The monastic movement took a significant step forward when, around the year 320, a former soldier named Pachomius instituted the first Christian monastery. Instead of permitting the monks to live singly or in groups of hermits, each a law to himself, Pachomius established a regulated common life, in which the monks ate, labored, and worshiped. His plan called for fixed hours, manual work, dress in uniform garb, and strict discipline. It is called coenobitic monasticism from the Greek terms for "common life".
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Pachomius[/tags]
