Monasticism

Originating in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine near the end of the third century, Christian monasticism subsequently developed into a well-organized and well-defined feature of Christianity. Martyrdom virtually ended with the Peace of the Church in 312 ce, as Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Emulating the sacrifices of the martyrs, men and women withdrew to the desert to live solitary and ascetic lives by renouncing all worldly comforts. Monasticism from its inception was intended as a means to loving God by removing all worldly obstacles, distractions, or temptations. Christian asceticism was based on scripture, recalling the words and actions of its founder, Jesus, who went into the desert for meditation and spiritual cleansing, and advised a rich man to give all his possessions to the poor and to follow him. The Greek root of monk or monastery is monos, meaning "alone." Within a few years, two forms of monasticism emerged: eremitic (from eremos, "desert"), signifying the lone ascetic in the wilderness; and cenobitic (from koinos, "common"), referring to monastic communities of men or women. Both forms demanded withdrawal from the world along with vows of celibacy, obedience, and poverty. Both men and women equated asceticism with devotion to the world to come.

EARLY MONKS AND MONKHOOD

Anthony of Egypt (251–356) represented the eremitic form of monasticism and is regarded as the first Christian monk. The Life of St. Anthony, written by Athanasius, would suggest that he was not the first of the desert ascetics. Near the end of his life there were several hundred solitaries dedicated to separation from the world and committed to the struggle toward spiritual perfection. Eremitic monks lived in their own huts or caves and provided for their own needs, normally coming together on Sunday for common prayer under the direction of an elder. From the beginning celibacy was demanded along with vows of poverty and obedience.

Pachomius (292–346) characterized cenobitic monasticism, founding the first monastic community in Tabennisi, near Thebes in Egypt. It was established as a double monastery, with two separate communities—one for monks under his leadership as abbot, and the other for nuns, with his sister Mary as the abbess. By 340 there were several women's monasteries all organized around collective worship, manual labor, and obedience to the abbess. Not long after, Basil (330–379) formed the community at Annesos in Pontus, and created a program of rules for the monks. As each community developed, a collection of monastic rules was created. All of the various monastic Rules developed in the history of Christian monasticism include a structure of daily life with proscriptions pertaining to food and drink, work and prayer schedules, and a community hierarchy. Once cenobitic monasticism became the norm, the Rule of St. Basil was adopted throughout Eastern monasteries. Cenobitic monasticism was so popular in early Christianity that the population of some monasteries equaled that of small cities.

Women were also attracted to the ascetic life, especially in light of St. Jerome's widely known axiom that virgins had the greatest hope of attaining heaven, widows the second, and married women the least. Paula (374–404), a member of the patrician class, was born in Rome and died at Bethlehem after founding a monastery for women. Melania the Elder (342–410), a wealthy Roman widow, made a pilgrimage to Egypt and the Holy Land and established a monastery for fifty women in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. While on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Egeria, a fourth-century nun from the region of Galicia in Spain, wrote a diary detailing how liturgical rituals were celebrated in Jerusalem. During this flowering of ascetic monasticism, Caesarius of Arles (470–543) wrote the first Rule created exclusively for women, which, like other monastic rules, was a collection of precepts and provided the order of psalms for recitation, demanding a high degree of literacy.

Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–543), commonly known as the father of Western monasticism, withdrew to live as a hermit in a cave where, because of his extraordinary asceticism and spiritual renown, a community developed around him. Later he founded a monastery at Monte Cassino and wrote a monastic rule that supplanted a profusion of other rules. Composed of seventy-three chapters providing practical regulation of the lives of the monks and nuns, the Rule of St. Benedict became the guiding document for monasticism in the West and is still in use in the twenty-first century. It provided for the election of an abbot or abbess who would have full authority in the community and included the Opus Dei (Divine Office), laying out the fixed hours of the day for public prayer: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline. Benedict's sister, Scholastica (480–543), consecrated her life to Christ at an early age and later founded a monastery for women at Plombariola, five miles from Monte Cassino, and adopted her brother's Rule for the community. In the ninth century, Charlemagne (r. 768–814) imposed the Rule of St. Benedict on all monasteries, and as monasticism spread through the Holy Roman Empire it became the sole norm of monastic life. The Benedictine Order dominated the High Middle Ages with significant impact in all realms of society.

