with Pacomius. If I recall, we were looking at Pacomian spirituality of monasticism, and we went through the foundations of monastic life, the formal principles. Do you remember what the formal principles were? Scripture and tradition. And now we want to look at what this author calls material principles of Pacomian spirituality. When we talk about the formal principles, it's that which gives them the form or the shape to the monastic way of life. And when he talks about material principles of Pacomian spirituality, he means that the basic theological intuitions which lie at the core of Paconian spirituality, and on which the spirituality and monastic life is built. And he's going to talk about three of these basic intuitions.

[01:03]

the image and concept of God, and then a concept of man, and then an attitude towards the world. And I guess, you know, as we study monastic theology, these basically are some questions we can ask about any monastic spirituality. So the first one is, what is the image of God that we see presented in Bokomian spirituality? One of the things that we noted before is that Pacomian spirituality is heavily biblical, so it's not going to surprise us very much that the concept of God is going to be very biblical, too. And we've noticed, for instance, that in the texts, almost all of the books of the Old and New Testament are used in the Pacomian texts. In some ways, Old Testament is used more than New Testament, and that's the image of God which is presented in the Baconian text is really going to take on sort of an Old Testament slant.

[02:08]

The God that is presented seems to be a God of justice and judgment, of law and of anger. before whom man must stand as a sinner. Now, there's going to be some softening down of that, but that's the thing that I don't think we should be too surprised if it comes through the strongest. If you remember the Liber Orsiaci, it begins with that quotation from Baruch of the Old Testament, and uses heavy Old Testament images and themes. In many ways, there's an emphasis on the severity of the God of Sinai and the jealous God of the Old Testament and of the prophets. This is especially in the law or the rule of Poconius, if you recall, what is it, paragraph 18 of the second section, that long list of curses in there. And you get this idea of the judging God of the Old Testament. Whereas in the Liber Orsiasius, that's where you really find the sort of softening down, and the love and mercy of God is brought out much more in the Liber Orsiasius.

[03:15]

and Institute 18. One of the things that it said there, it says, let him not fear death, but God. This phrase shows the mentality of the monks to fidelity to monastic life. that it is God who they should fear. And we see also in other texts that it is God who is the basis of this law. For instance, in that same text we read, Do not let him break the bond which was built in heaven and which is to be observed on earth. Notice, you know, the law, and this is a theme that you get in Pacomian monasticism, that the law comes through Pacomius, but it's a heavenly law. You may recall in Palladius. I think it's in Palladius where you get this, the theme of the angelic rule. which was delivered to Pacomius from the angels, but on a bronze tablet.

[04:21]

Remember that, Mike? And we have this whole thing of the angelic law from heaven, which is now put into practice by the Pacomian monks. Well, now, since the law is from heaven, then God is going to make sure that it is kept. And to break that law is to break the law of God. So, since God's law is inviolable, breaking it will result in severe punishment. And that's where we come then to that famous text in Precepts and Institutes 18, that long series of curses against somebody who breaks the law. Precepts and Institutes? It's the second section, Precepts and Institutes, paragraph 18. It's talking about the provost of the monastery. And it's telling him what he should be like. So he shouldn't be drunk, and then it goes down a whole list of things that he shouldn't do.

[05:22]

And at the end of that, if he neglects any of these, they shall render him measure as measured, and he shall receive in proportion to his due. And then all of these curses had come up. May he be visited by the annihilation of Eli and his sons. We've just been reading about Eli and his sons in the first book of Samuel. The curse David called down on Doeg, the sign with which Cain was marked, the burial of the ass spoken of by Jeremiah, the fate of the sinners swallowed in the crevice. That's probably that allusion to the Nathan, Nathan, and Abiram in the desert. The death of the Canaanites, the crushing of the snake as a spring. The wearing away of the sand on the Duncheck. These are probably allusions to prophetic literature. The breaking of the marvelous staff of Isaiah. Notice all of these curses called out, and very Old Testament-ish in all of this. However, it must be noted that the very following paragraph, so the beginning of the precepts and judgments, notice what it says there, that the fullness of the law is love.

