WHAT d yu mean by being gd？
The Germans thught being gd was being brave.
The Athenians thught that whatever was beautiful was gd.
The Stics thught that dingne"s duty and suffering hardship calmly was being gd.
The Epicureans thught the right kindsf pleasure were gd.
The martyrs thught being gd meant suffering and dying fr Christ"s sake.
Ever since the timef the martyrs， sme Christians wh wanted t be very， very gd indeed， wentff int the wilderness and lived by themselves. They wished t be far away frmther peple， s that they culd spend all their time praying and thinking hly thughts. This， they believed was being gd.
nef the strangestf these men wh wanted t get away frmthers was named St. Simen Stylites. He built fr himself a pillarr clumn fifty feet high， andn the tpf it he lived with rmnly t sit but nt t lie dwn. Theren the tp he lived fr many years， day and night， winter and summer， while the sun shnen him and the rain rainedn him， and he never came dwn at all. He culd be reachednly by a ladder， which his friends used t take him fd. High uputf the wrld， he thught he culd best lead a hly life. That was his ideaf being gd althugh we shuld think such a persn simply crazy.
In the cursef time， hwever， men and wmen wh wanted t lead hly lives， insteadf living alne as they had dne at first， gathered in grups and built themselves hmes. The men were called mnks， the wmen nunsr virgins， and the huses where they lived were knwn as mnasteriesr abbeys. The head mnkf an abbey was called an abbt， frm the Aramaic wrd abba， which means father in the language that Jesus spke. The abbt ruledver thether mnks like a fatherver his children， giving themrders and punishing them when he thught they needed it. Abbesses were in chargef their nuns in the same way.
In the five hundreds there lived an Italian mnk named Benedict. He believed very strngly thatne must wrk if he was t be hly， that wrk was a necessary partf being hly. He thught， als， that mnks shuld have n mneyf theirwn， fr Christ had said in the Bible， "If thu wilt be perfect， g and sell that which thu hast， and give t the pr." (Matthew 19：21) Benedict started anrder fr thse peple wh wuld agree t three things：
The first thing they were t agree t was t have n mney.
The secnd thing was nt t marry.
The third thing was tbey the abbtr abbess.
Men and wmen wh jined thisrder were called Benedictines.
Nw， yu might think there wuld have been hardly anyne wh wuld prmise fr life three such things as t have n mney， tbey the abbt- n matter what he tld them t d-and never t marry. Nevertheless， there we re a gre a t m a ny i n eve ry cunt ryf E urpe wh di d be cm e Benedictines.
Usually mnksr nuns lived in little bare rms like prisn cells， and ate their very simple meals tgether at a single table in a rm called the refectry. They sang praise at sunrise and sunset， and fur times during the day besides； they even wke up at midnight t sing prayers. Singing praise was their main jb， but nt all they had t d. Wrkf every kind they werebliged t d， and they did it jyfully， whether the wrk was scrubbing flrsr digging in the garden. Peple wh had been rich and peple wh had been pr all fllwed the same rules.
Smetimes a mnastery was situated in a barrenr swampy sptn land that had been given the mnks because it was nt gdr， evenMnk cpying a manu抄写"手抄本"的修道士wrse than n gd， dangerusly unhealthy. But the mnks set t wrk and drainedff the water， tilled the sil， and made the waste places blm like the rse. They then raised vegetables fr their table， fdder fr their hrses and cattle and sheep. Everything they ater usedr needed， they raisedr made.
They did ntnly the rugher handwrk； they did fine handwrk， t. Mvable type had nt been invented， and printing was nt knwn in Eurpe at this time. Bks had t be written by hand， and the mnks and nuns wh had reading and writing skills were thenes t d this jb. They cpied theld bks in Latin and Greek. Smetimesne mnk wuld slwly read the bk t be cpied， and severalther mnks atne time wuld cpy what he dictated. In this way a numberf cpies wuld be made.
The pagesf the bks were nt madef paper butf calfskinr sheepskin， called vellum， and this vellum was much strnger and lasted much lnger than paper.
Theseld bks which the mnks wrte were called manus， which means handwritten. Manyf these may nw be seen in museums and libraries. Smef these manus have been beautifully handpainted with lving care and the initial letters and brdersrnamented with designsf flwers and vines and birds and pictures in red and gld andther clrs. If mnks and nuns hadn"t dne this cpying， manyf theld bks wuld have been lst and unknwn t us.
The mnks als kept diaries， writing dwn frm day t day and year t year an accuntf the imprtant things that happened. Theseld diaries，r chrnicles， as they were called， tell us the histryf the times. As there were then n newspapers， if these chrnicles had nt been written we shuld nt knw what wentn at that time.
The mnks were the best educated peplef thse days， and they taughtthers-bth yung andld-the things they themselves knew. The mnasteries were als inns fr travelers， fr anyne wh came and asked fr ldging was received and given fd and a place t sleep whether he had any mney t payr nt.
Mnks and nuns helped the pr and needy. The sick， t， came t mnasteries t be treated and taken caref， s that a mnastery wasften smething like a hspital， t. Many peple wh had received such helpr attentin made rich gifts t the mnasteries， s they became very wealthy， althugh neither mnks nr nuns culdwn s much as a spn fr themselves.
S yu see mnks and nuns were nt merely hly； they were lights in an agewhen the wrld had grwn dull and dangerus. Yes， they were lights， and there werether lights t shining in thse years. Yu will read abut them a little later in this bk.
