SOURCE: Kardong, Terrence. “John Cassian's Evaluation of Monastic Practices.” The American Benedictine Review 43, no. 1 (March 1992): 82-105.

In the following essay, Kardong analyzes John Cassian's early-fifth-century writings on monastic practices and experiences.

Recent books on ascetic and monastic practices by Margaret Miles¹ and Charles Cummings² have been the object of much interest by those engaged in vowed monastic life. Much of the discussion centers on specific practices, but before a given practice can be evaluated, it would be helpful to have a clear idea of the significance of religious practices as such. In other words, a “theory of practice” is needed, but it is not necessary to construct such a theory from scratch, for monastic writers throughout history have meditated on this question.³

One author who had a good deal to say on ascetic practices was the monastic philosopher John Cassian (ca. ad 365-433).⁴ About ad 390-400, he and...