Monastery is a religious house in which a stable community lives an approved monastic tradition of prayer, work, asceticism, and common life.[1]
Monastic house
A monastery is not simply any residence of religious. It is a house shaped by monastic rule and tradition, ordinarily with a stable community and a strong ordering of life around the liturgy, prayer, work, and conversion. Monasteries may belong to monks or nuns and may be autonomous or joined in congregations, orders, federations, or associations.
The Latin and Eastern codes organize monastic life differently. Eastern law gives the monastery a foundational place and defines it as a religious house whose members pursue evangelical perfection according to monastic rules and traditions.[2]
Autonomy and communion
An autonomous monastery has its own superior and internal government under universal and proper law. Autonomy is not isolation: monasteries remain subject to competent ecclesiastical authority and often cooperate through wider structures for formation, visitation, and mutual support.
References
- 1.Code of Canon Law, canons 607–709 — Latin Church norms on religious institutes, formation, profession, and governance
- 2.Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches — Official Latin text, especially canons 410–572 on monks and other religious