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Skete
A skete () is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, along with the eremitic, lavritic and coenobitic, that became popular during the early formation of the Christian Church. Skete communities usually consist of a number of small cells or caves that act as the living quarters with a centralized church or chapel. These communities are thought of as a bridge between strict eremitic lifestyle and communal lifestyles since it was a blend of the two. They were a direct response to the ascetic lifestyle that early Christians aspired to live. Skete communities were often a bridge to a stricter form of hermitage or to martyrdom. The Greek term skete (σκήτη, ''skḗtē'', ''skiti'') is most likely a reference to the Scetis valley in Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wadi Al-Natrun
Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; , "measure of the hearts") is a depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt deposits, salt marshes and freshwater marshes. In Christian literature it is usually known as Scetis ( in Hellenistic Greek) or Skete (, plural in ecclesiastical Greek). It is one of the three early Christian monastic centers located in the Nitrian Desert of the northwestern Nile Delta. The other two monastic centers are Nitria and Kellia. Scetis, now called Wadi El Natrun, is best known today because its ancient monasteries remain in use, unlike Nitria and Kellia which have only archaeological remains. The desertified valley around Scetis in particular may be called the Desert of Scetis.. Fossil discoveries The area is one of the best known sites containing large numbers of fossils of large pre-historic animals in Egypt, and was known for thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Fathers
The Desert Fathers were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Wadi El Natrun, then known as ''Skete'', in Roman Egypt, beginning around the Christianity in the ante-Nicene period, third century. The ''Sayings of the Desert Fathers'' is a collection of the wisdom of some of the early desert monks and nuns. The first Desert Father was Paul of Thebes. The most well-known Anthony the Great, who moved to the desert in 270–271 and became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to live in the desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria, to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers significantly influenced the development of Christianity. The desert monastic communities that grew out of the informal gathering of hermit monks became the model for Christian monasticism, first influencing the Coptic Ortho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermitage (religious Retreat)
A hermitage most authentically refers to a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, or a building or settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion. Particularly as a name or part of the name of properties its meaning is often imprecise, harking to a distant period of local history, components of the building material, or recalling any former sanctuary or holy place. Secondary churches or establishments run from a monastery were often called "hermitages". In the 18th century, some owners of English country houses adorned their gardens with a "hermitage", sometimes a Gothic ruin, but sometimes, as at Painshill Park, a romantic hut which a "hermit" was recruited to occupy. The so-called Ermita de San Pelayo y San Isidoro is the ruins of a Romanesque church of Ávila, Spain, that ended up several hundred miles away, to feature in the Buen Retiro Park in Madrid. Western Christian tradition A hermitage is any type of domestic dwelli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lavra
A lavra or laura (; Cyrillic: Ла́вра) is a type of monastery consisting of a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center. Lavra monasteries operate within the Orthodox and other Eastern Christian traditions; the name is also used by some Catholic communities. The term in Greek initially meant a narrow lane or an alley in a city.. In a later Eastern Orthodox context, the term took the new meaning of large and important monastery. History Byzantine laura/lavra From the fifth century the Greek term ''laura'' could refer specifically to the semi-eremitical monastic settlements of the Judaean Desert, where lauras were very numerous. The first lauras of Palestine were founded by Chariton the Confessor (born 3rd century, died c. 350): the Laura of Pharan (now Wadi Qelt) northeast of Jerusalem, the Laura of Douka on the Mount of Temptation west of Jericho, and Souka Laura or Old Laura in the area of Tuqu' in Wadi Khureitun. Sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cenobite
Cenobitic (or coenobitic) monasticism is a monastic tradition that stresses community life. Often in the West the community belongs to a religious order, and the life of the cenobitic monk is regulated by a religious rule, a collection of precepts. The older style of monasticism, to live as a hermit, is called eremitic. A third form of monasticism, found primarily in Eastern Christianity, is the skete. The English words ''cenobite'' and ''cenobitic'' are derived, via Latin, from the Greek words (, ), and (, ). The adjective can also be cenobiac () or cœnobitic (obsolete). A group of monks living in community is often referred to as a cenobium (Latin, from Greek ''koinobion''). Cenobitic monasticism appears in several religious traditions, though most commonly in Buddhism and Christianity. Origins The word ''cenobites'' was initially applied to the followers of Pythagoras in Crotone, Italy, who founded a commune not just for philosophical study but also for the "amicable s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony The Great
