The MONASTIC LIFE is a fundamental stage in the development of the Church founded by Christ: the life of the monks was one “dedicated to achieving one’s own holiness and serving one’s fellow men.”

IN the first centuries the Church suffered from frequent and deadly persecutions.

From many points of view Christianity was seen to be opposed to the beliefs and the practices of the time, and so considered to be a threat. It is true that the persecutions were not continuous: from Ottavian to Constantine, out of about fifty emperors only ten or so persecuted the Christians; nevertheless, martyrdom was a proof that Christians who were deeply committed to living their faith held love for Christ and fidelity to his teaching as their highest ideals. The conversion of the emperors and their officials allowed Christians to take their place in society and made the life of the Church easier, but took away the challenges and the radicality of living the faith. Flight from the world then appeared to present an alternative, another way of perfection.

From certain points of view it could be said that the ideal of the monastic life arose as a reaction against the inevitable compromises that the Church in the era of Constantine began to accommodate and accept. However, the Gospel tells the story of the young man who was looking for perfection and was invited by Christ to leave everything and to follow him, but he was rich and refused the invitation. The Apostles themselves, having been called left everything to follow the Master. And in the same way countless others in the past and in the present.

¦ The Second Vatican Council observed that from its earliest years there were those in the Church who wanted to follow Christ with greater freedom and to imitate him more closely. Many of them founded religious families which the Church welcomed and approved. Those people who follow “the counsels of Jesus” are called “religious.” They give up the possibility of creating their own families, of “personally” possessing material goods, of doing their own will. They live in obedience, poverty and chastity for the sake of the Kingdom of God. At the beginning, religious and consecrated virgins used to live within the Christian community, devoting themselves to prayer and caring for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the orphans. Between 250 and 350, even before Constantine gave Christians their freedom, some of them retired to the desert. Among the first was St Antony Abbot, an Egyptian, considered the father of monasticism. Breaking every contact with the world he chose solitude and went into the desert to live a life of severe penance, dividing his time between work and prayer. His example attracted many others so that the monastic life could offer to the Christian people an ideal of holiness that was in contrast in a certain sense to the easy Cristianity that was beginning to make its appearance. These monks used to live in part isolated in their own cells to meditate and to work, every day they prayed together for some time and once a week they came together for the celebration of the liturgy.

¦ With the passing of time the monks changed their solitary life to one in community. Monasteries developed with such numbers that they felt the need for some regulations to organise their life together. And so we have Saint Pacomius. He prepared a “rule” that organised all the details of life in common, according to the spirit of the Gospel. He example was followed everywhere. To poverty and chastity was added voluntary obedience, not only to the bishop but also to the superior of the monastery or convent. Saint Basil is considered by the Greek Church to be the supreme monastic law giver. He wrote the “Moral Rules” in which he explained with simplicity the requirements of the Christian life. The Rule of Saint Benedict, on the other hand, became established in the West. In 539 with his disciples he settled in Montecassino, where he built the celebrated abbey which survives to our own day. His Rule is noted for its harmonious balance between spiritual activity, manual and intellectual work, and it contains clear guidance that ensures the orderly functioning of self-contained communities. The abbeys become centres of spirituality and culture. In them one prays and works, (ora et labora). There the works of Greek and Latin classics are translated and studied and copied, and many monks become experts in their own day in the fields of philosphy, medicine, geometry, and mathematics. In the abbeys medical discoveries are made, useful instruments are invented, the land is cultivated and arts and trades are taught..

¦ In all periods God calls some to follow him more closely. The invitation to the rich young man is continuously repeated. In all periods men and women have lived who heard God’s call and followed it so as to live their faith in a radical way, with consistency and in the service of their brothers and sisters. Today, too, God continues to call and he waits for a response.