ABSTRACT
Monasticism was a form of the Christian life unknown before the third century. It was of oriental origin and is one of the most striking evidences of oriental influence upon Christianity. Asceticism and isolation, the roots of monasticism, produced first the anchoritic, hermit, or solitary form of life, and then the cenobitic or community form of life. The regulations Basil drew up for these institutions became the Basilian Rule, which governed Greek monasticism throughout the Middle Ages and still prevails in the Greek Church. St. Basil was a rare combination of idealism and practicality. The most remarkable illustration, however, of cross-influence is the growth of the ideal of celibacy in the Church, owing to the example of monasticism. The Irish first maintained the principle, recognized only in the eleventh century, which monasteries might be independent of Episcopal control. In these ways Irish monasticism left a deep and lasting mark upon the medieval church.
