Levantine influence in Western monasticism

Abstract

Monasticism was born in Egypt and from there it moved to the West through Saint Athanasius and travelers who came to the East to  practice the monastic life and transfer it to the countries                              

Saint Benedict (480-547 AD) is considered the organizer of monastic life in Europe, as his monastic laws had a decisive role in the   development of the monastic system in Western Europe. He is credited with transforming monasticism from a state of contemplative and intellectual activity to social activity and from a state of isolation from society to a movement  An effective dynamic, as it helped spread the Christian religion throughout Europe, the Benedictine monasteries played an important role in preserving the Greek and Roman cultural heritage.

 Nevertheless, the Western monastic system did not maintain fixed rules and did not remain static, and this is evidence of the vitality of the Western monastic system, which was established for the service of society and humanity.

 For this reason, we wished to research the Eastern monasticism and the ways of its arrival to the European West through Saint Athanasius and the travelers and visitors who visited the East, and also exposed to the life of

Saint Benedict (480-547 AD), his monastic laws, and finally the civilizational aspects of the Western Benedictine monasticism.