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How is one to witness to the Crucified Lord, to the One who had nowhere to lay his head, at a time when many leaders of the church live in costly homes,
Also, although gnosticism had been rejected by the church, its influence could still be felt in the widely held notion that there was a fundamental opposition between the body and the life of the spirit, and that therefore in order to live fully in the spirit it was necessary to subdue and to punish the body.
Stoic doctrine, very widespread at the time, held that passions are the great enemy of true wisdom, and that the wise devote themselves to the perfecting of their souls and the subjugation of their passions.
Paul and Anthony, owe their fame to two great Christian writers—Jerome and Athanasius—who wrote about them, each claiming that his protagonist was the founder of Egyptian monasticism.
Monasticism was not the invention of an individual, but rather a mass exodus, a contagion, which seems to have suddenly affected thousands of people.
His plans were simply to live off his inheritance, until a reading of the Gospel in church made such an impact that he felt compelled to change his life.
In response to those words, Anthony disposed of his property and gave the proceeds to the poor, reserving only a portion for the care of his sister.
Anthony spent his first years of retreat learning the monastic life from an old man who lived nearby—which shows that Anthony was not the first Christian anchorite.
However, it was not only demons that pursued the monastic athlete. He was pursued by other monks who were desirous to learn from him the discipline and wisdom of prayer and contemplation.
Anthony would visit them periodically and talk with them about monastic discipline, the love of God, and the wonders of contemplation.
On two occasions, however, Anthony did visit the great city of Alexandria. The first was when the great persecution broke out under Diocletian, and Anthony and several of his disciples decided to go to the city in order to offer up their lives as martyrs.
The Arians claimed that the holy hermit had sided with them, and against Athanasius, and Anthony decided that the only way to undo such false rumors was to appear in person before the bishops gathered in Alexandria.
According to Athanasius, the elderly monk, who had to speak in Coptic because he
knew no Greek—and who probably was also illiterate—spoke with such wisdom and conviction tha...
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He died in 356, after instructing his two companions to keep the place of his burial secret and to send his cloak—his only possession—to bishop Athanasius in Alexandria.
those who fled society for the withdrawn life of the hermit were legion.
this occupation had the advantage that while weaving one could pray, recite a psalm, or memorize a portion of Scripture.
Most of them frowned on the possession of books, which could lead to pride.
They taught each other, by heart, entire books of the Bible, particularly the Psalms and books of the New Testament.
bishop—it was precisely at this time, and partly as a result of the changes brought about after Constantine’s conversion, that Christian ministers began to be called “priests.”
Although some monks were ordained, this was done almost always against their will or in response to repeated entreaties from a bishop of known sanctity, such as Athanasius.
As years went by, many monks came to the conclusion that, since their life was holier than that of most bishops and other leaders of the church, it was they, and not those leaders, who should decide what was proper Christian teaching. Since many of these monks were fairly ignorant and prone to fanaticism, they became the pawns of others of more education, power, and cunning, who used the zeal of the desert hosts to their own ends.
“cenobitic,”
However, although not its founder, Pachomius deserves credit as the organizer who most contributed to its final shape.
With his brother’s help, he built a large enclosure, sufficient for a number of monks, and
recruited what would be the first members of the new community.
He
Pachomius’ earlier attempt had failed because his recruits said that he was too demanding. In this new attempt, rather than relaxing his discipline, he was more rigorous.
The monastery that Pachomius founded on these bases grew rapidly, to the point that during his lifetime nine such communities were established, each with several hundred monks.
For the devotional life, Paul’s injunction to “pray without ceasing” was the model.
Pachomius and his followers never accepted ecclesiastical office, and therefore there were no ordained priests among them.
Those who wished to join a Pachomian community simply appeared at the gate of the enclosure. This was not easily opened to them, for before being admitted to the gatekeepers’ house candidates were forced to spend several days and nights at the gate, begging to be let in.
A surprising fact about the entire process of admission to the Pachomian communities is that many of the candidates who appeared at the gates and were eventually admitted had to be catechized and baptized, for they were not Christians.
Some exaggerated the ascetic life by ostentatious acts, such as spending their lives atop a column in a ruined temple. But others brought to the church a sense of discipline and absolute dedication that were very necessary in the seemingly easy times after Constantine.
When exiled in the West, he made known to the Latin-speaking church what was taking place in the Egyptian desert.
Answering questions addressed to him by monks, he wrote a number of treatises which, although not originally intended as monastic rules, eventually were quoted and used as such.
Martin of Tours.
This is also the origin of the word “chapel”—for centuries later, in a small church, there was a piece of cloth reputed to be a portion of Martin’s cape. From that piece of cape—capella—the little church came to be called a “chapel,” and those who served in it, “chaplains.”
When Martin died, many were convinced that he was a saint. His fame and example led many to the conviction that a true bishop ought to be like him. Thus, the monastic movement, which at first was in great measure a protest against the wordliness and the pomp of bishops, eventually left its imprint on the idea itself of the episcopate.
In that process, however, monasticism itself was changed, for whereas those who first joined the movement fled to the desert in quest of their own salvation as years went by monasticism would become—particularly in the West—an instrument for the charitable and missionary work of the church.
some of the confessors had been too ready to readmit the lapsed, without any consultation with the authorities of the church. Now, after Constantine’s conversion, a significant number of confessors took the opposite tack, insisting on greater rigor than the church was applying.
Thus some bishops and other leaders were given the offensive title of “traditores”—that is, those who had handed over or betrayed.
The bishops of Rome and of several other important cities declared that Caecilian was the true bishop of Carthage, and that Majorinus and Donatus were usurpers.
The theological justification, and immediate cause of the schism, had to do with the issue of what was to be done with those who yielded during a time of persecution.
The Donatists declared that the validity of such an act depended on the worthiness of the bishop performing it. Caecilian and his followers responded that the validity of the sacraments and of other such acts cannot be made to depend on the worthiness of the one administering them, for in that case all Christians would be in constant doubt as to the validity of their own baptism or of the communion of which they partook.
Given the two positions, if a member of Caecilian’s party decided to join the Donatists, a new baptism was required, for the Donatists claimed that a baptism administered by their opponents was not valid. But, on the other hand, those who left the Donatist party were not rebaptized by Caecilian and his followers, for they claimed that baptism was valid regardless of the worth of the one administering it.
Thus, it is difficult to believe that the real reason for the enmity of the Donatists towards the rest of the church was their concern for purity.
Furthermore, Numidia and Mauritania were much less romanized than Carthage and the area around it. Many in the less romanized areas retained their ancestral language and customs, and saw Rome and everything connected with it as a foreign and oppressive force.
Now one could be both a good Roman and a good Christian. Following the lead of the Emperor, the romanized classes
What these Christians had always hated in the Roman Empire was now becoming part of the church. Soon the powerful—those who controlled politics and the economy—would also control the church.
