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Chapter I
Purpose and Basis of Common Life
Before all else,
dear brothers, love God and then your neighbor, because these are the chief
commandments given to us.
1. The following are the precepts we order you living in the monastery to
observe.
2. The main purpose for you having come together is to live harmoniously
in your house, intent upon God in oneness of mind and heart.
3. Call nothing your own, but let everything be yours in common. Food and
clothing shall be distributed to each of you by your superior, not equally
to all, for all do not enjoy equal health, but rather according to each one's
need. For so you read in the Acts of the Apostles that they had all things
in common and distribution was made to each one according to each one's need
(Acts 4:32, 35).
4. Those who owned something in the world should be careful in wanting to
share it in common once they have entered the monastery.
5. But they who owned nothing should not look for those things in the monastery
that they were unable to have in the world. Nevertheless, they are to be
given all that their health requires even if, during their time in the world,
poverty made it impossible for them to find the very necessities of life.
And those should not consider themselves fortunate because they have found
the kind of food and clothing which they were unable to find in the world.
6. And let them not hold their heads high, because they associate with people
whom they did not dare to approach in the world, but let them rather lift
up their hearts and not seek after what is vain and earthly. Otherwise,
monasteries will come to serve a useful purpose for the rich and not the
poor, if the rich are made humble there and the poor are puffed up with pride.
7. The rich, for their part, who seemed important in the world, must not
look down upon their brothers who have come into this holy brotherhood from
a condition of poverty. They should seek to glory in the fellowship of poor
brothers rather than in the reputation of rich relatives. They should neither
be elated if they have contributed a part of their wealth to the common life,
nor take more pride in sharing their riches with the monastery than if they
were to enjoy them in the world. Indeed, every other kind of sin has to do
with the commission of evil deeds, whereas pride lurks even in good works
in order to destroy them.And what good is it to scatter one's weath abroad
by giving to the poor, even to become poor oneself, when the unhappy soul
is thereby more given to pride in despising riches than it had been in possessing
them?
8. Let all of you then live together in oneness of mind and heart, mutually
honoring God in yourselves, whose temples you have become.
Chapter II
Prayer
1. Be assiduous
in prayer (Colossians 4:2), at the hours and times appointed.
2. In the Oratory no one should do anything other than that for which was
intended and from which it also takes its name. Consequently, if there are
some who might wish to pray there during their free time, even outside the
hours appointed, they should not be hindered by those who think something
else must be done there.
3. When you pray to God in Psalms and hymns, think over in your hearts the
words that come from your lips.
4. Chant only what is prescribed for chant; moreover, let nothing be chanted
unless it is so prescribed.
Chapter III
Moderation and Self-Denial
1. Subdue the flesh,
so far as your health permits, by fasting and abstinence from food and drink.
However, when someone is unable to fast, he should still take no food outside
mealtimes unless he is ill.
2. When you come to table, listen until you leave to what is the custom to
read, without disturbance or strife. Let not your mouths alone take nourishment
but let your hearts too hunger for the words of God.
3. If those in more delicate health from their former way of life are treated
differently in the matter of food, this should not be a source of annoyance
to the others or appear unjust in the eyes of those who owe their stronger
health to different habits of life. Nor should the healthier brothers deem
them more fortunate for having food which they do not have, but rather consider
themselves fortunate for having the good health which the others do not enjoy.
4. And if something in the way of food, clothing, and bedding is given to
those coming to the monastery from a more genteel way of life, which is not
given to those who are stronger, and therefore happier, then these latter
ought to consider how far these others have come in passing from their life
in the world down to this life of ours, though they have been unable to reach
the level of frugality common to the stronger brothers. Nor should all want
to receive what they see given in larger measure to the few, not as a token
of honor, but as a help to support them in their weakness. This would give
rise to a deplorable disorder - that in the monastery, where the rich are
coming to bear as much hardship as they can, the poor are turning to a more
genteel way of life.
5. And just as the sick must take less food to avoid discomfort, so too,
after their illness, they are to receive the kind of treatment that will
quickly restore their strength, even though they come from a life of extreme
poverty. Their more recent illness has, as it were, afforded them what accrued
to the rich as part of their former way of life. But when they have recovered
their former strength, they should go back to their happier way of life which,
because their needs are fewer, is all the more in keeping with God's servants.
Once in good health, they must not become slaves to the enjoyment of food
which was necessary to sustain them in their illness. For it is better to
suffer a little want than to have too much.
Chapter IV
Safeguarding Chastity, and Fraternal Correction
1. There should
be nothing about your clothing to attract attention. Besides, you should
not seek to please by your apparel, but by a good life.
2. Whenever you go out, walk together, and when you reach your destination,
stay together.
3. In your walk, deportment, and in all actions, let nothing occur to give
offense to anyone who sees you, but only what becomes your holy state of
life.
