t which is in accord with man's nature is
apparently more pertinent to the perfection of virtue. But man is
naturally a social animal, as the Philosopher says (Polit. i, 1).
Therefore it would seem that to lead a solitary life is not more
perfect than to lead a community life.

_On the contrary,_ Augustine says (De oper. Monach. xxiii) that
"those are holier who keep themselves aloof from the approach of all,
and give their whole mind to a life of prayer."

_I answer that,_ Solitude, like poverty, is not the essence of
perfection, but a means thereto. Hence in the Conferences of the
Fathers (Coll. i, 7) the Abbot Moses says that "solitude," even as
fasting and other like things, is "a sure means of acquiring purity
of heart." Now it is evident that solitude is a means adapted not to
action but to contemplation, according to Osee 2:14, "I . . . will
lead her into solitude [Douay: 'the wilderness']; and I will speak to
her heart." Wherefore it is not suitable to those religious orders
that are directed to the works whether corporal or spiritual of the
active life; except perhaps for a time, after the example of Christ,
Who as Luke relates (6:12), "went out into a mountain to pray; and He
passed the whole night in the prayer of God." On the other hand, it
is suitable to those religious orders that are directed to
contemplation.

It must, however, be observed that what is solitary should be
self-sufficing by itself. Now such a thing is one "that lacks
nothing," and this belongs to the idea of a perfect thing
[*Aristotle, _Phys._ iii, 6]. Wherefore solitude befits the
contemplative who has already attained to perfection. This happens in
two ways: in one way by the gift only of God, as in the case of John
the Baptist, who was "filled with the Holy Ghost even from his
mother's womb" (Luke 1:11), so that he was in the desert even as a
boy; in another way by the practice of virtuous action, according to
Heb. 5:14: "Strong meat is for the perfect; for them who by custom
have their senses exercised to the discerning of good and evil."

Now man is assisted in this practice by the fellowship of others in
two ways. First, as regards his intellect, to the effect of his being
instructed in that which he has to contemplate; wherefore Jerome says
(ad Rustic. Monach., Ep. cxxv): "It pleases me that you have the
fellowship of holy men, and teach not yourself." Secondly, as regards
the affections, seeing that man's noisome affections a