[06:43]

Now, after all of these Old Testament references to the law and to curses, then the next, the very next paragraph says in Latin, Plainitude Olegius Paritas, which is the introduction to a section, what we would call a penitential section, or a penal code of excommunications, which that basically is. the precepts and judgments. So, notice he begins a concept of judgment and of punishment with this beautiful concept that the fullness of the law is really love. At the beginning of the penal section. Right. And it also follows that long section on those Old Testament curses. And it's a little sort of jammed, hidden in this other thing. All of this stuff of the Old Testament, which is brought down on your head if you don't obey, and then to obey these things, if you don't, you receive the punishment. Nevertheless, the fullness of this law is really love, which I think tells us something about the whole meaning of a monastic rule. It's just like, well, the same thing that the Apostle Paul says over and over again, you know, the completion, the fullness, you really fulfill the law when you obey the law of love.

[07:56]

And it tells us something also for the legislator, why there would be such a thing as excommunication. See, it's not just vindictive, but it's geared to learning to love. And so through this method, one learns the lessons, proper lessons of love. Kind of like absence makes the heart grow fonder or something? Well, it's more like Paul says in Corinthian. Now, the man was handed over to Satan so that he might be saved. It's not a vindictive thing. Excommunication in the ancient church is not vindictive, but it's salvific. And that's why I think that this text here shows us the meaning of a penal code. It's in order that we might fulfill the law which is really love. You remember that the Liber Orsiasius, which is this dying testament of the Abbot General, is a complaint against religious and moral decadence.

[08:59]

Remember we saw that the problems in the community were, they were hoarding property, they were leaving wills, and the superiors weren't correcting juniors, and everybody was letting everybody go their own way without any mutual support and mutual correction. Now, if you recall also, the beginning of that is a quotation from Baruch. Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life, with your ears receive and understand prudence. How is it, O Israel, that you are in the land of enemies? You have grown old in a foreign land. You are defiled with the dead. You have galled with those who are in hell, and you have left the fountain of wisdom. If you had walked by the way of God, perhaps you would be living in peace. You notice then he says that Baruch said these things to the people in Babylon, but he's also talking to us. It continues on that we must not be forgetful

[10:02]

eager of the law of God. But, you see, he's identifying the monastic community with the people of God, and they must keep the law as the people of God did. And so, what comes from this is that the way God treated the chosen people of old is a type of how he's going to treat people today. One of the things I think is implicit in here is an understanding of the use of the Old Testament by monks and in the Christian church. See, it's not just something from the past, but when you're in Baruch, you read it to yourself, or when you read the prophets. And so it's the living word of God now for the monastic community. We are the ones who are hearing what God speaks through the Old Testament, which I think is a very important point of what is the Old Testament for us. Is it just some interesting relic of the past, or is it the now of God speaking? and, in this situation, to the monastic community, who is the new Israel.

[11:08]

He doesn't use the term new Israel, but that's the idea he did, that the monastic community is the new Israel. So, remember when we talked about the difference between northern theology and southern theology in Egypt, and I mentioned to you that Comian spirituality is much more biblical I think we're beginning to see this constant allusion to the Old Testament. We're living the life of the prophets and the apostles, and God is speaking to us as he spoke to our fathers in the desert and in the apostolic community. And that also explains, I think, why there's this strong Old Testament image of God, because it's such a biblical spirituality. Just in passing, I think in the rule of Benedict, you know, this whole concept of the fear of God, which is so strong in the spiritual doctrine section, I think it's really from the Old Testament that we can get some idea of what Benedict really means by the fear of God.

