Prologue

Listen, son, to the teacher’s instructions, and incline the ear of your heart. Gladly receive the counsel of a loving father and carry it out fully, so that through the work of obedience you may return to him from whom you withdrew through the idleness of disobedience.

To you, then, my words are now addressed, whoever you are, who renounce your own will and take up the strongest and finest weapons to serve as a soldier of Christ the Lord, the true King.

First of all, whenever you begin a good work, ask him with the most earnest prayer to bring it to completion, so that he who has already graciously counted us among his sons may never have to be grieved by our evil deeds.

For we must obey him at all times with the good he has placed in us, so that he may neither disinherit his sons as an angry father nor, as a master to be feared, angered by our evil deeds, hand us over to everlasting punishment as utterly wicked servants who refused to follow him to glory.

Let us arise, then, at last, as Scripture rouses us: “It is time now for us to rise from sleep.” Then, with our eyes opened to the divine light and our ears startled to attention, let us hear what the divine voice, crying out to us every day, urges on us: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Again it says, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” And what does he say? “Come, sons, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Run while you have the light of life, so that the darkness of death does not overtake you.”

The Lord seeks his worker among the crowd to whom he calls these words. Again he says, “Who is the man who wants life and longs to see good days?” If you hear this and answer, “I do,” God says to you, “If you want true and everlasting life, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good. Seek peace and follow it. When you have done these things, my eyes will be upon you and my ears will attend to your prayers. Even before you call to me, I will say, ‘Here I am.’”

What is sweeter to us, dearest brothers, than this voice of the Lord inviting us? See how in his loving kindness the Lord shows us the way of life.

So, with our loins girded with faith and the practice of good works, and our feet equipped in readiness for the gospel of peace, let us walk his paths, so that we may be worthy to see in his kingdom the one who has called us.

If we wish to live in the tents of his kingdom, we will never arrive there unless we run toward them with good deeds.

But we ask the Lord with the prophet, saying to him, “Lord, who will live in your tent, or who will rest on your holy mountain?” After this question, dearest brothers, let us hear the Lord answering and showing us the way to that tent: “He who walks without blame and does what is right, who speaks the truth in his heart and practices no deceit with his tongue, who has done his neighbor no harm and has not accepted a slur against his neighbor.”

He is the one who, when the wicked devil suggests something to him, drives the devil and his suggestion from the sight of his heart and brings him to nothing. He seizes the devil’s thoughts in their infancy and smashes them against Christ.

Those who fear the Lord do not become proud of their good conduct. They judge that the good within them cannot come from their own power but is done by the Lord. They glorify the Lord at work in them, saying with the prophet, “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.”

In the same way the apostle Paul took no credit for his preaching. He said, “By God’s grace I am what I am.” And again he says, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

That is why the Lord also says in the Gospel, “He who hears these words of mine and does them, I will compare to a wise man who built his house on rock. The rivers came, the winds blew and struck that house, but it did not fall, because it was founded on rock.”

Having said all this, the Lord waits each day for us to answer these holy warnings of his with deeds, as we ought. For this reason the days of this life are extended for us as a reprieve in which to amend our wrongdoing. As the apostle says, “Do you not know that God’s patience leads you to repentance?” For the loving Lord says, “I do not want the death of the sinner, but that he should turn back and live.”

So, brothers, when we asked the Lord about the man who lives in his tent, we heard the instruction for living there. But we can live there only if we fulfill the inhabitant’s duty. Therefore we must prepare our hearts and bodies to serve as soldiers in holy obedience to the commandments.

And where our natural ability falls short, let us ask the Lord to command the help of his grace to come to our aid. If we wish to flee the punishments of hell and reach everlasting life, while we still have time, while we remain in this body and can fulfill all these things during this life in the light, we must run and do now what will be of benefit to us for eternity.

We must therefore establish a school of the Lord’s service. In arranging it, we hope to impose nothing harsh or burdensome. But even if something a little stricter is introduced, as fairness reasonably dictates, to correct faults or preserve love, do not let fear immediately drive you from the way of salvation. It must be narrow at the start.

But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, the heart expands, and we run the path of God’s commandments in the indescribable sweetness of love, so that, never turning away from his guidance as our teacher, and persevering in his teaching in the monastery until death, we may share in Christ’s sufferings through patient endurance and be worthy to share his kingdom.

Chapter 1 The Kinds of Monks

It is clear that monks belong to four kinds. The first are cenobites: those who live in a monastery and serve as soldiers under a rule and an abbot.

The second kind are anchorites, that is, hermits. These are not men driven by a beginner’s enthusiasm for monastic life, but men who, after long testing in a monastery, have learned to fight the devil, trained with the support of many others. Well equipped from the brothers’ battle line, now confident, without another man’s support, they are ready for the single combat of the desert. With their own hand and arm alone, they can fight the vices of body and thought, with God’s help.

The third and most detestable kind of monks are the sarabaites. No rule has tested them, with experience as their teacher, as gold is tested in a furnace. Instead, they have gone soft like lead. Still keeping faith with the world in what they do, they are known to lie to God by wearing the tonsure.

In twos or threes, or even alone, they live without a shepherd, enclosed not in the Lord’s sheepfolds but in their own. Their law is the pleasure of their own desires. Whatever they think or choose, they call holy. Whatever they do not want, they consider forbidden.

The fourth kind of monks are called gyrovagues. They spend their whole lives traveling through different regions, staying for three or four days as guests in one monastic house after another. Always wandering and never settled, they serve their own desires and the enticements of gluttony. In every way they are worse than the sarabaites.

It is better to keep silent than to speak of the wretched way of life of all these men. So, leaving them aside, let us turn, with the Lord’s help, to setting out a way of life for the strongest kind, the cenobites.

Chapter 2 What the Abbot Should Be Like

An abbot who is worthy to preside over a monastery must always remember what he is called, and live up to the title of superior through his actions. He is believed to act in Christ’s place in the monastery, since he is addressed by Christ’s own title, as the Apostle says: “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, in whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”

Therefore the abbot must not teach, establish, or command anything that falls outside the Lord’s commandment. Instead, his commands and teaching must work through his disciples’ minds like the leaven of God’s justice.

The abbot must always remember that his teaching and his disciples’ obedience will both be examined at God’s terrifying judgment. He must know that the shepherd will bear the blame for any good the father of the household finds missing in his sheep.

But if he has given a restless or disobedient flock every care a shepherd can give, and has devoted his full care to curing their unhealthy ways, their shepherd will be acquitted at the Lord’s judgment and may say to the Lord with the prophet: “I did not hide your justice within my heart. I spoke of your truth and your salvation. But they treated me with contempt and rejected me.” Then death itself will be the punishment that overtakes those sheep who disobeyed his care.

Anyone who takes on the name of abbot must therefore lead his disciples by teaching in two ways. He must show them everything good and holy more by actions than by words: he should set out the Lord’s commands in words for disciples able to understand them, but demonstrate the divine commandments by his actions to the hard of heart and the simpler. When he teaches his disciples that something is wrong, his own actions must show that it is not to be done, lest, after preaching to others, he himself be found disqualified.

Otherwise God may say to him in his sin: “Why do you recite my laws and take my covenant upon your lips? You hate discipline and have thrown my words behind you.” And: “You saw the splinter in your brother’s eye, yet did not see the beam in your own.”

He must not show favoritism in the monastery. He must not love one more than another, unless he finds one better in good works or obedience. A freeborn man must not be placed above a man who comes to monastic life from slavery, unless there is some other reasonable cause. If the abbot, following the demands of justice, judges this right, he may change anyone’s place in the order. Otherwise, let them keep their own places.

For whether slave or free, we are all one in Christ, and under one Lord we all serve in the same ranks as his slaves, because the Lord shows no favoritism. The only distinction he makes among us is whether we are found better than others in good works, and humble. So let the abbot’s love be equal for all, and let the same discipline be applied to everyone according to what each deserves.

In his teaching the abbot must always follow the Apostle’s pattern: “Reprove, appeal, rebuke.” He must vary his approach with the occasion, mixing warnings that inspire fear with encouragement, and show both the sternness of a teacher and the affection of a loving father. He must reprove the undisciplined and restless more sharply. He should appeal to the obedient, gentle, and patient to make further progress. We urge him to rebuke and correct the negligent and contemptuous.

He must not overlook the sins of offenders. As soon as they begin to emerge, he must cut them out at the root as far as he can, remembering the danger that befell Eli, the priest of Shiloh. With the more honorable and perceptive, he should use words to correct them at the first or second warning. But the wicked, the stubborn, the proud, and the disobedient he must restrain with beatings or bodily punishment at the very outset of their sin. He knows that Scripture says, “A fool is not corrected by words,” and again, “Strike your son with a rod, and you will rescue his soul from death.”

The abbot must always remember what he is and what he is called, and know that the more someone is entrusted with, the more will be demanded of him. He must know what a difficult and demanding task he takes on: to govern souls and to serve people of many different temperaments. He must use encouragement with one, rebukes with another, and persuasion with another. He must adapt himself to everyone according to each person’s character and understanding, so that he not only suffers no loss in the flock entrusted to him but rejoices in the growth of a good flock.

Above all, he must not neglect or make light of the salvation of the souls entrusted to him, caring more for passing, earthly, perishable things. He must always remember that he has undertaken to govern souls for whom he will have to give an account. And he must not make the excuse that the monastery’s means may be small. He must remember what is written: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be added to you.” And again: “Those who fear him lack nothing.”

He must know that anyone who undertakes to govern souls must prepare to give an account. However many brothers he knows he has in his care, he must recognize for certain that on the day of judgment he will have to give the Lord an account of every one of their souls, with his own soul added beyond doubt. So, always fearing the examination that awaits a shepherd concerning the sheep entrusted to him, he becomes careful of his own account while he guards the accounts of others. And as he helps others amend their lives through his warnings, his own faults are corrected too.

Chapter 3 Calling the Brothers to Give Counsel

Whenever important matters need attending to in the monastery, the abbot must call the whole community together and explain what is at issue. After hearing the brothers’ advice, he should consider the matter himself and do what he judges more useful. We have said that everyone should be called to give counsel because the Lord often reveals what is better to a younger man.

