Nuns

We've learned a lot about monks now, from famous monks to how and where they lived for hudnreds of years.

Monks through history were only men, but when women lived the same kind of life, they were called Nuns.
Many people believe the name Nun came from the word for grandmother "Nonna".

Just like Monks, Nuns usually live away from other people, only living with other Nuns.


(from: wikipedia - nun)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jacob

Mount Athos

We just learned about the Bruno of Cologne and the Chartreuse Monastery.

Another place where monks live is Mount Athos in Greece, known as the Holy Mountain.

For hundreds of years monks have lived in monasteries on this mountain, through all the wars and changes in the world, and today there are still 20 different monasteries there.


(from: wikipedia - stavronikita)



(from: wikipedia - osiou gregoriou monastery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Esau

Bruno of Cologne

We just learned about Benedict of Nursia who wrote The Rule of Saint Benedict.

Another famous monk is Bruno of Cologne.

Bruno started off as a leader in the church, but then decided that he wanted to live like a hermit, or a heremitic monk.


(from: wikipedia - bruno of cologne)

He started a monastery in the Chartreuse mountains in France with a couple of other monks living separately in log cabins.


(from: wikipedia - grande chartreuse)

His monastery became very famous and lasted a long time, and the monks there started a group called the Carthusian Order, with rules for how everyone should live, and a motto "The Cross is steady while the world is turning"


(from: wikipedia - carthusians)

Hundreds of years later, the Chartreuse monastery made a special type of drink called Chartreuse, that is green and yellow.
This drink was so well known for its green-yellow color, that the word chartreuse is now the name for a green-yellow color.

(from: wikipedia - chartreuse (liqueur))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rebekah

Benedict of Nursia

We just learned about the Mar Saba, the monastery in Bethlehem.

Another monk from history is Benedict of Nursia.

Saint Benedict helped set up 12 different monasteries throughout Italy.

He also wrote a very famous book called The Rule of Saint Benedict.

This was a long book that gave instructions for how monks should live together.
It has everything from what they should eat, how they should work, where they should sleep, and how they should act toward each other and the people in the community.

One of the most important rules for monks was to be humble, and they had 12 rules for how to be humble:

"(1) Fear God, (2) Subordinate one's will to the will of God; (3) Be obedient to one's superior; (4) Be patient amid hardships; (5) Confess one's sins; (6) Accept the meanest of tasks, and hold oneself as a "worthless workman"; (7) Consider oneself "inferior to all"; (8) Follow examples set by superiors; (9) Do not speak until spoken to; (10) Do not readily laugh; (11) Speak simply and modestly; and (12) Express one's inward humility through bodily posture."


(from: wikipedia - benedict of nursia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Isaac

Mar Saba

We just learned about Mar Agwin, the Monk who helped spread Christianity to the east.

A famous monastery in Bethlehem is called Mar Saba, built in the year 483.

This monastery brought many of the monks of the Judean Desert together, and was known as the mother of all monasteries of the Eastern churches.



(from: wikipedia - mar saba)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sarah

Mar Agwin

We just learned about the Theodore the Studite and his iconoclasm.

Another famous monk was Mar Awgin.

He was one of the first monks to make a monastery in the east, and spread the way of the monks into Asia, even as far as India and China.

His most famous monastery is in Mt. Izla.


(from: wikipedia - mar agwin)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Abraham

Theodore the Studite

We just learned about the Ladder of Divine Ascent with 30 steps to follow to be a good Christian.

Another famous Monks was Theodore the Studite.

He was a monk in the city of Constantinople, which was the city in charge of all of the churches at the time.
Theodore was the first monk to say that there should be no slavery.
He also fought against the church using paintings called "icons", that were of Jesus or the apostles or other famous followers.
Instead of these icons he said they should use symbols like the cross.
There was a big argument with other church people, and it had a big name called the iconoclasm.


(from: wikipedia - theodore the studite)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Noah

Ladder of Divine Ascent

We just learned about the Lavra caves for monks.

Another part of the life of monks was a writing called the Ladder of Divine Ascent.

This was a book that gave people some rules and ideas about things they should do to be better servants of God.

There were 30 steps to the ladder, and they covered things like obeying God, asking for forgiveness, not doing bad things, not thinking you are better than other people, and inner peace.

Many monks read these words and tried to follow them to be better servants.


(from: wikipedia - ladder of divine ascent)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Abel

Lavra

We just learned about the Cenobitic Monks that lived in monastaries.

Another part of the monk's lives was a Lavra.

Some of the monks that were not exactly hermit or cenobitic monks would live in bunch of caves near each other, with a church in the middle of all the caves.

This bunch of caves was called a lavra.


(from: wikipedia - lavra)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cain

Cenobitic Monks

We just learned about the Eremetic Monks.

The eremetic monks were hermits that mostly lived alone.
Another type of monks were the cenobitic monks who lived with other people.
The word cenobitic comes from the Greek words κοινός βίος (koinos bios), which means common life.
Cenobitic monks live in places like monasteries, and sometimes would even live in cities where they would help build churches and help out the community.
They just lived in the monastery where they prayed and worshiped with other monks.