[12:17]

Because the fear of God in the Old Testament is not just servile fear, but fear is equated with love and with obedience. It's a very rich concept. So, we must beware of mistaking God's patience for indulgence and ignorance. What he is really doing is calling us to repentance. And so, Orsiacio says in paragraph three, therefore, we must not fall into forgetfulness. and think that the patience of God really is that he is ignorant of what we're doing, rather that he is leading us to conversion. The man who is blessed fears the Lord, and he will be corrected and amended and taught by the Lord's law. You notice this whole idea of teaching,

[13:18]

of patience on the part of God. And the monk is to recall that Jesus Christ will return in judgment. If you look at paragraph 10 of the Orsinius. All those to whom the care of the brethren is entrusted should prepare themselves for the coming of the Savior and his fearful judgment. That's a theme that's strong in the rule of Benedict with regard to the abbot. Let him constantly be aware of the judgment the Lord will bring and make the abbot make an account of what he's done. And the same way with the monks too. They must always remember the day of death and judgment. But it is also noted that Orsiacea softens the divine threats with an allusion to the gentleness of the Lord. In paragraph 38, notice it begins, since such is the kindness of our Lord and Savior that he provokes us to salvation, let us turn our hearts to him, because now is the hour we should awaken from the sleep.

[14:32]

And just constant allusions to the the Apostle Paul into the whole New and Old Testament. With regard to Pacomian concept of man, now it's rather difficult in the Pacomian literature to find a good synthetic view of man, but this author, Bach, nevertheless tries to do something, and very briefly what he says is that Man is a creature, and this is well understood in Pacomian mentality, that man must be obedient to God. And just as the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, submitted to God, so the monk... Notice here again this theme of we are now living the life of the patriarchs. Man is in constant danger of sin. And, of course, sin is personified in the devil. So, the monk must fight against sin.

[15:37]

However, you don't get in Pacomian spirituality a pessimism of corrupted nature. But there is this aspect that man must fight against the devil, the aspect of combat. Now, we've seen that very strong, you recall, in the life of Anthony. where a monastic life could almost be defined as a combat against the devil. But remember in the life of Anthony that it was to manifest the victory of Jesus Christ. But we have also in Proclomian literature this theme of combat against the devil and against sin. And so the monk must always be on guard against the attacks of the devil. Now the way he fights against the devil and makes sure that he's vigilant against the devil is through his prayer, his tears, which is a word which would refer to prayer, the exercise of humility, fasting, and vigils. So it begins to tell us, you know, what the monastic routine is about.

[16:39]

That's the vigilance and the armor that you use fighting the devil. But in all of this he must have confidence in the Savior. This, of course, is very strong, as you recall, in the life of Anthony. Now, thirdly, with regard to an attitude towards the world, it shouldn't be surprising that because of the heavy biblical approach of Poconius, that eschatological themes play a very important role in the spirituality. One of the emphases is on judgment, as we've seen, so the concept of heaven and hell and where you're going in the future. If we take a look at the concept of world, I think we see that there are two different concepts of world in Bokomius. You know, the concept of world is very ambivalent, and it can be used in a good as well as a bad sense.

[17:43]

But Bokomius shows two different ideas of this. First of all, the world is the context in which the Christian leads his life, and in which this combat of the devil takes place. So it's the broader context of our existence. And of course, this God or context is considered a little dangerous because it is the devil works through this context. But the second concept of world is contrasted to what we would say monastery versus world. So everything which is not specifically to do with the monastery is called world. And here we have the idea that the monk must renounce everything which is outside of the monastery, so renunciation. He must separate himself from attachments which would lead him away from his monastic life.

[18:48]

One of the concepts of the Anchorites, and even the word Anchorite comes from that, is withdrawal, anachloresis, in Greek. Now, this word is not found in Racinobitic tradition too much. The Anchorites' approach to the world is to withdraw from the world. What we find in Falkonian literature is the response of the monk Racinobite to the world is not withdrawal as such, I mean, this isn't anthracite, but rather renunciation. I suppose, in basis, maybe you say, well, it comes out to the same thing. But you see, you're not running from the world, you're not withdrawing from it, but you're standing in it and renouncing it. It's a subtle point, but I think it helps us when we talk about the whole concept of our relationship to the world. It's not, for us as Senegalites, withdrawal from the world. whether one has to renounce one's own property, the right to marry and have one's own family.

