OblateIn Christianity (especially in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God and to God's service. Oblates are individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally living in general society, who, while not professed monks or nuns, have individually affiliated themselves with a monastic community of their choice.
NoviceA novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A novice can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Buddhist Novitiate In many Buddhist orders, a man or woman who intends to take ordination must first become a novice, adopting part of the monastic code indicated in the vinaya and studying in preparation for full ordination. The name for this level of ordination varies from one tradition to another.
PremonstratensiansThe Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (Candidus et Canonicus Ordo Praemonstratensis), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church founded in Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Norbert of Xanten, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg. Premonstratensians are designated by OPraem (Ordo Praemonstratensis) following their name.
SketeA skete ('ski:t ) is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, along with the eremitic, lavritic and coenobitic, that became popular during the early formation of the Christian Church. Skete communities usually consist of a number of small cells or caves that act as the living quarters with a centralized church or chapel.
SallekhanaSallekhana (IAST: ), also known as samlehna, santhara, samadhi-marana or sanyasana-marana, is a supplementary vow to the ethical code of conduct of Jainism. It is the religious practice of voluntarily fasting to death by gradually reducing the intake of food and liquids. It is viewed in Jainism as the thinning of human passions and the body, and another means of destroying rebirth-influencing karma by withdrawing all physical and mental activities.
Secular clergyIn Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. Secular priests (sometimes known as diocesan priests) are priests who commit themselves to a certain geographical area and are ordained into the service of the citizens of a diocese, a church administrative region. That includes serving the everyday needs of the people in parishes, but their activities are not limited to that of their parish.
Monastic cellA cell is a small room used by a hermit, monk, nun or anchorite to live and as a devotional space. Cells are often part of larger cenobitic monastic communities such as Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Orthodox Christian monasteries, as well as Buddhist vihara, but may also form stand-alone structures in remote locations. The word cell comes from the Old French celle meaning a monastic cell, itself from the Latin meaning "room", "store room" or "chamber". Usually, a cell is small and contains a minimum of furnishings.
HieronymitesThe Hieronymites or Jeronimites, also formally known as the Order of Saint Jerome (Ordo Sancti Hieronymi; abbreviated OSH), is a Catholic cloistered religious order and a common name for several congregations of hermit monks living according to the Rule of Saint Augustine, though the role principle of their lives is that of the 5th-century hermit and biblical scholar Jerome. The principal group with this name was founded in the Iberian Peninsula around the 14th century.
Order of Saint LukeThe Order of Saint Luke (OSL) is a religious order begun within the Methodist Church in the United States that is dedicated to sacramental and liturgical scholarship, education, and practice. As a Christian religious order, it is a dispersed community of women and men, lay and clergy, from many different denominations, seeking to live the sacramental life. "Membership in The Order is open to persons of all Christian denominations who seek to live the sacramental life in accordance with our Rule of Life and Service, in community with and acceptance of their brothers and sisters in the Order.
Monastic schoolMonastic schools (Scholae monasticae) were, along with cathedral schools, the most important institutions of higher learning in the Latin West from the early Middle Ages until the 12th century. Since Cassiodorus's educational program, the standard curriculum incorporated religious studies, the Trivium, and the Quadrivium. In some places monastic schools evolved into medieval universities which eventually largely superseded both institutions as centers of higher learning. Since the cenobitic rule of Pachomius (d.
