Monastic cell

A cell is a small room used by a hermit, monk, anchorite or nun to live and as a devotional space. They are often part of larger communities such as Catholic and Orthodox monasteries and Buddhist vihara,[1] but may also form stand-alone structures in remote locations.

Hermit's cell near Moville high cross, Ireland.

Etymology
Anchorite's cell in Skipton.

The word cell comes from the Old French celle meaning a monastic cell, itself from the Latin meaning room,[2] store room or chamber.[3]

In Christianity

A cell in the Christian context is a name for the living quarters of monastics, either male or female. Usually, a monk's cell is small and contains a minimum of furnishings.

A cell may be an individual living space (room) in a building, usually within a cenobitic monastery, for a monk or nun, or it may refer to hermit's primitive solitary living space (possibly a cave or hut in the desert or forest) isolated from monasteries and other inhabited places. In a cenobitic setting the building of "cells” also contains communal rooms for eating. A small dependent or daughter house of a major monastery, sometimes housing just one or two monks or nuns, may also be termed a cell.

The first cells were in the Nitrian Desert in Egypt following the ministry of Paul of Thebes[4], Serapion, and Anthony the Great.[5] in the mid 3rd century.

Buddhism
See also: Monastery § Buddhism

In Buddhism vihara is often restricted to the rainy season and the vihara retreat.

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See also
The church at Shere in Surrey had a cell for Christine Carpenter.[6]

References
  1. Cell at Merriam Websters Dictionary.com.
  2. Cell at dictionary.reference.com.
  3. cell at Oxford Dictionaries.
  4. St Pauls Monastery Egypt.
  5. Chryssavgis, John; Ware, Kallistos; Ward, Benedicta, In the Heart of the Desert: Revised Edition The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (World Wisdom Bloomington, Ind., 2008) p15.
  6. Wyndham Thomas (2012). Robert Saxton: Caritas. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 16–20. ISBN 978-0-7546-6601-1.
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