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 (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 (Col 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
(Prv. 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 Cor 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 Jn 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 Thes
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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