Regula Ad Monachos

The Rule of Ferreolus, Bishop of Uzès, for Monks. The beginning of the rule concerning what is to be observed, I, the founder, have established for the monks of the monastery of Ferriolacum; praying that, with the Lord’s help, these sons whom I have begotten for the Lord in faith, preserving all these things with complete and holy intention of the soul, may, by the most excellent and perfect course of life, as it is written, force heaven, and prepare dwellings prepared for worthy inhabitants. And so may it be that, following the Lamb wherever he goes, they despise present things and seize future ones. Chapter One. On Obedience. First, that a monk, who is properly bound to build up many virtues in himself, should lay the foundation of obedience in himself: so that he may fulfill those things which the Blessed Apostle admonishes us to observe, when he commands saying: Obey your superiors, and be subject to them; for they keep watch, as if about to render an account for your souls, so that they may do this with joy, and not groaning; for this is expedient for you (Heb. 13).

Chapter 2. On the reverence, how great it is to be observed. That reverence be preserved for the abbot by all with love; so that love may show concord, and fear may know discipline. For he is rightly feared as a master, and loved as a father, to whom the care of souls, the flock of the holy congregation having been entrusted, is specifically commended: whom the entrusted solicitude daily, along that path which is inevitable for those about to die, either draws to punishment or leads to glory; as Scripture says: To whom a pious one is entrusted, certainly more is demanded from him (Luke 12). Likewise, the Gospel also opens the truth for us through the likeness of a parable, where it is read that the Lord entrusted five talents to a servant; and because he gained another five in profit, he deserves to hear from the Lord: Well done, good and faithful servant, because you were faithful to me over a few things, I will set you over many: enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25). Chapter 3. On charity.

Thirdly, on account of the sacred number of the Trinity itself, we have thought that charity, the mother of all virtues, should be inserted. The Apostle pursues it with such praise before all virtues: "Charity does not act wrongly; charity never fails" (1 Cor. 13); and again: "Charity covers a multitude of sins" (1 Pet. 4). Therefore it is fitting for monks to cleave to this precept, so that, according to the blessed Apostle, they may become one body in Christ (1 Cor. 12), and that what the reading of the Acts of the Apostles, set forth as an example for all, yet especially places before the eyes of religious, may be fulfilled in them: "They had one heart and one soul" (Acts 4). And that in the Book of Psalms: "God, who makes those of one mind dwell in a house" (Ps. 68). Therefore a monk must beware in all things lest he bear any dissension or hatred either in his heart, or express it in deed, or show it when overcome by anger, because of what the Apostle says: "For the anger of a man does not work the justice of God" (Jas. 2); and that of the wisest Solomon: "Anger rests in the bosom of a fool" (Eccl. 7); and also that of the Apostle: "Let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamor, and blasphemy be taken away from you, along with all malice" (Eph. 4).

Chapter IV. That no woman should enter the monastery. For we believe it opportune to decree that no woman whatsoever should approach the monastery, even if she seems to seek it out of affection. Likewise, we cut off the license of access even to religious women or girls, lest any excuse be left for the less discerning; because a dwelling cannot long be secure with an enemy near or a foe close at hand—especially when it is uncertain whether one is conquered by a public enemy or a secret struggle, where there is nothing left but either to conquer or to perish. But if an evident cause compels any brother to hold a conversation with women—only with honest women—far from the monastery, with the abbot knowing or permitting it, and with witnesses present, that is, with two of the brothers taken along, they may receive license to converse; yet in such a way that the abbot does not remain ignorant of the matter about which the conversation took place.

