Monasticism

right|thumb|Arms of a Catholic abbot are distinguished by a gold crozier with a veil attached and a black [[galero with twelve tassels (the galero of a territorial abbot would be green).]]

Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially in the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican traditions as well as in other faiths such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. In other religions, monasticism is generally criticized and not practiced, as in Islam and Zoroastrianism; or plays a marginal role, as in modern Judaism.

thumb|287px|Roman tonsure (Catholicism) Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word '''' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in medieval Catholicism, abandoned by papal order in 1972. Tonsure, in its earliest Greek and Roman origin, was used as a sign or signifier for slavery. Tonsure can also refer to the secular practice of shaving all or part of the scalp to show support or sympathy, or to designate mourning. Current usage more gen

thumb|A novice is at the left. The religious habit|habit of a novice often differs from that of the full professed sisters.|alt= The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian novice (or prospective) monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to vowed religious life. It often includes times of intense study, prayer, living in community, studying the vowed life, deepening one's relationship with God, and deepening one's self-awareness. In the Catholic Church,

building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which larger meetings are held

distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order

Item used in Christianity to assist prayer

small room used by a hermit, monk, anchorite or nun to live and as a devotional space

thumb|Acedia, engraving by Hieronymus Wierix, 16th century

Vow to maintain silence, usually for spirituality or protest

monastery for both monks and nuns

thumb|right|A on the Dingle Peninsula, Kerry, Ireland thumb|A reconstruction of a square-shaped beehive hut at the Irish National Heritage Park, County Wexford A ' (plural ) or beehive hut' is a dry-stone hut with a corbelled roof, commonly associated with the south-western Irish seaboard. The precise construction date of most of these structures is unknown with the buildings belonging to a long-established Celtic tradition, though there is at present no direct evidence to date the surviving examples before . Some associated with religious sites may be pre-Romanesque, some consider that the mo

gestural communication used by Christian monks

claimed to be the original form of Monasticism

spiritual practice