Religion
‹ 8 · Outline · 10 ›
9.Monasticism, the religious orders and vows
9a.The contemplative and ascetic life
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 579–581Sumedha renounces wealth and body, becomes a hermit, and gains the Six High Powers through ascetic practice.read · scan
- p. 581Glosses enumerate the advantages of the monk's life and the defects of cloth garments for an anchorite.read · scan
- p. 581–582Glosses list the virtues of bark dress, tree-dwelling and the evils of a leaf-hut for the renunciant; Dipamkara's Buddhahood is announced.read · scan
- p. 582–583Glosses on the leaf-hut and tree dwelling virtues: freedom from possession, contentment and undisturbed meditation for the ascetic.read · scan
- p. 713–714Monks seek doctrinal discourse from the Buddha at monastery, in a setting of monastic life.read · scan
- p. 714–715Monks should either hold doctrinal discourse or keep a noble silence.read · scan
- p. 727–728Priest isolated from sensual pleasures enters the first trance and escapes Mara.read · scan
- p. 728–729Ascending stages of trance, each freeing the priest from Mara, from joy to the realm of neither perception nor non-perception.read · scan
- p. 729–730Final stage, cessation of perception and sensation, wastes away depravity and puts the priest beyond Mara and the world.read · scan
- p. 731–732The trance of cessation as a discipline; gradual cessation of karma and insight into transitoriness and lack of an Ego.read · scan
- p. 732Procedure of entering the trance of cessation, with preliminary duties: protecting belongings, respect for the Order, summons of the Teacher.read · scan
- p. 733Elder Naga sits in cessation unharmed by fire; the trance protects his person and the priest's duty to the Order.read · scan
- p. 733–734Monastic discipline: obedience to the Order and the Teacher governs the ascetic's practice of the trance of cessation.read · scan
- p. 734–735Ascetic progress through the eight attainments to cessation requires performing preliminary duties, illustrated by a simile of a traveler.read · scan
- p. 736–737The trance of cessation is prized by saints as Nirvana in this life, the mind inclining to isolation.read · scan
- p. 751–752Monastic residence, precepts, alms and respect toward the elder illustrate the mendicant religious life.read · scan
- p. 752–753Detachment from parents is praised as the ideal course of the great saints; the mother worships in admiration.read · scan
Paul, The First Epistle of Paul to the CorinthiansVol. 45
- p. 499The unmarried can attend upon the Lord without distraction, while the married care for worldly things.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 126–127Pontitianus, a Christian, finds Paul's epistles and tells of Antony the monk and monasteries, which Augustine and Alypius did not know.read · scan
- p. 127Reading Antony's life, a courtier resolves to serve God and renounce secular service; his companion follows and their brides vow virginity.read · scan
- p. 139He and friends are fired by charity and the examples of God's servants.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 104–105The sole survivor lives in prayer, fasting and reading the Kur'an.read · scan
- p. 324–325Emir Musa retires to Jerusalem to worship God and dies there.read · scan
- p. 419Fatimeh heals the sick by touch and prayer, and is a saintly ascetic whose clothes and rosary are stolen.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20
- p. 296–297Piccarda, a nun, is forcibly torn from the cloister and married; she commends her virginity to Christ before the crucifix.read · scan
- p. 328–329Argument announces Thomas Aquinas's account of St. Francis's life and character.read · scan
- p. 330–331St. Francis's birth and his mystical marriage to Poverty, the bride of Christ, founding a religious life of devotionread · scan
- p. 332Francis founds his order, followers go barefoot, receive papal approval and the stigmata; the flock later strays from his ruleread · scan
- p. 334–336Bonaventura celebrates St. Dominic and the religious orders in a second circle of glorified soulsread · scan
- p. 374Souls of holy retirement and contemplation are in Saturn; Piero Damiano denounces prelates' luxury.read · scan
- p. 376–377Monastic solitude of the hermit of the Apennines, olive-fare and contemplation.read · scan
- p. 379Benedict brought Christ's name to Cassino, reclaiming pagans from impious worship; the contemplative monks live in cloisters.read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 220Life in a religious community requires mortification, humility and enduring faithfulness; true religion lies in change of character, not outward dress.read · scan
- p. 221The holy fathers' prayer, fasting, contemplation and obedience are held up as models against present lukewarmness.read · scan
- p. 224–225Meditation on God's mercies and withdrawal from company; saints chose to live secretly with God.read · scan
- p. 269–270Gratitude for the grace of a religious life and contemplative sweetness.read · scan