The brothers must give their advice in complete humility and submission. They must not presume to defend their own opinion insolently. Rather, the decision must rest with the abbot’s judgment, so that everyone obeys what he decides will be more beneficial. Just as it is fitting for disciples to obey their teacher, it is fitting for him to arrange everything prudently and justly.

In everything, then, let all follow the Rule as their teacher, and let no one rashly depart from it. No one in the monastery may follow the will of his own heart. No one may presume to argue insolently with his abbot, or to argue with him outside the monastery. If anyone does presume to do this, he must submit to the discipline of the Rule.

The abbot himself, however, must do everything in fear of God and observance of the Rule, knowing without doubt that he will give God, the supremely just judge, an account of all his judgments. But if less important matters need attending to in the monastery’s affairs, he should seek the advice of the senior brothers alone, as Scripture says: “Do everything with counsel, and afterward you will not regret what you have done.”

Chapter 4 The Tools for Good Works

First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and all your strength.

Then love your neighbor as yourself.

Then do not kill.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not steal.

Do not covet.

Do not give false testimony.

Honor all people.

Do not do to another what you do not want done to you.

Deny yourself so that you may follow Christ.

Discipline your body.

Do not embrace pleasures.

Love fasting.

Relieve the poor.

Clothe the naked.

Visit the sick.

Bury the dead.

Help those in distress.

Comfort those in sorrow.

Make yourself a stranger to worldly pursuits.

Put nothing before the love of Christ.

Do not act on anger.

Do not let anger linger.

Do not keep deceit in your heart.

Do not offer a false peace.

Do not abandon love.

Do not swear oaths, lest you swear falsely.

Speak the truth from your heart and with your mouth.

Do not repay evil with evil.

Do not wrong anyone, and patiently bear the wrongs done to you.

Love your enemies.

Do not curse those who curse you. Bless them instead.

Endure persecution for the sake of justice.

Do not be proud.

Do not be a drunkard.

Do not eat excessively.

Do not be overfond of sleep.

Do not be lazy.

Do not be a grumbler.

Do not speak ill of others.

Entrust your hope to God.

When you see anything good in yourself, credit it to God, not to yourself.

But always recognize the evil you do as your own doing, and hold yourself responsible for it.

Fear the day of judgment.

Be terrified of hell.

Long for eternal life with all your spiritual desire.

Keep death before your eyes each day, alert to its coming.

Keep watch over your actions every hour.

Know for certain that God sees you everywhere.

As soon as evil thoughts enter your heart, dash them against Christ, and reveal them to a spiritual elder.

Guard your mouth against corrupt or evil speech.

Do not love talking too much.

Do not speak empty words or words that invite laughter.

Do not love excessive or boisterous laughter.

Gladly listen to holy readings.

Devote yourself often to prayer.

Every day, in prayer, confess your past sins to God with tears and sighs.

Amend your conduct so that you do not repeat those sins.

Do not carry out the desires of the flesh.

Hate your own will.

Obey the abbot’s commands in everything, even if (God forbid) his own conduct is otherwise. Remember the Lord’s command: “Do what they say, but do not do what they do.”

Do not want to be called holy before you are holy. First be holy, so that the name may be more truly yours.

Fulfill God’s commandments in your actions every day.

Love chastity.

Hate no one.

Do not be jealous.

Do not act out of envy.

Do not love quarrels.

Flee arrogance.

Revere your elders.

Love the younger brothers.

In the love of Christ, pray for your enemies.

Make peace with anyone you are at odds with before the sun sets.

Never despair of God’s mercy.

These, then, are the tools of the spiritual craft.

If we put them fully into practice, unceasingly day and night, and return them on the day of judgment, the Lord will repay us with the reward he has promised: “What eye has not seen nor ear heard, God has prepared for those who love him.”

The workshop where we are to do all this diligently is the enclosure of the monastery and steadfastly remaining in the community.

Chapter 5 On Obedience

The first step of humility is obedience without delay. Such obedience befits those who consider nothing dearer to them than Christ. For the sake of the sacred service they have professed, or through fear of hell or for the glory of eternal life, as soon as a superior commands something they allow themselves no delay in doing it, as if God himself were giving the command.

Of these men the Lord says: “At the hearing of the ear, he obeyed me.”

And he also says to teachers: “Whoever listens to you listens to me.”

So men like these immediately set aside what is their own and abandon their own will. At once they free their hands, leave their work unfinished, and follow the spoken command with action, close on its heels in obedience. So the teacher’s command and the disciple’s finished work are completed together, as if in a single moment, in the swiftness that comes from the fear of God.

They are driven by a longing to advance toward eternal life. So they seize the narrow way, of which the Lord says: “Narrow is the way that leads to life.” Living in monasteries, they want an abbot over them, not living by their own judgment or obeying their own desires and pleasures, but walking under another’s judgment and command. This is surely how they imitate that saying of the Lord: “I have not come to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”

Yet this very obedience will be acceptable to God and pleasing to men only if the command is carried out without fearful hesitation, delay, or lukewarmness, and without grumbling or a reluctant reply. For the obedience given to superiors is rendered to God. He himself said: “Whoever listens to you listens to me.” Disciples must offer it in a glad spirit, for God loves a cheerful giver.

For if a disciple obeys in a bad spirit and grumbles, not only aloud but even in his heart, then even if he carries out the order, it will not be acceptable to God, who sees the grumbling in his heart. He gains no favor for such an act. Instead, he incurs the punishment of those who grumble, unless he corrects his conduct and makes amends.

Chapter 6 Restraint in Speech

Let us do what the prophet says: “I said, I will guard my ways so that I do not sin with my tongue. I set a guard over my mouth. I fell silent and was humbled. I left even good words unspoken.”

Here the prophet shows that if we must sometimes refrain even from good words for the sake of silence, how much more must we refrain from evil words because of the punishment for sin. Therefore, even when the words are good, holy, and edifying, permission to speak should rarely be granted even to mature disciples, because of the importance of silence. For it is written: “With much talk you will not escape sin.” And elsewhere: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

For speaking and teaching are fitting for the teacher. Silence and listening are fitting for the disciple. So if anything needs to be asked of a superior, it should be asked with all humility and respectful submission.

But we ban coarse joking or idle and laughter-provoking words forever and everywhere. We do not allow a disciple to open his mouth for such speech.

Chapter 7 On Humility

Divine Scripture cries out to us, brothers: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” By saying this, it shows us that every self-exaltation is a form of pride. The prophet shows that he guards against this when he says: “Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes raised high. I have not gone among great things or wonders beyond me.” “But what if I did not think humbly, but exalted my soul? Like a weaned child upon his mother, so you will repay my soul.”

Therefore, brothers, if we want to reach the peak of the highest humility and quickly attain that heavenly exaltation to which we ascend by humility in this present life, our actions as we ascend must raise that ladder which appeared to Jacob in a dream, on which he was shown angels descending and ascending. Without doubt, this descent and ascent mean only this for us: we descend by exalting ourselves and ascend by humility.

The ladder itself, once raised, is our life in the world. When the heart is humbled, the Lord raises it to heaven. We call the sides of this ladder our body and soul. Into them the divine call has fitted the various steps of humility and discipline for us to climb.

The first step of humility is for a man to keep the fear of God always before his eyes, flee entirely from forgetfulness, and always remember everything God has commanded. He must constantly turn over in his mind how hell burns those who despise God for their sins, and the eternal life prepared for those who fear God.

Guarding himself at every hour from sins and vices of thought, tongue, hands, feet and self-will, and from the desires of the flesh, he should consider that God always looks down on him from heaven, that his deeds in every place are visible to the divine gaze and are reported by angels at every hour. The prophet shows this to us when he shows God always present in our thoughts, saying: “God searches hearts and inmost depths.” And again: “The Lord knows the thoughts of men.” And again he says: “You have understood my thoughts from afar.” And: “A man’s thought will confess to you.”

So, to keep watch over his perverse thoughts, a brother who serves well should always say in his heart: “Then I shall be blameless before him, if I keep myself from my wrongdoing.”

We are forbidden to carry out our own will, for Scripture tells us: “Turn away from your own wishes.” And in prayer we ask God that his will be done in us. We are rightly taught not to do our own will when we heed what holy Scripture says: “There are ways that men think right, whose end plunges into the depths of hell.” And again, we dread what is said of the negligent: “They have become corrupt and loathsome in their pleasures.”

As for the desires of the flesh, we must believe that God is always present to us, for the prophet says to the Lord: “All my desire lies before you.” We must therefore guard against evil desire, because death is stationed beside the doorway to pleasure. Hence Scripture commands: “Do not follow your cravings.”

So if the Lord’s eyes watch the good and the evil, if the Lord always looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see whether anyone understands or seeks God, and if the angels assigned to us report our deeds to the Lord our maker every day and night, then we must take care at every hour, brothers, as the prophet says in the Psalm, lest God at some point see us turning to evil and becoming useless. He spares us for now because he is merciful and waits for us to change for the better. We must take care lest he say to us in the future: “You did these things, and I kept silent.”

The second step of humility is for a man not to love his own will or delight in fulfilling his own desires, but to imitate in action that word of the Lord: “I have not come to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”

Again, it is written: “Pleasure carries punishment, and necessity wins a crown.”

The third step of humility is for a man, out of love for God, to submit to his superior in all obedience, imitating the Lord, of whom the Apostle says: “He became obedient even to death.”

The fourth step of humility is this: in obedience, when things are hard and go against him, or even when wrongs of any kind are inflicted on him, he embraces patience with inward silence. As he endures, he must not grow weary or turn away, for Scripture says: “Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.” And again: “Let your heart be strengthened, and wait for the Lord.”

To show that the faithful man must endure every adversity for the Lord, it says in the voice of those who suffer: “For your sake we are put to death all day long. We are reckoned as sheep for slaughter.” And secure in their hope of divine reward, they continue joyfully: “But in all these things we overcome because of him who loved us.” Again, in another place Scripture says: “You have tested us, O God. You have tried us by fire as silver is tried by fire. You brought us into a snare. You laid afflictions on our backs.” To show that we must be under a superior, it adds: “You have set men over our heads.”

They also fulfill the Lord’s command in adversity and injury through patience: when struck on one cheek, they offer the other; when their tunic is taken, they give up their cloak as well; when forced to go one mile, they go two. With Paul the Apostle they endure false brothers, they endure persecution, and they bless those who curse them.

