What was the appeal of becoming a monk instead of going all the way and becoming a priest? And what was the appeal of becoming a nun?
>>18501017Sleepovers and pillow fights
>>18501017Fucking off from society has always been appealing it's just frowned upon nowadays
Priests are supposed to work to bring the spiritual world into secular world, the appeal of monastic life is to leave the secular world for a spiritual one. They are two very different things.
>And what was the appeal of becoming a nun?Historically it was an option to be supported as a woman outside being dependent on having a family. It must have been an appealing way of life for spinsters and widows.
>>18501017a priest has to deal with people
>>18501503this. plus he must be able to sing those parts of the Mass that need singing, and has to be able to calculate the date of Easter. both were serious stumbling blocks.
>>18501017Ok so, imagine you are poor as fuck: you have no job, no food, no way of income, medieval merchant banks are paranoid as fuck to not go bankrupt (it happened anyway but whatever) so they are not going to lend you a single cent because they were informed that you stole a single piece of bread when you were 10 so you are unreliable.What do you do? You can't afford to become a priest because it's too expensive and that place is reserved for the second son of a noble anyway, so you become part of the institutionalised poors: they are poors so you will still be poor, but at least you are going to be poor with a roof on your head and some food, which is already a huge step forward.
>>18501017MGTOWMonks Going Their Own Way
>>18501017>And what was the appeal of becoming a nun?Whore daughters who may or may not have gotten preggers got dumped into monasteries.
Priests have to deal with regular people problems, a public ministry.A big part of monasticism is cutting yourself off from the world as much as possible to focus intensely on God. They are cloistered.
>>18501532>YWN hang out with the boys, all of you working through the day at something you find meaningful that contributes to the group, or studying something that matters to you, knowing that after evening prayers you're going to sit down to a fantastic meal with your bros and some of the best beer on the planet, all for free. We need to go back.
>>18501017It was a viable path available to schizos, autists, outcasts, etc.. Made it easier for them to live and put them to some use for society/the church.
>>18501017Monk = for introvertsPriest = for extrovertsMonk sits inside all day, in silence, by himself or with other silent monks, copying texts.Priest speaks in front of the town goyim, tells them what God wants them to do, organizes charity, marries the goyim, provides counseling, etc.
>>18502881>free meals and health care>get only approved books>work for free at assigned job>no personal property >everyone is equal, except some functionary cliqueAbbot Stalin approves of your willingness to return.
>>18501017In the ancient time it was the choice of loners/lunatics that wanted to stay alone.After Saint Benedict made social monasticism popular it became a common dump for unwanted kids, a option for poor people to not die of hunger, and a shelter for genuine religious people that wanted to dedicate their life to God and study, but without the public duties of a priest
Didn't some monks live so lavishly they ate better than the nobles? The excesses that could be achieved for commoners were amazing.
>>18502881>>18502974You also can't talk to each other, meet in groups of more than 2, do EVERYTHING the abbot says, you have to wake up multiple times per night to go to church and most of your day is backbreaking agricultural work designed to destroy your body as fast as possible to the point where the meme about being dead by 30 is actually true.
>>18501017Monks and nuns (and analogs universally) were just castes for uglies.
>>18503046Monks WERE nobles.
>>18501017Monks have beer and copying books.
>>18501017For the successive sons of nobles joining a monestary was an attractive choice as this gave you a very solid education and schooled you in administrative matters. In some cases those nobles can even get "reactivated" in their secular role when their family is in need of them. It was also a good way to retire. Same reasons apply for certain members of the bourgeois classes. The issue with becoming a priest is however that the way of Ordination is not so simple and that not that many priests were needed. Same applies for nuns.>>18501530A poor peasant could at best become a lay brother - with no guarantee of becoming an actual monk. But depending on the area the peasant was in a relation of bondage towards his liege and thus just wasn't allowed to join a monastery anyway.The impression that monestaries were a refuge for poor peasants is a romantic idea. In fact many monasteries utilize their lay brothers solely for the hard manual tasks while the proper monks only pursued "white collar" duties in addition to their religious tasks.>>18503046Monestaries were often connected to the secular princes, were economic hubs and also had their own land holdings. Those lands ideally would be managed by the monks themselves but in practice many simply employed their lay brothers for those tasks. This is one of the reason why there were so many new monastic foundings which specified the importance of praying, poverty AND working - many monastic order that came before neglected those ideals. Probably the most famous chain of foundings is: Benedictines -> Cistercians -> Trappists
>>18501017Priesthood is a very social role and a very socially responsible one too. You will be judged, from what I remember, by how well you guided the believers in your parish, how discerning was your advice, whether you turned someone away in a bad mood or not... Becoming a monk is slightly more peaceful, potentially, but also slightly more isolated and if your motivation is not just the Love of God, but the fear of the world, you will run into spiritual trouble.
>>18501530>What do you do?Men without property usually worked as farmhands or foreman in cities working in farms and enterprises owned by other people.
>>18503046Many monastiers were de facto extended proprierties of the local nobles, with the Abbot of each generation being usually a close relative of whoever secular lord ruled these land
