Monastery

A monastery is the habitation of monks. Originally: a hermit's cell. Christian monasteries are also called abbey, priory, charterhouse, friary, and preceptory, while the habitation of nuns can also be called a convent.

Related Topics:
Monk - Hermit - Christian - Abbey - Priory - Charterhouse - Friary - Nuns - Convent

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The number of dedicated monastics in any religion has waxed and waned due to many factors. There have been Christian monasteries such as "The Cappadocian Caves" that have house upwards of 50,000 monks, or St Pantelaimons on the "Holy Mountain in Greece, who had 30,000 in its heyday. Today those numbers have dwindled considerably. Currently the monasteries containing the largest numbers are Buddhist: Drepung Monastery in Tibet housed around 15,000 monks prior to the Chinese invasion. Today its relocated monastery in India houses around 8,000 - nearly five times the current monastic population of the entire Holy Mountain.

Related Topics:
Holy Mountain - Drepung Monastery

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On the other hand, there are those among monastic leaders that are critical of monasteries that are too large. Such become institutions and lose that intensity of spiritual training that can better be handled when an elder has only 2 or 3 disciples. There are on the Holy Mountain areas such as the Skete of St Anne, which could be considered one entity but is in fact many small "Sketes" (Monastic houses containing one elder and 2 or 3 disciples) who come together in one church for services.

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The communal life of a monastery is called cenobitic, as opposed to the anchoretic (or anchoritic) life of an hermit.

Related Topics:
Cenobitic - Anchoretic - Hermit

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