The Church Fathers · c. 420–425
The Institutes
De Institutis Coenobiorum
John Cassian · c. 360–435
What it is
The customs of Egyptian monasteries adapted for Gaul — dress, the night office, the reception of newcomers — followed by books on each of the eight principal faults.
Why it lasted
The channel by which desert monasticism reached the West, and Benedict's chief source after scripture.
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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