Early in the morning long before dawn, Jesus got up and went off to a lonely place to pray (Mark 1:35).  Here, sandwiched in the midst of a busy life we find Jesus rising early in the morning and entering a prayerful solitude.  By this example he pointed the way to a life many would choose to follow throughout the centuries. 

During the first three centuries of Christianity men and women embraced lives of solitude in their personal pursuits of wholeness and closer connections with the divine.  The common threads in their lives were prayer, fasting and care of the poor.  Although this movement was widespread in the Christian world, probably the most documented and well known of the early monastics were the Desert Father and Mothers in Egypt and the surrounding desert regions. 

Antony the Abbot (251-356), sometimes called Antony the Great is considered the patriarch of the monks of the West.  Born into a Christian family in Upper Egypt, Antony lost both parents before the age of 20 and was left with considerable wealth.  Shortly thereafter he was inspired by these words from scripture, Go sell what you have, give it to the poor and you shall have riches in heaven (Mark 10:21).  Antony responded by giving his best land to neighbors, selling the remainder and giving his profits to the poor.  Then, motivated by the example of a local hermit, he retreated into a solitude of prayer, fasting, reading and manual labor.  He also sought out virtuous and learned men as teachers and soon became a model of humility, charity and prayerfulness himself.  In 305, after 32 years of solitude and prayer, Antony founded his first monastery at Fayum in Egypt. 

Another great figure of this period was Pachomius (292-348).  Also born in Egypt but of non-Christian parents, he was pressed into military service where, attracted by the lives led by Christian soldiers, he converted.  He became a hermit and eventually attracted a number of followers.  Though never ordained, St. Pachomius refined this movement into an organized monastic practice and is now regarded as a key father of cenobitic monasticism; a life dedicated to finding God in community.  At the time of his death in 348, there were some 3000 monks and nuns in the nine monasteries and two convents he governed. 
IMAGES OF A PACHOMIAN MONASTERY

Saint Basil of Ceasarea (329-379) is another key figure in the development of Christian monasticism.  He was born in Cappadocia (now Turkey).  Known as the Father of Eastern Monasticism, Basil's reforming zeal and monastic guidelines brought organization to the groups of ascetics living in community.

This early period of monastic history ended with the appearance of St. Benedict of Nursia, Italy (480-547).  While still a young man, Benedict was sent to Rome to complete his education but was soon repelled by the self-centered lifestyle of Roman society.  He went off to live in solitude, eventually making his way to Subiaco where he lived in a mountain cave for three years.  Word of Benedict's spiritual commitment spread and many disciples sought him out to live under his direction.  Grouping these followers into small communities of about a dozen men, he dispersed them around the countryside.  Benedict and his followers eventually moved to an area now known as Monte Cassino south of Rome.  It was here that Benedict brought the monks together under one roof and one rule. 

This rule or guideline for monastic practice was codified as the Rule for Monasteries or, more commonly, the Rule of St. Benedict.  It is based on Benedict's experiences and his extensive reading of the Desert Fathers, St. Augustine, St. Basil, St. Pachomius and John Cassian.  The Rule of St. Benedict also clearly reflects familiarity with an earlier set of monastic guidelines written by an anonymous author and known as the Rule of the Master.

In the Eleventh Century a series of reforms swept the monastic world.  Some of the monks who followed the Rule of St. Benedict (Benedictines) wanted to return to the original, austere discipline of the Desert Fathers and a more original and pure interpretation of Benedict's Rule for Monasteries.  Among them were St. Romuald of Cluny who founded the Camaldolese, and St. Bruno who founded the Carthusians.  Both religious orders continue to flourish today. 

Another reform led to the founding of the Cistercians.  In 1098, Robert of Molesmes, the abbot of a Benedictine monastery in Burgundy, led a band of twenty-one monks to Citeaux where he established a new, reformed monastery.  These monks envisioned living in true poverty, totally independent of the secular world with greater fidelity to the Rule of St. Benedict. 

In 1112, an extraordinary period of expansion in the Cistercian order began with the entry in Citeaux of many noble and literate clerics and laymen led by Bernard of Clairvaux.  Bernard was a highly prolific writer and highly influential thinker who served as counselor to both the church and secular leaders of his day.  Under his influence foundations multiplied as monasteries were founded at Le Ferte, Pontigny, Morimund and Clairvaux where Bernard became abbot.  By 1140, ten new foundations were being established each year and by 1150 this number increased to twenty.  At the time of Bernard's death in 1153 there were 339 Cistercian Monasteries. 

The rapid expansion motivated the establishment of organizational structures and spiritual practices that remained permanent within the Cistercian Order.  Foremost among these structures was the General Chapter guided by the Charter of Charity.  This guiding charter of the Cistercian Order is grounded in the spiritual principle, "Owe no one anything except to love one another" (Rom. 13:8)

Below you can see a video of the Abbey of Clairvaux in France.  The video is in French.

While the twelfth century is viewed as the Cistercian's Golden Age of rapid expansion, over time, signs of decline in monastic discipline once again appeared.  And once again a series of reforms developed in response to this perceived decline.  One notable reform movement of the 1600's was led by Abbe de Rance at the Abbey of La Trappe in France.  De Rance was well educated and possessed a keen understanding of both Eastern and Western monasticism.  He brought a powerful personality and skills as a polemicist and spiritual writer to the reform movement.  In order to combat the excesses of the time, he sought to restore the rigors of monasticism's earlier age.  La Trappe's reform emphasized a monastic austerity beyond the balanced approach of St. Benedict.  The monks at La Trappe became known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO) or Trappists.