The fifth step of humility is for a man not to hide from his abbot any evil thoughts that come into his heart, or any evil deeds he has committed in secret, but to reveal them through humble confession.

Scripture urges us to this, saying: “Reveal your way to the Lord and hope in him.” And again: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy lasts forever.” And the prophet again: “I made my offense known to you, and did not cover up my wrongdoings.” “I said: I will declare my wrongdoings against myself to the Lord. And you forgave the wickedness of my heart.”

The sixth step of humility is for a monk to be content with the lowest and least of everything, and to judge himself a bad and unworthy worker in everything assigned to him, saying to himself with the prophet: “I have been reduced to nothing, and I did not understand. I became like a beast of burden before you, yet I am always with you.”

The seventh step of humility is not only for a man to say with his tongue that he is lower and of less worth than everyone else, but to believe it in the deepest feeling of his heart, humbling himself and saying with the prophet: “But I am a worm and not a man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people.”

“I was lifted up, but have been humbled and put to shame.” And again: “It is good for me that you humbled me, so that I may learn your commandments.”

The eighth step of humility is for a monk to do nothing except what the common rule of the monastery and the examples set by his elders urge him to do.

The ninth step of humility is for a monk to restrain his tongue from speaking, hold to silence, and not speak until asked, since Scripture shows that “in much talk sin is not escaped,” and that “a talkative man is not rightly guided on earth.”

The tenth step of humility is for a man not to be quick or ready to laugh, for it is written: “A fool raises his voice in laughter.”

The eleventh step of humility is for a monk, when he speaks, to speak gently and without laughter, humbly and seriously, using few, reasonable words, and without shouting. As it is written: “A wise man is known by few words.”

The twelfth step of humility is for a monk to show humility at all times to those who see him, not only in his heart but in his very body. Whether at the Work of God, in the oratory, in the monastery, in the garden, on the road, in the field, or anywhere else, whether sitting, walking, or standing, he must always keep his head bowed and his eyes fixed on the ground. Considering himself guilty of his sins at every hour, he should reckon himself already standing before the dread judgment.

He should always say in his heart what the tax collector in the Gospel said with his eyes fixed on the ground: “Lord, I am a sinner, unworthy to lift my eyes to heaven.” And with the prophet: “I am bent down and humbled utterly.”

After climbing all these steps of humility, the monk will soon come to that love of God which, when perfect, casts out fear. Through this love, he will begin to keep without any effort, as though naturally from habit, all that he once observed not without fear, no longer out of fear of hell, but out of love of Christ, out of good habit itself, and from delight in the virtues.

These are the things the Lord will graciously show, through the Holy Spirit, in his worker who is now free of vices and sins.

Chapter 8 The Divine Office at Night

In winter, from November 1 until Easter, the brothers are to rise at the eighth hour of the night, according to a reasonable reckoning, so that they rest for a little more than half the night and rise after their food has been digested.

The time remaining after Vigils is to be used for study by brothers who still need to learn some of the Psalter or the readings.

From Easter until the November 1 already mentioned, the time of Vigils is to be arranged so that, after a very short interval in which the brothers can attend to their bodily needs, Lauds follows at once. It is to be held at daybreak.

Chapter 9 How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at Night

During the winter period described above, first say this verse three times: “Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.”

Psalm 3 and the Gloria are then to be added. After this, Psalm 94 (95), “Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,” is to be sung with an antiphon, or else simply sung. An Ambrosian hymn follows.

Then six Psalms with antiphons. When these have been said and the versicle has been recited, the abbot is to give a blessing. With everyone seated on benches, three readings are to be read in turn by the brothers from the book at the reading stand, interspersed with three responsories.

The first two responsories are said without the Gloria. After the third reading, however, the singer is to say the Gloria. As soon as the cantor begins it, everyone is to rise from his seat in honor and reverence for the Holy Trinity.

At Vigils, books of divine authority from both the Old and the New Testaments are to be read, together with expositions of them composed by well-known, orthodox catholic Fathers.

After these three readings with their responsories, the remaining six Psalms follow, sung with Alleluia. After these Psalms, a reading from the Apostle is to follow, recited from memory, then a versicle and the petition of the litany, Kyrie eleison (“Lord, have mercy”). And so the night Vigils are concluded.

Chapter 10 How Night Praise Is to Be Offered in Summer

From Easter until November 1, the full number of Psalms prescribed above is to be kept, except that the readings are not to be read from a book, because the nights are short. In place of those three readings, one reading from the Old Testament is to be recited from memory, followed by a short responsory.

Everything else is to be carried out as already stated: never fewer than twelve Psalms are to be said at the night Vigils, not counting Psalms 3 and 94 (95).

Chapter 11 How Sunday Vigils Are to Be Celebrated

On Sundays, they are to rise earlier for Vigils. This is the arrangement to be followed at these Vigils. After six Psalms and a verse have been chanted, as we arranged above, everyone is to sit in orderly fashion on the benches. Four readings are to be read from the book, as we said above, each with its responsory.

Only in the fourth responsory is the singer to say the Gloria. As soon as he begins it, everyone is to stand reverently.

After these readings, six more Psalms are to follow in order, with antiphons as before, and then a verse. After these, four more readings with their responsories are to be read, in the order given above.

After these, three canticles from the prophets are to be said, chosen by the abbot. These canticles are to be sung with Alleluia. After a verse has also been said and the abbot has given the blessing, four more readings are to be read from the New Testament, in the order described above.

After the fourth responsory, the abbot is to begin the hymn Te Deum laudamus, “We praise you, God.” When it is finished, the abbot is to read a passage from the Gospel, while everyone stands with reverence and awe.

When the reading is finished, everyone is to answer “Amen.” The abbot is then to follow immediately with the hymn Te decet laus, “Praise befits you.” After the blessing has been given, they are to begin Lauds.

This order for Sunday Vigils is to be kept throughout the year, in summer and winter alike, unless (God forbid) they rise late. In that case, something must be shortened in the readings or responsories.

Every care must be taken to prevent this. If it does happen, the man whose negligence caused it must make due amends to God in the oratory.

Chapter 12 How Lauds Is to Be Celebrated

At Sunday Lauds, Psalm 66 (67) is to be said first, straight through without an antiphon. After it, Psalm 50 (51) is to be said with Alleluia. Then Psalms 117 (118) and 62 (63) are to be said, followed by the Blessings and the Praises.

Then come one reading from Revelation, recited from memory, a responsory, an Ambrosian hymn, a verse, a canticle from the Gospel, and the litany. With that, the service is complete.

Chapter 13 How Lauds Is to Be Celebrated on Ordinary Days

On ordinary days, Lauds is to be celebrated in this way. Psalm 66 (67) is to be said without an antiphon, drawn out a little as on Sunday, so that everyone can be there for Psalm 50 (51), which is to be said with an antiphon.

After it, two other Psalms are to be said according to custom:

on Monday, Psalms 5 and 35 (36);

on Tuesday, Psalms 42 (43) and 56 (57);

on Wednesday, Psalms 63 (64) and 64 (65);

on Thursday, Psalms 87 (88) and 89 (90);

on Friday, Psalms 75 (76) and 91 (92).

On Saturday, Psalm 142 (143) is to be said, and the canticle from Deuteronomy, divided into two parts, each with a Gloria.

On the other days, a canticle from the prophets is to be said, each on its own day, as the Roman Church sings it.

After these come the Praises, then one reading from the Apostle, recited from memory, a responsory, an Ambrosian hymn, a verse, a canticle from the Gospel, and the litany. With that, the service is complete.

Lauds and Vespers must never end without the superior saying the whole of the Lord’s Prayer at the end for all to hear, because of the thorns of offense that tend to arise. In saying, “Forgive us, as we too forgive,” they are bound by the promise in that prayer, so that they may cleanse themselves of this vice.

At the other services, the last part of that prayer is to be said, so that everyone answers, “But deliver us from evil.”

Chapter 14 How Vigils Are to Be Celebrated on Feast Days of the Saints

On saints’ feast days or on any solemn celebration, follow the order that we said should be observed on Sunday, except that the Psalms, antiphons, and readings are to be those appropriate to that day. The pattern set out above is to be maintained.

Chapter 15 When Alleluia Is to Be Said

From holy Easter until Pentecost, Alleluia is always to be said, both in the Psalms and in the responsories. From Pentecost until the beginning of Lent, at the night service it is to be said every night only with the last six Psalms.

On every Sunday outside Lent, the canticles, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, and None are said with Alleluia. Vespers, however, is said with antiphons. Responsories, however, must never be said with Alleluia except from Easter until Pentecost.

Chapter 16 How the Divine Office Is to Be Celebrated During the Day

As the prophet says, “I have praised you seven times a day.” We will fulfill this sacred number of seven if we discharge the duties of our service at the times of Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline, for it was of these daytime hours that he said, “I have praised you seven times a day.”

Of the night Vigils, the same prophet says, “At midnight I rose to give thanks to you.” Let us therefore offer praise to our Creator for his righteous judgments at these times: Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. And let us rise at night to give thanks to him.

Chapter 17 How Many Psalms Are to Be Sung at These Hours

We have already set out the order of Psalm singing for the night services and Lauds. Now let us consider the hours that follow.

At Prime, three Psalms are to be said separately, not under one Gloria. The hymn for that hour comes after the verse “God, come to my aid…” and before the Psalms begin. After the three Psalms have been completed, one reading is to be recited, followed by a verse, Kyrie eleison, and the dismissal.

At Terce, Sext, and None, prayer is to follow the same order: a verse, the hymn for these hours, three Psalms at each hour, a reading, a verse, Kyrie eleison, and the dismissal.

If the community is larger, the Psalms are to be sung with antiphons; if smaller, straight through.

Vespers is to have four Psalms, with antiphons. After these Psalms, a reading is to be recited. Then come a responsory, an Ambrosian hymn, a verse, a canticle from the Gospel, the litany, and the Lord’s Prayer, followed by the dismissal.

Compline is to have three Psalms. These Psalms are to be said straight through, without antiphons. After them come the hymn for that hour, one reading, a verse, Kyrie eleison, a blessing, and the dismissal.

