Monsticism And Catholic Religious Life - Part 1

Recent developments in the Kerala Catholic Church have made me ruminate on monasticism which eventually led to the starting of countless religious orders/congregations, all claiming to live the “religious life”. The following is a random sample of those developments:

·         The widely known case of Sr. Abhaya, a young nun, who was allegedly murdered when she stumbled upon two priests engaging in a ‘threesome’ with a nun.

·         The alleged rape of a nun by Franko Mulakkal, ‘Bishop Emeritus’of Jullundur. This pervert, who preferred unnatural sex is said to have forced nuns under his jurisdiction to perform nude cabaret dances in his room, after he had his sumptuous supper consisting of imported Italian pasta washed down with large doses of single malt whiskey.

·         The case of Sr. Lucy Kalappurakkal, who has been ordered to leave the convent for obtaining a driving license, buying a car and for publishing a book of religious songs.

·         The allegations by an ex-nun, Sr. Jesmy, who was thrown out by her order for pointing out illegal activities going on in her convent. She says that the ‘vow of obedience’ is (mis)used to force nuns to submit to the sexual demands of priests and bishops. She claims, she knows of nuns who have undergone hysterectomy to prevent pregnancy.

Of course, there are many religious, both priests and nuns, who are totally dedicated to their calling and do a wonderful job to help the sick, the needy, the aged, the abandoned, the handicapped, the mentally affected; in general for the dregs of society.

A brief history of monasticism

In 313 CE, Emperor Constantine ended the sporadic persecution of Christians and made Christianity the official religion of the empire. This had several consequences. The chances of martyrdom became almost nil, hence, Christians had to find other ways of imitating Jesus’ suffering. In addition, with the reversal of persecution, pagan worship became intolerant, giving rise to an all-powerful priestly class whose arrogance and corruption was nauseating to the more spiritually-minded.

After Constantine’s favoritism for Christianity, a new cultural permissiveness arose within the faith which made pious believers worry about immorality, abuse, and vice within the church. As such, many in the Jesus movement sought a different, less secular and more purist environment in which to pursue their spirituality. This was the beginning of monasticism.

There was another reason for the development of monasticism. Apostle Paul, who is credited with declaring Jesus divine and for starting Christianity, 
was a follower of Plato. Plato’s ideas of dualism influenced Paul to a great extent. According to Plato, 
the soul is superior to the body, the spiritual is superior to the material. Hence there is a need for suppressing the material body for the benefit of the soul. This suppression is done through fasting, self-flagellation, positive avoidance of physical and sexual pleasures, etc. – all supported by continuous meditation and prayer.

Monastic Life

All these factors led to the beginning of the monastic (derived from the Greek word ‘monos’ meaning ‘alone’) movement. It is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. The males were called monks and females, nuns.

From the 3rd century CE there developed a trend in Egypt and Syria which saw some Christians deciding to live the life of a solitary hermit or ascetic. They did this because they thought that without any material- or worldly distractions they would achieve a greater understanding of and closeness to God. In addition, whenever early Christians were persecuted, they were sometimes forced by necessity to live in remote mountain areas where the essentials of life were lacking. As these individualists grew in number, some of them began to live together in communities, continuing, though, to cut themselves off from the rest of society.

The first monk is said to have been St. Anthony of the desert (251-356 CE). He was an Egyptian holy man who initially lived as a hermit in the desert lands of the Nile. Later, he came out of his solitude to organize his disciples into a community of hermits.

From the 5th century CE, the idea of monasticism spread across the Byzantine Empire and then to Roman Europe where people adopted their own distinct practices based on the teachings of Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-c. 543 CE). The Benedictine order encouraged its members to live as simple a life as possible with simple food, basic accommodation and as few possessions as was practical. There was a set of regulations that monks had to follow and because they all lived the same way, they became known as ‘brothers.’ His rule required monastic vows of stability (a lifelong commitment), fidelity, obedience (one is submissive to superiors), poverty (one gives up all wealth entering into the community) and chastity (one forsakes all carnal knowledge and pleasure).

Recruitment

People were attracted to the monastic life for various reasons such as piety; the fact that it was a respected career choice;  there was the chance of real power if one rose to the top, and one was guaranteed decent accommodation and above-average meals for life. The second or third sons of the aristocracy, who were not likely to inherit their father's lands, were often encouraged to join the Church and one of the paths to a successful career was to join a monastery and receive an education there (learning reading, writing, arithmetic, and Latin). Children were sent in their pre-teens, often aged as young as five. They were known as oblates, while those who joined aged 15 or over were known as novices. After one year a novice could take their vows and become a full monk and it was not always an irreversible career choice as rules did develop from the 13th century CE that youth could freely leave a monastery on reaching maturity.

