The Initial Impetus Behind Monasticism
From the time of the apostles until the end of the second century, the perpetual risk of persecution and martyrdom had the effect of keeping the Church relatively pure: Members of the Church were “experiential Christians” (Walker 94). The first half of the third century AD, however, was a period of considerable toleration toward Christianity. Although still illegal, it was, generally speaking, the object of only sporadic and short-lived persecutions until 248 AD because the Roman emperors were preoccupied with other matters (79). A rapid increase in converts from heathen religions accompanied this relative peace. At the same time, the fact that the Second Coming of Jesus had not yet occurred caused many to realize that the Final Judgment was not as imminent as previously assumed, and spiritual vigilance thus dwindled. All of these factors came together to encourage worldliness in the Church. As more and more nominal Christians populated public worship, it provoked a real identity crisis in the Church: It went from conceiving of itself as a “communion of saints” to an “agency for salvation”, and the standards for Christian behavior were relaxed. Obviously, this change of affairs was not satisfactory to everyone (94-95).Church leaders had long observed an apparent distinction in Scripture between requirements and advice. The requirements were those rules binding on all Christians, but the advice was for the serious disciples of Christ. The advice centered around voluntary poverty and voluntary celibacy. For example, Jesus did not tell all disciples to sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor, but he did tell one man that if wanted to be “perfect,” he should so do (Matthew 19:21). Similarly, Jesus observed that there are those who “have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:12). In 1 Corinthians 7, St. Paul lays out an argument for the relative greater beatitude of those who choose not to marry over those who do marry. Given that church leaders such as Hermas, Tertullian, and Origen all acknowledged this distinction between a lower and higher morality, more and more of those dissatisfied with worldliness in the Church began to follow not just the requirements but also the advice. And herein the seeds of monasticism were sown (95). Initially, this ascetic ideal was still pursued while integrated with society, for example, an order of holy virgins attached to a church. However, it was not long before the increasing formalism of public worship and the lack of supply of recent martyrs as role models led to a demand for spiritual heroes who possessed a vital and personal relationship with God. And thus the monastic vocation was birthed (125).
The Development of Monasticism in the East
St. Anthony the Great, a Coptic born around 250 AD, was the first to respond to the monastic impulse. In 270 AD he gave away all his possessions. Fifteen years later, he became a hermit in the Egyptian desert, living in the severest self-denial until his repose around 356 AD. He overcame the flesh through constant prayer. Soon more and more people imitated his example, filling the deserts of Nitria and Scetis in Egypt. Some were absolute hermits; others lived in small groups. Because this was originally a lay movement, there was little ecclesiastical accountability at this time and sometimes a danger of practicing self-denial for the sake of self-denial (125-126).St. Pachomius, born around 292 AD, converted to Christianity around age 20. At first he lived as a hermit, but soon realized its potential for unhealthy excesses. He set up the first Christian monastery in Tabennisi, Egypt, around 315 AD. Here the brothers lived in a close-knit community having regularly assigned work, regular hours of worship, and similar dress and cells for lodging. This form of a common ascetic life under the supervision of an abbot is known as cenobitic monasticism--in contrast to the eremitic monasticism of hermits--and it greatly improved the monastic ecosystem. By his death in 346 AD, Pachomius had established ten such monasteries, including ones for women (126).
Eremitic and cenobitic monasticism both flourished side-by-side and were exported from Egypt to the rest of the Roman Empire. Especially in Syria, the eremitic form became quite popular and extravagant. St. Simon Stylites, who lived on top of a pillar for 30 years until his death in 459 AD, is a famous example of extreme Syrian asceticism. In Asia Minor, however, it was cenobitic monasticism that especially blossomed under the leadership of St. Basil the Great, who lived from 330 AD to 379 AD. He like Pachomius advocated a common life of work, prayer, and Bible reading. In addition, however, not only did he require outreach in care for orphans and widows, he also actively discouraged the eremitic lifestyle (126).
The Development of Monasticism in the West
As a quirk of history, St. Athanasius the Great, bishop of the eastern see of Alexandria was the catalyst for spreading monasticism to the West because two of his five separate banishments were to western lands, where he spread the knowledge of St. Anthony the Great. Monasticism initially received a mixed welcome in the West. Through the efforts of St. Martin of Tours, it spread to France in 362 AD, and by the end of the fourth century, through the examples of Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine, monasticism was well established in the West. Similar to in the East, the first western monks were all laymen. However, Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli, who died in 371 AD, was the first to set the precedent of requiring all clergy attached to his cathedral to live as monks, thus altering its original nature as a lay movement (126).While Syria was known for its extreme asceticism, in the West, early monastics had little consistency in ascetic fervor, and sometimes were quite lax. Things began to improve under St. Benedict of Nursia (in modern Italy), who was born in 480 AD. He became a hermit in 500 AD, and similar to Pachomius before him, went on to start a cenobitic monastery in 529 AD with an explicit written Rule of life. This monastery became the mother monastery of a network of monasteries that consciously follow his Rule. Benedict’s Rule reflected a deep understanding of human nature. He skillfully combined moderation and good sense with respect to food, manual labor, and discipline to create a system that although strict was accessible to an average, earnest disciple. At the head of the monastery was the abbot who commanded absolute obedience, but who was required to consult the brothers for matters of common concern. The institution of the novitiate was started to give people a chance to try out the monastic lifestyle before taking vows. Worship was the center of life and structured around seven daily offices. Idleness being the chief evil to avoid, work and study assignments were prescribed, leading to Benedictine monasteries becoming centers of industry and scholarship (127).
The Rule of St. Benedict spread slowly, first to England and Germany. France did not buy in until the seventh century. Monks spread civilization and Christian faith by often being the first to settle in a region, followed later by a town near the monastery. And during the war-ravaged Middle Ages, these monasteries were often the only places of refuge (128).
Although geographically situated in the West, the monasticism of Ireland and Scotland came directly from the East rather than through St. Benedict and thus retained a distinctly eastern flavor until the Roman Church solidified control over the region in the eighth century. Until that time, it fully retained its eastern mystical and extreme ascetical bent. Celtic monks also exuded missionary and scholarly fervor, which continued even after the Roman introduction of the Rule of St. Benedict (128).
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