Chapter 18 The Order in Which the Psalms Are to Be Said

At the daytime hours, always begin with the verse “God, come to my aid; Lord, make haste to help me,” then the Gloria and the hymn for the particular hour.

Then, at Prime on Sunday, four sections of Psalm 118 (119) are to be said. At the other hours of Terce, Sext, and None, three sections of the same Psalm 118 (119) are to be said at each hour.

At Prime on Monday, three Psalms are to be said: Psalms 1, 2, and 6. Then, on each successive day until Sunday, three Psalms in sequence are to be said at Prime, through Psalm 19 (20), with Psalms 9 (9–10) and 17 (18) each divided into two parts, each part with its own Gloria. In this way, the Sunday Vigils are always to begin with Psalm 20 (21).

At Terce, Sext, and None on Monday, the nine sections remaining from Psalm 118 (119) are to be said, three at each of these hours.

With Psalm 118 (119) thus completed over two days, Sunday and Monday, on Tuesday three Psalms are to be sung at each of Terce, Sext, and None, from Psalms 119 (120) through 127 (128), nine Psalms in all.

These same Psalms are to be repeated at the same hours each day until Sunday, with the order of hymns, readings, and verses likewise kept the same every day. Thus, on Sunday the sequence is always to begin again with Psalm 118 (119).

At Vespers each day, four Psalms are to be sung. These Psalms are to run from Psalm 109 (110) through Psalm 147 (147:12–20), except for those set apart for other hours: Psalms 117 (118) through 127 (128), Psalm 133 (134), and Psalm 142 (143). All the remaining Psalms in that range are to be said at Vespers.

Since the total is three Psalms short, the longer Psalms in that range are to be divided: Psalms 138 (139), 143 (144), and 144 (145). Psalm 116 (117), being short, is to be joined to Psalm 115 (116:10–19). With the order of the Vespers Psalms thus arranged, the remaining parts, the reading, responsory, hymn, verse, and canticle, are to be carried out as we have set out above.

At Compline, the same Psalms are to be repeated every day: Psalms 4, 90 (91), and 133 (134).

Once the daytime Psalm singing has been arranged, all the Psalms left over are to be distributed evenly among the Vigils of the seven nights, dividing the longer ones into parts and assigning twelve to each night.

We give this warning above all: if anyone finds this distribution of the Psalms unsatisfactory, let him arrange it differently if he judges that better, provided that in every case care is taken to sing the whole Psalter, all 150 Psalms, within each week, and to begin it again from the start every Sunday at Vigils.

For monks who sing less than the Psalter, together with the customary canticles, over the course of a week show great sluggishness in their devoted service. We read that our holy fathers vigorously accomplished this in a single day. May we, lukewarm as we are, at least fulfill it in a whole week.

Chapter 19 On the Discipline of Psalm Singing

We believe that God is present everywhere and that the eyes of the Lord watch the good and the wicked. But we must believe this without any doubt especially when we are present at the Work of God.

So let us always remember what the prophet says: “Serve the Lord in fear,” and again: “Sing wisely,” and: “In the sight of the angels I will sing to you.”

Let us therefore consider how we ought to be in the presence of God and his angels, and let us stand to sing in such a way that our mind is in accord with our voice.

Chapter 20 On Reverence in Prayer

If we want to put a request to powerful men, we do not presume to do so except with humility and reverence. How much more must we plead with the Lord God of all with complete humility and pure devotion. Let us know that we are heard not through many words, but through purity of heart and tearful compunction.

Prayer should therefore be brief and pure, unless it is prolonged by an impulse inspired by divine grace. In community, however, prayer is to be kept very brief. At the superior’s signal, all are to rise together.

Chapter 21 On the Deans of the Monastery

If the community is large, brothers of good reputation and a holy way of life are to be chosen from among its members and appointed deans. They are to take care of their groups of ten in all matters, following God’s commands and their abbot’s instructions.

The men chosen as deans must be ones with whom the abbot can confidently share his burdens. They are to be chosen not according to rank, but according to the merit of their lives and their wise teaching.

If one of these deans is found puffed up with pride and at fault, and refuses to amend after being warned once, twice, and a third time, he is to be removed from office. Another who is worthy is to succeed him in his place.

We lay down the same rule for the prior.

Chapter 22 How Monks Are to Sleep

Each is to sleep in his own bed. They are to receive bedding appropriate to their way of life, as their abbot provides. If possible, all are to sleep in one place. If their numbers do not allow this, they are to rest in groups of ten or twenty, with seniors to look after them. A light is to burn continuously in that room until morning.

They are to sleep clothed, with belts or cords around their waists, but must not have their knives at their sides while asleep, lest a sleeper be wounded in his sleep.

Monks are always to be ready. At the signal, they are to rise without delay and hurry to be first at the Work of God, yet with complete seriousness and restraint.

Younger brothers must not have beds next to one another, but are to be interspersed with the seniors. When they rise for the Work of God, they are to urge one another gently, because of the excuses sleepy brothers make.

Chapter 23 On Excommunication for Faults

If a brother is found to be defiant, disobedient, proud, or grumbling, or to be opposing the holy Rule in any respect and showing contempt for his seniors’ instructions, his seniors are to warn him privately once and a second time, in accordance with our Lord’s command.

If he does not amend, he is to be rebuked publicly before everyone. If this still does not correct him, he is to be excommunicated, provided that he understands what sort of punishment it is. But if he is obstinate and will not understand, he is to be subjected to corporal punishment.

Chapter 24 The Measure of Excommunication

The degree of excommunication or punishment must be set according to the seriousness of the fault. It is for the abbot to judge how serious the faults are.

If a brother is found guilty of lesser faults, he is to be deprived of sharing the common table. For a brother deprived of table fellowship, the procedure is this: in the oratory he must not begin a Psalm or an antiphon, or recite a reading, until he has made amends.

He is to take his meal alone after the brothers have eaten. For example, if the brothers eat at the sixth hour, he does so at the ninth. If the brothers eat at the ninth, he does so in the evening, until he has obtained pardon by making fitting amends.

Chapter 25 On More Serious Faults

A brother found guilty of a more serious fault is to be excluded from both the table and the oratory. None of the brothers is to associate with him in any way or talk with him.

He is to work alone at the task assigned to him, continuing to mourn in repentance. He must keep in mind the Apostle’s terrifying judgment: “Such a man is handed over for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.”

He is to receive his food alone, in the amount and at the hour the abbot judges suitable for him. No one passing by is to bless him, nor is the food given to him to be blessed.

Chapter 26 On Those Who Associate with the Excommunicated without Permission

If a brother presumes, without the abbot’s permission, to associate in any way with an excommunicated brother, to speak with him, or to send him a message, he is to incur the same penalty of excommunication.

Chapter 27 How the Abbot Must Care for the Excommunicated

The abbot must show every care for brothers who have done wrong, for it is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick.

He must therefore use every means, as a wise physician would. He is to send in, as it were, discreet comforters, senior, wise brothers who can quietly comfort the wavering brother and urge him to make humble amends. They are to comfort him so that he is not overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. And, as the Apostle also says, love for him is to be reaffirmed, and everyone is to pray for him.

The abbot must take the greatest care and exert all his discernment and effort, so that he does not lose any of the sheep entrusted to him. He must know that he has undertaken the care of sick souls, not tyranny over healthy ones.

He must fear the prophet’s warning, in which God says: “You took for yourselves what you saw was fat, and threw away what was weak.”

He is to follow the good shepherd’s compassionate example: leaving ninety-nine sheep in the mountains, he went to seek the one sheep that had strayed. He had such compassion for its weakness that he graciously chose to place it on his sacred shoulders and so carry it back to the flock.

Chapter 28 On Those Who Refuse to Amend after Repeated Correction

If a brother has been repeatedly corrected for some fault and has not amended even after excommunication, he is to receive a harsher correction: punishment by blows. If even this does not correct him, or if (God forbid) he becomes so proud that he even tries to defend his conduct, the abbot is to act as a wise physician would.

If he has applied soothing dressings, the ointments of exhortation, the medicines of the divine Scriptures, and finally the cautery of excommunication or the blows of the rod, and still sees that his efforts achieve nothing, he is to apply something greater: his own prayer and that of all the brothers for this man, so that the Lord, who is almighty, may bring healing to the sick brother.

But if he is not healed even in this way, the abbot must then use the surgeon’s knife and cut him off, as the Apostle says: “Remove the evil man from among you.” And again: “If the unbeliever leaves, let him leave,” so that one diseased sheep does not infect the whole flock.

Chapter 29 Whether Brothers Who Leave the Monastery Should Be Received Back

If a brother who leaves the monastery through his own fault wishes to return, he must first promise full amendment of the fault for which he left. He is then to be received in the lowest rank, so that his humility may be tested in this way.

If he leaves again, he is to be received back up to a third time, knowing that after this every way of returning is closed to him.

Chapter 30 How Younger Boys Are to Be Corrected

Every age and level of understanding must have its appropriate measure of discipline.

Therefore, whenever boys, adolescents, or those less able to understand how serious a punishment excommunication is do wrong, they are to be subjected to severe fasting or restrained by harsh blows, so that they may be healed.

Chapter 31 What the Cellarer of the Monastery Should Be Like

The monastery’s cellarer is to be chosen from the community: a wise man, mature in conduct and sober, not an excessive eater, not arrogant, disruptive, abusive, sluggish, or wasteful, but one who fears God and is like a father to the whole community.

He is to take care of everything. He is to do nothing without the abbot’s instruction. He is to keep to what is ordered. He is not to cause the brothers distress. If a brother happens to make an unreasonable request of him, he must not distress him by treating him with contempt. Rather, he is to refuse the improper request reasonably and humbly.

He is to guard his own soul, always remembering the Apostle’s saying: “Whoever serves well gains a good standing for himself.” He is to care attentively for the sick, the children, guests, and the poor, knowing without doubt that he will have to give an account for all of them on the day of judgment.

He is to regard all the monastery’s utensils and all its property as though they were sacred vessels of the altar. He is to consider nothing unworthy of care. He must neither pursue greed nor be a squanderer who strips the monastery of its resources. Instead, he is to do everything with moderation and according to the abbot’s instruction.

Above all, he must be humble. If there is nothing material to give someone, he is to offer a kind reply, as it is written: “A kind word is better than the finest gift.”

