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Since the early years of the
Christian era, Christians have been called by Christ Himself to life in the
world without being of the world (John 17:13-16). They are distinct from the
world, because of their special conduct and their exemplary ethical life. When,
toward the middle of the second century of the Christian era, Christian life
reached a low ebb, some Christians, both men and women, reacted to this by
raising their own personal standards of austere Christian life. They practiced
chastity, celibacy, poverty, prayer and fasting (Justin, I Apology 15.6;
Athenagoras, Apology 33; and Galenus, De Sententiis Politiae Platonicae).
These people considered
themselves Christians selected to live the life of angels (Matt. 33:30). They
lived by themselves or in special houses as a community. At about the middle of
the third century, they began fleeing the world and going to the desert, where
they established permanent habitations, whether by themselves or in small
groups. They are known as the "anchorites" (from anachoresis: departure,
flight); the hermits (from eremos: desert); and the monastics (from monos:
alone, for a monastic "lives in the presence of God alone").
Whereas Saint Anthony the Great
is the founder of anchorite monasticism, Saint Pachomios of Egypt (d. 346) is
the founder of the so-called "cenobitic" (from Koinos bios: communal life)
monasticism. Pachomios started as an anchorite himself in the Thebaid, Upper
Egypt. Later in that same place, he founded the first "monastery" in the modern
sense of the term. St. Anthony's lavra was a village of anchorites who lived by
themselves in their own huts and had a life in common, practiced common daily
prayer evening and morning, worked in common, had common revenues and
expenditures, and common meals, and wore the same identical monastic garb. This
garb consisted of a linen tunic or robe and belt, a white goat skin or sheep
skin coat and belt, a cone-shaped head-cover or hood (koukoulion) and a linen
scarf (maforion or pallium). At this stage, monks were identified with lay
people seeking Christian perfection. No religious ceremony was required, and no
monastic vows. Monks were prohibited from becoming clergy.
Anchorite monasticism existed
in other places besides Egypt. However, "organized monasticism," that is, of the
"cenobitic" type, spread to Sinai, Palestine and Syria from Egypt. Two monks
from Egypt, St. Ilarion (d. 371) and St. Epiphanios, later bishop of Salamis in
Cyprus (d. 403), brought organized monasticism to Palestine.
Monasticism at this time was
identified with the "charismatics" of the ancient church. This identification of
monasticism with the "enthusiastic element" in the church led to some abuses, of
which those around Eustathios of Sebastia (d. 380) are good example. Eustathios
introduced monasticism into Asia Minor from Egypt. His followers became
overzealous; they taught that marriage and meat-eating made salvation
impossible; they were, in fact, advocating monasticism for all Christians. The
Council of Gangra (343) condemned these over-enthusiastic practices. Another
heresy that affected monasticism during this same time was "Messalianism," which
appeared in Mesopotamia (c. 350 AD.). Messalians were ascetics who practiced
poverty, celibacy and fasting. They rejected the sacramental life of the church
and pretended to see God with their physical eyes. They spread in Syria and Asia
Minor; they finally were anathematized by the Third Ecumenical Council of
Ephesus [431]. Under the influence of the Messalians, the non-sleepers or
Vigilant (Akoimetoi) type of monasticism was developed in the area of
Constantinople (mid-fifth century). The most famous instance was the Studion
monastery, renowned for its polemic against the Iconoclasts. St. Symeon of
Antioch [ca. 460] also developed the Stylite type of monasticism, living himself
on a pole (stylos) for over 36 years.
Monasticism became a strong
movement in the life of the church. The church not only condemned anti-church
groups and tendencies within monasticism, but also guided and directed the
monastic movement to meet its own needs. One of the ways through which this
occurred was through a convergence of monasticism and clergy: monks were now
ordained in a special religious service at which they subscribed to special
monastic vows, thus becoming a special class of Christians standing between the
clergy and the laity. This development was mostly due to the efforts of Saint
Basil, Archbishop of Caesaria in Cappadocia.
Basil the Great and the
Constitution of Orthodox Monasticism
Eustathios of Sebastia introduced monasticism to Asia Minor; he influenced St.
Basil, who borrowed whatever was good in his innovations, including the monastic
garments, monastic vows, and the special religious service (tonsure) that
indicated the special status of a monk, superior to that of lay people, and
subordinate to the clergy.
Among the many ascetical works
of St. Basil, two are the most significant in terms of regulating the life of
monasticism: the "Great Rules" (Oroi Kata Platos), and the "Brief Rules" (Oroi
Kat' Epitomen). These rules regulate the life in the cenobitic monasteries: they
extol the monastic life in common as the ideal Christian life, the "life of
perfection," while at the same time indicating the dangers of the solitary
anchoretic life. St. Basil's Rules became the Magna Carta of Monasticism, both
in the East and in the West, throughout the monastic tradition. The difference
is that while in the Christian East the anchorite spirit of St. Anthony
continues to persist as the original monastic ideal, thus at times reacting
against the organized monasticism of a Pachomian, cenobitic type promulgated by
Saint Basil in the Rules, the Christian West, after the modifications to the
Basilian Rules by St. Benedict, remains faithful to the cenobitic spirit of
organized monasticism.
St. Basil set Christian
perfectionism as the goal of monastic life. The monks were to practice Christian
virtues together, especially love; to practice obedience to a spiritual father;
to practice chastity and poverty, and share the common goods of the monastery.
After they achieved Christian perfection, they were allowed to come back to the
world and help others to achieve Christian perfection. Thus, the monks had the
mission of "social workers" as well. St. Basil's institutions, especially his
Basileias, which was at the same time an orphanage, a "kitchen for the poor,"
and a school for the illiterate was in practice run by monks. This was St.
Basil's way of utilizing the monastic movement to benefit the mission of the
Church in the world.
Following St. Basil's example,
the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451), in its canonical legislation,
placed the monastics in a given Diocese under the direct jurisdiction of the
diocesan bishop. Only this bishop can allow the foundation of new monasteries in
his diocese (Canons 4 and 8). Thus in the Orthodox Church the possibility of the
creation of monastic "Orders," as we see them developing in the West during the
Middle Ages, was once and for all eliminated.
Monasticism also spread in the
West. Its origins go back to St. Athanasios of Alexandria, who was exiled to the
West (399). His Life of St. Anthony was translated into Latin by Evagrios of
Antioch (380). Two Latin monks, Rufinus and St. Jerome, who lived in Palestine,
brought monasticism to the West when they returned, during the second half of
the 4th century. St. Ambrose of Milan (d. 395) introduced monasticism in
Northern Italy, and St. Augustine (d. 430) in Northern Africa, whence
monasticism was transplanted to Spain. St. . Martin of Tours (370) introduced
monasticism into Northern France (Gaul), and St. Honoratus of Arles into the
South. St. John Cassian founded two monasteries near Marseilles (415); he had
become acquainted with monasticism in Egypt and Palestine, and was ordained a
deacon by St. John Chrysostom in Constantinople. At. St. John's deposition, John
Cassian returned to Gaul to establish monasticism there.
