Northumbria Community

A. Asceticism and Monasticism

 Asceticism and monasticism are almost synonymous terms as the origins of the ascetical life are the origins of monasticism. Asceticism (from Greek: askesis – practice, training or exercise) describes a system of spiritual practices designed to encourage interior vigilance so as to combat vices and develop virtues by means of self discipline and self knowledge in the context of seeking God. Its chief preoccupation is the desire to master the lower nature and gain freedom from the disordered passions through renunciation of the world and the flesh as part of the great struggle against the devil. The religious practice of renouncing worldly pursuits in order to fully devote one's life to spiritual work, also describes monasticism (from Greek: monachos — solitary, alone) and is found in many religions.

 Asceticism was practised in biblical times, and events like the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness and the lifestyle of John the Baptist in the desert were later regarded as helpful models when monasticism became the leading representation of asceticism.

 As an example of early asceticism, Eusebius of Caesarea (d.339) refers to the first successors to the Apostles as following the Lord’s counsel to distribute their possessions to the poor and become travelling preachers of the Gospel. These preachers were often celibates who by the mid second century constituted a clearly distinguishable group in the Church, alongside those who were to marry. By the third century ecclesiastical writers such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen were providing spiritual guidance for celibates and virgins with voluntary poverty, self denial and obedience to the local Bishop seen as the normal Christian life.

 The practice of seeking seclusion from the world in order to better practice ascetic ideals was not unknown in the third century but it was not until the conversation of Constantine that it became general. By the beginning of the fourth century a new expression of the ascetical life was introduced to the Church in two forms – eremitical and cenobitic monasticism.

Christian monasticism first emerged as a distinct movement in the early fourth century, but it was not so much an innovation as a fresh expression of the ascetic spirit present in Christianity from the start. Kallistos Ware, The Oxford History of Christianity, Oxford 1990, p139

 The rise of monasticism at this time is attributed to the huge changes in the church brought about by the Emperor Constantine's conversion. These included the acceptance of Christianity as the main Roman religion and the subsequent laxity following the realignment of the church along more material and political lines. The end of persecution also meant that martyrdom by blood was no longer an option to prove one's piety and instead the long-term ‘martyrdom’ of the ascetic became common.