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The Church Fathers · c. 330–345

The Rules

Pachomius · c. 292–348

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What it is

Regulations for a walled community of monks living, working, eating, and praying together under a superior, with detailed provision for admission, clothing, meals, and correction.

Why it lasted

The invention of communal monasticism as an institution, and the direct ancestor of Basil's rules and Benedict's.

Where to read it

Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.

These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.

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