Chapter V. Concerning how one who wishes to be a monk is received. If anyone comes seeking the religious life, intending to enter the monastery, he shall not be joined to the company of the monks until a full year has elapsed; or certainly, if it seems good to the abbot to moderate the time somewhat, before the number of six months' days is completed: so that in such a space of time he may show, to those who are ignorant, what sort of person he will be; and by prolonged observation it may become clear if he has brought any cruelty with him. But when he first comes to the monastery and asks to be received into the number of the monks, he shall be asked whether he is free; and when he has first satisfied the abbot, a subsequent response shall add: whether, apart from the cause of devotion, he has been compelled to seek the monastery. After this, the rule of the monastery shall be read to him by the abbot's command: so that afterwards nothing may be new or unusual, whether he is about to depart and pass on, or, if he is about to remain, he may recognize it. He shall then receive a small cell near the monastery, while he observes the time of staying overnight, and he shall await his daily sustenance from the monastery, if he works among the rest: applying himself above all to reading and prayer, so that the almighty Searcher of the soul and Knower of the secret family may deign to number him among the merits of the sacred congregation, and it may become, as it is written, one flock and one Shepherd (John 10).

Chapter VI. That no monk or cleric from elsewhere is to be received for retention. We do not wish, we forbid, we prohibit a monk or cleric of another place or monastery to be received for any reason whatsoever: providing for such matters out of a zeal for charity, lest some new scandal perhaps arise from those who come. For Scripture says: "Whatever you do not wish for yourself, do not do to another" (Tobit 4). For from this, very often, not only between abbots but also between monasteries, incurable quarrels arise; while one strives to defend the one he has received, the other to recall the one he has lost: and in the end, unless the one sought is returned to the one who seeks him, and the restoration of the one received placates the injury received by the other, as far as possible, it happens that, not according to the blessed Apostle (Romans 12), do they overcome evil with good, but rather the evil are overcome by one evil. Yet we have judged that this also should not be passed over, that if by chance a monk or cleric of another place, as I said above, brings letters from his abbot or bishop, in which it is clearly proven that he is not to be shunned because of vices, but is sent out of love for God, he may then obtain to become a companion of the community. If, however, it can in any way be believed that anyone would wish to be stripped of his own good, and another to be clothed by his nakedness.

Chapter VII. On the murmuring or slander of monks. That no murmur or slander, which monks are most accustomed to, be heard in the congregation against the abbot or any other of the brothers: lest the wrath of God, which has often condemned a wretched people on account of this fault, be stirred up to the destruction of the murmuring crowd likewise: and that murmuring itself may destroy the land of promise, which we rightly understand as the place of future blessedness, which is owed by divine promise, for the psalm announces that those condemned for this vice are: "The slanderer against his neighbor secretly, I pursued him" (Ps. 110). And again the Apostle argues: "Whisperers, slanderers, hateful to God" (Rom. 1). And again, "These are querulous murmurers, walking according to their own desires, and their mouth speaks pride" (Jude 1). Chapter VIII. On avoiding pride or arrogance.

Let pride and haughtiness be altogether avoided by monks, lest vainglory fall upon oneself; for the sake of God, let loftiness be laid aside. Lowliness and humility are a great height. For what else will it have been to have left the world, if one has not cut away its vanity from oneself? What will it have been to have chosen the solitary life, if one swells inwardly in heart? What humble progress resides in the head, if one does not quickly cast these evils from oneself, who wishes to find where he may fall, taking heed of that terrible saying of divine Scripture: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5). And that saying: With a proud eye and an insatiable heart, I did not eat with this at the same time (Ps. 100). And that saying of the Apostle, of which he is not a forgetful hearer, who says: Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come; and there will be men loving themselves, covetous, puffed up, proud, blasphemous (2 Tim. 3), and the rest which follow. Chapter IX. On envy.

Envy, which is the greatest vice, let the monk above all exclude from the doors of his mind, nor suffer the virginity of his soul to be corrupted by secret spite: lest in his mind the good seed that has been scattered be killed off by adulterous admixture. But let him always stand as a strong man in the battle line, fighting back against the weapons of envy with the shield of charity; and let him overcome the envious person especially in this, that he is not overcome by envy: not being ignorant of the Scripture, which says: "Through the envy of the devil, death entered into the world" (Wisdom 2). Moreover, those who are of his party imitate him. Chapter 10. Concerning this, that a monk should claim nothing as his own. We have also looked ahead to the need to establish this, that no monk should dare to claim anything as his own apart from the fellowship of the brothers; so that even in those things which are his own, he should believe he has no more right than the others. Because when he has subjected himself to the authority of another, he has transferred everything along with himself into that other's power. Therefore, whatever goods he has brought with him, once he has sought the company of monks and has become a member attached to the body of the congregation, let him immediately recognize that everything has passed into common ownership, and let him judge as his own only that which he possesses undivided with the brothers. For the reading of the Acts of the Apostles records that the faithful of Christ lived in such a way at the time of the rising Church: "No one," it says, "called anything his own from his goods; but all things were common to them" (Acts 4).

