The Desert Fathers simplified their lives, focusing on the essentials, and gave us a lesson in minimal living. It is a lifestyle that focuses on reducing possessions and living with less, emphasizing concentration on the important aspects of life and pursuing a simple and meaningful existence. Those who practice minimalist living in their daily lives are called “minimalists.”
In this sense, the Desert Fathers were the original minimalists, practicing minimalist living long before us. They followed Christ, who owned nothing, and sought to emulate him, who had nowhere to lay his head, by being content with little and living with only the bare necessities. Looking at the desert fathers' way of life, one immediately wonders, “How could they live that way?” Their asceticism and self-denial seem almost superhuman. When it came to the necessities of life, they did not shy away from poverty and deprivation, but strove to maintain a spirit of complete renunciation and detachment.
They kept only the bare necessities in their cells. Peeking into the cell of a holy monk, there was nothing to see except possibly for a mat, a basket containing a few small pieces of dry bread, and a basket of salt. Although there are no documents listing the belongings of a hermit monk, based on scattered information in various documents, it is estimated that the basic necessities included a teapot, a jar with a handle, other jars, a work knife, an awl, a spindle, a needle, and farming tools.
They either had no books at all or, like the monk Isaiah, had only one. As monks began to accumulate books in their cupboards, an elder lamented, “The prophets wrote books, our fathers read them, their descendants memorized them. But in our time, books have been copied, systematized, and have become useless in the cupboards.”
Abba Isaac lamented to Cassian that monks were not content with one or two rooms, but were building monasteries that were larger than necessary, with four or five rooms furnished with luxurious furniture, in order to satisfy their worldly desires.
The clothing of the hermits was very simple, rough, and shabby. Perhaps they were inspired by what the Bible says about Elijah and John the Baptist. Elijah wore rags sewn together, and there were monks who wore mats. “A monk's clothing should be such that even if it is left outside his cell for three days, no one would take it.”
There were no strict regulations regarding clothing at that time. The materials used for monastic robes varied greatly, but monks were advised not to wear clothes that were too shabby or too expensive so as not to attract attention. This was because of the fear of vanity. If there was a rule, it was to wear clothes that were neither too shabby nor too expensive. The early desert fathers tried to follow Jesus' advice to own nothing but a tunic. The custom of owning a slightly better tunic to wear to church on weekends and Sundays quickly became established.
The regulations regarding food and drink in the desert were very diverse. This diversity stemmed from differences in personality, age, health condition, location, and environment. However, general rules gradually emerged based on experience. “Regardless of the frequency of meals, the type of food consumed, or the quantity and quality of beverages, one must avoid feeling full and eat only what is necessary to sustain the body, leaving it slightly hungry” In other words, “It is not about satisfying the desire to eat until full, but about taking the necessary amount to maintain physical health according to one's physical strength and age.” This is the basic principle and the golden rule.
Excessive asceticism should be avoided just as much as excessive food and drink. The spirit of gluttony leads to less asceticism. The diet was extremely simple, typically consisting of bread, water, and salt, with two small loaves of bread per day. However, the rules were relaxed for the sick and guests. This was because charity always took precedence over rules.
When oil was used, only a minimal amount was used, and there was no meat at all. Palladius reports that Macarius of Alexandria did not eat bread or drink water during Lent. He is said to have been satisfied with chewing a few cabbage leaves on Sundays just to create the atmosphere of a meal.
When the writer was studying Latin at the seminary, he came across the phrase “Parvo Contentus,” and it has lingered in his mind ever since. This phrase, meaning “to be content with little,” is naturally connected with the monastic life. From then on, under the motto of “living with the bare minimum,” he began training himself to reduce all possible needs and live with the bare minimum. This lifestyle gradually became ingrained, but over time, unnecessary things began to accumulate one by one.
Living with the bare necessities means simplifying one's life. It means not wasting time and effort on unnecessary and secondary things, but focusing solely on the one thing that is necessary (Unum Necessarium). All human desires and attachments complicate life and cause us to continue collecting and clinging to things. As time goes by, he became more deeply convinced that we do not need as much as we think to live. He has one modest wish: that his successors will not have a difficult time sorting his belongings after he dies.
Of course, there is a big difference between the geographical and social environments of 4th-century Egypt and the 21st century in which we live today. Therefore, we cannot and do not need to follow the desert fathers' minimalist lifestyle. However, their attitude and spirit of minimizing the secondary aspects of life in order to focus on what is essential and meaningful are still worth emulating.
The minimalist lifestyle we should pursue from a religious perspective is an attitude of being satisfied with the bare minimum. If we strive to possess more and enjoy more, we risk losing sight of our goal of happiness. If we excessively satisfy our physical desires, our souls become sick, and our minds lose peace. Is it not far more essential and wise to strive for something more noble and valuable—to nourish the soul and seek inner peace by being content with the bare necessities?
