Staying in a Cell as an Element the Spiritual Tradition of a Cenobitic Monasticism of Egypt in IV AD

Abstract

This article examines the place of the ascetic practice — the monk’s sitting in the cell — in the spiritual tradition of Egyptian cenobitic monasticism at IV century. Analyzing the materials of the corpus «Pachomiana» and parallel sources, the author comes to the conclusion that the monk’s sitting in the cell taken same important place in the Egypt cenobitic monks’ spiritual tradition than in the hermit monks’ tradition. At the same time, the author notes that perception of sitting in the cell by cenobitic monks had its own originality: in particular, the virtue of obedience was placed by them above the sitting in the cell.