- p. 270–272Praise of the service of God, renouncing worldly delights for consolation and spiritual liberty.read · scan
- p. 274–275Obedience and humility as religious discipline, grace lost by withdrawing from obedience.read · scan
- p. 297Self-renunciation and obedience to God and to one's spiritual father bring joy and peace.read · scan
- p. 316The faithful servant is tried by self-denial, mortification and obedience under authority.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 153–155Robin fears Our Lady is wroth for not sending his pay; the sheriff compares the outlaw life to a hermit's harsh order.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 147A hermit of a hundred years, his order's oath and vestments, mass and a conjuring over the dead monk's body.read · scan
- p. 209Healing by the spear's blood, the king's conversion to monastic life, and Galahad's prayers and vows.read · scan
- p. 211–213Percivale becomes a hermit living a holy life; Galahad's dying request that Launcelot remember this unstable world.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 224–229Utopian devotion: miracles honored, prayer, and two religious sects, celibate and married, both devoted to labour and service.read · scan
William Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas MoreVol. 36
- p. 89More lived in devotion and prayer at the Charterhouse for four years without vow.read · scan
- p. 114–125He praises penitential religious life against his own life of ease, seeing God taking the devout to everlasting fruition.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 92–93Contrasts the knight's austere life with the contemplative religious life of monks who pray for the world.read · scan
- p. 355Camilla stays in the monastery and professes as a religious after Lothario's death.read · scan
- p. 364Lucinda enters a monastery to escape marriage and Fernando snatches her from the cloister.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, Edward the SecondVol. 46
- p. 65–66The abbot and monks shelter the king; the contemplative life is called Heaven.read · scan
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, A Passion of My Lord of EssexVol. 40
- p. 287The hermit gives God praise and spends his days in holy contemplation.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 413Valdesso and Emperor Charles V, moved by a sermon on contempt of the world, renounce worldly life for contemplation and monastic life.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 45The King will retire to a cloister to make peace in penitence and prayer.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 46–47A septuagenarian lady lives as a nun, giving her estate to charity, daily confession, crucifix and picture of St. Veronica.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 48–49Capuchin collector begs alms for the convent and the women greet him piously.read · scan
- p. 49–51Capuchins beg and distribute alms; the friars' humility brings them both reverence and contempt.read · scan
- p. 54Capuchin friar's tonsure, abstinence and lowliness; he had taken a new name from his baptismal one.read · scan
- p. 59–60The friars shelter and tend him, and a dying father brings the dying man's pardon.read · scan
- p. 61Ecclesiastical authorities guard the convent's rights of asylum.read · scan
- p. 61He takes the monastic habit at thirty.read · scan
- p. 62–63Ludovico takes the habit and enters his novitiate, with humility.read · scan
- p. 65–66He keeps the novice's silence and thinks of labors and humiliations to undergo.read · scan
- p. 66–67The friar's cloistral duties of preaching and attending the dying, and the women's blessing on him.read · scan
- p. 129–130Father Cristoforo shelters the fugitives in the convent church; his sanctity persuades the friar to bend the rule.read · scan
- p. 138Guardian answers Cristoforo's letter with pity, promising a secure, honourable retreat until God provides.read · scan
- p. 139Convent life, the nun behind a grated window, and the guardian's instruction on humble behavior.read · scan
- p. 141–142Convent asylum sought through Capuchin friars; protection framed as service to God.read · scan
- p. 162–163Conversation extols the cloister's blessed life against the world's snares as she is brought to the monastery.read · scan
- p. 171Christianity offers guidance and repose to all, making an irrevocable choice a sanctified, cheerful calling.read · scan
- p. 172Consolations of religion cannot be had while clinging to worldly ones; the sisters' piety reproves her.read · scan
- p. 270–271The note describes the monastic order of Brothers of death, its constitutions and its burial rites and masses.read · scan
- p. 296–297The convent as a sacred, guarded asylum, and the friar's obedience to the Father provincial in sending Cristoforo away.read · scan
- p. 297–298Friar defends monastic obedience without reasons and says the order serves the whole world through charity; Cristoforo as great preacher.read · scan
- p. 306–307The Provincial defends the friar as exemplary and cites the order's office of recalling those who have gone astray.read · scan
