How did the new Order differ from the old-style independent monasteries?
The actual Rule of Saint Basil continued to be a spiritual guide. Monastic life was now regulated by the new Constitutions, which replaced the many books of rules and customs of the old monasteries. Following the model of the Latin-Rite Mendicant Orders, each monk now made a specific (Solemn) Profession of three vows: Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Even the Superior was bound to the written Constitutions and less room was left to private interpretation of St. Basil.
