Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

St. Basil the Great

-one of the 3 Cappadocian Fathers

-a founder of eastern monasticism

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

- Desert Mothers

Desert Mothers

“Amma Theodora said that a teacher ought to be a stranger to theDesire for domination, vainglory and pride. One should not be able to fool that person by flattery, nor blind that person by gifts…Rather, the teacher should be patient, gentle and humble as far as possible; the teacher must also be tested and be without favoritism, full of concern for others, and a lover of souls.”

-Theodora 5

St. Mary of Egypt

18th-century Russian icon

St. Mary with Abba Zosimas

“Amma Sarah said to the brothers: ‘It is I who am a man; and you are the women!’”

-Sarah 9

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

II. Distinctive Features of Monastic Life

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

II. Distinctive Features of Monastic Life

A. Asceticism

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

II. Distinctive Features of Monastic Life

A. Asceticism

B. Separation from the world

Turning your back on the world

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

II. Distinctive Features of Monastic Life

A. Asceticism

B. Separation from the world

C. Meditation

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

II. Distinctive Features of Monastic Life

A. Asceticism

B. Separation from the world

C. Meditation

D. Mystical Experience

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

II. Distinctive Features of Monastic Life

A. Asceticism

B. Separation from the world

C. Meditation

D. Mystical Experience

E. Voluntary Poverty

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

II. Distinctive Features of Monastic Life

A. Asceticism

B. Separation from the world

C. Meditation

D. Mystical Experience

E. Voluntary Poverty

F. Chastity

Monastic Life in Late Antiquity: Distinctive Features & Appeal

I. Whom Did It Attract? – 2 somewhat surprising groups:

A. Intellectuals

B. Women

II. Distinctive Features of Monastic Life

A. Asceticism

B. Separation from the world

C. Meditation

D. Mystical Experience

E. Voluntary Poverty

F. Chastity

G. Community

The "Desert Fathers" below Christ and the Apostles

Coptic monks' graffiti (carved on the Ptolemaic temple at Deir el-Medina)