Monastic life can often be described as mysterious, confounding and completely opposite to the human nature. In fact, the desire to live an ascetic life in deserts and mountains was the way of expressing devotion to the faith. The earliest known monks separated from the society in order to be better Christians. Jerome, early Western convert to the monastic life, said, ‘If you wish to perform the office of a priest, live in cities and townships, and make the salvation of others the gain of your soul. But if you desire to be what is called a monk, that is a solitary, what are you doing in cities, which are after all the dwelling places not of solitaries, but of many?’ So how was it possible to escape from an entire society? Moving out from densely populated areas, practising regular prayer, committing to ascetic life and abandoning social life were the most prominent manners, used to flee the world.
Firstly, the monks pursued to develop a community, where they could practise their religion safely and uninterrupted. In the earliest stages of Christianity, monks existed in a form of desert hermits. They would live on borders of villages; sometimes they would even hid in tombs , where religious routine could be practised without any undesirable company. In the fourth century, when the empire recognized the Church, the sense of security developed among most of the believers, however those who chose a more excessive religious practise became increasingly enlisted to live in an absolute withdrawal from the community . The philosophy behind such lifestyle is heavily related to a popular thinking, that holy men lived their lives in solitary. The example of religious heroes living in deserts eventually inspired a tradition. Early medieval monks and nuns started gathering close to city walls and further form city centres – firstly for the security, and secondly for the much desired aloneness . However, it is worth noticing that although many monasteries seemed remote and ‘desert like’, cities were nearby. Monks chose to live in places like Benedict’s first monastery, which was located in a cliff-face, but was just 50 miles away from Rome . But this monastery building strategy was used to ensure that monks could support themselves without having to participate in city life. Having a marginal piece of land that was both close and quite far form the city, meant that a monastery had just enough contact with the urban population (for protection), and were adequately far so monks could enjoy a much desired isolation . It is appropriate to say that medieval monks escaped the world in a physical, practical sense – they stayed away from highly populated areas, but in a slightly different manner than the desert hermits .
Even in the modern world prayer could be seen as a way of escaping everyday life. This tradition comes from a medieval monk practise too. The monks spent majority of their time praying, completely isolated from the outside world. St. Benedict in “The Rule of Saint Benedict” emphasized the importance of persistent prayer. Praying is a responsibility that cannot be taken lightly. Every monk should perform a Night Office, which meant intense praying, including ‘these three lessons with their responsories let the remaining six Psalms follow, to be chanted with “Alleluia.” After these shall follow the lesson from the Apostle, to be recited by heart, the verse and the petition of the litany, that is “Lord, have mercy on us.” And so let the Night Office come to an end.’ The monks also spent a lot of time studying scripts in libraries and praying on daytime , which meant that social interactions were extremely limited. The only way monks could keep in touch with the community was trough prayer. It was believed that monks were responsible for the souls of fellow-Christians . It was widely believed that, a group of dedicated monastery residents could save souls of an entire community by staying completely silent and not having any contact with them, participating in what Peter Brown calls ‘collective holiness’ . It was indeed a divine service; St. Benedict called it Opus Dei and every aspects of life were fitted around it . Frequent praying and psalming would not leave time for the monks’ minds to wonder, they were kept in prayer for most of the time they were awake. Nuns practised a similar ‘power prayer’. It was believed that the nuns had the strongest connection to the lay people . Nevertheless, they did not participate in a community’s life. Most of the time the nuns would spend praying and saving souls. Intense meditative reading was a part of everyday life in an enclosed convent. Once a girl would enter the convent, she could never leave the ‘holy place’ . It was believed that ‘the world stopped at the convent door’ , it was a place a powerful prayer and meditation could replace the world.
