No monastery could function without a priest. The monastery of Kecharitomene had two, preferably eunuch monks.** The founder of Bebaia Elpis felt that it would be better to have single priest, an older man. Some of these communities, however, minimized the priest’s importance, giving most of the liturgy into the hands of the nuns.
In addition to priests, the nuns needed a spiritual father. His exact position varied between communities varied, but at the very least he heard the nuns’ confessions and gave them spiritual advice. The typikon for Kecharitomene says little about him, merely that he should be a eunuch monk like their priests. He played a much larger role at Lips, where the Superior was required to consult with him on most of her major decisions. He could also remove her from office if he had the agreement of the leading nuns.
The steward was responsible for the community’s financial affairs. This included the management of both the monastery proper as well as of its lands outside. Kecharitomene required that the steward be a pious eunuch and that he be accompanied wherever he went within the monastery. The communities of Bebaia Elpis and Neilos Damilas, meanwhile solved the problem of allowing a male steward onto the grounds by appointing a nun instead.
These were not the only men who might be required to enter a female monastery. They needed doctors to care for sick nuns, gravediggers for funerals, and laborers to restore and maintain their buildings. Many communities allowed their nuns to speak briefly with family members at the gates, though male relatives were never allowed in. The Superiors of these monasteries also had to play politics to ensure the survival of their communities, which sometimes meant dining with powerful men. While the desire was to bar men from nuns’ spaces, it wasn’t feasible to ban them entirely.
*Not that male monasteries had an easy time living up to this ideal either. They basically had to retreat to their own mountains from which they banned women entirely. Mount Athos is one such that still exists today.
**If none such could be persuaded to take the position, the community was instructed to seek out a secular priest who was a eunuch.
Thomas, John and Angela Constantinides Hero, eds. Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founders’ Typika and Testaments. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2000. [Text may be found here.]
Empress Irene Doukaina, Typikon of Kecharitomene, 1110-1116, translated by Robert Jordan - Dumbarton Oaks
Theodora Palaiologina, Typikon of Lips, 1294-1301, translated by Alice-Mary Talbot - Dumbarton Oaks
Theodora Synadene, Typikon of Bebaia Elpis, 1327-1335, translated by Alice-Mary Talbot - Dumbarton Oaks
Typikon of Neilos Damilas, 1400, translated by Alice-Mary Talbot - Dumbarton Oaks
Talbot, Alice-Mary. "Women's Space in Byzantine Monasteries." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 52 (1998): 113-127.