[20:00]

And what one does as a Cenobite, a Pacomian Cenobite, is enter into a holy fellowship, a holy koinonia. If you look at Precept 49, It's that paragraph which talks about somebody who comes to the monastery and wants to join. You see, there's two important elements in this person's coming. If someone comes to the gate of the monastery wishing to renounce the world, and then notice a second part of it, and be added to the number of the brothers, it's sort of a twofold desire to renounce the world, but it's just not a negative thing. You want to join the brothers. And I think this is extremely important in the Pacomian spirituality. You're joining a holy koinonia. You're not just renouncing the world, but you're joining something positive. For the Anchorites, renunciation of the world is realized by a flight from men and total separation from them.

[21:06]

But you see, the Cenobite doesn't flee from men, but he joins men. It's quite a different mentality. This society is not the world, but rather is a society which lives in imitation of the College of Apostles and Prophets. And so, for instance, in precept one, we saw that the one who comes to the monastery into the assembly of the saints, sits in the congregation of the brothers. He comes to a holy assembly, a holy koinonia. He sits among the brothers. So he's not withdrawing from society when he enters the synopium. We also saw in precepts and institutes in the prologue, where it says, it talks about how the collective, the assembly, is to be done, and how brothers are to be brought together to hear the Word of God.

[22:10]

Let them stand in the measure of truth and the tradition of the apostles and the prophets, imitating the congregation of them in the house of God. So you come together imitating the apostles, the prophets and the apostles. Now, Pacomius is quite concerned about what we would call a worldly spirit entering and invading the monastery. And this may explain some of the regulations for visitors who come to the monastery, that especially women, they're to be received, but you recall they're to be received in a separate place, especially if they stay overnight, if they come late at night. And when monks come back from the outside, if they've been outside their monastery for a while, they're not supposed to speak of what has happened. And when they're working together, they're not supposed to speak of secular matters, but rather meditate on scripture. You know, this legislation about not speaking what's happened outside the monastery, we find in the Rule of Benedict.

[23:14]

It can be interpreted as being sort of a protection against worldly invasion in a monastery. That's one interpretation of it, at least. So Bach says that separation from the world is an essential presupposition of monastic life. And then he says that this is expressed symbolically in putting off of the secular clothes and the imposition of the monastic habit. And so, for instance, in precept 49, we see that where after the person joins the brothers, he wants to renounce his parents and his own faculties of property, then he is stripped of his secular vestments and given the monastic habit. You notice it's all tied up together. He renounces his property, his family. He wants to join the community of the brothers, so he takes off his secular clothes as a sign of the first. The sign of the second that he's entered into the community is the putting on of the monastic habit.

[24:20]

And if he should leave the monastery, then he's given back his secular clothe. And so this is a real symbol of what's taking place in the man's life. Now, this whole problem of separation being an essential aspect of monastic life, what do you think about that, Knight? Well, you know, just from... Just from, you know, having gone to school and everything, there's so much that occupies your time, so much little petty things, so many things that really don't count. And even if you're, you know, I think a person outside stopped and thought about it, You know, you just get caught up in a hustle and a bustle.

[25:25]

The distraction, and you don't have the time to collect yourself for interior peace, for quiet, for calm, in order to pray. And I think that's an important thing, and I think it's important not only for the monk, but for, you know, for the Christian as well. You know, I think it's from that, this hustle and bustle that the man, that the monk is separating himself. Not, like I say, not from society, not from, you know, not from human encounter, from human love or anything, but from this more of trying to get things in perspective, which is too difficult to do when you're being pounded, you know, from all sides. What you're saying is that it's really something positive that we're doing rather than something negative. We want something. We want to spend time in prayer, we want to spend time with one another, we want to spend time in holy reading, serving each other.

[26:34]

In order to have the time to do that, we've got to let go some of the distraction and dissipation, otherwise we won't have time for that. Well, the way I would formulate it is that separation is a consequence of what we want to do. If we really want to do that, for instance, if you want to spend time in prayer every day, then you better not spend five hours watching television, plus your regular work, because you're not going to find time for prayer, you're not going to find the energy to do it. So it's not a condemnation, say for instance, of television, but it's saying, what are the priorities? What do I really want to do? So I withdraw You don't have to withdraw totally from a thing like that, but you withdraw from it insofar as it will... if you don't do that, you're not going to have the time to do the thing you really want to do. Joe? I think the idea of attitude has to be brought as too, that you can bring the hustle and bustle right with you, within the monastic confine.

