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Cenobitic monasticism

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(Redirected fromCenobium)
Monastic tradition that stresses community life
"Cenobium" redirects here. For the colony of algae, seeCoenobium (morphology).
"Cenobite" redirects here. For the fictional race, seeCenobite (Hellraiser). For the hip-hop album, seeCenobites (album).
Coptic icon ofPachomius the Great, the founder of Christian cenobiticmonasticism

Cenobitic (orcoenobitic)monasticism is amonastic tradition that stresses community life. Often in the West the community belongs to areligious order, and the life of the cenobitic monk is regulated by areligious rule, a collection of precepts. The older style ofmonasticism, to live as a hermit, is callederemitic. A third form of monasticism, found primarily inEastern Christianity, is theskete.[1]: 124–125 

The English wordscenobite andcenobitic are derived, viaLatin, from theGreek wordskoinos (κοινός,lit.'common'), andbios (βίος,lit.'life'). The adjective can also becenobiac (κοινοβιακός,koinoviakos) orcœnobitic (obsolete). A group of monks living in community is often referred to as acenobium (Latin, from Greekkoinobion). Cenobitic monasticism appears in several religious traditions, though most commonly inBuddhism andChristianity.

Origins

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The wordcenobites was initially applied to the followers ofPythagoras inCrotone, Italy, who founded a commune not just for philosophical study but also for the "amicable sharing of worldly goods."[2]

Judaic monasticism

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In the 1st century AD,Philo of Alexandria (c. 25 BC – c. 50 AD) describes aJewish ascetic community of men and women on the shores ofLake Mareotis in the vicinity ofAlexandria, Egypt which he calls theTherapeutae.[3] Members of the community lived apart from one another during six days of the week, studying theHebrew Bible during the daytime and eating during the evening, whereafter on theSabbath they hoped to dream visions informed by their studies. Members of the community composed books ofmidrash, an allegorical method of interpreting scripture. Only on the Sabbath would the Therapeutae meet, share their learning, eat a common, albeit simple, meal of bread and spring water, and listen to a lecture on theTorah given by one of the venerable members of the community. Every seventh Sabbath, orHigh Sabbath, was accorded a festival of learning and singing, which climaxed in an egalitarian dance.

The 3rd-century Christian writerEusebius of Caesarea (c. 263–339), in hisEcclesiastical History, identified Philo's Therapeutae as the first Christian monks, identifying their renunciation of property, chastity, fasting, and solitary lives with the cenobitic ideal of the Christian monks.[4]

Christian monasticism

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Main article:Christian monasticism

The organized version of Christian cenobitic monasticism is commonly thought to have started inEgypt in the 4th century AD. Christian monks of previous centuries were usuallyhermits, especially in theMiddle East; this continued to be very common until the decline ofAramean Christianity in theLate Middle Ages. This form of solitary living, however, did not suit everyone. Some monks found the eremitic style to be too lonely and difficult; and if one was not spiritually prepared, the life could lead to mental breakdowns.[5]: 7 

For this reason, organized monastic communities were established so that monks could have more support in their spiritual struggle. While eremitic monks did have an element of socializing, since they would meet once a week to pray together, cenobitic monks came together for common prayer on a more regular basis.[6] The cenobitic monks also practised more socializing because themonasteries where they lived were often located in or near inhabited villages. For example, theBohairic version ofDionysius Exiguus'The Life of Saint Pachomius states that the monks of the monastery ofTabenna built a church for the villagers of the nearby town of the same name even "before they constructed one for themselves."[7] This means that cenobitic monks did find themselves in contact with other people, includinglay people, whereas the eremitic monks tried to keep to themselves, only meeting for prayer occasionally.

Saint Pachomius

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See also:Pachomian monasteries

Cenobitic monks were also different from their eremitic predecessors and counterparts in their living arrangements. Whereas eremitic monks (hermits) lived alone in amonastery consisting of merely ahut orcave (cell), cenobitic monks lived together in monasteries comprising one or a complex of several buildings. In the latter case, each dwelling would house about twenty monks, and within the house there were separate rooms or cells that would be inhabited by two or three monks.[8] To early generations of historians, the style of housing maintained by cenobitic monks was attributed to the man usually hailed the "father of cenobitic monasticism,"Saint Pachomius, who was believed to have found the idea for such quarters during the time he spent in theRoman army, as the style was "reminiscent of army barracks." While this impression may have been to some extent mythologized by the bishop and historianPalladius of Galatia,[9] communalbarracks-like desert dwellings known ascenobia came to exist around the early 4th century.[10]: 28 

Though Pachomius is often credited as the "father of cenobitic monasticism," it is more accurate to think of him as the "father oforganized cenobitic monasticism", as he was the first monk to take smaller communal groups that often already existed and bring them together into a federation of monasteries.[11] He continued this work until his death in 347 atPbow, a monastic center that he had founded ten years before.

