Saints: Life & Times

Lesson 4: Monastic Beginnings

. . . . . Citizens of Earth

The monks were also busy helping their contemporaries. The presence of a nearby hermit-monk had a good effect on a village. His mere existence constantly reminded them that holiness was possible and that we are all called to be perfect. His neighbors highly esteemed the monk. They went to him for advice, for prayers and to settle disputes. As one who lived outside the society of men, the hermit was not influenced by social pressures. Power, prestige and human respect did not sway his judgement. Moreover, because he was a holy man, he had influence in the court of heaven. His heartfelt love of God showed itself in compassion and affection for the rest of mankind. As Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said of her community, “We are not social workers.” More explicitly, the motto of St. Vincent de Paul’s order, the Daughters of Charity, is, “The love of Christ impels us.” (see 2 Corinthians 5:14) Christ Himself had said, “Whatsoever you do to these, the least of Mine, you do unto Me.” (Matt: 25:40)

Many hermit-monks received miraculous gifts of healing and prophecy, which were used for the good of their neighbors. This would eventually put an end to the eremetical life in the desert. As word spread about the monk’s wisdom, compassion and miraculous gifts, people flocked to consult him. Tourists came from Europe and from the large Near Eastern cities, some only to see him in person, others to learn from him and bring that knowledge back to their own people. It became harder and harder to withdraw from a world that was always knocking at your door. With the notoriety came the temptation to adopt your neighbor’s opinion of yourself. This ran counter to what the hermit knew to be true: that he was a weak and sinful man who needed penance, prayer and self-immolation to curb his disordered appetites. Only God could save him; he had no good apart from God. In order to maintain their privacy, many retreated into existing cenobatic communities which could guarantee some measure of anonymity.

The monks made the desert bloom in a physical as well as a spiritual manner. They grew vegetables and grains in soil considered unfit for cultivation. Orchards thrived where no green plants had grown before. Cotton and flax were available to be woven into garments. After providing for their own meager needs, the monks shared their produce with the poor of the area. Boatloads of clothing and grain were sent for distribution to the poor of the larger cities, there being no poor left untended near the monastery. The monks freely taught their agricultural methods to their neighbors, which resulted in prosperity for all. ( Introduction to The Lives of the Desert Fathers by Benedicta Ward, SLG; pp 12-13)

The large cenobatic communities with thousands of monks were sure to have someone skilled in medicine to minister to the sick of their own monastery and to alleviate the suffering of their neighbors. Soon hospitals appeared, staffed by physician monks and nurses. The most famous of these was the Basilias, founded by St. Basil the Great. It took on the dimensions of a city, with regular streets, separate buildings for different types of illnesses, residences for lay physicians and nurses, as well as workshops and industrial schools to train the indigent and the young. (See “Hospital” in the Catholic Encyclopedia; http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07480a.h... )

Perhaps the most important contribution the monks made to civilization was the constant example of Christian living. There are more than 40 passages in the New Testament which work out Christ’s exhortation to “love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:24) These cite specific circumstances, from good table manners to litigation. The monks provided a “working model” of Christian morality, putting flesh on the bones of commandments and theology. This constant example of fraternal charity, together with prayers and good works, gradually converted entire nations from paganism and pulled a foundering Europe out of the dark ages and into the golden era of Christendom.

To mention a few instances of this -- Saints Columba in Scotland, Augustine in England, Boniface in Germany, Ansgar in Scandinavia, Swithbert and Willibrord in the Netherlands, Rupert and Emmeran in what is now Austria, Adalbert in Bohemia, Gall and Columban in Switzerland, were monks who, by the example of a Christian society, which they and their companions displayed, led the nations among whom they lived from paganism to Christianity and civilization. Nor did the monastic apostles stop at this point but, by remaining as a community and training their converts in the arts of peace, they established a society based on Gospel principles and firm with the stability of the Christian faith, in a way that no individual missionary, even the most devoted and saintly, has ever succeeded in doing. (“Monasticism” in the Catholic Encyclopedia; (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10459a.h...

Never underestimate the power of good example.

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