The Monks and the Beginnings of Their Way of Life

Those who had taken up the monastic life at this time were by no means the least in showing the church in its full glory, and in proving the truth of its teaching by their virtuous conduct. Indeed, their philosophy is the most useful thing that humankind has received from God. They pay no attention to many branches of mathematics or to the technical points of logic, because they regard such studies as superfluous and a useless waste of time, since they contribute nothing to living rightly. They give themselves only to a knowledge that is natural and useful, so that they may lessen evil, if they cannot root it out. They never count as good any action or principle that stands midway between virtue and vice, for they delight only in what is good. They regard everyone as wicked who keeps away from evil but does not do good. For they do not prove virtue by argument; they practice it, and they count as nothing the glory that people prize. They bravely master the passions of the soul, giving way neither to the demands of nature nor to the weakness of the body. Having gained the strength of the divine mind, they keep their eyes always on the Creator of all things, worshiping him night and day and appeasing him with prayers and petitions. By purity of soul and a life of good works they came to their worship free of guilt, and they thought nothing of purifications, vessels of purifying water, and such ceremonies, for they hold that sins alone are stains. [a]

They rise above the outward mishaps to which all of us are exposed, and hold everything, as it were, under their control. So neither disasters nor the necessities that rule human life turn them from the path they have chosen. They are not distressed when insulted, and they do not defend themselves when they suffer from malice. They do not lose heart when pressed by sickness or by a lack of necessities, but rather rejoice in such trials and bear them with patience and gentleness. All their lives they train themselves to be content with little, and they come as near to God as human nature can. They regard the present life as no more than a journey, and so they take no trouble to gain wealth, and they provide for the present only what is urgently needed. They admire the beauty and simplicity of nature, but their hope is set on heaven and on the blessedness to come. Wholly given to the worship of God, they recoiled from obscene speech; and as they had banished evil practices, they would not let such things even be named. They held the demands of nature down as far as they could, and made the body content with modest supplies. They overcame excess with self-control, injustice with justice, and falsehood with truth, and kept to the right measure in all things. They lived in harmony and fellowship with their neighbors. They provided for their friends and for strangers, gave to those in want according to their need, and comforted those in distress. Because they were diligent in everything and eager in seeking the highest good, their teaching had power, like the most effective medicines, to heal the moral diseases of those who heard them, even though it was clothed in modesty and good sense and was free of empty, showy eloquence. They spoke, too, with fear and reverence, and avoided all quarreling, mockery, and anger. And indeed it is only reasonable to suppress every irrational emotion and to master the passions of the flesh and of nature.

Some say that Elijah the prophet and John the Baptist were the founders of this lofty philosophy. Philo the Pythagorean relates that in his own time the most virtuous of the Hebrews gathered from every part of the world and settled on a stretch of land on a hill near Lake Mareotis, so as to live as philosophers. He describes their dwellings, their way of living, and their customs as like those we now meet among the monks of Egypt. He says that from the moment they began to give themselves to philosophy, they handed over their property to their relatives, gave up business and society, and lived outside the city walls, in fields and gardens. They also had, he tells us, sacred buildings called monasteries, where they lived apart and alone, occupied in celebrating the holy mysteries and in worshiping God diligently with psalms and hymns. They never tasted food before sunset, and some ate only every third day, or at even longer intervals. Finally, he says that on certain days they lay on the ground and kept away from wine and the meat of animals. Their food was bread, salt, and hyssop, and their drink was water. And there were women among them who had lived as virgins into old age, who out of love for philosophy and by their own free choice remained unmarried. In this account Philo seems to be describing certain Jews who had embraced Christianity and yet kept the customs of their nation, for no trace of this way of life is to be found anywhere else. From this I conclude that this philosophy has flourished in Egypt since that time. Others, however, say that this way of life arose from the persecutions for the sake of religion that broke out from time to time. Many were forced by them to flee to the mountains, the deserts, and the forests, and so they grew used to living this way.