Different Orders   

As monasticism flourished, different orders arose which addressed what they considered the most pressing concerns of their time, or some different way of honoring God which did not quite fit with other orders.

The best-known cenobitic (communal living) orders are:

Benedictines were the order founded by Saint Benedict c. 529 CE, although whether he ever intended to found an order and how he intended his guidelines to be used is still debated.

Cluniacs were a reformed order of Benedictines founded in France at the Abbey of Cluny in 910 CE. The Cluniac Reforms were a response to what was seen as too much interference from nobility in the lives of monks.

The Cistercians were founded in 1098 CE at Citeaux Abbey in France by Benedictines who advocated a return to the time of Saint Benedict and a life of austerity.

Carthusians were an order emphasizing the value of silence and contemplation. Monks lived in cells, emerging to take part in rituals and work primarily in silence.

Nunneries: Origins & Developments

Christian women who vowed to live a simple ascetic life of chastity, in order to honor God, acquire knowledge, and do charitable work, are attested to from the 4th century CE if not earlier, just as far back as Christian men who led such a life in the remote parts of Egypt and Syria. Indeed, some of the most famous ascetics of that period were women, including the reformed prostitute Saint Mary of Egypt (c. 344-c. 421 CE) who famously spent 17 years in the desert. Over time ascetics began to live together in communities, although they initially continued to live their own individualistic lives and only joined together for services.

Virginity was an integral requirement for a nun in the very early medieval period because physical purity was considered the only starting point from which to reach spiritual purity.A nun was expected to wear simple clothing as a symbol of her shunning of worldly goods and distractions. The long tunic was typical attire, with a veil to cover all but the face as a symbol of her role as a "Bride of Christ'.The veil hid the nun’s hair which had to be kept cut short. Nuns could not leave their nunnery and contact with outside visitors, especially men, was kept to an absolute minimum. Even so, there were cases of scandal, such as in the mid-12th century CE at the Gilbertine Watton Abbey in England where a lay brother had a sexual relationship with a nun and, on the discovery of the sin, was castrated (a common punishment of the period for rape, although in this case the relationship seems to have been consensual – this punishment should be re-introduced in the present era with the proliferation of pedophile and sex abuse cases against the clergy).

Mendicant Orders of Friars 

A new form of religious life came into existence in the thirteenth century. It was an age of growth and expansion. Men's minds were full of new ideas; they wanted leaders and instructors in religious matters; new agencies were required to meet the needs of a rapidly developing society. Neither the Monks nor the secular clergy could supply the want. The Monks and Regular Canons had always affected a certain seclusion. Their monasteries were mostly in the country, or if in a town, they were surrounded by a large precinct which kept them apart from the town life. The new Orders chose their habitations in or near towns. The Dominicans almost invariably set themselves down in the haunts of men; the Franciscans had an affection for hermitages and solitary places, but rarely were they very far from frequented spots; both Orders alike kept themselves closely in touch with the outside world, and aimed at doing it service.

The mendicant orders are marked by two characteristics: poverty, practiced in common; and the mixed life, that is the union of contemplation with the work of the sacred ministry. An important point to  be noticed is that the mendicant orders are founded only by favor of an express approbation of the sovereign pontiff, who approves their rules or constitutions.

The Dominicans and Franciscans, with the Augustinians and Carmelites, and some other Orders of less importance, all founded during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, formed a variety of the religious life quite separate from the Monks and Canons Regular, recognized as being so in Canon Law. They are called officially Mendicant Orders, from the practice, which all embraced at the beginning of their existence, of holding no property, and subsisting on alms. The popular name given to them everywhere was Friars. It expresses the familiar footing on which they placed themselves with the people, and which differentiated them from the Monks even more than their mendicancy.

Congregations A further growth has, however, taken place in an extension of the religious life, but on a lower level. Institutes have been founded in later times; they are not Orders, however, but Congregations. The Passionists and Redemptorists belong to this class and were founded about the middle of the eighteenth century. In more recent times have followed the Society of Mary, the Oblates of Mary, the Salesians, and others. At first sight, there may appear to be little to distinguish between a Religious Order and a Religious Congregation. One difference lies in the nature of the vows taken by their members; in an Order, they are solemn, in a Congregation they are simple. The chief difference between the two, however, is that religious who professes a solemn vow of poverty renounce ownership of all their temporal goods, whereas religious who profess a simple vow of poverty have a right to retain the ownership of their patrimony (an estate, endowment or anything inherited from their parents or ancestors) but must give up its use and any revenue.