Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/192

 174 THE CLASSICAL HERITAGE [chap. seventh chapter says little of that chief of vices, pride ; but shows how to develop to the full that chief Chris- tian virtue, humility, which will leave no place for pride. The monk's soul shall be filled with virtue, and not merely void of vice. His life shall be positive and not negative.^ Having thus set the principles of the monk's right- eousness so as to form a way of living, the monastic lawgiver has yet au important task. The monk's heart is inclined to listen ; he has received his lessons in the principles of his righteousness, — he is humble and obedient. But the days and hours of his life need definite regulation ; for his rule of life is humil- ity and obedience, and he must have detailed orders, in the carrying out of which he may know that he is always obeying. Hereby will each monk, and, in greater measure, the order collectively, gain the habit and form of disciplined and efficient obedience. The remaining and by far the larger part of Bene- dict's rule is taken up with definite directions for each hour of the day and night. And as Benedict's con- structive righteousness appears in his statement of general principles, so equal practical wisdom and mod- eration, combined with requisite disciplinary strictness, are shown throughout the more detailed regulations for the government of the monastery and the lives of the monks. Those general principles had for their aim the attainment to the love of God and life eternal through the cultivation of the Christian virtues ; the 1 The spirit of Benedict's rule is in accord with the Augustinian conception of sin as deficiency, — the absence of righteousness and love of God.