Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/212

 194 THE CLASSICAL HERITAGE [chap. diet is reflected in his regula; as Gregory says, Cujus si quis velit subtilius niores vitamque cognoscere, potest in eadem instltutione regulae omnes magisterii illius actus invenire : quia sanctus vir nullo modo potuit aliter docere quam vixit} The regula not only reflects the character of Benedict generally, but contains touches revealing distinctly the soul of him who set it. Thus the refer- ence to the rule as this minimam regulam inchoationis^^ tells the utter humility of Benedict and the ideality of his endeavor for a life of holiness. His regula is but a slight beginning ; for what more could he, poor workman, set ? it is also but a beginning, as the saintly soul sees all his acts small and poor in the light of the perfection for which he yearns. Likewise the char- acterization of the proper abbot mirrors Benedict, his lovingness and his sufiicient strictness when needed : oderit vitia, diligat fratres. . . studeat plus amari quam timeri} Gregory's words, quoted above, disclose the aspects of Benedict which impressed Gregory's generation, and the centuries following : " He who would gain minuter knowledge of Benedict's life, may, in the institution of the regula, find all the acts of that master;^ for the holy man could in no wise teach other than as he lived." These are the two aspects of the same Bene- dict, the master, the abbot, the wise and temperate 1 Gregorius Magnus, Dialogi, II, 36. 2 Reg. Benedicti, Cap. 73, — one of the chapters possibly not writ- ten by Benedict, yet reflecting his spirit. 8 Reg., Cap. 64. means ofl&ce, not magistrate. But here I think the sense is ar- rived at by translating " master."
 * I have thus translated illius magisterii. Magisterium properly