As the monasteries had no standing revenues, all the monks were obliged to exercise themselves in bod- ily labor to maintain themselves without being bur- densome to others. Monks therefore labored with their own hands at a great varietj' of occupations, and their industry is often commended. "A laboring monk," said thej', "was tempted \)\ one devil, but an idle monk by a legion." The Church would tolerate no idle mendicants. Sozomen tells us that Serapion presided over a monastery of 10,000 monks, near Ar- sinoe, in Egypt, who all labored with their own hands, by which means they not only maintained themselves, but had enough to relieve the poor. To their bodily exercises thej' joined others that were spiritual, viz., penitence, fasting, and prayer — all supposed to be more extraordinary in intensity and frequency than could be practiced in the world. The most important of these was perpetual repentance, whence the expres- sion of Jerome that the life of a monk is the life of a mourner. In allusion to this, the isle of Cauopus, near Alexandria, formerly a place of great lewdness, was, upon the translation and settlement there of the monks of Tabennesus, called Insiilm Metanoecf, the Isle of Repentance. Next in importance they regarded fasting. The Egyptian monks kept every day a fast till three in the aifternoon, excepting Saturdays, Sun- days, and the fifty days of Pentecost. Some exer- cised themselves with very great austerities, fasting two, three, four, or five daj'S togetlier ; but this prac- tice was not generally approved. They did not think such excessive abstinence of any use, but rather a dis- service to religion. Pachomius's rule, which was said to be given him by an angel, permitted every man to I eat, drink, and labor according to his bodily strength. Thus fasting was a discretionarj' thing, and matter of choice, not compulsion. Their fastings were ac- companied with extraordinarj' and frequent returns of devotion. The monks of Palestine, Mesopotamia, and other parts of the East, had six or seven canonical hours of pra3'er; besides which they had their con- stant vigils, or nocturnal meetings. The monks of Egypt met only twice a day for public devotion ; but in their private cells, while they were at work, they were always repeating psalms, and other parts of Scripture, and intermixing prayers with their bodily labor. St. Jerome's description of their devotion is
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very lively: "When they are assemhled together," says that father, "psalms are sung and Scriptures read; then, prayers l)ein<^ ended, the}' all sit down, and the father begins a di.<course to them, which they hear with the profoundest silence and veneration. His words make a deep impression on them ; their ej'es overflow with tears, and the speaker's commendation is the weeping of his hearers. Yet no one's grief ex- presses itself in an indecent strain. I5ut when he comes to speak of the kingdom of heaven, of future happiness, and the glor}' of the world to come, then one may observe each of them, with a gentle sigh, and eyes lifted up to heaven, say within himself, ' O that I had tlie wings of a dove, for then would I flee away and l)e at rest !' " In some places they had the Script- ures read during their meals at table. This custom was first introduced in the monasteries of Cappadocia, to prevent idle discourses and contentions. But in Egypt they had no occasion for this remedy, for they were taught to eat their food in silence. Palladius mentions one instance more of their devotion, which was only occasional ; nameh', their psalmody at the reception of any brethren, or conducting them with singing of psalms to their habitation.
The laws forbade monks to participate in public affairs, either ecclesiastical or civil ; and those who were called to any employment in the Church were ol)liged to quit their monasteries thereupon. Nor were they permitted to encroach upon the duties or rights and privileges of the secular clergy, unless the clerical and monastic life were united, as when the bish- ops took monastics for the service of the Church, which did not happen until the monasteries had become schools of learning. Such monastics when removed were by the Greeks stjded ifpo/ioi'oYoi, i. e. clerg}-- monks. As the monks of the ancient Church were under no .'■oloim vow or profession, they were at liber- ty to betake themselves to a secular life again. Ju- lian himself was once in the monastic habit. The same is observed of Constans, the son of Constantine, who usurped the empire in Britain. The rule of I'achomius, by which the Egyptian monks were gov- erned, has nothing of any vow at their entrance, nor any punishment for such as deserted their station af- terwards. In process of time it was thought proper to inflict some punishment on such as returned to a secular life. The civil law excluded deserters from the privilege of ordination. Justinian added another punishment ; which was that if they were possessed of anj' substance, it should be all forfeited to the mon- astery which they had deserted. The censures of the Church were likewise inflicted on deserting monks in the 5th century. Thus when a monk deserted and married, he Avas declared incapable ever after of holy orders. After the establishment of monasteries under the rule of St. Basil, the actions of a monk, his words, and even his tlioughts, were determined l)y an inflex- ible rule and a capricious superior; the slightest of- fences were corrected by disgrace or confinement, ex- traordinary fasts or bloody flagellations; and disobe- dience, murmur, or delay were ranked in the catalogue of the most heinous sins. Whenever monastics were permitted to step beyond the precincts of the monas- tery, two jealous companions were the mutual guards antl spies of each other's actions ; and after their re- turn they were condemned to forget, or at least to sup- jiress, -whatever they had seen or heard in the world. Strangers who professed the orthodox faitli were hos- pitably entertained in a separate apartment ; but their dangerous conversation was restricted to some chosen ciders of approved discretion and fidelity. Except in their presence, the monastic slave might not receive the visits of his friends or kindred ; and it was deemed highly meritorious if he afflicted a tender sister or an aged parent by the obstinate refusal of a word or look.