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A monastery is the habitation of Monk s, derived from the Greek word for a Hermit 's cell. Western Christian monasteries are also called Abbey , Priory , Charterhouse , Friary , and preceptory, while the habitation of Nuns can also be called a Convent . The communal life of a monastery is called Cenobitic , as opposed to the Anchoretic (or anchoritic) life of an Hermit . ETYMOLOGY The word monastery comes from the Greek "monasterion", from the root "monos" = one, or alone (originally all Christian monks were hermits). In England the word monasterium was also applied to the habitation of a Bishop and the Cathedral Clergy who lived apart from the lay community. Most cathedrals were not monasteries, and were served by Canons Secular , who were communal but not monastic. However some were run by monastic orders, such as York Minster . Westminster Abbey was for a short time a cathedral, and was a Benedictine monastery until the Reformation , and its Chapter preserves elements of the Benedictine tradition. See the entry Cathedral . They are also to be distinguished from collegiate churches, such as St George's Chapel, Windsor . For a discussion of the history and development of monasteries see Monasticism and Abbey . CHRISTIAN MONASTERIES Christian monasticism started in Egypt. According to tradition, in the third century St. Anthony was the first Christian to adopt this lifestyle. After a short while others followed. Originally, all Christian monks were anchorites (hermits) seldom encountering other people. But because of the extreme difficulty of the solitary life, many monks failed, either returning to their previous lives in the city, or becoming spiritually deluded. A transitional form of monasticism was later created by Saint Amun in which “solitary” monks lived close enough to one another to offer mutual support as well as gathering together on Sundays for common services. It was St. Pachomios who developed the idea of having monks live together and worship together under the same roof (Coenobitic Monasticism). Soon the Egyptian desert blossomed with monasteries, especially around Nitria , which was called the "Holy City”. Estimates are the upwards of 50,000 monks lived in this area at any one time. Anchoritism never died out though, but was reserved only for those advanced monks who had worked out their problems within a cenobitic monastery. The idea caught on, and other places followed:
Orthodox Christian monasteries In the Eastern Orthodox Church , monks and nuns follow a similar ascetic discipline. Unlike Roman Catholics, there is only one form of monasticism for the Orthodox. Monastics, male or female, live lives away from the world, in order to pray for the world. They do not run hospitals and orphanages, they do not teach or care for the sick; it is expected for lay people to do these things to work out their own salvation. Monasteries can be very large or very small. The largest monasteries can hold many thousands of monks and are called lavras. Small monasteries are often called “sketes” and usually only have one elder and 2 or 3 disciples. There are higher levels to ascetic practice but the monks who practice these do not live in monasteries, but alone. When monks live together, work together, and pray together, following the directions of the abbot and the elder monks, this is called a cenobium. The idea behind this is when you put many men together, like rocks with sharp edges, their “sharpness” becomes worn away and they become smooth and polished. One of the great centers of Orthodox monasticism is The Holy Mountain (also called Mt. Athos) in Greece , an isolated, self-governing peninsula approximately 20 miles long and 5 miles wide (similar to the Vatican, being a separate government), administered by the heads of the 20 major monasteries, and dotted with hundreds of smaller monasteries, sketes, and hesicaterons. Even today the population of the Holy Mountain numbers in the tens of thousands of monastics (men only) and cannot be visited except by men with special permission granted by both the Greek government and the government of the Holy Mountain itself. The leading monasteries of the Holy Mountain are: | ||
| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/iveronhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Iveron |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/chelandarihtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Chelandari |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/dionysiouhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Dionysiou |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/koutloumousiouhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Koutloumousiou |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/pantokratorhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Pantokrator |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/xeropotamouhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Xeropotamou |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/zographouhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Zographou |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/docheiariouhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Docheiariou |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/karakallouhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Karakallou |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/simonos_petrahtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Simonos Petra |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/Saint_paulhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">St Paul |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/stavronikitahtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Stavronikita |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/xenophontoshtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Xenophontos |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/gregoriouhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Gregoriou |
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/Vrhbosna/Rossikon" class="copylinks">St Panteleimon (Russian) |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/esphigmenouhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Esphigmenou |
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| "http://wwwmacedonian-heritagegr/Athos/Monastery/philotheouhtml" class="copylinks" target="_blank">Philotheou |