MEDIEVAL MONASTICISM

A number of monastic orders emerged in the Middle Ages, among them the Carthusians in the eleventh century; the Cistercians in the twelfth; and the Carmelites, reorganized in the fifteenth century. Typically these new orders emerged when groups of monks or nuns felt that Benedict's Rule was interpreted in too lax a manner. Disregard for the celibacy vows and a concern about the selling of religious office (simony) were at the heart of medieval monastic reforms. With the continued desire to pursue a solitary life in isolation from the world, monastic orders such as the Carthusians sought to establish communities in remote areas, in the forests far from the cities.

In 1098 the Cistercian Order was founded on the ideal of a strict interpretation of the Benedictine model as applied to dress, furniture, buildings, and food. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), foremost among the early Cistercians, personified the monastic ideal. He mentored popes, was counselor to kings, preached the Second Crusade, and composed eighty-six sermons on the first four verses of the Song of Songs. Based largely on the social constructions of the female as especially dangerous and susceptible to sin, Cistercians had a particular revulsion toward women and avoided all contact with them.

Throughout the Middle Ages, as the figure of Christ was increasingly humanized, the status of cloistered women changed significantly. Women, able to fully embody Mary's relationship to the divine as mother and spouse, narrated their religious experiences and gained a high degree of importance in medieval spirituality. Significant among them are Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), Mechtild of Magdeburg (c. 1207–c. 1285), Gertrude of Helfta (1256–1301 or 1302), Clare of Assisi (1194–1253), Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), Julian of Norwich (1342–c. 1416), and Birgitta of Sweden (1303–1373).

Flourishing in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Beguine movement is especially important for the history of women in monasticism. Beguines were communities of devout and celibate women living together with no irrevocable vows, following no prescribed Rule, and supporting themselves with manual labor—lace-making, for example. This created a dilemma for the Church and for society, in view of the fact that there were only two acceptable roles for adult women at this time—as cloistered women under a monastic Rule or as married women. The papal answer was the cura monialium, a technical term for the pastoral care of the cloistered women. This duty was laid upon the mendicant Dominicans, the Order of Preachers, by Pope Clement IV (r. 1265–1268) in 1267; it required Dominican preachers, such as Meister Eckhart (1260–1328), Heinrich Seuse (1295–1366), and Johannes Tauler (1300–1361), to assume the spiritual care of these communities of women. As a consequence, within a short period of time, the communities were officially proclaimed to be either Dominican or Cistercian women's monasteries.

The emergence of the mendicant orders (from the Latin mendicare, "to beg"), or friars—Dominicans and the Franciscans—in the thirteenth century had a profound effect on male monasticism. To this day, both orders practice the principles of monastic life, taking vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience, but devote themselves to the service of humanity in the secular world. Although friars were monastic in the broadest sense, they were not attached to specific communities. Mendicant women, on the other hand, were cloistered, as women were not permitted to beg or wander from town to town.

IMPACT OF THE REFORMATION

The Protestant reformations of the sixteenth century generated a profound assault on monasticism. Arguing that it implied a degradation of marriage, the Protestant reformers opposed monasticism's demands for celibacy. Martin Luther (1483–1546), a former monk himself, wrote viciously against his former profession. Henry VIII of England (r. 1509–1547) demolished eight hundred monasteries within a four-year span of time. Central to the Protestant reforms was the conviction that every profession is a religious "calling," not just the priesthood and monasticism. In those areas of Europe that accepted the Protestant reforms, there was a demand that women and men leave the monasteries to marry. In the reformed communities, the high valence of virginity was eradicated and replaced with the Protestant ideal of motherhood or fatherhood. Reformers railed against monasticism, rejecting the distinction between the superior life of a monk or nun and the inferior life of a householder.

Monasticism continued to develop in the Eastern Orthodox context, with most monasteries abiding by St. Basil's Rule with the additions, expansions, and modifications made by later emperors, patriarchs, and synods; only the great monastery at Mt. Sinai follows what is regarded as the old rule of St. Anthony. While all of the sixteen independent Churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church have monasteries, few of them are open to women.

By feminist standards, a great many nuns were and are strong, independent women, highly skilled in nursing and education, managing large charitable organizations, working for the civil rights movement, and as missionaries. Having survived a steep decline in numbers, the monastic ideal is still present throughout the world. However, its societal impact is less profound than in the Middle Ages and is mainly regarded as a viable option for women in societies offering them few alternatives. Monasteries in remote locations still exist throughout the world and offer monks and nuns the opportunity for a purely contemplative life.

see also Catholicism; Celibacy.

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                                      Rosemary Drage Hale