Spiritual Exercises and Ascetic Praxis in Desert Monasticism
Spiritual Exercises and Ascetic Praxis in Desert Monasticism

Summary/Abstract: In this paper, we will highlight the question of the relationship between early monasticism and antique philosophy in late antiquity. In this sense, the spiritual exercise was played an essential role in this period. Thus, by using the expression “spiritual exercise” we introduced a distinction between two separate kinds of education – monastic and philosophical. In first section, we will point out that spiritual exercise was characteristic of the philosophical and monastic landscapes of late antiquity. But if the goal of antique philosophy is wisdom itself, the goal of desert monasticism is holiness. To be more specific, we will stress that the weight monastic education place on holiness rather than wisdom does not isolate monasticism from antique philosophy. Rather, the monk’s life accentuates the importance of recognizing a shared education that links the monasticism with its philosophical counterpart. From this perspective, desert monk displays a great familiarity with the antique wiser, so that he was by default understood as a Christian philosopher. In second part we will explore the relationship between spiritual grow and ascetic praxis. Desert teaching points out the need to control the passions to achieve a spiritual progress. The early monks understood the body as an ascetic environment for the training of the soul. In this context, we stress that the early monks cultivated holiness through rigorous ascetic efforts, and the purpose of this praxis was the spiritual transformation of the monk. Our conclusion is that there is a close relationship between the control of the body and spiritual progress. Briefly, desert monasticism represents a lived territory of holiness and spiritual elevation.

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