【中文阅读】
你认为什么才是"为善"？ 日耳曼人认为"为善"就是勇敢无畏。 雅典人认为凡是美的就是善的。 斯多葛派认为履行自己的义务，能默默地承受苦难就是"为善"。 伊壁鸠鲁学说信奉者认为，适宜的快乐就是善。 殉道者认为，"为善"就意味着为基督吃苦受难乃至牺牲。
自从殉道者那个时代以来，有些想真心为善、刻苦修行的基督徒，就离家到荒 无人烟的地方，独自一人生活。他们希望远离人群，就可以把全部时间用于祈祷和 沉思上帝的启示。他们认为这才是"为善"。
在那些想离群索居的人中有个人最奇怪，他叫圣西门 斯泰莱特。他为自己建 了一个 50 英尺高的柱子，即圆柱，他就住在柱子顶端，上面的空间仅够坐着，无法 躺下来。他在那上面生活了很多年，度过了白天黑夜、春夏秋冬，无论骄阳暴晒还 是大雨淋身，他都绝不下来。他的朋友们只有搭梯子才能到他那儿，给他提供食物。 这样脱离尘世、高高在上，他认为就能最充分地过圣洁的生活。这就是他"为善" 的观念，不过我们会觉得这样的人简直就是疯了。
终于，那些想要过圣洁生活的男男女女已经不再像最初那样选择离群索居了， 而是组成各个群体并建造了各自的家园住所。这些男人叫"修道士"，这些女人叫 "修女"或"贞女"，他们居住的房子叫"隐修院"或"修道院"。修道院中领头的修 道士叫做"修道院院长"，这个词源自阿拉姆语中的单词 abba，阿拉姆语是耶稣说的 语言，这个词的意思是"父亲"。他管理其他所有的修道士，就像父亲管教他的孩子 一样，给他们发指令，在他认为必要的时候还惩罚他们。女修道院院长也是这样管 理她的修女。
在 6 世纪初，意大利有个修道士名叫本尼迪克特，他坚信，一个人想要过圣洁 的生活，就必须工作，工作是圣洁生活中必不可少的。他还认为，修道士不应有私 人财物，因为耶稣曾经在《圣经》里说过，"你若愿意做完全人，可去变卖你所有 的，分给穷人"（马太福音 19：21）。本尼迪克特创办了一个修道会，加入修道会的 人必须遵守三条规定：
第一必须遵守的是不得拥有私人财物。 第二是不得结婚。 第三是要服从修道院院长。
参加此修道会的男女被称为"本笃会修士或修女"。
现在，你可能觉得很难有人会承诺一生遵守这三条规定：不得拥有私人财物， 不管修道院院长要修士做什么都必须服从，还永远不能结婚。然而，在欧洲的每个 国家都有很多人真的成了本笃会的修士或修女。
通常，修道士和修女都住在像单人牢房一样没有陈设的小屋里，在一间叫做食 堂的房间里，他们围坐在仅有的一张桌子旁边，吃着粗茶淡饭。他们在日出和日落 的时候要唱赞美诗，除此之外，一天还要唱四次；他们甚至还在半夜醒来唱祷文。 唱赞美诗就是他们的主要工作，但这并不是他们必须做的全部工作。他们还要干各 种各样的活，不管这活是擦洗地板还是在花园松土，他们都干得很开心。这些人不 管以前是贫是富，全都遵守同样的教规。
有时候，修道院位于一个荒芜或潮湿的地方。就因为这个地方不好，甚至糟透 了，还有害健康、危及生命，所以才把这个地方让给修道士。但是，修道士们开始 认真整理这个地方，他们排去地里的水，耕作土地，让这荒凉之地充满生机，就像 玫瑰一样绽放了。然后，他们种上自己吃的蔬菜和供马、牛、羊吃的饲料。他们吃、 用及所需要的一切，全靠自己种植和生产。
修道士和修女不仅干粗活，他们还干细活。此时，活字还没发明，欧洲人还不 知道印刷术，书籍不得不靠手抄。那些会读书写字的修道士和修女正是干这种细活 的人。他们抄写那些用拉丁文和希腊文写的古书。有时候，一个修道士慢慢地朗读 需要抄写的书，其他几个修道士同时抄下他朗读的内容，这样就可以同时抄写好几 份了。
那时的书不是纸制的，而是用小牛皮或羊皮做的，叫犊皮纸或羊皮纸。这种皮 纸比真正的纸要结实、耐用得多。
修道士抄写的这些古书叫"手抄本"，也就是"手写本"的意思，其中有很多现 在还可以在博物馆和图书馆里看到。有些手抄本被悉心绘制得很美，首字母和页边 都用花儿、藤蔓、鸟儿的图案做点缀，或用红色、金色和其他颜色画的画儿做装饰。 如果没有这些修道士和修女做这样的抄写工作，那么很多古书就会失传，再也不为 我们所知了。
修道士还写日记，他们日复一日、年复一年地记下所发生的重大事件。这些古 老的日记，或者按照通常的说法叫编年史，告诉了我们那个时代的历史。由于那时 候没有报纸，如果修道士没有写下这些编年史，我们现在就没法知道那时都发生了 些什么事。
修道士都是那个时代受过最好教育的人，他们还把自己的知识教给其他人-- 无论是老人还是孩子。修道院还是旅行者的客栈，因为凡是去那里请求借宿的人， 都会被收留，还有食物吃，有睡觉的地方，不管他有没有钱付账。
修道士和修女还帮助贫穷困苦的人。病人也会到修道院寻求医治和照顾，所以 修道院又常常有点像医院。很多得到过修道院帮助和关心的人后来赠予修道院很多 贵重的东西，所以，修道院变得非常富有，不过，修道士和修女连属于自己的一个 汤匙都没有。
那么，你知道了，修道士和修女不仅仅是圣洁的，在一个世界变得昏暗和危险的时代，他们就是一盏盏明灯。是的，他们是明灯。在那个时代，还有其他一些明 灯在熠熠发光。关于他们，稍后也会在这本书里读到。
公元 600 年