Coptic monasticism

Coptic monasticism is a voluntary Christian spiritual way of life that originated early on in Christian history within the Coptic Orthodox Church and which is still practiced today. It aims to permit a deeper connection with God through asceticism, hard work, detachment from material things, and a life of prayer free from external distractions.

It is said to be the original form of monasticism. Anthony the Great became the first one to be called "monk" (Ancient Greek: μοναχός), and was the first to establish a Christian monastery—now known as the Monastery of Saint Anthony at the base of Mount Colzim.

The Monastery of Saint Anthony is the oldest Christian monastery in the world.

Although Anthony's way of life was focused on solitarity, Pachomius the Great, a Copt from Upper Egypt, established cenobitic monasticism in his monasteries in Upper Egypt, which laid the basic monastic structure for many of the monasteries today in many monastic orders even outside of Coptic Orthodoxy.

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