ABSTRACT
There is a common misconception that monasticism developed in the early Church after the persecutions ended. Most of the features characteristic of later monasticism was to be found in the oldest Christian communities. Monasticism became an established institution of the Christian Church during the fourth century, at a time when the ascetic currents throughout the Church were gaining strength. Orthodox monasticism has faithfully preserved its fundamental union of asceticism and mysticism and has remained close to the monasticism of the primitive Church. Skete monasticism, so christened from the Greek word for eremitism, was responsible for the great missionary work of the Russian monks in northern Russia and Siberia—work we shall later examine in some detail. Present-day Orthodox monasticism displays great uniformity of underlying ideas. A great many specifically Oriental characteristics of asceticism, reminiscent of Hindu or Buddhist ascetic practices, have lingered on in Orthodox monasticism.
