It's kind of implied. "Monk" comes from the Greek word "monos", which means "alone." You can check this by reading the Rule and seeing how well it can be followed by someone who is married.

This is an apt comment. I went to a Benedictine College with a Monastery attached. More than one of the monks, after a night of heavy drinking, would tell me: "We take a vow of celibacy (non-marriage), not of chastity."

Well, chaste is already something every Catholic is bound to be. I assume they aren't taking vows not to murder or not to steal or to not lie, because those things are already forbidden. The vows are for things that raise the bar.

> CHAPTER 4

> What Are the Instruments of Good Works

> [...]

> 63. To love chastity.

AFAIK, chastity most often refers to abstinence prior to marriage, not the exclusion of marriage.

from what I remember of my catechism, the chastity would depends on one's state (single/widower, married, cleric). So for single persons, priest, monks => abstinence, married => fidelity to the spouse

Though iirc from my (orthodox) catechism st benedict predates the western christian tradition of unmarried clergy. Monks would have been celibate always though I think.

Chastity refers to abstinence other than within the bounds of marriage, not just before marriage.

Thanks, I just used ctrl+f to find celibacy and was surprised. Didn't think of synonyms.

If I remember correctly, the ban against marriage came after the monasteries were well established. The monasteries were some of the largest estates in medieval Europe, and there was a fear that they would become dynasties that challenged the lords (or became poweful in their own right which could challenge the church hierarchy). The marriage prohibition kept the church in control of the monasteries and kept the relationship between the church and the lords happy.

I think you are mistaken in some details.

Monasteries from pretty early on required celibacy. According to https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_celibacy_in_the_Cat..., priests did get married until the 12th century (even then, some say there was an unenforced law rule on the books saying that wasn't supposed to happen) .

While there were some theological and worldly reasons for the change, competition with lords wasn't one, and doesn't make a lot of sense. Religious communities were largely populated by the children of the nobles, and nobles gave to monasteries. (And again, wouldn't apply, since only non-monastic priests were married.)

In the Orthodox Church, priests are allowed (and in fact encouraged) to be married, but cannot marry after they are ordained.

On the other hand, bishops must be monks as well as priests, and therefore cannot be married.

I have never been able to square the catholic church ban on priest marrying with 1 Timothy 3:

2 Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full[a] respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)

The rule against unmarried clergy came pretty late in the game I believe. Anyway I think it was more of a practical organizational determination, not a theological thing.