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Coptic monasticism
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Coptic monasticism
Coptic monasticism is a voluntary Christian spiritual way of life that originated early on in Christian history within the Coptic Orthodox Church and which is still practiced today. It aims to permit a deeper connection with God through asceticism, hard work, detachment from material things, and a life of prayer free from external distractions.
It is said to be the original form of monasticism. Anthony the Great became the first one to be called "monk" (Ancient Greek: μοναχός), and was the first to establish a Christian monastery—now known as the Monastery of Saint Anthony at the base of Mount Colzim.
The Monastery of Saint Anthony is the oldest Christian monastery in the world.
Although Anthony's way of life was focused on solitarity, Pachomius the Great, a Copt from Upper Egypt, established cenobitic monasticism in his monasteries in Upper Egypt, which laid the basic monastic structure for many of the monasteries today in many monastic orders even outside of Coptic Orthodoxy.
Institutional Christian monasticism seems to have begun in the deserts in fourth century Egypt as a kind of living martyrdom. Scholars such as Lester K. Little attribute the rise of monasticism at this time to the immense changes in the church that had been brought about by Constantine the Great's acceptance of Christianity as the main religion of the Roman Empire. This ended the position of Christians as a small group that believed itself to be the godly elite. In response a new more advanced form of dedication was developed to preserve a nucleus of the dedicated. The end of persecution also meant that martyrdom was no longer an option to prove one's piety. Instead the long-term "martyrdom" of the ascetic became common.[citation needed]
Many Egyptian Christians went to the desert during the third century, and remained there to pray and work and dedicate their lives to seclusion and worship of God. This was the beginning of the monastic movement, which was organized by Anthony, the world's first anchorite Macarius of Alexandria, and Pachomius in the fourth century.[citation needed]
Pachomius established his first monastery between 318 and 323 at Tabenna, Egypt, and when it grew too large, his second one, Pbow, was built in Fāw Qiblī. Pachomius spent most of his time at Pbow. By the time of his death in 345, one count estimates there were 3000 monasteries dotting Egypt from north to south. Within a generation after his death, this number grew to 7000 and then expanding out of Egypt into Palestine and the Judaean Desert, Syria, North Africa and eventually Western Europe.
Christian monasticism originally developed largely in Egypt and became instrumental in the formation of the Coptic Orthodox Church character of submission, simplicity and humility, thanks to the teachings and writings of the Great Fathers of Egypt's deserts. By the end of the 5th century hundreds of monasteries and thousands of monastic cells and caves existed, scattered throughout the Egyptian desert. A great number of these monasteries continue to flourish and to attract new vocations to this day.
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Coptic monasticism
Coptic monasticism is a voluntary Christian spiritual way of life that originated early on in Christian history within the Coptic Orthodox Church and which is still practiced today. It aims to permit a deeper connection with God through asceticism, hard work, detachment from material things, and a life of prayer free from external distractions.
It is said to be the original form of monasticism. Anthony the Great became the first one to be called "monk" (Ancient Greek: μοναχός), and was the first to establish a Christian monastery—now known as the Monastery of Saint Anthony at the base of Mount Colzim.
The Monastery of Saint Anthony is the oldest Christian monastery in the world.
Although Anthony's way of life was focused on solitarity, Pachomius the Great, a Copt from Upper Egypt, established cenobitic monasticism in his monasteries in Upper Egypt, which laid the basic monastic structure for many of the monasteries today in many monastic orders even outside of Coptic Orthodoxy.
Institutional Christian monasticism seems to have begun in the deserts in fourth century Egypt as a kind of living martyrdom. Scholars such as Lester K. Little attribute the rise of monasticism at this time to the immense changes in the church that had been brought about by Constantine the Great's acceptance of Christianity as the main religion of the Roman Empire. This ended the position of Christians as a small group that believed itself to be the godly elite. In response a new more advanced form of dedication was developed to preserve a nucleus of the dedicated. The end of persecution also meant that martyrdom was no longer an option to prove one's piety. Instead the long-term "martyrdom" of the ascetic became common.[citation needed]
Many Egyptian Christians went to the desert during the third century, and remained there to pray and work and dedicate their lives to seclusion and worship of God. This was the beginning of the monastic movement, which was organized by Anthony, the world's first anchorite Macarius of Alexandria, and Pachomius in the fourth century.[citation needed]
Pachomius established his first monastery between 318 and 323 at Tabenna, Egypt, and when it grew too large, his second one, Pbow, was built in Fāw Qiblī. Pachomius spent most of his time at Pbow. By the time of his death in 345, one count estimates there were 3000 monasteries dotting Egypt from north to south. Within a generation after his death, this number grew to 7000 and then expanding out of Egypt into Palestine and the Judaean Desert, Syria, North Africa and eventually Western Europe.
Christian monasticism originally developed largely in Egypt and became instrumental in the formation of the Coptic Orthodox Church character of submission, simplicity and humility, thanks to the teachings and writings of the Great Fathers of Egypt's deserts. By the end of the 5th century hundreds of monasteries and thousands of monastic cells and caves existed, scattered throughout the Egyptian desert. A great number of these monasteries continue to flourish and to attract new vocations to this day.
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