Chapter 11. That no monk be ignorant of letters. Whoever wishes to claim the name of monk, it is not permitted for him to be ignorant of letters. Moreover, let him hold all the psalms in memory; and let him not defend himself by any excuse from being seized by this holy study. Likewise also those who, as is the custom, are sent from the congregation as shepherds of flocks, it will be their care to be free for the psalms like the rest: lest in that which is greater they be found lesser, and to their confusion that example be applied to them: But the animal man does not perceive those things which are of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2). Chapter 12. That the psalms be chanted in order on all days. That at all times the psalms be chanted in order through to the end of the Psalter: yet more privately for their own reward; except for the public course of psalmody on the Lord's day, so that through each day, nevertheless, he knowingly offers praises to God by secret rumination. Likewise also it is fitting to keep vigil with a frequency of psalms by night with prayer added, so that this may be fulfilled: I cried by day and by night before you (Ps. 87); and that: He will meditate on his law day and night (Ps. 1).

Chapter 13. On Vigils. Whenever a night vigil is requested for the purpose of entreating God, whether sought by devotion or owed by festivity, none of the monks, apart from certain illness or necessity, if he is present, shall presume to be absent. Lest, becoming accustomed to labor more grievously from inner weariness, the spiritual soul die while the flesh lives; but rather, let him, desirous of that promise, strive both to seek and to find Him who said: "I will love those who love me; and those who keep watch in the morning will find me" (Proverbs 8). And it is also contained in the psalm: "Then they sought him, and they turned back, and before the light they came to him" (Psalm 77). For as to rising daily for matins, that all without exception should rise, if it is not deemed superfluous, we remind them: but for the night offices on all days, let all rise swiftly and together in such a way that, with all running together at once, no one is found to have come later. But whoever is detected as contrary to this statute, let him fast alone for as many days as the hours he was unwilling to keep vigil with the brothers.

Chapter 14. On the Garments of the Monks. A monk shall not seek superfluous garments: he shall receive no more than what the abbot deems necessary for daily use, the Lord saying to the disciples: “Have no more than two tunics” (Luke 7). These two tunics we must understand not by number, if they appear necessary on account of winter, but they are to be counted as beyond use if they have been kept in reserve. Therefore, if anything is over and above, it will be considered alien: for whatever the greedy possessor locks away, the chest uses more than the master. To avoid this, the blessed Apostle stands as a great witness for us, who says: “Having food and clothing, we are content with these.” For those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and the snare of the devil, and into many, useless, and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and perdition. The root of all evils is covetousness: pursuing it, they have been shipwrecked from the faith and have entangled themselves in many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things; rather, pursue justice, piety, faith, charity, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; seize hold of eternal life, to which you have been called, and having confessed a good confession before many witnesses. I command you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who bore witness under Pontius Pilate to a good confession, that you keep the commandment without stain, irreproachable, until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 6).

Strive, therefore, brothers, that what is written to one man, that is, to Timothy, be observed by a single congregation. Chapter 15. That no one be baptized in the monastery. We have considered it not necessary for infants to be baptized in the monastery, as is observed in other monasteries; nor is a monk to receive the children of anyone whatsoever from the holy font in any place: lest he be gradually joined to that child’s parents by illicit or shameful familiarity, as often happens. But if anyone presumes to do so, let him be corrected as a transgressor of the rule. Chapter 16. That no one except the abbot have a separate cell. No monk is allowed to have a private cell, either for dwelling or for any other use whatsoever, except the abbot. Craftsmen, however, may have them only for working, and even then only those to whom it is granted by the abbot’s order: for the entire congregation is to be contained in one dwelling and one house. As for those whom bodily weakness has debilitated, whom a known infirmity has seized with illness, until they regain their former vigor with bodily health, let them be separated from the congregation for a time in a designated and suitable dwelling within the monastery: so that the very removal from the congregation may more quickly bring about their recovery.

