and a "workshop of the spiritual art." The
beginning of all was to be prayer. "Inprimis ut quidquid agendum
inchoas bonum, a Deo perfici instantissima oratione deposcas." And
though absolute power was left, without appeal, in the hands of the
abbat, and the rule of the whole house was to be "nullus in monasterio
proprii sequatur cordis voluntatem," yet great individual liberty was
left to each monk in the direction of his own religious {36} life.
Everyone, he knew, had "his own gift of God"--some could fast more than
others; some could spend more time in silent prayer and meditation; and
none could do any good, he knew, however strict their outer rule,
without daily enlightenment from God. There was place in his scheme
for those whose work was chiefly manual, those who reclaimed
uncultivated lands and turned the wilderness into a garden of the Lord,
and for those who spent long hours in contemplation and prayer. The
public solemn singing of offices was no more characteristic of his rule
than was the following of the hermits in pure prayer.

One who would be admitted to the monastery must take oath before the
whole community that he intended constantly to remain firm in his
profession, to live a life of conversion to God, and to obey those set
over him, but the last only "according to the rule." True monks were
his followers to count themselves only if they lived by the labours of
their hands. Idleness, said Benedict, is the enemy of the soul. The
life of the monks was ascetic, but without the extreme rigour of the
earlier "religious"--hermits and coenobites. The rule required
austerities, and gave strict injunction as to food at all times, and
especially in Lent; but it did not encourage voluntary austerities
beyond the rule, and it admitted many relaxations for the old, the
infirm, or those whose labours were especially hard.

Where all depended so much on a superior it was of especial importance
that he should be wisely chosen and should rule wisely. In three
things he was to be pre-eminent--exhortation, example, and prayer; and
prayer, says the saint, is the greatest of these; for {37} although
there be much virtue in exhortation and example, yet prayer is that
which promotes grace and efficacy alike in deed and word. He was to
recognise no difference of social rank. Good deeds and obedience were
to be the only ways to his favour. Only if exceptional merit required
promotion was there to be any breach o