monks

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monks

Members of a religious brotherhood who are devoted to a discipline prescribed by their order. Monks often take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Performance of religious duties and contemplation are traditional priorities. Monks typically live apart from society in communal monasteries, but some live alone (hermits or anchorites). Monks are distinguished from "friars" in that for the monk retirement and solitude are undisturbed by public ministry, except in exceptional circumstances. Some of the more prominent orders of Christian monks include the Benedictines, Cluniacs, Cistercians, Trappists, Carthusians, the Premonstratensians, and Camaldolese.

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