A dependency, among

monastic orders Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important rol ...

, denotes the relation of a monastic community with a newer community which it has founded elsewhere. The relationship is that of the founding

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

or conventual priory, termed the

motherhouse A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow memb ...

, with a monastery composed of the monks or nuns of the new community, which is called the daughter house. In that situation, the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

(or prior or prioress in those monastic congregations which do not have abbots or abbesses) remains the ultimate authority for the affairs of the dependent

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

, which is considered an extension of the founding house. This relationship will end at such time as the new community becomes fully autonomous in its own right.

Bonds

Monasteries of nuns can make a bond with a monastery of monks or friars, preferably within the same congregation or order, whereby the two are affiliated, and the fathers guarantee pastoral care to the nuns. In this sense, the women's house is considered a dependency on that of the men for spiritual direction. For all other matters, however, the nuns of the daughter monastery remain dependencies of the founding monastery of nuns which established them, until they become autonomous.

Relationships of responsibilities

An extension of this is the relationship of responsibility for providing pastoral care to

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

es in the surrounding region which is assumed by an abbey or priory. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, many parishes would be given to Benedictine monasteries by local lords and bishops, to provide the income of the parish as a means of support for the monastery. In turn, the monks would take on this responsibility for their dependent churches, either with their own monks or by providing the salary for a secular priest who served as their

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

for the parish. Unlike the monks, who gradually took on the practice, this relationship has been a distinguishing feature of houses of

canons regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

, as part of the primacy of the priesthood in their way of life. In Eastern Christianity, this relationship is called the ''

metochion A ''metochion'' or ''metochi'' ( gr, μετόχιον, metóchion or gr, μετόχι, metóchi; russian: подворье, podvorie) is an ecclesiastical embassy church within Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is usually from one autocephalous or ...

''.

References

{{reflist Monasticism