Chapter IV.
Of the three sorts of monks which there are in
Egypt.
Wherefore
you should
first hear how or whence the system and beginning of our order took its
rise. For only then can a man at all effectually be trained in any art
he may wish, and be urged on to practise it diligently, when he has
learnt the glory of its authors and founders. There are three kinds of
monks in Egypt, of which two are admirable, the third is a poor sort of
thing and by all means to be avoided. The first is that of the
Cœnobites
, who live together in a congregation and are
governed by the direction of a single Elder: and of this kind there is
the largest number of monks dwelling throughout the whole of Egypt. The
second is that of the
anchorites
, who were first trained in the
Cœnobium and then being made perfect in practical life chose the
recesses of the desert: and in this order we also hope to gain a place.
The third is the reprehensible one of the
Sarabaites
.
2074
And of these we will discourse more fully
one by one in order. Of these three orders then you ought, as we said,
first to know about the founders. For at once from this there may arise
either a hatred for the order which is to be avoided, or a longing for
that which is to be followed, because each way is sure to carry the man
who follows it, to that end which its author and discoverer has
reached.
2074
See the note on c.
vii.