4. Although your eyes may chance to rest upon some woman or other, you must
not fix your gaze upon any woman. Seeing women when you go out is not forbidden,
but it is sinful to desire them or to wish them to desire you, for it is
not by tough or passionate feeling alone but by one's gaze also that lustful
desires mutually arise. And do not say that your hearts are pure if there
is immodesty of the eye, because the unchaste eye carries the message of
an impure heart. And when such hearts disclose their unchaste desires in
a mutual gaze, even without saying a word, then it is that chastity suddenly
goes out of their life, even though their bodies remain unsullied by unchaste
acts.
5. And whoever fixes his gaze upon a woman and likes to have hers fixed upon
him must not suppose that others do not see what he is doing. He is very
much seen, even by those he thinks do not see him. But suppose all this escapes
the notice of man - what will he do about God who sees from on high and from
whom nothing is hidden? Or are we to imagine that he does not see because
he sees with a patience as great as his wisdom? Let the religious man then
have such fear of God that he will not want to be an occasion of sinful pleasure
to a woman. Ever mindful that God sees all things, let him not desire to
look at a woman lustfully. For it is on this point that fear of the Lord
is recommended, where it is written: An abomination to the Lord is he who
fixes his gaze (Proverbs 27:20)
6. So when you are together in church and anywhere else where women are present,
exercise a mutual care over purity of life. Thus, by mutual vigilance over
one another will God, who dwells in you, grant you his protection.
7. If you notice in someone of your brothers this wantonness of the eye,
of which I am speaking, admonish him at once so that the beginning of evil
will not grow more serious but will be promptly corrected.
8. But if you see him doing the same thing again on some other day, even
after your admonition, then whoever had occasion to discover this must report
him as he would a wounded man in need of treatment. But let the offense first
be pointed out to two or three so that he can be proven guilty on the testimony
of these two or three and be punished with due severity. And do not charge
yourselves with ill-will when you bring this offense to light. Indeed, yours
in the greater blame if you allow your brothers to be lost through your silence
when you are able to bring about their correction by your disclosure. If
you brother, for example, were suffering a bodily wound that he wanted to
hide for fear of undergoing treatment, would it not be cruel of you to remain
silent and a mercy on your part to make this known? How much greater then
is your obligation to make his condition known lest he continue to suffer
a more deadly wound of the soul.
9. But if he fails to correct the fault despite this admonition, he should
first be brought to the attention of the superior before the offense is made
known to the others who will have to prove his guilt, in the event he denies
the charge. Thus, corrected in private, his fault can perhaps be kept from
the others. But should he feign ignorance, the others are to be summoned
so that in the presence of all he can be proven guilty, rather than stand
accused on the word of one alone. Once proven guilty, he must undergo salutary
punishment according to the judgment of the superior or priest having the
proper authority. If he refuses to submit to punishment, he shall be expelled
from your brotherhood even if he does not withdraw of his own accord. For
this too is not done out of cruelty, but from a sense of compassion so that
many others may not be lost through his bad example.
10. And let everything I have said about not fixing one's gaze be also observed
carefully and faithfully with regard to other offenses: to find them out,
to ward them off, to make them known, to prove and punish them - all out
of love for man and a hatred of sin.
11. But if anyone should go so far in wrongdoing as to receive letters in
secret from any woman, or small gifts of any kind, you ought to show mercy
and pray for him if he confesses this of his own accord. But if the offense
is detected and he is found guilty, he must be more severely chastised according
to the judgment of the priest or superior.
Chapter V
The Care of Community Goods and Treatment of the Sick
1. Keep your clothing
in one place in charge of one or two, or of as many as are needed to care
for them and to prevent damage from moths. And just as you have your food
from the one pantry, so, too, you are to receive your clothing from a single
wardrobe. If possible, do not be concerned about what you are given to wear
at the change of seasons, whether each of you gets back what he had put away
or something different, providing no one is denied what he needs. If, however,
disputes and murmuring arise on this account because someone complains that
he received poorer clothing than he had before, and thinks it is beneath
him to wear the kind of clothing worn by another, you may judge from this
how lacking you are in that holy and inner garment of the heart when you
quarrel over garments for the body. But if allowance is made for your weakness
and you do receive the same clothing you had put away, you must still keep
it in one place under the common charge.
2. In this way, no one shall perform any task for his own benefit but all
your work shall be done for the common good, with greater zeal and more dispatch
than if each one of you were to work for yourself alone. For charity, as
it is written, is not self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13:5) meaning that it places
the common good before its own, not its own before the common good. So whenever
you show greater concern for the common good than for your own, you may know
that you are growing in charity. Thus, let the abiding virtue of charity
prevail in all things that minister to the fleeting necessities of life.
