The importance of staying in a cell for the spiritual life of a monk according to the teachings of “Apoрhtegmata Patrum”

Abstract

This article contains an analysis of some aspects of the idea, that prevailed in early Egyptian monasticism, about spiritual signifi cance one of the ascetic practices — the monk’s sitting in the cell. It’s known that the cell occupied an exclusive position in the life of Egyptian hermits: their prayer life, exploits, and mystical contemplations were associated with it. Cell was perceived not only as earthly hou sing, but also as a sacred place, a place of meeting and communication with God. This exclusive attitude to the cell was refl ected in the monuments of monastic literature, in particular, in the «Apophthegmata Patrum» considered in the article. Analyzing the work of monastic literature, the author of the article seeks, firstly, to identify and reveal the key elements of the tradition of comprehension of sitting in the cell, and, secondly, to find in the views of the studied authors individual traits, those are unique to them,and show the relationship of these elements with each other.