He is to have under his care everything the abbot assigns to him. He must not presume to involve himself in what the abbot has forbidden him. He is to provide the brothers with their appointed food allowance without arrogance or delay, so that they are not given cause to stumble. He must remember the divine warning about what someone deserves who causes one of the little ones to stumble.

If the community is large, he is to be given helpers, so that with their assistance he too can carry out his entrusted office with an even temper.

At the proper times, what is to be given is to be given, and what is to be requested is to be requested, so that no one is disturbed or distressed in the house of God.

Chapter 32 On the Tools and Other Property of the Monastery

For the monastery’s property, its tools, clothing, and anything else, the abbot is to select brothers whose life and conduct he can trust. He is to entrust the individual items to them for safekeeping and collection, as he judges useful. The abbot is to keep an inventory of these things, so that when the brothers take turns in their assigned responsibilities, he knows what he gives out and what he receives back.

If anyone handles the monastery’s property in a dirty or careless way, he is to be corrected. If he does not amend, he is to undergo the discipline prescribed by the Rule.

Chapter 33 Whether Monks Should Have Anything of Their Own

Above all, this vice must be cut out of the monastery by the roots. No one is to presume to give or receive anything without the abbot’s permission. Nor may he have anything of his own, nothing at all, not a book, not writing tablets, not a stylus. Nothing at all.

For they are not permitted to dispose of even their own bodies or wills at their own discretion.

They are to look to the father of the monastery for all necessities. They may possess nothing unless the abbot has given it or permitted it. Everything is to be common to all, as it is written. No one is to call anything his own or presume to treat it as his own.

If anyone is found taking delight in this most wicked vice, he is to be warned once and then again. If he does not amend, he is to undergo correction.

Chapter 34 Whether All Should Receive Necessities Equally

As it is written: “Distribution was made to each according to his need.” By this we do not mean that there should be favoritism (God forbid), but that weaknesses should be taken into account.

One who needs less is to give thanks to God and not be saddened. One who needs more is to be humbled by his weakness, not made proud by the mercy shown him. In this way all the members will be at peace.

Above all, the evil of grumbling must not appear in anyone, for any reason, in any word or gesture. If anyone is found doing this, he is to be subjected to stricter discipline.

Chapter 35 The Brothers Serving Their Week in the Kitchen

The brothers are to serve one another. No one is to be excused from kitchen service unless he is ill or occupied with a matter of serious importance. For through this service greater reward and love are gained.

Helpers are to be provided for the weak, so that they do not carry out this service in sadness. Indeed, all are to have help according to the size of the community or the conditions of the place. If the community is large, the cellarer is to be excused from the kitchen. Those who, as we have said, are occupied with more important duties are also to be excused. The rest are to serve one another in love.

The brother finishing his week of service is to do the cleaning on Saturday. Those serving are to wash the cloths with which the brothers dry their hands or feet. Both the outgoing brother and the one about to begin are to wash everyone’s feet.

The outgoing brother is to return the utensils used in his service to the cellarer, clean and intact. The cellarer in turn is to hand them over to the incoming brother, so that he knows what he gives out or receives back.

One hour before the meal, each of the brothers serving that week is to receive a drink and bread in addition to the prescribed allowance, so that at mealtime they may serve their brothers without grumbling or great strain.

On feast days, however, they are to wait until Mass is over.

On Sunday, immediately after Lauds, the brothers beginning and ending their week of service are to prostrate themselves at everyone’s knees in the oratory, asking that prayers be offered for them. The brother ending his week is to say this verse: “Blessed are you, Lord God, who have helped me and comforted me.”

After this has been said three times, the outgoing brother is to receive a blessing. The incoming brother is then to follow and say: “God, come to my aid; Lord, make haste to help me.” This too is to be repeated three times by everyone. After receiving a blessing, he is to begin his service.

Chapter 36 Sick Brothers

Care for the sick must come before and above everything, so that they are served as Christ himself truly would be. For he himself said: “I was sick, and you visited me.” And: “What you did for one of these least ones of mine, you did for me.”

The sick themselves, however, must consider that they are being served in God’s honor, and must not distress the brothers who serve them with excessive demands. Yet they must be borne with patiently, because greater reward is gained through such people. The abbot must therefore take the greatest care that they suffer no neglect.

These sick brothers are to have a room set apart for them and an attendant who fears God and is diligent and attentive. The sick are to be offered baths whenever beneficial. The healthy, and especially the young, are to be allowed them less readily. The sick who are very weak are also to be allowed meat to restore their strength. Once they have improved, however, all are to abstain from meat as usual.

The abbot is to take the greatest care that the sick are not neglected by cellarers or attendants, because whatever is done wrong by the disciples falls within his responsibility.

Chapter 37 The Old and the Very Young

Although human nature itself is drawn to compassion for the old and the very young, the authority of the Rule must also provide for them.

Their weakness must always be taken into account, and in matters of food they must in no way be held to the Rule’s strictness. Instead, they are to be treated with compassionate consideration and allowed to eat before the appointed hours.

Chapter 38 The Reader for the Week

Reading must not be omitted at the brothers’ meals. No one is simply to seize a book and read on the spur of the moment. Rather, the brother who is to read for the whole week is to begin on Sunday. As he begins, after Mass and Communion, he is to ask everyone to pray for him, so that God may turn the spirit of pride away from him.

He is to say this verse in the oratory three times with everyone, beginning it himself: “Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.” After receiving the blessing in this way, he is to begin reading.

There is to be complete silence at table, so that no whispering or voice is heard there except the reader’s. The brothers are to pass one another what they need for eating and drinking, so that no one has to ask for anything. If anything is needed, it is to be requested with some audible signal rather than with words.

No one is to presume to ask questions there about the reading or anything else, so that no opening is given, unless the superior wishes to say something briefly for their edification.

The brother serving as reader that week is to receive a little food and drink (the mixtum) before he begins to read, because of Holy Communion and so that enduring the fast does not become too hard for him. Afterward he is to eat with the brothers serving their week in the kitchen and with the attendants.

The brothers are not to read or sing according to rank, but only those who edify their hearers.

Chapter 39 The Quantity of Food

We consider two cooked dishes sufficient at all tables for the daily meal, whether at the sixth or the ninth hour, because of the different brothers’ weaknesses, so that anyone who cannot eat one may be nourished by the other. Two cooked dishes are therefore to suffice for all the brothers. If fruit or fresh vegetables are available, a third is to be added.

One weighed pound of bread is to suffice for the day, whether there is only one meal or both a midday and an evening meal. If they are to have an evening meal, a third of that same pound is to be kept by the cellarer and given to them then.

If work has been unusually heavy, it will be within the abbot’s discretion and authority to increase the allowance if it is beneficial, but excess must above all be avoided, so that indigestion never overtakes a monk. For nothing is so contrary to a Christian as overindulgence, as our Lord says: “Take care that your hearts are not weighed down by overindulgence.”

Younger boys are not to be given the same amount as older brothers, but less, with moderation observed in everything. Everyone is to abstain entirely from eating the meat of four-footed animals, except the sick who are very weak.

Chapter 40 The Measure of Drink

Each has his own gift from God, one in one way, another in another. And so we set the amount others are to consume with some misgiving. Yet, considering the frailty of those who are weak, we judge a hemina of wine per person each day to be sufficient. Those to whom God grants the endurance to abstain should know that they will have their own reward.

If the needs of the place, work, or summer heat require more, the superior is to decide, taking care in every case that neither overindulgence nor drunkenness creeps in.

Although we read that wine is not at all for monks, because the monks of our time cannot be persuaded of this, let us at least agree not to drink to excess, but more sparingly. For wine will make even wise men fall away.

Where local circumstances mean that even this prescribed amount cannot be found, but only much less or none at all, whoever lives there is to bless God and not grumble. Above all, this is our warning: they must be free from grumbling.

Chapter 41 The Hours for Meals

From holy Easter until Pentecost, the brothers are to eat at the sixth hour and have supper in the evening. From Pentecost throughout the summer, if the monks have no fieldwork and excessive summer heat does not trouble them, they are to fast until the ninth hour on Wednesdays and Fridays. On the other days they are to have their meal at the sixth hour.

This sixth-hour meal is to continue if they have work in the fields or the summer heat is excessive. The abbot is to see to this. He is to regulate and arrange everything so that souls may be saved and the brothers may do their work without justifiable grumbling.

From the Ides of September until the beginning of Lent, they are always to eat at the ninth hour. During Lent, until Easter, they are to eat in the evening.

Vespers itself is to be held early enough that those eating do not need lamplight, but everything is finished while daylight remains. At every season, the time for supper or the meal is to be arranged so that everything takes place by daylight.

Chapter 42 Silence

Monks must attend to silence at all times, but especially during the hours of night. This applies at every season, whether it is a time of fasting or of meals.

On days with an evening meal, as soon as they rise from supper, all are to sit together in one place while one brother reads the Conferences, the Lives of the Fathers, or something else that builds up the hearers. But not the Heptateuch or Kings: hearing these Scriptures at that hour will not benefit those whose understanding is weak. They are to be read at other times.

On fast days, after Vespers and a short interval, they are to come to the reading of the Conferences, as we have said. Four or five leaves are to be read, or as much as the time allows. During this time of reading, all are to gather in one place, so that anyone who has been occupied with an assigned task can join them.

Once all are assembled, they are to say Compline. After leaving Compline, no one is permitted to say anything further. Anyone found breaking this rule of silence is to undergo severe punishment. An exception is made if a need involving guests arises, or if the abbot orders someone to do something. Even then, it must be done with the utmost gravity and restraint, in the most fitting manner.

Chapter 43 Those Who Arrive Late for the Work of God or the Table

At the hour for the divine office, as soon as the signal is heard, whatever is in hand must be put aside, and everyone is to hurry with the greatest haste, yet with gravity, so that no occasion for unruly behavior is given. Nothing, therefore, is to be put before the Work of God.

If someone arrives at the night Vigils after the Gloria of Psalm 94 (95), “Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,” which we want said slowly and drawn out for this very reason, he is not to stand in his usual place in the choir. Instead, he is to stand last of all, or apart in a place the abbot has assigned to those who are negligent in this way, so that he can be seen by the abbot or by everyone. He is to remain there until, at the end of the Work of God, he makes a public act of satisfaction in repentance.

