Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/542

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MONOGRAM

coinos from the Anglo-Saxon nntmw, which luis in turn arisen from the Latin monachuK, a mere transliteration of the Cireek mAi-oxos. This (ircek form is commonly helieveil to be eonneotod with ^cos, lonely or single, and is suggestive of a life of solitude; but we eannot lose sight of the faet that the word liovi/i, from a dif- ferent root, seems to lia\e been freely used. e. g. by Palladius, !is well as ^Lovaa■T^ploy, in the sense of a reli- gious house (see Butler, "Palladius's Lausiae Ilis- tory", passim). Be this as it may, the Fathers of the fourth rentur\' are by no means agreed as to the etymological significance of inmxtrhu.t. St. Jerome writes to Heliodonis (P. L., XXII, 3.50), "Interpret the name monk, it is thine own; what business hast thou in a crowd, thou who art sohtarj-?" St. Augus- tine on the other hand fastens on the idea of unity (Mollis) and in his exposition of Ps. cxxxii, extols the appropriateness of the words "Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum habitare fratres in unum" when chanted in a monastery, because those who are monks should have but one heart and one soul (P. L., XXXVII. 173:3). Cassian (P. L., XLIX, 1097), and Pseudo-Diony.sius (De Eccl. Hier., vi) seem to have thought monks were so called because they were celi- bate.

In any case the fact rem.ains that the word mona- chus in the fourth century was freely used of those consecrated to God, whether they lived as hermits or in communities. So again St. Benedict a little later (c. 535) states at the beginning of his rule that there are four kinds of monks (monachi) — (1) cenobites who live together under a rule or an abbot, (2) anchorites orhermits, who after long training in the discipHne of a community, go forth to lead a life of solitude (and of both of these classes he approves); but also (3) "sara- bitcs" and (4) "girovagi" (wandering monks), whom he strongly condemns as men whose religious life is but a pretence, and who do their o«ti will without the restraint of obedience. It is probably due to the fact that the Rule of St. Benedict so constantly descriljes the brethren as monachi and their residence as mona- sterium, that a tradition has arisen according to which these terms in Latin and English (though not so uni- formly in the case of the corresponding German and French words) are commonly applied only to those religious bodies which in some measure reproduce the conditions of life contemplated in the old Benedictine Rule. The mendicant friars, e. g. the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, etc., though they live in community and chant the Divine Office in choir, are not correctly described as monks. Their work of preaching, mixing with their fellow men in the world, soliciting alms, and moving from place to place, is in- consistent with the monastic ideal. The same is to be said of the "clerks regular", like the Jesuits, in whose rule the work of the apostolate is regarded as so im- portant that it is considered incompatible with the obligation of singing office in choir. Again members of the religious congregations of men. which take sim- ple but not solemn vow s, are not usually designated as monks. On the other hand it should be noted that in former days a monk, even though he sang office in choir, was not necessarily a priest, the custom in this respect having changed a good deal since medieval times. Besides the Benedictines with their various modifications and offshoots, i. e. the Cluniacs. Cister- cians, Trappists etc., the best known orders of monks are the Carthusians, the Premonstratensians, and the Camaldolese. The honorary prefix Dom, an abbre- viation of Dominus is given to Benedictines and Car- thusians.

Heimbdcheb. Die Orden und Konaregalionen (Padcrbom. 1907 sqq.); HELrOT, Hmloire dea Ordret Rcligieuz (Paris 1743)- ScHt-

rechi (MaiDZ, 1898), 3 sqq. and 30.5 .sqq.

Herbert Thurston. Monogamy. See Marhiage.

Monogram of Christ.— By the Monogram of Christ is ordinarily understood the abbreviation of Christ's name formed In' cnniliiniiig the first two letters of the Greek form XPIi)TO^, thus ,R ; this monogram was also known as the Chri.imon. J^ There are, however, besides this type of monogram, two other monograms of Christ -one of His name, Jesus, the other of both His names together. The must common form (that first alluded to), was adopted by Constantine the Great on his militarj' standards. 'I'lic monogram of the famous labarum (q. v.), as described by Eusebius (Vita Const., I, xxxi), is that given above. Lactantius (De mont. persec, xliv) describes it as "transversa X littera summo capite circumflexo", a somewhat obscure ex- pression interpreted by Hauck ("Realencyk. fiir prot. Theol.", s. \'V. Monogramm Christi) as a X with one of its strokes perpendicular f and the upper arm of this stroke rounded to form '"J"' a P JD . Many vari- ants of these two forms exist in the 3C monuments of the fourth and fifth centuries. The Greek letters X P combined in a monogram occur on pre-Christian coins (e. g. the Attic tetradrachma and some coins of the Ptolemies), and in some Greek manuscripts of the Christian period they are emploved as an abbreviation of such words as XP'ONOS, XPT20S, XPT20ST0M0S. Lowrie remarks, however, that when employed as an abbreviation the X stands upright, k^ whereas in the monogram of Christ it lieson itsside rS, thus appear- ing more symmetical. The form V> is of Christian origin; it came into use in the 'x' course of the fourth century, and represents a stage in the develop- ment of the monogram into the cross.

The opinion of Hauck that the monogram, in the form in which it api)ears on the labarum, was well known in Christian society before Constantine would seem, from the circumstances of the case, to be well founded; for otherwise how w-ould the emperor have recognized it as a Christian symbol? Yet, at the same time it must be said that it appears only rarely on pre- Constantinian monuments, and then generally as an abbreviation (compendium scripturo') rather than as an emblem; as, for instance, in a third centurv inscription in the Catacomb of St. Priscilla: 201 AOSA EN ^. The adoption of the monogram by Constantine for .4S use on the imperial military standards and on the shields of the soldiers, as a symbol of Christianity, was the beginning of its popularity in the empire. During the fourth century it was represented on all manner of monuments: on public edifices, churches, sarcophagi, lamps, vestments, clothing, household utensils, etc. It appears frequently in association with inscriptions on tombs, sometimes in relation with the apocalyptic letters A and u, or with the symbolic fish, doves, palm branches, and the like. It rarely appears on Roman monuments, however, after the fatal year 410, when the Eternal City fell into the hands of Alaric, but in the East it long continued to enjoy its popularity. In the course of the fifth century, in the West, the ^3 form became the more common, but in the East *L* the earlier form continued in favour.

Monograms of Jesus Christ. — A monogram formed of the initial letters of both Christ's names appears in a Roman monimient of the year 268 or 279 as part of the inscription on a tomb: Benemerenti (in) ■^XT'Domi No. Two Gallic monuments with this mon./Tvogram,bearing the dates 491 and 597, are noted by Le Blant, and once it occurs on an ancient lamp, in association with the apocalyptic letters A and w. In a somewhat different form it occurs in several monuments of the cemetery of St. Callistus: in these the I crosses the X horizontally instead of perpendicularly "V* ■ The IX monogram (for IHSOS XPI2T0S), also TV appears on some sarcophagi of Provence enclosed in a circle, thus forming a .star: the star that guided the Wise Men to Bethlehem. The monogram IC XC oc- curs in manuscripts of the Scriptures (the Codex Alex- andrinus and the Codex Claromontanus) as early as