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.
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]
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]
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.
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]
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]
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.
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