[27:44]

You know, in your job, you get ahead of you. There's a beautiful phrase in... I think it's St. Andrew's, and a number of the Fathers, that bhugamundi, flight from the world, is really flight towards Christ. So here, it's not flight from something, but it's flight towards a person. Now, if you move towards a person, we talk about relativity, you are withdrawing from something else. Now, what I'm suggesting is that I don't agree with the thesis that an essential note of monastic life is separation from the world. That if you wanted to define monastic life, you would say it is, first of all, separation from the world, and then you would continue on. I wouldn't define monastic life as a withdrawal. But, because of what you want, and for Cogomius, you want to join a holy fellowship, then, because of that, you do withdraw.

[28:54]

So it's a consequence. It's not what establishes monastic life, but it's a consequence of what monastic life is. And that's why I think it's extremely important, this separation. But it's not a pejorative or negative concept. And it shouldn't be emphasized, but the positive thrust, in my mind, should be emphasized. So that, see, it's no condemnation of the goods of creation, of television, or radio, or anything. None of this is bad. It's all good. But it's a matter of what you really want to do, where you really want to spend your time. As we mentioned, that Pogomius gives a sort of symbolic explanation of this renunciation of the world and entrance into the community by the monastic ceremony of changing garments. Now, some people have suggested, see, in Pacomius there is real no profession formula.

[30:01]

But this may already be indicative of what we would call a profession formula. You go through this rite, and you are, by that rite, covenanting with the community, and the community is accepting you, and you have been incorporated. So there's no idea of a juridic vow formula. tells us that the monks they didn't think of juridically. But if you went through this ritual, this rite, you're bound to this community and they're bound to you. Let's take a look now at the goals of monastic life, which is the second B. in the whole presentation. For instance, the first time we had the foundations of monastic life and the formal and material principles, and now we have the goals of monastic life. The first goal is that a monk is just a true Christian.

[31:05]

He's doing nothing more than living the gospel. That's all that he pretends to do. Now, granted, in a specific way. with a particular structure of life, pattern of behavior. Remember that statement about the fullness of the law is love, and that's the basic Christian law, the law of love. So that's the fullness of monastic law too. And then we saw later on in another place in the prologue of the Precepts and Institutes, that they may be freed from the error of soul and glorify God in the light of the living." So, what the monastic life is, is a call to the freedom of being a Christian. And the purpose of the rule is to realize this for the monk, this freedom of being a Christian. Secondly, we could say that the goal of monastic life, well, the question would be, is it to seek perfection?

[32:06]

I don't want to go into a lot of detail on that, but it seems as though we would say that for the northern Egyptians, a concept is perfection. Now, I don't want to caricaturize their monasticism, but perfection is very important in the scheme, for instance, of Cassian of Evadrius. You seek perfection. But it seems as though in Pachomius, this term isn't used. Rather, what one seeks is salvation. Now, you say, well, there's not a whole lot of difference between the two. But it does show a little bit of a nuance. And what you're interested in is experiencing the salvation brought us by Jesus Christ, rather than individual perfection. And this salvation is acquired by patient endurance, and not in one day. but over years, you get into the whole concept of conversatio, which we looked at, and stability, which we looked at this summer. This path to salvation is established by the holy koinonia, the holy fellowship, and that's why you enter the holy koinonia, so that within this koinonia you might be brought to salvation.

[33:23]

And one proceeds in this path of salvation by the example of the great figures of the Old and the New Testament. The third goal that we could speak of of monastic life is the Holy Koinonia itself. And this really gives the tonality to Pacomian spirituality, this emphasis on fellowship, Holy Koinonia, the brotherhood. In Pacomian monastic spirituality, there's very little place and very little emphasis on personal perfection. And so, for instance, Neovagrian idea of apathia, or complete detachment, is not strong at all in Pacomius. It's not found at all. Another thing that Procromius mentions is that the fullness of the ideal will only be realized in heaven.