- p. 307–308Provincial praises the glory of the religious habit and his duty as superior to correct a friar.read · scan
- p. 510Capuchin friars serve as confessors, nurses and superintendents in the plague hospital.read · scan
- p. 525–526Father Michele, a friar, uses his habit and words to rally peasants and clear the city of corpses within days.read · scan
- p. 581Father Cristoforo, a Capuchin, makes the sign of the cross over his food and works among the sick.read · scan
- p. 582–583Cristoforo, a Capuchin friar, sacrifices his life tending plague victims; his eye shines with Charity near its source.read · scan
- p. 583–584The friar attends the sick out of charity and cares for the poor; Renzo speaks of God's sending him.read · scan
- p. 588Capuchin's habit and ministry to the afflicted; God's pardon and mercy.read · scan
John Keats, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 883–884The Beadsman's freezing prayers, rosary and penance on St. Agnes' Eve show devout, ascetic piety.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 242Christianity as reaction against Paganism, making an idol of asceticism and motivating virtue by heaven and hell.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 154Abbeys spread Christian sanctity over the heathen wilderness of Domremy.read · scan
Ernest Renan, The Poetry of the Celtic RacesVol. 32
- p. 164–166Parsifal becomes an ecclesiastical hero through religious enthusiasm and chastity; prose versions distinguish earthly from mystical chivalry and make Parceval a monk.read · scan
- p. 173Irish monasticism and a mythological, sacramental cult attached to places; Church tolerated popular religious fantasy.read · scan
- p. 175Brandan's monastic voyage: miracles, masses with birds, and an ideal monastic life on the Isle of Delight.read · scan
Hippolyte Taine, Introduction to the History of English LiteratureVol. 39
- p. 412Depicts the Indian ascetic's meditation and hope of absorption in Being to interpret the Purana.read · scan
Sidney Lanier, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1390–1391Woods are cells for the pleasure of prayer and the weighing of ill with good, with saints seeming to pass.read · scan
9b.Religious vows and their dispensation
See also: Duty 9b · Will 3b
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 952–953Vow, dedication, prayer and devotion: Mary is raised in God's care and told to be devout and bow down.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20
- p. 293Piccarda, a nun compelled to break her religious vows, dwells in the moon's sphere.read · scan
- p. 293–296Vows of religious life neglected and made void explain her lower station.read · scan
- p. 301Vows as a covenant with God; the offering may be exchanged but the covenant binds, and the Church dispenses.read · scan
- p. 301–304Warns Christians not to take vows at random but to keep them; the Old and New Testaments and the Church suffice as guide.read · scan
- p. 318–319Men perversely strain to religion one born to wield the sword, straying from the path.read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 222–223Renewing vows and resolutions daily, and holy exercises, as the way of progress in the Christian life.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 301Monastic vows, especially chastity, are criticised against Christ's teaching and true service of God.read · scan
- p. 333–334Men enter priesthood or monasteries for a livelihood; Luther advises no vow of chastity before thirty and stresses trust in God.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 83–84Marriage as Church bond; vow by a saint to become a Capuchin monk.read · scan
- p. 356The lackey supposes the lady is or will be a nun against her will.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 98Superstition and vows make votaries as firm as butchers; penance of monks shows custom and devotion.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 387He keeps his vow to God to rebuild the church.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, LettersVol. 48
- p. 341–342Sister's profession at Port Royal; marriage judged vile in God's sight, virginity piousread · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 149Nuns induce her to bind herself for ever with least consciousness of what she does, treating the memorial as mere formality.read · scan
- p. 157Taking the veil is presented as the honourable, chosen course for her.read · scan
- p. 164Monastic profession and the Abbess's duty to warn of excommunication if the vocation is forced.read · scan
- p. 167–169The priest's formal examination of a novice's vocation, acting as tempter to test her resolve.read · scan
- p. 170Election by the nuns, novitiate and profession of vows follow a formal process.read · scan
- p. 389Lucia renews her vow to the Virgin with prayer, viewing repentance as sacrilegious ingratitude; her struggle is likened to a wounded victor's.read · scan
- p. 392–393Piety and her vow to God strengthen Lucia; she resolves to keep her promise made in return for reunion with her mother.read · scan
