Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/195

 vn] WESTERN MONASTICISM 177 the study of Scripture and the writings of the Fathers.^ Otiositas inimica est aniinae, et ideo certis temporibus occupari dehent fratres in labore manunij certis iterum horis in lectione divina : * and therefore it fixes the hours of manual labor and of divina lectio for the dif- ferent seasons of the year. All labor was not the same; the heavier labors of the field were not re- quired of the weak;' and if there were artifices among the monks, they might humbly ply their arts, and the product should be sold at a low price for the monastery.* There was nothing in the regula which should forbid monks, under the abbot's approval, turning from the labor of the plough to the labor of the pen, after Cassiodorus and others had shown the Benedictines this way of serving God. The regula of Benedict drew stricter bands of clos- ure than the regulae of Basil. The Benedictine mon- astery should include all necessaries for the monks, "that there may be no need of their wandering abroad, which does not profit their souls."* More- over, when strangers were received within the walls, no monk, unless directed, could associate or speak with them;* nor could a monk receive letters from parents or others in the world, without the abbot's permission,^ And his vows of obedience to the regula, once finally made, were irrevocable. This all helped to perfect discipline. Seclusion from the world was for the monk's salvation, which, however, demanded also that the monk should do the will of Christ. And the closure provisions of Benedict's regula held greater 1 See Chap. 73. « Chap. 48. » Chap. 48. < Chap. 57. • Chap. 66. Chap. 63. ' Chap. 64.