Eastern Orthodox monasteries

A lavra or laura (; Cyrillic: ла́вра) is a type of monastery consisting of a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center. Lavra monasteries operate within the Orthodox and other Eastern Christian traditions; the name is also used by some Catholic communities. The term in Greek initially meant a narrow lane or an alley in a city. In a later Eastern Orthodox context, the term took on the new meaning of a large and important monastery.

thumb|A novice is at the left. The religious habit|habit of a novice often differs from that of the full professed sisters.|alt= The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian novice (or prospective) monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to vowed religious life. It often includes times of intense study, prayer, living in community, studying the vowed life, deepening one's relationship with God, and deepening one's self-awareness. In the Catholic Church,

thumb|right|Former metochion of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Alexandria in the [[Church of All Saints, Moscow]] A metochion or metochi ( or ; or ) is an ecclesiastical embassy church within Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is usually from one autocephalous or autonomous church to another. The term is also used to refer to a parish representation (or dependency) of a monastery or a primate.

orthodox monastery in Vilnius, Lithuania