What is a monk?

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A monk (Greek: μοναχός, monachos, Latin: monachus) is a general term for a person who leads the "monastic life" in a "monastery".

Nowadays it tends to be wrongly assumed that it signifies a monk living in community, who is, however, merely a kind of monk, namely a cenobite.

From early Church times there has been a lively discussion of the meaning of the term monk (derived from Greek: monos, alone), namely whether it denotes someone living alone/away from the rest of society, or someone celibate/focused on God alone. The Western rule giver Benedict of Nursia understood it as meaning the latter, namely a celibate dedicated to God. This is evident from the fact that his list of the four kinds of monks includes hermits.

The four kinds of monks identified by Benedict of Nursia in chapter 1 of his Rule for Monks as well as in the Rule of the Master are the following:

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1. The cenobites live in community in a monastery, serve God under a religious rule and do so under the leadership of an abbot (or in the case of a community of women, an abbess). Benedict points out in ch. 1.13 that they are the "strong kind", which by logic of the context must mean the larger number rather than the better kind.
2. The hermits and anchorites have thorough experience as cenobites in a monastery. "They have built up their strength and go from the battle line in the ranks of their brothers to the single combat of the desert; self-reliant now, without the support of another, they are ready with God's help to grapple single-handed with the vices of body and mind". Benedict himself twice lived for prolonged periods as a hermit, which may account for the comparative length of the characterics of their life in this list.
3. The sarabaites, censured by Benedict as the most detestable kind of monks, are pretenders that have no cenobitic experience, follow no rule and have no superior.
4. The gyrovagues, censured by Benedict as worse than sarabaites, are wandering monks without stability in a particular monastery.

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In the English language, but not in German and French, a distinction is made between monks and friars, the latter being members of mendicant orders.

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First answer by ID1210263064. Last edit by Annoynomous. Contributor trust: 7 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 19 [recommend question]

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