<\/a>

Fr. Peter-Michael Preble<\/p><\/div>Source: Fr. Peter-Michael Preble blog<\/a> | Fr. Peter-Michael Preble<\/p>\n

In 369 AD St. Basil the great was a newly ordained priest ministering in and around the area of Constantinople. That year a drought hit followed by famine as the crops had all dried up. He delivered four homilies that have been complied in the book \u201cOn Social Justice\u201d that spoke to the heart of how people act in these times of dire physical suffering. Many of the themes from these homilies are repeating themselves today as they have throughout history.<\/p>\n

St. Basil had a vision of a new social order based upon simplicity of life and sharing rather than competition and private ownership. He had a vision for what would be called \u201cthe new city.\u201d <\/p>\n

Part of this new city would be an engaged monasticism, a monastic vision that was more urban than rural, a monasticism, which has at its very heart, service to the poor. He had a vision for what would be called the Basiliad, a complex of buildings where the poor and needy would come and find support and rest. Medical care would be provided by skilled physicians and food and clothing would be provided. But it was also to be a worship center with church services and a chapel. A place to truly live out the gospel message of \u201clove of neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The monks would practice the practical trades like carpentry and blacksmithing and the money generated from those trades would be used to support the work of the Basiliad. In his sermon, “In Time of Famine and Drought\u201d (in: On Social Justice<\/a>” title=”On Social Justice”>On Social Justice) he speaks of this new community not as a new kind of charitable institution but a place where a new set of relationships would be formed. A new social order that would both anticipate and participate in the creation of \u201ca new heaven and a new earth where justice dwells.\u201d St. Basil used his vision of the first church at Jerusalem as an example, \u201cLet us zealously imitate the early Christian community, where everything was held in common \u2013 life, soul, concord, a common table, individual kinship \u2013 while unfeigned love constituted many bodies as one and joined by many souls into a single harmonious whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the 20th century and we find the writings of St. Mother Maria of Paris. I don\u2019t think there is a saint that has influenced my thoughts on monasticism more than she has. Mother Maria saw the need for monasticism in the Orthodox Church, and as I have often said the church is at her best when monasticism is present in the Church, but as we have had to adapt the church to the new world monasticism needs to be adapted to the new world. Mother Maria, and I for that matter, does not believe that traditional monasticism can work in America, well not all aspects of it anyway.<\/p>\n