3. It follows, therefore, that if anyone brings something for their sons
or other relatives living in the monastery, whether a garment or anything
else they think is needed, this must not be accepted secretly as one's own
but must be placed at the disposal of the superior so that, as common property,
it can be given to whoever needs it. But if someone secretly keeps something
given to him, he shall be judged guilty of theft.
4. Your clothing should be cleaned either by yourselves or by those who perform
this service, as the superior shall determine, so that too great a desire
for clean clothing may not be the source of interior stains on the soul.
5. As for bodily cleanliness too, a brother must never deny himself the use
of the bath when his health requires it. But this should be done on medical
advice, without complaining, so that even though unwilling, he shall do what
has to be done for his health when the superior orders it. However, if the
brother wishes it, when it might not be good for him, you must not comply
with his desire, for sometimes we think something is beneficial for the pleasure
it gives, even though it may prove harmful.
6. Finally, if the cause of a brother's bodily pain is not apparent, you
make take the word of God's servant when he indicates what is giving him
pain. But if it remains uncertain whether the remedy he likes is good for
him, a doctor should be consulted.
7. When there is need to frequent the public baths or any other place, no
fewer than two or three should go together, and whoever has to go somewhere
must not go with those of his own choice but with those designated by the
superior.
8. The care of the sick, whether those in convalescence or others suffering
from some indisposition, even though free of fever, shall be assigned to
a brother who can personally obtain from the pantry whatever he sees is necessary
for each one.
9. Those in charge of the pantry, or of clothing and books, should render
cheerful service to their brothers.
10. Books are to be requested at a fixed hour each day, and anyone coming
outside that hour is not to receive them.
11. But as for clothing and shoes, those in charge shall not delay the giving
of them whenever they are required by those in need of them.
Chapter VI
Asking Pardon and Forgiving Offenses
1.Your should either
avoid quarrels altogether or else put an end to them as quickly as possible;
otherwise, anger may grow into hatred, making a plank out of a splinter,
and turn the soul into a murderer. For so you read: Everyone who hates his
brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15).
2. Whoever has injured another by open insult, or by abusive or even
incriminating language, must remember to repair the injury as quickly as
possible by an apology, and he who suffered the injury must also forgive,
without further wrangling. But if they have offended one another, they must
forgive one another's trespasses for the sake of your prayers which should
be recited with greater sincerity each time you repeat them. Although a brother
is often tempted to anger, yet prompt to ask pardon from one he admits to
having offended, such a one is better than another who, though less given
to anger, finds it too hard to ask forgiveness. But a brother who is never
willing to ask pardon, or does not do so from his heart, has no reason to
be in the monastery, even if he is not expelled. You must then avoid being
too harsh in your words, and should they escape your lips, let those same
lips not be ashamed to heal the wounds they have caused.
3. But whenever the good of discipline requires you to speak harshly in
correcting your subjects, then, even if you think you have been unduly harsh
in your language, you are not required to ask forgiveness lest, by practicing
too great humility toward those who should be your subjects, the authority
to rule is undermined. But you should still ask forgiveness from the Lord
of all who knows with what deep affection you love even those whom you might
happen to correct with undue severity. Besides, you are to love another with
a spiritual rather than an earthly love.
Chapter VII
Governance and Obedience
1. The superior
should be obeyed as a father with the respect due him so as not to offend
God in his person, and, even more so, the priest who bears responsibility
for you all.
2. But it shall pertain chiefly to the superior to see that these precepts
are all observed and, if any point has been neglected, to take care that
the transgression is not carelessly overlooked but is punished and corrected.
In doing so, he must refer whatever exceeds the limit and power of his office,
to the priest who enjoys greater authority among you.
3. The superior, for his part, must not think himself fortunate in his exercise
of authority but in his role as one serving you in love. In your eyes he
shall hold the first place among you by the dignity of his office, but in
fear before God he shall be as the least among you. He must show himself
as an example of good works toward all. Let him admonish the unruly, cheer
the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient toward all (1 Thessalonians
5:14). Let him uphold discipline while instilling fear. And though both are
necessary, he should strive to be loved by you rather than feared, ever mindful
that he must give an account of you to God.
4. It is by being more obedient, therefore, that you show mercy not only
toward yourselves but also toward the superior whose higher rank among you
exposes him all the more to greater peril.
Chapter VIII
Observance of the Rule
1. The Lord grant
that you may observe all these precepts in a spirit of charity as lovers
of spiritual beauty, giving forth the good odor of Christ in the holiness
of your lives: not as slaves living under the law but as men living in freedom
under grace.
2. And that you may see yourselves in this little book, as in a mirror, have
it read to you once a week so as to neglect no point through forgetfulness.
When you find that you are doing all that has been written, give thanks to
the Lord, the Giver of every good. But when one of you finds that he has
failed on any point, let him be sorry for the past, be on his guard for the
future, praying that he will be forgiven his fault and not be led into
temptation. |
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