MARCH 1:  ASCETICISM AND MONASTICISM

The problem of sexual temptation:  Adam and Eve

"There was a holy man in the Egyptian desert, who had ten disciples. One of them was very lazy and had no care for his own salvation. The elder admonished him often with stories of eternal punishment, but the brother didn't listen. Finally he died, and the elder was deeply troubled and wept for him, fearing that he had gone to hell. The elder prayed, "Lord Jesus Christ, our true God, reveal to me the state of this brother's soul." He went into a trance and saw a river of fire with a multitude of people in it. The poor brother was submerged up to his neck in the fire. The elder wept and said, "Didn't I tell you?" The brother answered, "It's not so bad, father. Because of your prayers for me, at least my head is out of the fire -- I'm standing on the shoulders of a bishop."  (from the Spiritual Meadow of John Moschus, c.600)

Egypt, birthplace of monasticism.  The sharp contrast between settled land and desert:

The desert, home only to demons and the monks who do battle with them:

Turning your back on this world:  the first monks

In the shadow of ancient paganism, the monks made their home:

Monastery of Apa Jeremias, near the pyramid at Saqqara:

Take the fight to where the demons live:  Karnak temple, Luxor

Visions of demons coming out of the walls!

Antony and the Demons, modern view:

The Monastery at Mount Sinai (built by Justinian, sixth century):

The Spiritual Ladder:  monks ascending into heaven, or not (from Sinai):

Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri, transformed into a monastery in the fifth century:

Coptic monks' graffiti carved on the Ptolemaic temple at Deir el-Medina:

The "Desert Fathers", below Christ and Apostles.  Shenoute is third from the right (monastery of St. Bishoi)

Coptic monastery of St. Bishoi, Wadi Natrun (founded in fifth century; current buildings date from ninth century; still in use today)

The monastery:  a refuge from the world?