St. Basil and his Rule: A Study in Early Monasticism

ST. BASIL AND HIS RULE: A STUDY IN EARLY MONASTICISM

By E. F. MORISON, B.D. SUB-WARDEN OF S. DEINIOI/S LIBRARY LATE SCHOLAR OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD

It is needless to say that monasticism was never thought of as being a matter which concerned men only, but rather as including women, and, in some degree, children within its scope. Christianity had done much for both women and children, and the monastic movement could not leave them out of account. In fact Gibbon, when he wishes to sneer at monasticism, says that its influence acted most forcibly on the infirm minds of children and females . But in the same paragraph he mentions that the movement was recruited from millions, of either sex, of every age, and of every rank, so that his criticism is not really worth considering. The fact is that the monastic ideal was independent of sex, and, to a large extent, of age as well.

And so we find that Basil's monastic regulations and admonitions apply equally well to both men and women.