Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/155

 CHAP. VII] ORIGINS OF MONASTICISM 137 provement of the faculties exercised. More espe- cially it signifies the practice of acts which exercise the soul in virtue or holiness, and acts, however painful, which have not this object are not ascetic* Prayer, intended to move the Deity, is not ascetic, nor is sacrifice, if intended to placate Him. But another element is so universally present in asceticism that it may be regarded as essential ; this is the thought that matter, or, at least, the material and animal side of human nature, is evil. Ascetic practices proceed on the idea that the desires representing "the lusts of the flesh " are evil, not merely in their excesses, but in their normal operation. And the purpose of ascetic acts and abstentions is to increase man's spiritual nature, and purify it by suppressing the senses. To the ascetic, normal comfort, not merely its abuse in luxury, is evil; so is normal diet, and not merely gluttony; not only fornication, but all sexual inter- course and every mode of life that may bring desire of it. Asceticism, then, is that course of life which suppresses the senses, purifies the soul from sensual desires, and exercises it in virtue. The ascetic act or abstention is that which has this purpose. Christian monasticism was to be ascetic in this proper sense, in that its object was to purify and strengthen the monk's soul, and make it such that it would not fail to win eternal life. Monastic abne- gation had as a further motive the love of Christ and the desire to help on His kingdom. In monasticism 1 This parpo0e, or the cognate purpose of acquiring specific powers, was present in the austerities of Indian asceticiHm ; it was also present in the milder practices of (late) Greek asceticism.