(from: wikipedia - cenobitic monasticism)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Eve

Eremitic Monks

We just learned about the Basil of Cecarea.

Some of the monks we've learned about were people that mostly lived alone in the desert.
Paul of Thebes and Anthony the Great were some of the first well known monks who lived like this.

The Greek word ἐρημίτης (erēmitēs) means "of the desert", and that is where the word "hermit" came from.
Hermits, or eremetic monks, were some of the first people to live alone worshipping God every day, and became some of the first monks.


(from: wikipedia - hermit)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Adam

Basil of Cecarea

We just learned about the Pachomius the Great.

Another famous Monk was Basil of Cecarea.

Basil was born into a rich family, but his father was killed for being a Christian.
He was raised by his mother and went to school, but when he got older he gave money to the poor, and made a place where he and others could study and worship God, like a monastery.
A lot of people liked him and asked him for wisdom, and he also worked very hard to try and talk to people who were having problems in life, and tell them that they should be good and believe in God.


(from: wikipedia - basil of caesarea)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lily Crucifix

Pachomius the Great

We just learned about the Desert Fathers.

Another famous monk was Pachomius the Great.

He started out as a soldier in the Roman army, and one time he met some Christians who came out and gave food and comfort to the soldiers.
He left the army and went to live near the hermit Anthony the Great.

During that time, many monks or hermits just lived alone in huts or caves.
Pachomius had the idea to have people live near each other, so they could get together to worship and pray.

He started one of the first monastaries at Tabenna in Egypt.

(from: wikipedia - pachomius the great)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Elemental Symbols

Desert Fathers

We just learned about the monk Macarius of Egypt.

The monks that lived in the desert, trying to survive on very little food, and studying God's wisdom were known as Desert Fathers.

Anthony the Great and Macarius of Egypt were both in the group, and people would write down some of the wise sayings that the Desert Fathers told people, and they made a book of them called "Sayings of the Fathers".


(from: wikipedia - desert fathers)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Paul's Letter to the Ephesians

Macarius of Egypt

We just learned about the famous hermit Anthony the Great.

Another monk from history was Macarius of Egypt.

He grew up and was married in Egypt, but then his wife passed away, and later his parents also died so he was alone.
He gave all of his money to the poor, and went to live in the desert alone.
One day he met Anthony the Great, who helped him learn to live out in the desert and how to be a monk or a hermit.

(from: wikipedia - macarius of egypt)


Macarius went on to help other people who wanted to give everything they had to the poor and live alone, and he created one of the first Christian monasteries, that is still around today in the country of Egypt.


(from: wikipedia - monastary of saint macarius the great)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Anchor

Anthony the Great

We just learned about the first monk, Paul of Thebes.

Another famous hermit also known as a monk was Anthony the Great.

Just like Paul of Thebes, he lost his parents at a young age.

He decided to give everything he had away, so he sold his land to his neighbors, gave the money to the poor, and then went off into the desert to live alone.

Legends spread that he was a wise person, so people would come to him and bring him food and ask for advice.
After a while, some other people decided that they wanted to live away from other people just like him, so he helped them learn how to live in the wilderness, pray and be wise.
These people are thought of as some of the first groups of monks living near each other.


(from: wikipedia - anthony the great)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pelican

Paul of Thebes

We just learned a little about Monks.

Some famous people from the Bible like Elijah and John the Baptist were known to go live off in the wilderness by themselves, praying and living in nature.

The first person to be known as a hermit or a monk was Paul of Thebes.

A long time after Jesus died on the cross, there were people around who did not like followers of Jesus.
When Paul of Thebes was young, his parents died.
He was afraid that people who did not like Christians were going to come after him, so he ran away into the desert.
He found a cave in the desert with a water stream nearby and a fruit tree, and lived there alone praying and worshiping for almost a hundred years.


(from: wikipedia - paul of thebes)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Peacock

Monks

We've learned a lot about the book of Proverbs.

Through the years, many Christians have become monks.

Monks are people who live all by themselves, study the Bible, try to live good lives, and usually help give back to the communities.

The word monk comes from the Greek word "monachos" or "monos" which means alone.

The first monks just were all by themselves, but later groups of monks started to live together in places called monasteries.


(from: wikipedia - christian monasticism)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dove

Proverbs 21 - Righteousness and Justice

We just learned about Proverbs 19 - The purpose of the Lord.

Another famous Proverb is Proverbs 21.


To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice..

In the times of the Old Testament, people would sacrifice burnt offerings of animals to God as ways to ask for forgiveness.
This Proverb says that God would rather have people do the right thing than have to ask for forgiveness!


(from: wikipedia - bible)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Good Shepherd

Proverbs 19 - The purpose of the Lord

We just learned about Proverbs 18 - The name of the Lord.

Another famous chapter in the Book of Proverbs is Proverbs 19.

This book gives a lot of wisdom about being foolish, telling the truth, and living with others.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.


(from: wikipedia - solomon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Iota Chi - IX Monogram