A monostor és a monostoron kívüli világ kapcsolata néhány korai szerzetesi regula tükrében = The Relationship Between the Monastery and the World Outside the Monastery in the Light of Some Early Monastic Rules

Kisnémet, Fülöp (2021) A monostor és a monostoron kívüli világ kapcsolata néhány korai szerzetesi regula tükrében = The Relationship Between the Monastery and the World Outside the Monastery in the Light of Some Early Monastic Rules. VALLÁSTUDOMÁNYI SZEMLE : VALLÁSTUDOMÁNYI FOLYÓIRAT, 17 (2). pp. 69-78. ISSN 1786-4062

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Abstract

The first hermits of the early monastic movement characteristically functioned as an integral part of urban Christianity, however, in the 3rd century the idea of desert monasticism also appeared programmatically. The biography of Saint Anthony the Hermit written by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria served as a model for desert hermit colonies defined as the ‘new city’, as well as for later monastic communities. The topos of the desert, and later of the cell of the monks, is a two-faced reality in the history of monasticism: it represents protection from the noise of the city, and means temptation, that is, a place of the intensive discernment of spirits. In my essay, I will try to answer how the relationship between the settled communities and the world outside the monasteries developed in the first centuries of monasticism. My study is based on an overview of some Eastern (Pachomius, Saint Basil the Great) and Western monastic rules (Saint Augustine, early rules of Lerins, Regula Magistri, Regula Benedicti), moreover, relevant aspects of some historical collections (Historia Lausiaca, John Cassian), letters (Saint Augustine), and biographies of saints (Vita Antonii) will also serve as objects of my search. Through the analysis of the above, we need to spot a two-way movement: on the one hand, that from time to time, the outside world enters or infiltrates monasteries, and, on the other hand, that the movement of the monks out of the monasteries is also apparent. Furthermore, it appears that the movement inwards and outwards is strongly regulated, but at the same time, the ‘God-faced’ character of the guest arriving at the monastery also arises. Nevertheless, this characteristic nature of the inner world in the search for God – both individual and communal – proves to be a fundamental principle, which may help those who come from outside and seek for internal answers.

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