WHAT IS A MONK’S JOB? For many early monastic leaders and ascetic theorists, the job of a Christian monk was the self-work of ascetic disciplines: fasting, prayer, sexual renunciation, obedience, and voluntary poverty. Undertaken alone or in community, these ascetic (i.e., self-denying) “labors” enabled monks to develop the virtues of humility, spiritual insight, and … Continue reading Monks at Work