- p. 428–429Lucia discloses her vow to the Madonna and trusts the Lord; Agnese recalls punishments for broken vows and dares not murmur against Heaven.read · scan
- p. 429–430Lucia submits to God's will, invokes the Madonna, asks her mother's prayers, and treats her vow as binding her forever.read · scan
- p. 438–440Lucia's vow is relayed, with advice that Renzo set his heart at rest.read · scan
- p. 440–441Renzo argues the Madonna would not encourage breaking one's word, so Lucia's vow cannot hold; Lucia turns to prayer.read · scan
- p. 598–599Lucia holds her vow to the Madonna binding; Renzo argues the Madonna wants no promises that injure others.read · scan
- p. 599–600Lucia insists on the sacredness of her vow and bids Renzo pray; both look to Father Cristoforo.read · scan
- p. 602–603Lucia invokes the Virgin; Renzo argues the merciful Madonna would not delight in their suffering for a rash word.read · scan
- p. 605Renzo dismisses Lucia's vow to the Madonna as heated fancy; Cristoforo says only that they must pray.read · scan
- p. 606–607Cristoforo examines Lucia's vow to the Madonna and the Church's authority to release obligations to God.read · scan
- p. 607–608Cristoforo, using the Church's powers, absolves Lucia from her vow of virginity, saying God joined the lovers.read · scan
9c.Corruption of monks and friars
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 96An order of knightly friars sworn to defend widows and orphans, yet devoted to enjoyment.read · scan
- p. 112He became a Franciscan hoping to make amends; the pope shows disregard for his sacred office.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20
- p. 332–333Follower of Francis's rule will thrive if not swollen with vanity; the order's decay and rule discussedread · scan
- p. 338–339Few followers still observe Francis's rule; rigor and laxity in the order; roll of great churchmenread · scan
- p. 378Devout contemplatives; St. Benedict inveighs against monastic corruption.read · scan
- p. 379–381St. Benedict laments the corruption of monasteries and monks, contrasting the poverty of Peter, Benedict and Francis with monastic worldliness.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 12The worldly Monk sets aside the strict monastic rule as old, scorning the text against hunting monks, and loves hunting and luxury.read · scan
- p. 12–17The Friar hears confession pleasantly and sells easy penance for gifts, treating a gift to the poor order as a sign of repentance.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 142The jest to make beggars monks and nuns mocks the idleness of religious orders.read · scan
- p. 142The friar, mocked as a vagabond, defends himself with scripture, zeal and papal bulls, satirizing clerical pride.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 299Luther urges reducing mendicant orders and relieving monks of preaching and confession, which breed hatred with priests.read · scan
- p. 300–301Luther attacks monastic orders and outward rules and works as hypocrisy that obscures true Christian faith and spiritual life.read · scan
- p. 313–314Mendicant orders burden the people; only priests may live by others' goods for spiritual work.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 209A friar imprisoned as a Lutheran expounds Savonarola's sermons, yet is morally corrupt.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 231–232Decay of parish churches blamed on appropriations to monasteries, called a canker and enemy to religion.read · scan
- p. 233Monks praised for founding boroughs though pretending to be separated from the world.read · scan
- p. 233–234Monastic corruption and wickedness condemned.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 63The Benedictine friars, taken for devilish men, protest that they are religious men about their affairs.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor FaustusVol. 19
- p. 230–231Mephistophilis mocks friars whose summum bonum is belly-cheer, and Faustus plans to make sport of the Pope's court by invisibility.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 308–309Monastic failings do not disprove God's care for the Church; scandals were foretold like the false prophets among the Jews.read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34
- p. 141–142Satirizes Italian religion as extravagant comedy under the Inquisition, with idle priests and beggared monks praying from idleness.read · scan
- p. 143–144Ridicules idle cloistered devotees and mystics as useless.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 233–234Gothic gloom is mocked as the monkish notion of true devotion.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 105–106Count mocks Father Cristoforo's supposed conversion of Don Rodrigo, parodying a friar's sermon and penitence as a trophy for the convent.read · scan
- p. 158–159Her uncle jokes that she will lead a religious life and go to heaven in her carriage.read · scan
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