Monasticism is by design an imitation of the way of life of Christ.

Monasticism is by design an imitation of the way of life of Christ. The Gospel Christ is revealed to us as the ideal of a perfect monk: He is unmarried, free from kinship attachments, has no roof over his head, wanders, lives in voluntary poverty, fasts, spends his nights in prayer. Monasticism is the desire to get as close as possible to this ideal, the aspiration to holiness, to God, the rejection of everything that keeps on earth and prevents ascending to heaven. Loneliness is incompleteness, inferiority, in marriage it is overcome by finding another . In monasticism this other is God Himself. - Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev)