Anthony the Great (251-356) was the most famous monk who lived in the desert. Other monks came to live near him and small communities grew up. The first monasteries or cloisters (from the Latin 'claustrum', meaning 'wal' or 'enclosure') came into existence when influential monks brought these communities together to form walled complexes.

Pachomius (circa 292-348) composed a rule of life for monks who lived together in enclosed monasteries.

'Rule for Monks'
Benedict of Nursia (480-547) tried to combine the hermits’ way of life and the way of life of the monks who lived in community in his 'Rule for Monks'. This Rule became normative in the West. That’s why Benedict is also considered the 'Father' of Western monasticism. An important characteristic of the Rule is the careful alternation of prayer and work, in order to maintain a good balance, both spiritually and physically, as well as to be able to earn one’s own living. 'Ora et labora' or 'prayer and work' would become the motto of the Benedictines, the followers of Benedict. As the 'Rule for Monks' says: “When they live by the labor of their hands,... then they are really monks.” With the support of Pope Gregory the Great and Emperor Charlemagne, this monastic rule spread over a large area.

The Cistercians

At the end of the eleventh century, more and more monks began to resist the growing riches and power of some Benedictine monasteries. These monks established the Cistercian Order, named after the place Cîteaux, near Dijon, where the first monastery of this reform movement was located. The Cistercians wanted to live the Rule of Benedict in all its purity. This aspiration was especially revealed in their great emphasis on simplicity. Through the influence of Bernard of Clairvaux, the Cistercian Order grew quite rapidly.

The Trappists
In the course of time, the desire for simplicity would repeatedly inspire reforms within the Cistercian Order. The most successful of these reforms took place in seventeenth-century France, in the Abbey of La Trappe in Normandy. Led by their Abbot, Armand-Jean de Rancé, the monks of this abbey adopted a stricter observation of the Rule of Benedict, which led to their official name 'Cistercians of the Strict Observance'. These monks are commonly referred to as 'Trappists', named after their abbey. The practice of silence is especially characteristic of Trappists. In 1881, the Trappists came to The Netherlands. The abbey Our Lady of Koningshoeven was their first monastery. Click here to go to the section 'history'.

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