The Three Kinds of Monks in Egypt

So you should first hear how, and from where, the system and beginning of our order arose. For a man can be trained effectively in any art he wishes, and be urged on to practice it diligently, only when he has learned the glory of its authors and founders. [a]

There are three kinds of monks in Egypt. Two of them are admirable; the third is a poor sort of thing and is to be avoided by all means. The first is that of the coenobites, who live together in a community and are governed by the direction of a single elder. Of this kind there is the largest number of monks, living throughout the whole of Egypt. The second is that of the anchorites, who were first trained in the coenobium and then, made perfect in the practical life, chose the hidden depths of the desert. In this order we too hope to gain a place. The third is the blameworthy one of the Sarabaites.

We will speak of each of these more fully in order. Of these three orders, then, you ought first, as we said, to know about the founders. For from this there may at once arise either a hatred for the order that is to be avoided or a longing for the one that is to be followed, because each way is sure to carry the man who follows it to the end its author and discoverer reached.