[34:29]

So, if there is perfection of asar, it's going to be realized in the koinonia of heaven. It is really the koinonia, which is the proper and distinctive characteristic of cenobitic goal, to live here on earth in the holy community. And so mutual assistance, as one struggles for salvation, undergirds and maintains this idea of community. Peace with one's brothers is a guarantee of peace with God and an experience of peace with God. And this Holy Koinonia is modeled on the apostolic life, which is simply a life of poverty and of imitation of Jesus Christ. Fraternal edification is an essential element of the law upon which to coin an E.R.S. So we must edify one another, build one another up.

[35:31]

Recall the Libra or Synesius, that's one of the main problems. You're not supporting each other. You're not building each other up. You're not correcting each other. You can't say, well, I'm going to take care of myself, let these other people go. We are responsible for each other. So the whole thing of co-responsibility is really strong in here. To me, the most beautiful aspect of Pacomian monasticism is this idea of the koinonia. We want to join, or we want to become a monk because we want to live with one another. I think I've mentioned to you that somebody has characterized Pacomian monks as Cenobites, or those who wash one another's feet. They want to serve one another, and that's why they join the holy koinonia. Monks are called to the liberty in Christ, but this freedom and this liberty is realized in mutual service. And so Orsiasius, in paragraph 26, quotes from the Epistle to the Galatians, a beautiful phrase, you were called in freedom, not in the freedom which will give rise to the flesh, but

[36:46]

serve one another in love. That is the idea of liberty and service. We realize our liberty, our freedom in Christ by serving one another. Now this koinonia is the house of God and it is the work of God. And so the monk must surrender to the monastic order of life because he surrenders to what goes on in the house of God. And so it's something bigger than just his own perfection. Now this is going to be important when we look later on at the concept of cenobitic obedience as contrasted to anchoritic obedience. So the law of love, love of God and love of neighbor, is the core of Kumbhian spirituality. And from this law flows all the monastic obligations and the style of life. So really the purpose of the cenobitic way of life is love, just simply love, love of God and love of one another.

[37:51]

And that, very simply, is the holy koinonia. I just get enraptured by this idea of the holy koinonia. Remember that text we saw from Theodore? I think I showed it to you, that from his catechesis, where he talked about the holy koinonia as an imitation of the apostles who left all to follow Jesus Christ and be crucified with him. And so we have left all to follow Christ and be crucified with him in poverty. We are living in the fellowship, as the apostles lived, in the presence of Christ with one another. And therefore, we don't just exploit each other for our own perfection, but what we're really called to do, rather than use one another, is to serve one another. And this is what I think Bokovian spirituality is so strong on. And I see that this is in the rule of Benedict. Let's take a look at some monastic themes in Pacomian spirituality.

[39:00]

That's the third big major point. The first point under that is that monastic life is an imitation of Christ. Now, the ruler of Pacomius doesn't mention the name Jesus Christ. But in many of the catechesis there is reference to the only begotten Son, King Jesus, who fights for the faithful, and the whole aspect of the Word of God taken flesh and the Virgin Mary. So many of these things of which we would talk about Christological themes are found in the catechesis, because you wouldn't suspect to have them really in the rule, because it's not the type of writing that it is. Jesus Christ is Savior and God, the Word and Son of the living God. He lives in us through faith. And, for instance, we see in the Liber Orsiaeus, paragraph 20, and the life which we live in Christ, we always live.

[40:09]

And so he refers to Romans, chapter 5. And those who wish to live this life in Christ must live as a good soldier of Christ, accepting suffering with Christ, and so come to his glory. That's a theme which comes out strong in the Rule of Benedict, that end of the prologue, by patient perseverance in the monastery until death we will come into his glory. The Liber Orsiasius does talk about the monks as being soldiers of Christ. Let us work therefore as good soldiers of Christ, and this is paragraph 34, and observe that which is written to us. No one fights for God and gets involved in things of this world. but rather he fights so that he might please the one who he is fighting for. That's the concept of militare, which is also strong in the rule of Benedict.

