Ascetic Life
This word means a lifestyle that focuses on spiritual goals and ignores worldly pleasures.
What is asceticism?
He is called the “Father of Monks” and went into the Egyptian desert to live a solitary life.
Who is St. Anthony (the Great)?
This English word for a monk comes from a Greek word meaning “solitary” or “isolated.”
What is monk (from monos)?
This Apostle is known as the Apostle to India.
Who is St. Thomas?
This Christian Church in India traces its origins directly to St. Thomas the Apostle.
What is the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church?
These three “pillars of spiritual life” are central to Orthodox Christian ascetic practice.
What are fasting, prayer, and charity?
St. Anthony was inspired by this Gospel command: “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
What is Jesus’ words to the rich man in Matthew 19:21?
This Syriac word means “a special place where monks live, practicing asceticism, withdrawn from the world.”
What is dhayara (monastery)?
Around this year, St. Thomas is believed to have landed near modern‑day Kochi in Kerala.
What is about AD 52?
This 1599 event forced many Indian Christians to accept the authority of the Pope of Rome.
What is the Synod of Diamper?
In Orthodoxy, this group (married, unmarried, or both) is called to the ascetic lifestyle.
Who are both married and unmarried Christians?
This saint promoted the communal cenobitic monastic life and founded monasteries in Egypt.
Who is St. Pachomius?
This type of monk lives alone in the wilderness as a hermit, like some of the Desert Fathers
What is an anchorite?
St. Thomas was martyred at this place near present‑day Chennai.
What is Mylapore?
This famous 1653 event was a public vow rejecting Portuguese dominance over the Saint Thomas Christians.
What is the Coonan Cross Oath (Koonan Kurishu Satyam)?
Asceticism is practiced to battle against these three things in a disciplined way.
What are Satan, bad habits, and immoral desires?
This saint, sister of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa, helped found a women’s monastery and is remembered for her self‑discipline.
Who is St. Macrina?
This type of monastic life involves a structured community under an abbot, sharing a common house and rule.
What is cenobitic life?
St. Thomas first preached here, among communities that already existed before Christianity in Kerala.
Who are the Jewish colonies in South India?
In 1912, this office was (re)established in India, making the Malankara Church self‑governing.
What is the Catholicate of the East?
This is the ultimate goal of asceticism in the Orthodox Church.
What is preparing for the Kingdom of God by living a godly life?
One Desert Father said this is “the straight and narrow way”: to do violence to this and cut off this.
What is to do violence to one’s thoughts and cut off one’s own will?
Early monks typically took these three vows.
What are obedience, poverty, and celibacy?
This city’s council in the 4th century had a bishop named John representing Persia and India.
What is the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea?
This Metropolitan, known as “Malankara Sabha Bhasuran,” strongly defended the Church’s freedom and helped lead to the establishment of the Catholicate.
Who is Vattasseril Geevarghese Mar Dionysius?