We have judged that they should stand last or apart so that, being seen by everyone, they may amend themselves, if only through that very shame. For if they remain outside the oratory, there may be someone who lies down and sleeps, or simply sits outside or spends his time chatting, and an opportunity is given to the evil one. They are to come inside, so that they do not lose everything and may improve for the future.

At the daytime Hours, anyone who arrives after the opening verse and the Gloria of the first Psalm that follows it is to stand last, under the rule stated above. He is not to presume to join the choir of those singing the Psalms until he has made satisfaction, unless the abbot pardons him and gives permission. Even then, he must make satisfaction for this fault.

At table, everyone is to arrive before the verse, so that all may say it together, pray, and come to the table as one. Anyone who fails to arrive through his own negligence or fault is to be rebuked for it up to a second time. If he still does not amend, he is not to be allowed to share the common table. He is to be separated from everyone’s company and eat alone, deprived of his portion of wine, until he makes satisfaction and amends. The same treatment applies to anyone absent for the verse said after the meal.

No one is to presume to take any food or drink for himself before the appointed time or afterward. If someone is offered something by the superior and refuses it, then, when he wants what he previously refused or something else, he is to receive nothing at all until he has made a fitting amendment.

Chapter 44 How Those Excluded Are to Make Satisfaction

A brother excluded from the oratory and the table for serious faults is to lie prostrate outside the oratory door while the Work of God is celebrated inside, saying nothing. With his head on the ground, he is simply to lie face down at the feet of everyone leaving the oratory. He is to do this until the abbot judges that satisfaction has been made.

When he comes at the abbot’s command, he is to cast himself at the abbot’s feet and then at everyone’s feet, so that they may pray for him. Then, if the abbot orders it, he is to be received into the choir, in whatever place the abbot has decided.

He must not, however, presume to begin a Psalm, a reading, or anything else in the oratory unless the abbot again commands it. At every Hour, as the Work of God ends, he is to throw himself to the ground where he stands, and continue making satisfaction in this way until the abbot tells him to cease.

Those excluded only from the table for lesser faults are to make satisfaction in the oratory until the abbot orders otherwise. They are to continue until he gives the blessing and says, “Enough.”

Chapter 45 Those Who Make Mistakes in the Oratory

If a brother makes a mistake while reciting a Psalm, responsory, antiphon, or reading, he is to undergo a harsher punishment unless he humbles himself there before everyone to make amends. For he has refused to correct through humility what he did wrong through negligence.

Boys are to be beaten for such a fault.

Chapter 46 Those Who Do Wrong in Other Matters

If a brother does something wrong at any work, in the kitchen, storeroom, serving, bakery, garden, or any craft, or anywhere else, or breaks or loses something, or commits some other fault there, and does not immediately come before the abbot or the community to make amends of his own accord and disclose his fault, he is to undergo a more severe correction if it becomes known through someone else.

But if the matter is a hidden sin of the soul, he is to make it known only to the abbot or to spiritual seniors, who know how to heal their own wounds and those of others, not expose and publicize them.

Chapter 47 Announcing the Hour for the Work of God

Announcing the hour for the Work of God, by day and by night, is the abbot’s responsibility. He is either to announce it himself or entrust this care to a brother attentive enough to ensure that everything is completed at the proper times. After the abbot, those assigned are to begin the Psalms and antiphons in their order.

No one is to presume to sing or read unless he can carry out that duty in a way that builds up his hearers. It is to be done with humility, seriousness, and trembling, and by whomever the abbot has appointed.

Chapter 48 Daily Manual Work

Idleness is the soul’s enemy. The brothers must therefore be occupied with manual work at certain times and with divine reading at other set hours. We therefore believe that the times for both should be arranged as follows.

From Easter to the first of October, they are to go out in the morning and do whatever work is needed, from the first hour until nearly the fourth. From the fourth hour until the hour when they celebrate Sext, they are to devote themselves to reading.

After Sext, when they rise from the meal, they are to rest on their beds in complete silence. If anyone wishes to read, he is to read to himself without disturbing another. None is to be celebrated earlier, midway through the eighth hour. Then they are to do the work that needs doing until Vespers.

If the needs of the place or poverty require them to gather the crops themselves, they are not to be disheartened. For they are truly monks when they live by the work of their own hands, as did our fathers and the apostles. Everything, however, is to be done in moderation, out of consideration for the fainthearted.

From the first of October until the beginning of Lent, they are to devote themselves to reading until the second hour is complete. At the second hour Terce is to be celebrated, and until the ninth hour everyone is to work at the task assigned to him.

At the first signal for None, each is to leave his work and be ready when the second signal sounds. After the meal, they are to devote themselves to their reading or to the Psalms.

During the days of Lent, they are to devote themselves to their reading from morning until the third hour is complete, and then work at their assigned tasks until the tenth hour is complete.

During these days of Lent, each is to receive a book from the library and read it in order, in its entirety. These books are to be given out at the beginning of Lent.

Above all, one or two seniors are to be appointed to go around the monastery during the hours when the brothers are engaged in reading. They are to watch for any slothful brother who spends his time in idleness or conversation instead of attending to his reading, and is not only of no use to himself but also distracts the others.

If such a brother is found (God forbid), he is to be reprimanded once, and a second time. If he does not amend, he is to undergo the correction prescribed by the Rule, in such a way that the others are afraid. Nor is one brother to join another at inappropriate times.

On Sunday likewise, everyone is to devote himself to reading, except those assigned to various duties. If anyone is so negligent and idle that he will not or cannot meditate or read, he is to be assigned work to do, and is not to remain idle.

Weak or frail brothers are to be assigned a task or craft that will neither leave them idle nor overwhelm them with hard labor or drive them away. The abbot must take their weakness into account.

Chapter 49 The Observance of Lent

Although a monk’s life should always have the observance of Lent, few have this strength. We therefore urge everyone alike to guard his life in all purity during these days of Lent, and to wash away during these holy days the negligences of other times.

We do this fittingly when we restrain ourselves from every vice and devote ourselves to prayer with tears, reading, compunction of heart, and abstinence.

During these days, then, let us add something to our usual service: personal prayers and abstinence from food and drink, so that each may freely offer God something beyond the measure prescribed for him, with the joy of the Holy Spirit. That is, let him give his body less food, drink, and sleep, cut back on talkativeness and coarse joking, and await holy Easter with the joy of spiritual longing.

Nevertheless, each is to tell his abbot what he is offering, and it is to be done with the abbot’s prayer and approval. For what is done without the spiritual father’s consent will count as presumption and vainglory, not as something to be rewarded. Everything, then, is to be done with the abbot’s consent.

Chapter 50 Brothers Who Work Far from the Oratory or Are Traveling

Brothers who are working far away and cannot reach the oratory at the proper hour, when the abbot has judged that this is indeed the case, are to perform the Work of God where they are working, bending their knees with trembling before God.

Likewise, those sent on a journey must not let the appointed hours pass them by. They are to perform the office for themselves as best they can and not neglect to fulfill their obligation of service.

Chapter 51 Brothers Who Do Not Travel Far

A brother sent on any errand who is expected to return to the monastery that day is not to presume to eat outside, even if anyone invites him, unless his abbot has instructed him to do so. If he acts otherwise, he is to be excommunicated.

Chapter 52 The Monastery’s Oratory

The oratory is to be what its name says, a place of prayer. Nothing else is to be done or stored there. When the Work of God is finished, everyone is to leave in complete silence, and reverence is to be shown to God, so that a brother who wishes to pray privately is not hindered by another’s misconduct.

If another wishes to pray more privately, let him simply enter and pray, not in a loud voice, but with tears and the heart’s attention. Anyone who is not doing this is therefore not to be allowed to remain after the Work of God has ended, as has been said, so that no one else is hindered.

Chapter 53 Receiving Guests

All guests who arrive are to be received as Christ, for he himself will say: “I was a stranger, and you received me.” Everyone is to be shown the honor due to him, especially those of the household of faith and travelers. As soon as a guest is announced, the superior or the brothers are to go to meet him with every service of love. First they are to pray together, and then join one another in peace. This kiss of peace is not to be offered until prayer has gone before it, because of the devil’s deceptions.

In the greeting itself, complete humility is to be shown to all guests arriving or departing. With the head bowed or the whole body prostrate, Christ is to be adored in them, as he is also received in them.

Once the guests have been received, they are to be led to prayer. Afterward the superior, or someone he has appointed, is to sit with them. The divine law is to be read before the guest to build him up. After this, every kindness is to be shown. The superior is to break his fast for the guest, unless it is a special day of fasting that must not be broken. The brothers, however, are to continue their customary fasts.

The abbot is to pour water over the guests’ hands. Both the abbot and the whole community are to wash the feet of all the guests. When their feet have been washed, they are to say this verse: “We have received your mercy, O God, in the midst of your temple.”

The greatest care is to be shown in receiving the poor and travelers, because in them Christ is received more particularly. The fear inspired by the rich itself demands honor for them.

The abbot and guests are to have a separate kitchen, so that guests, who arrive at uncertain hours and are never lacking in a monastery, do not disturb the brothers. Two brothers able to carry out this duty well are to enter service in that kitchen for a year. They are to be given help as they need it, so that they may be free from grumbling. When they have less to do, they are to go out to whatever work they are assigned. This consideration is to apply not only to these brothers but to every duty in the monastery: when they need help, it is to be provided. When they are free, they are to obey the work assignments given them.

Likewise, the guest quarters are to be entrusted to a brother whose soul is possessed by the fear of God. The beds there are to be adequately furnished, and God’s house is to be administered wisely by wise men.

No one who has not been instructed to do so is to associate or converse with the guests. If he meets or sees a guest, he is to greet him humbly, as we have said, ask for a blessing, and pass on, explaining that he is not permitted to converse with a guest.

Chapter 54 Whether a Monk May Receive Letters or Anything Else

Without the abbot’s instruction, a monk must not receive letters, gifts of blessing, or small presents of any kind from his parents, from anyone else, or from another brother. Nor may he give them.

Even if his parents send him something, he is not to presume to receive it until the abbot has first been told. If the abbot orders that it be accepted, it is for him to decide to whom it is to be given. The brother to whom it was sent is not to become distressed, so that no opportunity is given to the devil. Anyone who presumes to act otherwise is to undergo the discipline of the Rule.