Asceticism is probably the most well known practise of the monastic life. This lifestyle, practised by the medieval monks, excite the imagination of even of the 21st century historians. Fasting, sleep deprivation, other forms of bodily mortification were ‘the standard weapons of the ascetic’s armoury in this struggle’ for a complete escape. One of the early monks Alexandrian Macarius spent praying and making mats, without food, drink or sleep, until Christmas, because he was determined to outdo some scrupulous monks he saw . This example perfectly illustrates how distinctive monastery life was. Monks would go extreme lengths to completely detach from the outer world. This is an extreme example originating from the 5th century, but ascetic life (in more humane forms) continued to exist in throughout the Middle Ages. Ascetical life became easier to pursue through prayer, psalmody, study, ‘total obedience to the commands of the superior’ and manual work. Spiritual life was ‘a warfare against demons’ wandering outside monasteries, instigating a man. That is why men, who entered a monastery, had to follow the Rule (The Rule of St. Benedict). The rules set for monks did not include any provision for leisure . The three meals a day and at least six hours of sleep were probably usual for lay people, but the holly life discipline allowed two meals a day during summer (one during winter), the brethren had ate in a complete silence, sometimes they would spend spare hours working in fields or making crafts . Ascetic life is also known for promoting a feeling of inferiority. For this reason, monks receive physical punishments for minor faults, such as being late for prayer or a meal . The punishments varied from taking away a dosage of food, to whipping or even excommunication. None of the brothers were allowed to engage in any kind of emotional activities with each other. For example, monks were not allowed to defend each other . This practise sounds very alien to the whole human nature and for this reason it could be considered as an escape from the world. Even in the medieval society, social interactions between the young and the old, women and men were common. Escaping a full realm of human emotions made the monks obedient and respectful, but they were also forced to miss a sense what it was like to be a real person in the early and late Medieval Europe.
The examples of monastic asceticism also lead to a discussion about the social interactions in the monasteries. It comes as no surprise that monks (and especially nuns) withdrew from secular life in order to escape the world. This practise was so widespread that even the nobility started founding monasteries and living there. A great example to illustrate this claim would be Queen Radegundis . An unhappy royal life led the woman to the world of prayer. She would isolate herself in a royal villa and live there embracing solitude and social exclusion. The queen’s determination was so extreme that she even left her husband, the king of Neustria . Eventually Radegundis found a convent, where she lived her whole life. The Rule issued by St Benedict also emphasized the importance of withdrawal from a public life. The aim of monks was not only to stay away from sins, but also to pursue virtue. A monastery had to be a single body; involvement in secular life would hinder this idea of unity . Showing gratia to the abbots and other monks was the most significant and the only way of communication for the majority of monks. However, there are some examples of involuntary exclusion from the social life among nuns and monks. For many families, to have children who could ‘keep themselves “pure for Christ”’ was a reassurance that the family’s prayers will be heard. It was a popular practise for families to send daughters to monasteries as young girls. Some of them would end up in convents, because they an insufficient dowry and could not be married . Monasteries and convents were not designed to be orphanages, but started acting as such, because the children who ended up living there as ‘offered to God’ , usually ended up becoming monks and nuns. So it is clear to see that the withdrawal from public, secular life was a conscious decision for religious individuals and for some it was never a planned or desired.
‘If a man cannot understand my silence, he will never understand my words,’ said the Desert Fathers. And perhaps it is one of the reasons why early medieval monks chose to live enclosed and ascetic lives in monasteries. Following monastic life in a secular world was a challenge and for this reason strict discipline, solitude, ascetic lifestyle acted as a shield from the life of sin. ‘Never wishing to receive anything from anyone at all’ is a philosophy that was admired by early monks, however it imposes a certain lifestyle that is impossible to follow in any secular society. There are a couple of ways how monks experienced the escape: solitude was a necessary component in order to achieve harmony, regular praying required strict discipline, (which is, most of the time, alien to human nature), asceticism distinguished them from the lay people and helped to stay away from common sins (such as surfeit) and the abandonment of social life made monks and nuns feel better Christians, as they decided to dedicate their lives to one partner, companion and father – god. And looking from the 21st century perspective, the early medieval monks really did escape the world.