cenobites
Monastery-dwelling religious people
Cenobites are monks or nuns who live in a religious community rather than in solitude.
The term distinguishes communal monastics from hermits or anchorites who pursue spiritual life alone.
Cenobitic communities share meals, worship, and labor under a common rule: The cenobites gathered for vespers in the abbey church.
Religious seclusion dwelling
- cloisterCovered monastic walkway
- abbeyMonastic house of worship
- conventReligious sisters' dwelling
- friaryMendicant monks' residence
brotherhood · sisterhood · refectory · dormitory · chapter house · common life · communal prayer · order
Formal worship structure
- prayerAddress to deity
- chantingRhythmic repetitive vocalization
- psalmsReligious songs of praise
- matinsLiturgical dawn devotions
vespers · compline · meditation · contemplation · worship · mass · breviary · hymns
Enforced economic stringency
- self-denialRestraining one's own desires
- abstinenceVoluntary forgoing of indulgences
- fastingDeliberate food avoidance
- mortificationIntense shame or embarrassment
penance · frugality · simplicity · celibacy · chastity · renunciation · temperance · discipline
Sacred spiritual purity
- sanctityQuality of being inviolable
- salvationDeliverance from harm
- graceEffortless beauty of motion
- mysticismPursuit of divine union
transcendence · enlightenment · piety · fervor · zeal · soulfulness · divinity · redemption
Monk following ancient rule
- TrappistMonk of austere order
- AugustinianOf a fourth-century theologian
- Desert FathersFounding Christian monastics
- mendicantOne who begs
monastery
Religious seclusion dwelling
friary · brotherhood · sisterhood · refectory · dormitory · chapter house · common life · communal prayer · order · congregation
liturgy
Formal worship structure
matins · vespers · compline · meditation · contemplation · worship · mass · breviary · hymns · incense
austerity
Enforced economic stringency
- self-denialRestraining one's own desires
- abstinenceVoluntary forgoing of indulgences
- fastingDeliberate food avoidance
mortification · penance · frugality · simplicity · celibacy · chastity · renunciation · temperance · discipline · restraint
holiness
Sacred spiritual purity
mysticism · transcendence · enlightenment · piety · fervor · zeal · soulfulness · divinity · redemption · faith
Benedictine
Monk following ancient rule
- TrappistMonk of austere order
- AugustinianOf a fourth-century theologian
- Desert FathersFounding Christian monastics
mendicant · Eastern Orthodox · Shaolin · anchorite · eremite
cenobiteslaypeople
Those outside a profession
laity · householders · parish priests · married clergy · friars