Unknown Pilgrims

SR No.: 007014
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: N Shanta
Publisher: Sri Satguru Publications Delhi
Publication Year: 1997
Total Pages: 820
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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The Unknown Pilgrims
society did not shrink from laying down their lives as martyrs in blood-stained sacrifice, for love of Him and in imitation of Him.10 Once the period of persecution was past, consecration to God in the state of virginity made its appearance among women as a form of martyrdom, a martyrdom of desire through the total offering of the person. Virginity is here the sign both of mytical union with Christ and also of immortality, for through this consecration of their persons virgins no longer belong to this world, they are in a state that transcends time and anticipates the beatific vision. Moreover, in the same way as widows who had already formed their own associations, they too were at the service of God and of the Church. There came into being women avowedly virgin both in East and West. They lived, as a rule, in their own families, though some were recluses. The Fathers of the Church attached great importance to the state of virginity and were constantly concerned to guide and protect virgins.11
Later on, beginning in the IVth century, we find a strong ascetical movement, occuring first in Egypt and Syria and spreading from there throughout both East and West. This movement soon established itself and patterned its structures according to differing tendencies within its spirituality and mode of life.
What is a monk? A nun?
The Greek word monos, which means alone, solitary, has given rise to a whole range of words such as monachos (monk), monastria (nun).12 The idea of solitude attached to this word does not mean that a monk or nun lives of necessity an eremitical life, though that is certainly the case for certain ones, but that they are separate from the
10 Cf. e.g. "La passion des saintes Felicité et Perpétue" and "Martyre de Marthe" in Quéré-Jaulmes, 1968, pp. 194-210; 213-218.
11 Among the most important treatises on the subject of virginity we may mention the one attributed to St Athanasius (Aubineau, 1955, pp. 140-173; Bardy, 1936, col. 1047-1052); also the well-known work of St Gregory of Nyssa (Aubineau, 1966).
12 Other words for nuns are: monaxousa, monachoūsa, monach'; cf. Cabrol, 1967, p.781.