They denied themselves of a comfortable life often resorting to eating what grew in the deserts as well as living frugally and in poverty.
The papacy was at its infancy and places like the Isles of Britannia had monks that established monasteries along its coastlines.
One of the forerunners was St. Augustine whose Rule became encoded in the future doctrine of the Roman clergy of the church.
For instance, there were monastic settlements (e.g. Wadi al-Natrun), which developed a kind of council, which adopted the responsibility of communication between the monastery and the world.
[4] Celtic Christianity also had the so-called "double-monasteries", where men and women could live within the same monastic settlement, spawning a community settled by supporters, which was governed by unique rules and intentions, particularly concerning gender relations and spiritual equality.