Monastic Life: The Cenobium

The cenobium, or communal house of a monastery is where a large number of monks or nuns live together. An example of this from western tradition is St. Cecilia’s Abbey, Isle of Wight, or Pluscarden Abbey, Elgin. St. Benedict, along with many other monastic guides tells us that someone who feels called to religious life should start by living it among others, following established tradition and developing a balanced way of life.

The monk/nun maintains a regular liturgical prayer life and does any work needed for the upkeep of the community. He/she learns what it is like to practise obedience in a group, putting the needs of the group first. In doing so, s/he learns to discern which desires arise from the ego, and which are genuine and holy. The western Church usually follows the way of life of the Pachomian monks, who live in the cenobium, serving one another in love, for the whole of their monastic life.

St. Cecilia’s Abbey, Ryde.

Adoration Sisters: Ferns

Monastic Life: The Skete

‘A young man in the middle of the fourth century, feeling the call of the solitary life, would...have gone to a semi-eremitic centre.....orientated towards the eremitic ideal’(KW). In such places, which still flourish in the eastern Christian tradition, the aspiring hermit goes to a small house called a kellia, living with one to six other monastics. These small houses, with solitary cells attached, form sketes. They may be attached to a cenobium, or be completely independent.

A big skete is a bit like a village, and is known as a lavra. Monks and nuns who live in sketes are known as hesychasts. Their main monastic work is to practise prayer of the heart. St. Isaac of Syria tells us that the sign of a merciful heart is when ‘a man’s heart burns for all creation- men, birds, animals, demons and all creatures.’ The hesychast’s job is to channel God’s grace through unceasing prayer.

Monastic Life: The Hermit

All the monastic teachers unite to tell us that no-one should try to start their monastic life by jumping straight into being a hermit. This is because someone who lives alone tends to get things out of proportion, and even suffer from delusions - like the monk who had a hallucination of an angel coming to take him up in the clouds and fell off a mountain. The person who lives alone needs to get to know his strengths and weaknesses, be very sane with a good sense of humour, and well able to cope well with set backs and plain boredom. The monks and nuns who live alone are the SAS of the Church - the spiritual shock troops who fight at first hand with ‘the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.’ They need to be able to cut like a knife through illusions. After many years of hard work and self discipline, the prayer of hermits becomes powerful: the will, united with God’s, is effective against evil.

Hermitage: Benedictines of Erie: USA