MONASTERY

(All derived from the Gr. iiovos, alone.) Words indicative of certain im- |iortant features in ecclesiastical history. Monnchus, or monk, projierly signifies one who lives a solitary life, and was applied in the first instance to the numerous individuals who began in the second and third centuries to retire from the occupations of the world, and devote themselves in the deserts of F.gypt and Syria to a contemplative and religious.ife. It was not till the middle of the third century that the monkish system, properly so cnlled, was established, by which many persons were congregated together, and bound by vows to the performance of various religious duties and abstinence from worldly enjoyments. These monks are distinguished by the appellation of Otenobites, or A ociates, from the ascetics, anchorites, and hermits, who lived apart, not from the world only, but from each other. The monk- [s. 779]