Disorders and Oppositions

But was there no protest against the progress of these ascetic teachings?  Did the monastic institution command the unanimous approval of the church from the outset?  There were many and strong outcries against the monks, but they were quickly silenced by the counter-shouts of praise.  Even when rebellion against the system seemed formidable, it was popular nevertheless.  The lifted hand was quickly struck down, and voices of opposition suddenly hushed.  Like a mighty flood the movement swept on,—­kings, when so inclined, being powerless to stop it.  As Paula was carried fainting from the funeral procession of Blaesilla, her daughter, whispers such as these were audible in the crowd:  “Is not this what we have often said?  She weeps for her daughter, killed with fasting.  How long must we refrain from driving these detestable monks out of Rome?  Why do we not stone them or hurl them into the Tiber?  They have misled this unhappy mother; that she is not a nun from choice is clear.  No heathen mother ever wept for her children as she does for Blaesilla.”  And this is Paula, who, choked with grief, refused to weep when she sailed from her children for the far East!

Unhappily, history is often too dignified to retail the conversations of the dinner-table and the gossip of private life.  But this narrative indicates that in many a Roman family the monk was feared, despised and hated.  Sometimes everyday murmurs found their way into literature and so passed to posterity.  Rutilius, the Pagan poet, as he sails before a hermit isle in the Mediterranean, exclaims:  “Behold, Capraria rises before us; that isle is full of wretches, enemies of light.  I detest these rocks scene of a recent shipwreck.”  He then goes on to declare that a young and rich friend, impelled by the furies, had fled from men and gods to a living tomb, and was now decaying in that foul retreat.  This was no uncommon opinion.  But contrast it with what Ambrose said of those same isles:  “It is there in these isles, thrown down by God like a collar of pearls upon the sea, that those who would escape from the charms of dissipation find refuge.  Nothing here disturbs their peace, all access is closed to the wild passions of the world.  The mysterious sound of waves mingles with the chant of hymns; and, while the waters break upon the shores of these happy isles with a gentle murmur, the peaceful accents of the choir of the elect ascend toward Heaven from their bosom.”  No wonder the Milanese ladies guarded their daughters against this theological poet.

Even among the Christians there were hostile as well as friendly critics of monasticism; Jovinian, whom Neander compares to Luther, is a type of the former.  Although a monk himself, he disputed the thesis that any merit lay in celibacy, fasting or poverty.  He opposed the worship of saints and relics, and believed that one might retain possession of his property and make good use of it.  He assailed the dissolute