Chapter 55 The Brothers’ Clothing and Footwear

The brothers are to be given clothing suited to the conditions of the places where they live and to the climate, because more is needed in cold regions and less in hot ones. This assessment therefore rests with the abbot. In places with a moderate climate, we believe a cowl and a tunic are enough for each monk: a thick-napped cowl in winter, a plain or worn one in summer, together with a scapular for work and, for the feet, stockings and shoes.

The monks are not to complain about the color or coarseness of any of these things, but are to use what can be found in the region where they live or bought more cheaply. The abbot is to see to the size, so that the garments are not too short for those wearing them but are properly fitted.

Whenever they receive new clothing, they are to return the old at once, to be placed in the clothing store for the poor. It is enough for a monk to have two tunics and two cowls, for use at night and so that the garments can be washed. Anything beyond this is excessive and must be cut away. They are also to return their old stockings and anything else that is worn when they receive new replacements.

Those sent on a journey are to receive drawers from the clothing store and return them there washed when they come back. The cowls and tunics for travel are to be somewhat better than their usual ones. They are to receive these from the clothing store when setting out and return them on coming back.

For bedding, a mat, a blanket, a covering, and a pillow are to suffice. The abbot is to inspect these beds frequently to see that no privately held property is found. If anyone is found with something he has not received from the abbot, he is to undergo the most severe discipline. To cut out this vice of private ownership by the roots, the abbot is to provide everything necessary: a cowl, a tunic, stockings, shoes, a belt, a small knife, a writing stylus, a needle, a hand cloth, and writing tablets, so that every excuse based on need is removed.

The abbot must always keep in mind this statement from the Acts of the Apostles: each was given according to his need. The abbot is therefore to consider the weaknesses of those in need, not the ill will of the envious. In all his judgments, however, he must remember that God will repay him.

Chapter 56 The Abbot’s Table

The abbot’s table is always to be shared with travelers and guests. Whenever there are fewer guests, he has authority to invite whichever brothers he wishes. One or two senior brothers, however, must always be left with the brothers to maintain discipline.

Chapter 57 Craftsmen in the Monastery

If there are craftsmen in the monastery, they are to practice their crafts with complete humility, if the abbot permits it. But if one of them becomes proud of his skill because he seems to be contributing something to the monastery, he is to be removed from that craft and not practice it again, unless, after he has been humbled, the abbot orders him to resume it.

If any of the craftsmen’s work is to be sold, those through whose hands the business passes must take care not to attempt any fraud. They must always remember Ananias and Sapphira, lest the death those two suffered in the body be suffered in the soul by these men and by all who commit any fraud involving the monastery’s possessions.

The evil of greed must not creep into the prices themselves. Instead, the goods are always to be sold a little more cheaply than they are sold by others outside the monastery, so that God may be glorified in everything.

Chapter 58 The Procedure for Receiving Brothers

A newcomer seeking this way of life is not to be granted easy entry. Rather, as the apostle says: “Test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” If the newcomer persists in knocking and, after four or five days, is seen to bear patiently the insults inflicted on him and the difficulty of gaining entry, and to persist in his request, he is to be admitted and stay in the guest quarters for a few days.

Afterward he is to stay in the novices’ quarters, where he is to study, eat, and sleep. An elder able to win souls is to be assigned to them and must watch over them with the greatest care. He must carefully consider whether the novice truly seeks God and is eager for the Work of God, for obedience, and for humiliations. The novice is to be told beforehand all the hard and harsh things through which one goes to God.

If he promises to persevere in remaining, this Rule is to be read to him in order after two months have passed. He is to be told: “Here is the law under which you wish to serve as a soldier. If you can observe it, enter. If you cannot, you are free to leave.”

If he still remains, he is to be taken to the novices’ quarters mentioned above and again tested in every kind of patience. After six months have passed, the Rule is to be read to him so that he knows what he is entering. If he still remains, after four more months the Rule is to be read to him again. If, after deliberating within himself, he promises to keep everything and carry out all that is commanded him, he is then to be received into the community.

He must know that he is placed under the law of the Rule and that from that day he is not permitted to leave the monastery or shake his neck free of the Rule’s yoke, since he was allowed so long a deliberation in which to refuse or accept it.

The man about to be received is to promise stability, fidelity to the monastic way of life, and obedience before everyone in the oratory. He makes this promise before God and his saints, so that, if he ever acts otherwise, he knows that he will be condemned by the one he mocks.

He is to make a written petition concerning this promise in the name of the saints whose relics are there, with the abbot present. He is to write the petition with his own hand. If he cannot write, someone he asks is to write it. The novice is to make his mark and place it on the altar with his own hand.

Once he has placed it there, the novice himself is immediately to begin this verse: “Receive me, Lord, according to your word, and I shall live. Do not put me to shame in my hope.” The whole community is to answer with this verse three times, adding “Glory to the Father.” Then the novice brother is to prostrate himself at each brother’s feet, asking them to pray for him. From that day he is to be counted as a member of the community.

If he has any possessions, he is first to distribute them to the poor or give them to the monastery by a formally made donation, keeping nothing at all for himself. For he knows that from that day he does not even have authority over his own body.

He is therefore immediately to be stripped of his own clothing in the oratory and clothed in the monastery’s clothing. The clothes he has taken off are to be put away in the clothing store for safekeeping, so that, if he ever consents to the devil’s persuasion to leave the monastery (God forbid), he may then be stripped of the monastery’s clothing and cast out. He is not, however, to receive back the petition that the abbot took from the altar. It is to be kept in the monastery.

Chapter 59 The Sons of Nobles or the Poor Who Are Offered

If a nobleman offers his son to God in the monastery and the boy is still under age, his parents are to make the petition described above. With the offering, he is to wrap the petition and the boy’s hand in the altar cloth and so offer him.

As for their property, he is to promise under oath in the petition made at that time that they will never give the boy anything, personally, through an intermediary, or in any other way, nor give him any chance to possess anything.

Alternatively, if they do not wish to do this and wish to offer something as alms to the monastery for their own reward, they are to make a donation of the property they wish to give the monastery, reserving its use and the enjoyment of its fruits for themselves if they wish. In this way every avenue is to be closed, so that no expectation remains for the boy by which he might be deceived and perish (God forbid), as we have learned by experience.

Those who are poorer are to do the same. Anyone who has nothing at all is simply to make the petition and offer his son with the offering in the presence of witnesses.

Chapter 60 Priests Who Wish to Live in the Monastery

If a man from the order of priests asks to be received into the monastery, his request is not to be granted too quickly. If he persists firmly in this request, he must know that he is to observe the Rule’s entire discipline. Nothing will be relaxed for him, so that it may be as it is written: “Friend, why have you come?”

He is nevertheless to be allowed to take his place after the abbot and give blessings or celebrate Mass, if the abbot orders him to do so. Otherwise, he must not presume to do anything on his own authority, knowing that he is subject to the discipline of the Rule. Instead, he is to give everyone examples of humility.

If appointments or any other matter arise in the monastery, he is to observe the place he holds from the time of his entry, not the place granted him out of respect for his priesthood.

If any of the other clerics wishes to join the monastery with the same desire, he is to be placed in an ordinary rank, but such men too must promise to observe the Rule and remain in the community.

Chapter 61 How Visiting Monks Are to Be Received

If a visiting monk arrives from distant provinces and wishes to stay in the monastery as a guest, and he is content with the customs he finds there and does not disturb the monastery with excessive demands, but is simply content with what he finds, he is to be received for as long as he wishes.

If he reasonably criticizes or points out anything, with the humility of love, the abbot is to consider it prudently: perhaps the Lord has sent him for this very purpose. If he later wishes to commit himself to remaining, this wish is not to be refused, especially because his life could be observed during his stay as a guest.

But if during his stay as a guest he is found to be overbearing or given to vice, not only must he not be joined to the body of the monastery, he is also to be told courteously to leave, so that others are not corrupted by his wretched condition.

If he is not someone who deserves to be cast out, he is not merely to be received into the community if he asks. He is also to be urged to stay, so that others may be taught by his example, and because in every place we serve the same Lord and serve as soldiers under the same king.

If the abbot sees that he is such a man, he may place him somewhat higher in rank. The abbot may also establish not only a monk but men from the ranks of priests or clerics mentioned above in a higher place than the one they hold on entry, if he sees that their lives warrant it.

The abbot must take care never to receive a monk from another known monastery to live with him without that monk’s abbot’s consent or letters of recommendation, for it is written: “Do not do to another what you do not want done to you.”

Chapter 62 Priests of the Monastery

If an abbot asks to have a priest or deacon ordained for his monastery, he is to choose one of his own men who is worthy to exercise the priestly office. The man ordained must guard against self-exaltation or pride. He must not presume to do anything except what the abbot commands him, knowing that he is all the more subject to the discipline of the Rule. He must not use his priesthood as an occasion to forget obedience to the Rule and its discipline, but must advance more and more toward God.

He is always to keep the place he held when he entered the monastery, except when serving at the altar, unless the community’s choice and the abbot’s will should promote him because of the merit of his life. He must know, however, that he is to keep the rule laid down for deans and priors.

If he presumes to act otherwise, he is to be judged not a priest but a rebel. If he does not correct himself after repeated warnings, even the bishop is to be brought in as a witness.

If he does not amend himself even then, and his faults become evident, he is to be cast out of the monastery, provided his obstinacy is such that he refuses to submit to or obey the Rule.

Chapter 63 Order within the Community

They are to keep their places in the monastery strictly according to the length of their monastic life, the merit of their lives, and the abbot’s arrangement. The abbot must not disturb the flock entrusted to him or make unjust arrangements as though he had unrestricted power. He must always remember that he will give God an account of all his judgments and deeds.

The brothers are therefore to follow the order he has established, or the places they already hold, when they approach for the kiss of peace and Communion, begin a Psalm, or stand in choir. In every place, age is neither to determine rank nor to confer a prior claim, for Samuel and Daniel judged elders while they were boys.

Except for those whom, as we have said, the abbot has promoted for a higher consideration or demoted for definite reasons, all the rest are to take their places in the order in which they enter this way of life. For example, someone who comes to the monastery at the second hour of the day is to know that he is junior to the man who came at the first hour, whatever his age or dignity. Children, however, are to be kept under discipline in every respect by everyone.

