Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages (The Medieval World)

by C.H. Lawrence

Pachomius

Alexandria, with its famous schools of Platonic philosophy and Jewish Rabbinic learning, was a major centre of Christian speculation, a forcing-ground of major heresies, as well as the territory of Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Athanasius, the three greatest of the Greek Fathers. Its large Christian population offered a fertile seed-bed for fresh interpretations of the Christian life.

anchorite

‘Except a man shall say in his heart’, said Abbot Allois, ‘I alone and God are in this world, he shall not find peace.’

Man is a social animal. The life of the solitary was full of difficulties and hazards. Only the strong dare be lonely. Lesser mortals can all too easily sink into mental breakdown or despair. It was easier and safer to pursue the ascetical life of prayer with the support of a community engaged in the same task and within the reassuring framework of a Rule.