Now church and state were wed. Emperors helped shape theology, prelates dabbled in statecraft. Basilicas dazzled, their coffers bulged-- and deserts began to fill with anchorites, "withdrawers, " seeking alone the purer faith of old (319:1)

St. Anthony of Egypt had sought solitude in the hills near the Nile in the third century-- in vain, for many followed him. At length he organized them in a loose community of hermits. St. Pachomius, a fellow Egyptian, expanded the concept and launched the first Christian monastery. The idea spread-- but so did the ideal of the pious hermit, battling as had Jesus and Anthony the demons in the desert (319:2)

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