Juniors are therefore to honor their seniors, and seniors are to love their juniors. Even in addressing one another, no one is permitted to call another by his bare name. Seniors are to call their juniors “brothers,” and juniors are to call their seniors “nonnus,” a title expressing reverence for a father.

Because the abbot is believed to act in Christ’s place, he is to be called lord and abbot, not because he claims these titles for himself, but out of honor and love for Christ. He must reflect on this and conduct himself so that he is worthy of such honor. Whenever brothers meet, the junior is to ask the senior for a blessing.

When a senior passes, the junior is to rise and give him a place to sit. The junior must not presume to sit with him unless his senior tells him to do so, so that what is written may be fulfilled: “Outdo one another in showing honor.”

Young boys and adolescents are to keep their places under discipline in the oratory and at meals. Outside, too, and everywhere, they are to be supervised and disciplined until they reach an age of understanding.

Chapter 64 The Office of the Abbot

In appointing an abbot, this principle must always be observed: the man chosen is to be the one whom the whole community, united in the fear of God, elects for itself, or whom even a small part of the community elects with sounder judgment. The man to be appointed is to be chosen for the merit of his life and his wise teaching, even if he is last in the order of the community.

But if the whole community should agree to elect someone who indulges its vices (God forbid), and these vices come in some measure to the knowledge of the bishop whose diocese includes the monastery, or of abbots or neighboring Christians, they are to prevent the agreement of the wicked from prevailing and appoint a worthy steward for God’s house. They must know that they will receive a good reward for this if it is done with pure intent and zeal for God, but will incur sin if they neglect it.

Once appointed, the abbot must always consider the burden he takes up and the one to whom he will give an account of his stewardship. He must know that his task is to benefit others rather than preside over them. He must therefore be learned in divine law, so that he knows it and has a store from which to bring out things new and old. He must be chaste, sober, and merciful, and always exalt mercy above judgment, so that he may obtain that same mercy.

He is to hate vices and love the brothers. In correcting them he must act prudently and do nothing to excess, lest, in his excessive desire to scrape away the rust, the vessel be broken. He must always be wary of his own frailty and remember that a bruised reed is not to be crushed. By this we do not mean that he should allow vices to be nourished. Rather, he is to cut them away prudently and with love, as he sees will benefit each person, as we have already said.

He is to strive to be loved more than feared. He must not be turbulent or fretful, excessive or obstinate, jealous or overly suspicious, for then he will never be at rest.

In giving orders he must be foresighted and considerate. Whether the work he assigns concerns the things of God or the affairs of this world, he must assess it and moderate it, remembering the discretion of holy Jacob, who said: “If I make my flocks labor too much in walking, they will all die in a single day.” Taking this and other testimonies to discretion, the mother of virtues, he is to moderate everything so that the strong have something to strive for and the weak do not shrink back.

Above all, he is to observe this present Rule in everything, so that, after serving well, he may hear from the Lord what is said of the good servant who gave his fellow servants their grain at the proper time: “Truly, I tell you,” he says, “he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”

Chapter 65 The Prior of the Monastery

It has often happened that appointing a prior gives rise to grave scandals in monasteries. Some men, inflated by an evil spirit of pride and thinking themselves second abbots, take tyrannical power for themselves, foster scandals, and create divisions in the community. This happens especially in places where the same bishop or abbots who appoint the abbot also appoint the prior.

It is easy to see how absurd this is: from the very beginning of his appointment he is given grounds for pride. His own thoughts suggest that he has been freed from his abbot’s authority, because he was appointed by the same men who appointed the abbot.

From this arise envy, quarrels, slander, rivalry, divisions, and disorder. When the abbot and prior oppose one another, their own souls inevitably come into danger through this dissension, and those under them, courting one faction or the other, go to perdition. The blame for this dangerous evil falls first on those who brought about such disorder.

We therefore judge it best, for the safeguarding of peace and love, that the ordering of the monastery should depend on its abbot’s judgment. If possible, all the monastery’s affairs are to be managed through deans, as we laid down earlier, according to the abbot’s arrangements, so that, with responsibility entrusted to several men, no single man grows proud.

But if the place requires a prior, or the community asks for one reasonably and humbly, and the abbot judges it advisable, the abbot himself is to appoint as his prior the man he chooses with the counsel of brothers who fear God.

The prior, however, is to carry out reverently what his abbot assigns him, doing nothing contrary to the abbot’s will or arrangements, for his elevation above the others obliges him to observe the Rule’s precepts with corresponding care.

If the prior is found to be given to vice or deluded by proud self-exaltation, or is proved to despise the holy Rule, he is to be given up to four verbal warnings. If he does not amend himself, the correction prescribed by the Rule’s discipline is to be applied to him.

If he does not correct himself even then, he is to be removed from the office of prior, and another worthy man is to be put in his place. If even afterward he is not peaceable and obedient within the community, he is also to be expelled from the monastery. The abbot, however, must remember that he will give God an account of all his judgments, lest the flame of jealousy or envy burn his soul.

Chapter 66 The Gatekeepers of the Monastery

A wise old man is to be stationed at the monastery gate, someone who knows how to receive a message and give a reply, and whose maturity keeps him from wandering about. This gatekeeper must have a cell beside the gate, so that those who arrive always find someone there to answer them.

As soon as anyone knocks or a poor person calls out, he is to answer, “Thanks be to God” or “Bless me,” and respond promptly, with complete gentleness in the fear of God and with the fervor of love. If the gatekeeper needs help, he is to be given a junior brother.

If possible, the monastery is to be arranged so that everything necessary, water, a mill, a garden, and the various crafts, is provided or practiced within it, so that the monks have no need to wander outside, for this is not at all good for their souls.

We want this Rule to be read frequently in the community, so that none of the brothers can plead ignorance.

Chapter 67 Brothers Sent on a Journey

Brothers who are to be sent on a journey are to commend themselves to the prayer of all the brothers and the abbot. All who are absent are always to be remembered at the final prayer of the Work of God.

On the very day they return from a journey, at every canonical hour as the Work of God concludes, the brothers are to lie prostrate on the floor of the oratory and ask everyone to pray for any faults that may have crept upon them on the journey through seeing or hearing something evil, or through idle speech.

No one is to presume to tell another what he has seen or heard outside the monastery, for this causes great harm. Anyone who presumes to do so is to undergo the punishment prescribed by the Rule. The same applies to anyone who presumes to leave the monastery enclosure, go anywhere, or do anything, however small, without the abbot’s command.

Chapter 68 If a Brother Is Assigned the Impossible

If a brother is assigned something difficult or impossible, he is to accept the order of the one commanding him with complete gentleness and obedience. But if he sees that the weight of the burden altogether exceeds the measure of his strength, he is to explain patiently and at an appropriate time to the man over him why he cannot do it, without pride, resistance, or contradiction.

If, after he has made his case, the superior holds to his judgment and maintains the command, the junior is to know that this is for his good and obey out of love, trusting in God’s help.

Chapter 69 No Monk Is to Presume to Defend Another

Care must be taken that no monk presumes, on any pretext, to defend another in the monastery or act as his protector, even if they are related by blood.

Monks are not to presume to do this in any way, because this can become a very serious source of scandal. Anyone who transgresses this is to be punished more severely.

Chapter 70 Do Not Presume to Strike Anyone at Will

Every opportunity for presumptuous action in the monastery is to be forbidden. We decree that no one may excommunicate or strike any of his brothers unless the abbot has given him the authority. Those who sin, however, are to be rebuked before everyone, so that the others may be afraid.

Everyone is to take care to discipline and watch over children up to the age of fifteen, but this too must be done with due measure and judgment.

Anyone who presumes to act in this way toward someone older without the abbot’s command, or who vents his anger without restraint even on the children, is to undergo the discipline prescribed by the Rule, for it is written: “Do not do to another what you do not want done to you.”

Chapter 71 Brothers Are to Obey One Another

Everyone is to offer the good of obedience not only to the abbot; the brothers are also to obey one another, knowing that by this path of obedience they will go to God.

The command of the abbot or the superiors he appoints must take precedence. We do not permit private commands to be placed above it. For the rest, all juniors are to obey their seniors with complete love and care. Anyone found to be contentious is to be corrected.

If a brother is corrected in any way, for even the smallest matter, by the abbot or by any of his seniors, or if he senses, however slightly, that any senior is angry with him or even a little upset, he is immediately, without delay, to lie prostrate on the ground at that man’s feet, making satisfaction, until the disturbance is healed by a blessing.

Anyone who refuses to do this is to undergo bodily punishment or, if he is defiant, be expelled from the monastery.

Chapter 72 The Good Zeal Monks Should Have

Just as there is an evil zeal of bitterness that separates a man from God and leads to hell, there is a good zeal that separates him from vices and leads to God and eternal life.

Monks are therefore to practice this zeal with the most fervent love. They are to outdo one another in showing honor, bear one another’s weaknesses, whether of body or character, with the greatest patience, and vie with one another in obedience.

No one is to pursue what he judges useful to himself, but rather what benefits another more. They are to show brotherly love chastely, fear God out of love, and love their abbot with sincere and humble love.

They are to put absolutely nothing before Christ. May he lead us all together to eternal life.

Chapter 73 This Rule Does Not Contain Every Practice of Righteousness

We have written this Rule so that, by observing it in monasteries, we may show that we have at least some uprightness of conduct, or a beginning of monastic life.

But for the man who hastens toward perfection in this way of life, there are the teachings of the holy fathers. Observing them will lead a man to the height of perfection. For what page or saying of divine authority in the Old and New Testaments is not a supremely upright standard for human life? Or what book of the holy catholic fathers does not proclaim that we should reach our Creator by a straight course?

And what else are the Conferences of the Fathers, their Institutes and Lives, and the Rule of our holy father Basil, but instruments of virtue for monks who live well and obey? But for us who are idle, live badly, and are negligent, they bring a blush of shame.

You, then, whoever you are, hastening toward the heavenly homeland: with Christ’s help, fulfill this little Rule written as a beginning. Then at last, under God’s protection, you will reach the greater heights of teaching and virtue that we have mentioned above. Amen.