Saint Pachomius (ca. 292-348) is generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism.
A soldier converted by the charitable ministry of Christians, he originally set out to lead an eremitic life. Instead, he ended up establishing a system of double monasteries in Egypt, and that subsequently spread much more widely. St Basil the great visited him and borrowed many ideas from him for his own Rule; but he fled from St Athanasius who wished to ordain him as a priest!
Extracts from his Rules can be found here.
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