Religious life

Religious Life at Duke creates a safe place for religious expression and
student support, and promotes collaboration between Duke's diverse faith groups.

The religious life makes great demands on its followers for discipline, holiness, and service. Many give their lives to work­ing for others, like this nun in a mission school in Bolivia.

In religion, a prophet is an individual who has claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and to speak for them, serving as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound ...

Religious life is a term for the way of life that some people choose for becoming as holy as possible and for being of the greatest possible service to others. Those who adopt this manner of life are called monks, nuns, brothers or sisters—or simply religious. Some may be priests or ministers. But most followers of the religious life are not members of the clergy.

Followers of the religious life devote themselves ex­clusively to holiness and service. Unlike ascetics and hermits, who also strive for holiness, they belong to reli­gious orders (see Asceticism; Hermit). The members of many orders live together in a community under a reli­gious superior. These communities are called convents, though those where monks live may be known as mon­asteries, and most nuns live in nunneries. After one or more years of training and testing, candidates are admit­ted into the community. In most cases, the candidates vow to stay until they die. Generally, a final commitment is made only after several years of living under tempo­rary vows or promises.

All religious communities were founded to advance the spiritual life of their members. Contemplative orders concentrate on this role and have an organized daily routine with ascetic practices and many hours of prayer. Active communities engage in social and spiritual work in schools, hospitals, and orphanages. But even the most active community is basically dedicated to promoting the holiness of its members.

Christian communities

Religious life among Christians started with the prac­tice and teachings of Jesus. His voluntary poverty, His celibacy (remaining unmarried), and His obedience to God's will became the pattern for the religious life.

The Roman Catholic Church. Persecution in the early Christian church prevented the development of or­ganized religious orders in the Roman Empire. How­ever, many hermits practised poverty, remained unmar­ried, and lived alone in the desert. St Paul the Hermit and St. Anthony of Thebes were dominant figures in this early stage of the religious life. Both lived in Egypt.

In the early 300's, St. Pachomius organized a religious community in south Egypt. He wrote a rule (programme of life) for monks who wished to live together under a superior. Shortly before his death, there were 40 monas­teries with 2,000 monks under his direction. Later in the 300's, St. Basil of Caesarea adopted the rule of Pacho­mius and made his monasteries in Asia Minor homes of charity. The monasteries included orphanages, hospi­tals, farms, and places of rest.

St. Benedict of Nursia was the father of Christian monasticism in the West. His policies of the 500's became the pattern for religious life in Europe and America. The Benedictine approach emphasized attachment to a sin­gle monastery, community living, and labour. Eastern monasticism, on the other hand, stressed austere physi­cal living and severe discipline. Today, Eastern Orthodox religious life still favours the pattern of St. Pachomius and St. Basil, and the Roman Catholic Church prefers that of St. Benedict.

During the early 1200s, St. Francis of Assisi began a new practice in religious life by encouraging his follow­ers to travel about the countryside, preaching and help­ing the needy. Also around 1200, St. Dominic estab­lished the Order of Preachers to teach in schools and colleges. In 1534, St. Ignatius Loyola founded the Jesuits to extend the Kingdom of Christ" to all parts of the world. Early Jesuits included missionaries such as St. Francis Xavier in India, and such explorers as Jacques Marquette in America.

During the 1500's and 1600s, as a result of the Protestant Reformation and an expansion of learning, new Roman Catholic orders were established to try to meet every humanitarian need. St. Angela Merici founded the Ursulines in Italy. Louise de Marillac and St Vincent de Paul started the Sisters of Charity in France. St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle founded the Christian Brothers in France 1 as a community of teachers.    

Today, there are about 1 ½ million members of Catholic religious communities throughout the world.           

Vatican Council II, which met from 1962 to 1965, urged religious communities to adapt themselves to the changed conditions of our time." As a result, the communities started a period of adjustment. Encour­aged by the Vatican, women in the communities have adapted their clothing and many of their customs to the practical needs of modern life. The practice of poverty in wealthy societies and of obedience in democratic cultures is being modified. However, a balance has not yet been reached between the demands of the present day and the unchangeable principles of Christian perfection.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches regard monasticism as an essential feature of their tradition. Until the 1900’s, Eastern Orthodox monks and nuns rarely took part in teaching, preaching, or the ministry. Practically all Eastern Orthodox religions follow the teachings of St Basil. Two characteristics of Eastern Orthodox monasteries are liturgical worship and fasting. Membership in these communities is about 30,000, of whom two-thirds are women.

Of the estimated 550 Orthodox monasteries in Europe and Asia, the most famous is probably the monastic re­public of Mount Athos in Greece. There are 20 monas­teries on the mountain. Eleven of them follow the cenobitic rule, and nine observe the idiorrhythmic rule—the approximate ratio for Eastern Orthodox monasticism in 'general. The cenobitic rule calls for community life under an abbot elected for life. The idiorrhythmic rule provides for monasteries directed by trustees who are elected annually. It gives monks greater freedom in mat­ters of poverty and daily activities.

Protestant churches. Protestant leaders did not en­courage religious life under vows during the Reforma­tion of the 1500's. However, a Lutheran Augustinian monastery at Mollenbeck, Germany, existed until 1675. Protestant groups called Pietists, such as the Bohemian Brethren, organized in 1722 in Moravia, formed partially monastic communities that later influenced European and American Protestantism.

By the mid-1800's, certain Protestant denominations had re-established religious communities. A Lutheran community of deaconesses was organized in Germany in 1836. In England, an Anglican group for men was founded in 1842, and one for women was set up in 1845. In 1940, the Taize community in France was formed under Lutheran and Reformed sponsorship. Today, there are several thousand members in about 100 Prot­estant religious communities throughout the world. The majority of these Protestant communities are Episcopa­lian.

Other communities

Among the major world religions, only Hinduism and Buddhism have developed traditions that correspond in some ways to the Christian religious life. The beliefs and practices of Islam and Judaism do not include religious orders or separate communities of monks and nuns.

Hinduism. The closest Hindu equivalent to Christian religious life is the sannyasi, the fourth and last stage of a Hindu's life. With advancing age, a Hindu man, alone or with his wife, may retire from active life. He prays, practices severely simple living, and finally reaches a state of spiritual perfection.

Buddhism. Buddha made monasticism an insepara­ble part of his creed. He planned his religion as a mo­nastic order headed by himself. As Buddhism expanded, members of the laity were included. But they had to af­firm their belief in the Sangha (monastic order) as strongly as their faith in Buddha and his creed.

According to Buddha, "There are two kinds of gifts, the gift of material things and the gift of Dharma, (the law). Of these two, the gift of the law is preeminent." An example of the first kind of gift-giving would be monks or nuns living in a community where they own material things in common. An example of the second type would be monks and nuns teaching the methods which must be used in order to attain the state of nirvana (per­fect happiness).

There were several thousand Buddhist monasteries in China before the Chinese Communists conquered the country in the 1940's. Buddhist monasticism was changed drastically after the Communist take-over of China, Vietnam, and Tibet. The Communists have al­lowed some monasteries to function in these countries —if the members cultivate an assigned portion of land and raise a quota of crops.

In non-Communist Asia, Buddhist monasticism varies. The greatest differences exist between the Hinayana and Mahayana orders. Hinayana communities have a stricter daily life, and members spend much time in meditation. Most Hinayana communities are in Southeast Asia. Ma­hayana communities are more active in welfare and edu­cation, and are centred in Japan and China.

Religious festivals. For examples, see Feasts and festivals and its list of related articles…

Religious freedom. See Freedom of religion.