting to modern productivity. It is about rejecting laziness as a form of forgetting God. As Saint John Chrysostom reminds us:
“Sloth is the mother of all sins.”
Work, on the contrary, structures the soul, maintains vigilance, and prevents us from sinking into acedia