There was a convent not far from my boyhood home. The very idea of nuns living in seclusion, practicing celibacy, and wearing funny clothes made absolutely no sense to me. Why would anyone want to live this way?
Monasticism emerged in the fourth century after the church became legalized in the Roman Empire and susceptible to the corrupting influences of secular society. Some earnest Christians fled to the wilderness for refuge. Basil of Caesarea (331-379) thought seriously about Christianity during his student days and sought counsel with trusted desert hermits. He said of that time, “I was like a man roused from deep sleep. I turned my eyes to the marvelous light of the truth of the gospel.” He also saw the inherent dangers of living alone. In solitary life, what we have is useless to anyone else. How can we practice humility by ourselves? He became convinced the best way to draw close to God was in the company of other like-minded believers since the goal of monastic life was to separate from worldly distractions, not neighbors. Basil established a monastery in AD 356 across the river from the family estate that sister Macrina had turned into a religious community. To guard against the excesses of asceticism, Basil composed fifty-five general principles called the Long Rule and followed it with three hundred thirteen applications to the daily life of monks, known as the Short Rule. Basil insisted every rule must have biblical warrant since Scripture was the only True Rule. These rules monitored the counterbalancing activities of prayer and work and extended to the smallest details of food and clothing (guided by principles of “necessity, utility and simplicity”). Hospitality for strangers, orphans, and the poor also featured prominently in Basil’s rules. Basil’s prayer leads us in asking God’s deliverance from “every destructive and gloomy transgression.”