[41:14]

If, however, one contends in a contest, he is not necessarily crowned unless he fights according to laws and according to the way legitimately, according to the way he should. We, however, will be glorified in the name of the Lord our God. But it's the concept of struggle, of fighting under Christ, and thus imitating Christ. Look at, actually, looking back at the quote, instead of trying to translate as we go along, but look at paragraph 50 of the Liber Orsinius. And it's a second paragraph. While we, dwelling in the monasteries, and associated to each other by mutual love, let us be zealous so that we may deserve to have the fellowship of the Holy Fathers in this life, and likewise may participate in their future also, knowing that it behooves us to be fellow sufferers with Christ.

[42:27]

That's really a rich statement there. We're associated to each other in mutual love, the fellowship of the Holy Fathers, and then fellow sufferers with Christ. We really coin on every angle. With one another, with our fathers, and with Christ. And to know that without tribulations and difficulties, no victory is obtained. So, we are in the cenobitic life, realizing the death and resurrection of Christ. That is the way it is realized for us by our cenobitic way of life. I don't know if you've read the Bishop's statement about the renewal of the spirituality of the American priest. You know, they reduce the spirituality to our experience and living out of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And no matter what Christian way of life a person follows, basically it's that experience of the death and resurrection of Christ.

[43:33]

And for the cenobite, that experience is going to be in community, in mutual support and love of one another. You see, for an anchorite, he is also going to die and rise with Christ, but in the terrors of solitude. We do it in solitude. in the rubbing together ascent of life, which has its own modality of death and resurrection. You know, we are the source of death for one another, a real crucifixion for one another, but we're also the source of resurrection for one another. And this is, in the synodium, in the holy koinonia, is where we are realizing the death and resurrection of Christ. Not in spite of it, but that is the realization of it for us. Now, because one lives in Christ, then, one must also imitate Christ and suffer as Christ did. According to one of the catechesis of Pocomius, to be a monk is nothing other than to be a perfect disciple of Christ.

[44:37]

The monk shares in the suffering of Christ by his monastic life in the synopium. He follows Christ by renouncing the world, by joining the holy fellowship, and thus imitating the love and humility of Christ. The second point is that there's going to be combat with the devil. Some of these specific monastic temptations are going to be, especially in a koinonia, are defiance against authority, lying, duplicity, cupidity, a spirit of mercantilism, and laziness. Now, these are the kind of things that are going to be constant temptations for people living in the koinonia, to defy authority. to really lie to one another, to misrepresent ourselves, to put on a false front, to be untrustworthy. And what he says, a spirit of mercantilism, to try to make some sort of... Well, you want to gain something by transacting with other people.

[45:49]

So if you have something you can bargain with other people. And this kind of stuff goes on in community life. And it's going to be a constant temptation to make a profit at the expense of other people. And, of course, laziness. Everything is provided for you, why worry? And so you don't share your load. I'd like to briefly conclude this with some reflections on obedience. the free service of obedience. A monk who is called to the koinonia submits to the rule, and so everything he does from morning to evening is under It is sort of legislative. Now this is in Pacomian, it might be over-legislated, but everything is legislated for in the rule of Pacomians. So all the minutiae are taken up. The monk gets determined. The monk gets up when the tuba calls him to get up to go to the assembly.

[46:53]

He's not permitted to walk anywhere he wants to outside of the cell, but he goes right to the assembly. He's not to circulate at his own fancy throughout the monastery unless he has permission. We get the impression that almost all personal initiative is severely punished. Now, I'm not recommending this, but I'm saying this is what it seems like in Proconius. But one certainly gets the impression that the monk must always be obedient, and thus we have the Penitential Code. If he disobeys any of these things, he's punished for that. Why must a monk be so obedient, and why is everything prescribed for? Because he's living in a koinonia, something which transcends his own ideas of things and his own needs. There's something bigger than him. An anchorite, obedience is primarily so that he can diminish his own self-will.