Palladius'Lausiac History claims that Pachomius was given the idea to start a cenobitic monastery from an angel.[12] Though this is an explanation of his reasoning for initiating the cenobitic tradition, there are sources that indicate there were already other communal monastic groups around at that time and possibly before him. Three of the nine monasteries that joined Pachomius' federation "clearly had an independent origin", meaning he was not the first to have such an idea.[13]

Melitians and Manichaeans

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The ground plan of themonastery of St. Gall in Switzerland, providing for all of the monks' needs within the monastery walls

Besides the monasteries that joined Pachomius' federation of cenobitic monasteries, there were both Christian and non-Christian cenobitic groups who decided not to join him, such as theMelitians andManichaeans.[14]

Before Pachomius had begun organizing monastic communities, the Melitians as a group were already recruiting members. They were a heretical Christian sect founded byMelitius of Lycopolis. They "heard of Pachomius' monastic aspirations and tried to recruit him" to join their community.[15]: 118 

Some scholars believe the Manichaeans, founded byMani, were the "pioneers of communal asceticism in Egypt,"[16] rather than Pachomius. Mani himself was influenced to begin cenobitic monasticism from other groups, includingBuddhists and Jewish-ChristianElkasites.[16]

Later cenobitic communities

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The cenobitic monastic idea did not end with these early groups, and inspired future groups and individuals:

In both the East and the West, cenobiticism established itself as the primary form of monasticism, with many foundations being richly endowed by rulers and nobles. The excessive acquisition of wealth and property led to several attempts at reform, such asBernard of Clairvaux in the West andNilus of Sora in the East.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Hovorun, C.,Eastern Christianity in Its Texts (London:T&T Clark, 2022),pp. 124–125.
  2. ^Bernard, R. W.,Pythagoras, the Immortal Sage (Pomeroy, WA: Health Research Books, 1958),p. 25.
  3. ^Philo of Alexandria.De vita contemplativa(On the Contemplative Life).
  4. ^Scouteris, C. B., University of Athens (source), "The semianchoritic character of the Therapeutae community, the renunciation of property, the solitude during the six days of the week and the gathering together on Saturday for the common prayer and the common meal, the severe fasting, the keeping alive of the memory of God, the continuous prayer, the meditation and study of Holy Scripture were also practices of the Christian anchorites of the Alexandrian desert."—C. B. Scouteris,"The Therapeutae of Philo, and the Monks as Therapeutae according to Pseudo-Dionysius", 2012
  5. ^C. H. Lawrence, "Chapter 1: The Call of the Desert" inMedieval Monasticism, 3rd edition, (Toronto: Pearson Education Limited, 2001),p. 7.
  6. ^James E. Goehring, "Withdrawing from the Desert: Pachomius and the development of Village Monasticism in Upper Egypt,"Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996), p. 275.
  7. ^Goehring, "Withdrawing from the Desert," p. 282.
  8. ^Dunn, M., "Chapter 2: The Development of Communal Life" inThe Emergence of Monasticism: From theDesert Fathers to theEarly Middle Ages, (Malden, MA:Blackwell, 2000),p. 30.
  9. ^Dunn,p. 29.
  10. ^Fanning, S.,Mystics of the Christian Tradition (London & New York: Routledge, 2001),p. 28.
  11. ^Dunn,p. 26.
  12. ^Paul Halsall, "Chapter XXXII: Pachomius and Tabennesiots" inPalladius: The Lausiac History, September 1998. Internet Medieval Sourcebook. 15 February 2007 <https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/palladius-lausiac.aspArchived 2014-08-14 at theWayback Machine>.
  13. ^Attridge, H. W., & Hata, G., "The Origins of Monasticism" inAscetics, Society, and the Desert : Studies in Egyptian monasticism, (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1999),p. 28.
  14. ^Lundhaug, H., & Jenott, L.,The Monastic Origins of the Nag Hammadi Codices (Heidelberg:Mohr Siebeck, 2015), pp. 234–262.
  15. ^Harmless, W., "Chapter 5: Pachomius" inDesert Christians - An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004),p. 118.
  16. ^abDunn,25.
  17. ^"Basilian | Byzantine Rite Monasticism & History | Britannica".www.britannica.com. Retrieved2024-03-03.
  18. ^Hannick, C., "Hymnographie et hymnographes sabaïtes," in Patrich, J., ed.,The Sabaite Heritage in the Orthodox Church from the Fifth Century to the PresentArchived 2017-01-09 at theWayback Machine, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 98 (Leuven:Peeters Publishers, 2001),pp. 217–228.

References

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  • Attridge, H. W., & Hata, G. "The Origins of Monasticism" inAscetics, Society, and the Desert : Studies in Egyptian monasticism. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1999.
  • Dunn, Marilyn.The Emergence of Monasticism: From the Desert Fathers to the Early Middle Ages.Malden, Mass.:Blackwell Publishers, 2000.
  • Goehring, James E. "Withdrawing from the Desert: Pachomius and the development of Village Monasticism in Upper Egypt."Harvard Theological Review 89(1996): 267–285.
  • Halsall, Paul. "Chapter XXXII: Pachomius and Tabennesiots" inPalladius: The Lausiac History. September 1998. Internet Medieval Sourcebook. 30 March 2007 <https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/palladius-lausiac.aspArchived 2014-08-14 at theWayback Machine>.
  • Harmless, William. "Chapter 5: Pachomius" inDesert Christians - An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
  • Lawrence, C. H. "Chapter 1: The Call of the Desert" inMedieval Monasticism. 3rd edition. Toronto: Pearson Education Limited, 2001.

External links

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