Anthony the Great (; ; ; ; – 17 January 356) was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished from other saints named Anthony, such as , by various epithets: , , , , , and . For his importance among the Desert Fathers and to all later Christian monasticism, he is also known as the . His feast day is celebrated on 17 January among the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches and on Tobi 22 in the Coptic calendar. The biography of Anthony's life by Athanasius of Alexandria helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism, particularly in Western Europe via its Latin translations. He is often erroneously considered the first Christian monk, but as his biography and other sources make clear, there were many ascetics before him. Anthony was, however, among the first known to go into the wilderness (about AD 270), which seems to have contributed to his renown. Accounts of Anthony enduring supernatural temptation during his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. According to the traditional view, forwarded by the Council of Chalcedon of 451, the Creed was amended in 381 by the First Council of Constantinople as "consonant to the holy and great Synod of Nice." However, many scholars comment on these ancient Councils saying "there is a failure of evidence" for this position since no one between the years of 381–451 thought of it in this light. Further, a creed "almost identical in form" was used as early as 374 by St. Epiphanius of Salamis. Nonetheless, the amended form is presently referred to as the Nicene Creed or the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. J.N.D. Kelly, who stands among historians as an authority on creedal statements, disagrees with the aforementioned assessment. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anchorite
In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress); () is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, Asceticism , ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. Anchorites are frequently considered to be a type of hermit, but unlike hermits, they were required to take a vow of stability of place, opting for permanent enclosure in cells often attached to churches. Also unlike hermits, anchorites were subject to a religious rite of consecration that closely resembled the funeral rite, following which they would be considered dead to the world and a type of living saint. Anchorites had a certain autonomy, as they did not answer to any ecclesiastical authority apart from bishops. The anchoritic life is one of the earliest forms of Christian monasticism. In the Catholic Church, heremitic life is one of the forms of consecrated life. In England in the Middle Ages, medieval England, the earliest recorded anchor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mass (liturgy)
Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term ''Mass'' is commonly used in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Old Catholicism, and Independent Catholicism. The term is also used in many Lutheran churches, as well as in some Anglican churches, and on rare occasion by other Protestant churches. Other Christian denominations may employ terms such as '' Divine Service'' or '' worship service'' (and often just "service"), rather than the word ''Mass''. For the celebration of the Eucharist in Eastern Christianity, including Eastern Catholic Churches, other terms such as ''Divine Liturgy'', ''Holy Qurbana'', ''Holy Qurobo'' and ''Badarak'' (or ''Patarag'') are typically used instead. Etymology The English noun ''Mass'' is derived from the Middle Latin . The Latin word was adopted in Old English as (via a Vulgar Latin form ), and was sometimes glossed as ''sendnes'' (i.e. 'a sending, dismission'). The Latin term itself w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basket Weaving
Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets may be known as basket makers and basket weavers. Basket weaving is also a rural craft. Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials—anything that will bend and form a shape. Examples include pine, straw, willow (esp. osier), oak, wisteria, forsythia, vines, stems, fur, hide, grasses, thread, and fine wooden splints. There are many applications for basketry, from simple mats to hot air balloon gondolas. Many Indigenous peoples are renowned for their basket-weaving techniques. History While basket weaving is one of the widest spread crafts in the history of any human civilization, it is hard to say just how old the craft is, because natural materials like wood, grass, and animal remains decay naturally and con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agape Feast
(; ) is "the highest form of love, charity" and "the love of God for uman beingsand of uman beingsfor God". This is in contrast to , brotherly love, or , self-love, as it embraces a profound sacrificial love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance. The verb form goes as far back as Homer, translated literally as affection, as in "greet with affection" and "show affection for the dead". Other ancient authors have used forms of the word to denote love of a spouse or family, or affection for a particular activity, in contrast to (an affection of a sexual nature). In the New Testament, refers to the covenant love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term necessarily extends to the love of one's fellow human beings. Some contemporary writers have sought to extend the use of into non-religious contexts. The concept of has been widely examined within its Christian context. It has also been considered in the contexts of other relig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