[47:56]

And thus, as we looked at it this summer, the anchorite, putting himself under a master, will be given some strange commands to see if he really is renouncing his own will. A cenobite, is not looking just for his own perfection and obedience, but for the common good of the koinonia. And thus, for instance, the superior in the synobium can't just tell the centibite to do anything, but must always command in relationship to the good of the koinonia. And so there shouldn't be just arbitrary commands in a synobium, as for instance it could be in a master-disciple relationship in the desert. But the obedience of a Cenobite is always related to the common good of the community, and thus he's protected. All of these little details protect him, really, as well as tell him what to do. But the Supreme just can't arbitrarily make him do something in virtue of obedience.

[49:04]

because the Cenobite is protected by the common good, which is protected by the rule of the monastery and the tradition of the monastery. And so there's really a difference in Cenobitic obedience and Anchoritic obedience. See, Anchoritic obedience is geared primarily to individual perfection, whereas Cenobitic obedience is geared towards the common good, the perfection, the salvation of everyone involved. And that's why I think in the Rule of Benedict you get this development of the concept of mutual obedience. We must be obedient to what we hold in common, to one another's needs, to the needs of all of us together. And so rugged individualism in the cenobitic life is not the ideal, but rather to give in to one another. You would seem that that would demand initiative. You know, obedience wouldn't be just to what's laid down in the rule, but if your obedience is to a way of life and to the needs of the brothers, you know, that to sit back and wait until you receive a command would seem to be shirking the obedience to the way of life.

[50:17]

that the true obedience would then demand initiative, I mean, you know, going out when you see something that could be done or needs to be done. I agree with that very much, Mike, and so I'm not saying that the Pacomian idea we should just transfer it to us, because I don't. I think there are many things that need to be developed here. But I think he's got something at the basis which is very important, you know, obedience to the common good, that this is where the obedience is geared, and this is then judged by something bigger than the individual. It's not just what I need or what I think the spirit is calling me to. Now, I see that initiative is very important for the work. And then I wonder if in Pacomian literature, see this is Bach's interpretation and maybe it's not the interpretation is not full enough. Because take a look at the Liber Orsiasius, where he says, you must take responsibility for one another, which is a type of initiative. You can't just sit back and say, well, let the person go, you know, I'm going to obey the rules as far as I'm concerned, but you are responsible for one another.

[51:20]

So I would say that maybe Bach is a little exaggerated or doesn't see the full picture, because maybe there is a certain initiative aspect in Pacomian monasticism. I don't think there's any need to say that Pacomian had the full picture of the thing and so to over-defend it, but there is that sense of co-responsibility which to us right away says there must be some initiative. And so possibly that's a good insight that maybe that box interpretation is a little severe, a little one-sided. With that we'll come to the end of our reflections on monastic life and Bokomian literature. What we find there is that there are three themes that are strong in the spirituality imitation of Christ, combat with the devil, and obedience.

[52:24]

But then what we see also is that in Pacomian spirituality all of this is sort of put together or molded together with that central concept of koinonia, and that's really the thing to develop when you talk about the monastic spirituality of Pacomian monasticism. It's a spirituality of fellowship. of living together the life of the apostles and the prophets, of wanting to live together, rejoicing in one another's presence, serving one another, because that is the realization of salvation for the monk. And so you see, we shouldn't be surprised that in Pacomian monasticism there's none of this thrust to leave the synovium to go into the desert to be a hermit. This is really foreign to Pacomian monasticism. There's no idea that as you perfect yourself you would want to go off into the desert. You were already living in the fear of salvation together.

[53:28]

And so now this is an enduring process thing which must be worked out throughout your whole life and which will be perfected only in heaven. With that we'll conclude for Chromius. I don't remember for sure what we're going to take next. Do you remember what ...? I think I said that we'd go to Syria and Qumran. I believe so. Well, I think it's Qumran first, and then Syria, but we'll have some reflections on Qumran, because I think we're prepared for that in a way now. And then we'll go into Syrian mess, and then we'll come back to Kashan, I guess, and it depends on how much time I have to prepare. I'd love to go into Basel, but I... I had to do some preparation on that and I don't know if I'm going to find time this semester or not. But we'll do Qumran next time.

[54:27]

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