Our venerable father did not take on the angelic form until he had studied all monastic affairs: monastic order, and everything else that monks need. And always, at any time, with great diligence, and with desire, and with tears, he prayed to God, that he might be worthy to take on the angelic image and partake of the monastic life. And he summoned to his hermitage, of which we have spoken, a certain spiritual elder, adorned with the rank of priest, honored by priestly grace, abbot by rank, named Mitrophan. Bartholomew beseeches and implores him, humbly bowing down, and joyfully bows his head before him, wishing that Mitrophan would take monastic vows. And the saint repeated to him: "Father! Do a good deed, tonsure me into the monastic order, for since my youth I have long wanted to do this, but the will of my parents restrained me. Now, having been freed from everything, I thirst for it as much as a deer longs for a fountain of water; so my soul thirsts for a monastic and wilderness life."

The hegumen immediately entered the church and tonsured him into the angelic image, in the month of October, on the seventh day, in memory of the holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. And he was given the name Sergius in monasticism: for at that time they gave random names, without taking into account the secular name; but what saint was celebrated on the day when he was tonsured, such a name was given to the tonsured. The saint, when he became a monk, was twenty-three years old. And in the church of which I have spoken, created by Sergius himself and named in honor of the Holy Trinity, in this church the abbot served the Divine Liturgy along with the rite of tonsure. Blessed Sergius, a monk who had just been tonsured, when he was tonsured, communed of the Holy Mysteries, partook of the most pure body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, as a worthy one was vouchsafed such a holy thing. So, after Holy Communion or during Communion itself, the grace and gift of the Holy Spirit descended upon him and dwelt in him. How do we know this? There were certain people here at that time, truly truthful witnesses to the fact that when Sergius communed of the Holy Mysteries, then the whole church was suddenly filled with fragrance: not only in the church, but also around the church, a fragrant smell was felt. And all who saw and felt this smell glorified God, Who so glorifies His saints.

He was the first monk tonsured in that church and in that wilderness. The first in the beginning, but the highest in wisdom; the first in number, but the highest in labor. I will say that he was both the first and the highest: for many in that church were tonsured, but not one of them was able to attain his perfection; many began in this way, but not all ended their business in this way; many later in that place, both during the lifetime of Sergius and after him, were monks, truly they were all glorious, but not all can be compared with him. It was the first monk in that place, he laid the foundation for asceticism; He was an example to all other monks living here. For when he was tonsured, he not only cut off the hair on his head, but together with his senseless hair he cut off carnal desires; and when he threw off the clothes of the world, he rejected these desires with them. He was the one who took off and removed the old person, and turned into a new one. And girded himself tightly, he prepared to courageously begin his spiritual feats, leaving the world and renouncing it and all that is in the world, possessions and all other worldly goods. And, to put it simply, he broke all the bonds of the world — like an eagle with its light wings raised, as if it were flying through the air — so this monk left the world and all worldly things, fled from all worldly goods, leaving his family and all his friends and relatives, home and fatherland, like the ancient patriarch Abraham.

The blessed one remained in the church for seven days, he ate nothing, only a prosphora taken from the hands of the hegumen; withdrawing from everything, he dwelt only in fasting and prayer. David's song was constantly on his lips, the words of the Psalms, with which he consoled himself, and with them he praised God. He sang to himself and thanked God thus: "Lord! I have loved the beauty of thy house, and the dwelling place of thy glory; the holiness of the Lord shall abide in thy house long days. How desirable are thy villages, O Lord of hosts! My soul is weary for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God. And the bird finds a dwelling for itself, and the turtledove a nest for itself, where to lay its young. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they shall praise thee for ever and ever. A day alone in thy courts is better than a thousand days; it is better to be at the threshold in the house of my God than in the dwelling of sinners."

When Sergius saw off the hegumen who had tonsured him, with much humility he said to him: "Here, father, you are now leaving here, and you are leaving me, humble, as I wished, alone. For a long time I strove with all my thoughts and desires to live alone in the wilderness, without a single person. For a long time I asked God for this in prayers, always hearing and remembering the prophet exclaiming and saying: "I departed, fleeing, and remained in the wilderness, trusting in God, who saves me from faint-heartedness and from the storm. And therefore God heard me, and hearkened unto the voice of my supplication. Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, nor turned away his mercy from me." And now I thank God, who did everything according to my will, for allowing me to live alone in the desert in solitude and silence. And Thou, Father, now departing from here, bless me, humble one, and pray for my solitude, and also teach me how to live alone in the wilderness, how to pray to God, how to live without misfortune, how to resist our enemy and his proud thoughts. After all, I, a newly-ordained man, have just been tonsured and become a monk, so I must ask you about everything."

The abbot, seized with horror, answered, astonished: "And you," he said, "ask me that you know much better than we do, O worthy man! After all, you are always accustomed to showing an example of humility in this way. But all the same, now I will answer, as it behooves me to answer you with the words of prayer, thus: May the Lord God, Who chose you even earlier, generously bestow upon you, enlighten you, teach you, and fill you with spiritual joy." And, having talked a little about spiritual things with Sergius, he wanted to leave. But the Monk Sergius, bowing down to the ground, said: "Father! Pray to God for me, that He would help me endure carnal temptations, and demonic invasions, and beast attacks, and labor in the wilderness." The abbot replied: "Says Paul the Apostle: 'Blessed be the Lord, Who will not give us beyond the strength of temptations.' And he said, 'I can do all things, if God strengthens me.'" And again, leaving, the abbot entrusts him to God and leaves him alone in the wilderness to remain silent and live in solitude.

Sergius, seeing the hegumen off, once again asked him for his blessing and prayers. The hegumen said to the Monk Sergius: "Here I am departing from here, and I leave you to God, Who will not allow the death of His monk, Who will not allow sinners to lift up the rod against the life of the righteous, Who will not give us into the teeth of sinners. For the Lord loves the righteous and will not forsake His saints, but will preserve them forever; The Lord will preserve you at the beginning of your life and at the end of it, from now on and forever, Amen." The hegumen said this, and having prayed and blessed Sergius, he left him; And he went back to where he came from.