Chapter 17. That the monks have a prior or a formator under the abbot's authority. We have decreed that under the abbot a vigorous person, one who greatly loves discipline, who may take up the worthy care and the name of prior, be instituted for the abbot's relief: so that the honor may be less burdensome to him, while the daily solicitude is undertaken by two with the labor divided. And therefore it will be fitting that with the abbot's command, veneration and obedience be shown to him. For also after this prior whom we have mentioned above, who is a model in good things, we have established a regular formator: so that with this assistant joined, the abbot, whose name is Father, may reap abundant fruit from the perfection of his sweet sons; yet both are to know themselves to be under the abbot's power with the rest and among the rest. Chapter 18. On the passions of the martyrs that can be found, so that they be read at their proper time, with idleness not hindering. We decree that the acts of the martyrs, that is, the passions of the holy faithful, which have been compiled with study and set forth in discourse, be reviewed in the oratory with all listening at the time when the yearly cycle of its course presents to us the day of their departure, so that the day not pass idly and be considered like the rest; but just as the constancy of the martyr then illuminated it, so now the memory of the passion should commend it.

Chapter 19. That reading be frequent in the hands of the monks. To rouse the sluggish minds of certain ones, in whom divine reading often generates distaste, so that they prefer to be occupied with idleness rather than to drink in salvation from the holy Scriptures, that they might burn spiritually, it has altogether pleased us to add that each monk, whether he does some work inside the monastery or outside, should not suffer himself to pass even a single day fasting from divine reading. If the hand has ceased from work, let the soul be cultivated by reading: all hearing the admonitions of blessed Paul to his disciple Timothy, saying: "Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine" (1 Tim. 4). And again: "Every divinely inspired scripture is useful for teaching, for refuting, for correcting, for instructing in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, prepared for every good work" (2 Thess. 3). Chapter 20. Concerning wandering or fugitive monks.

It is not fitting, nor is it proper, for a monk to wander through places; lest, caught in any vice by the delight of the world, he slip back to his vomit: while, with a relapsing will of the mind, the old despiser of the world, rising up as a new kind of lover, twisted from the path of salvation, goes astray. Therefore, we have determined this to be observed: that except for those who are ordered by the abbot to have excursions here and there for the utility of the monastery, no one shall presume to go out of the monastery to stay in another place without the will of the abbot for any reason or necessity, lest what the Apostle says about younger widows apply to him: "But at the same time, idle women learn to go around to houses; not only idle, but also talkative and curious, speaking what they ought not" (1 Tim. 5). And therefore, whoever, having disregarded this sentence, has departed with some contrary intention, to the extent that he is found to have been a transgressor, with that span of time during which he was absent from the monastery counted, he shall fast for a double number of days, and be punished with a penalty; he shall have a measure of food, with wine denied daily, such as the abbot has imposed. As for a fugitive monk, deserting discipline and losing himself, it has been decided to recall him as a despiser.

Chapter 21. That a brother should not lay hands on a brother. A monk must not presume to lay hands on a monk when inflamed with anger, which is a most shameful thing, except for those to whom it pertains either to know the measure of correction or to hold judgment; lest, with one sinning, the audacity to presume grows in the rest, and thus, with the order of discipline confounded and the rule of living broken, the rights of the sacred religion itself be lost through each individual. Therefore, whoever is found so incontinent with his hands that he does not know how to refrain from unlawful acts: those hands, which he raised against his neighbor, shall be wearied for a long time not only by fasting but also by the assiduity of work; so that thereafter they may be raised to God in prayer, not extended in fury against a brother. Nevertheless, we decree that pardon is to be granted to the one who asks, according as the abbot shall wish to moderate it: if, with penance having been performed beforehand, he has even, while begging for his guilt, bathed his face with the shedding of tears.

Chapter 22. That monks should abstain from insult and curse. Let insult or curse not proceed from the mouth of a monk, nor let the tongue, loosened by the excitement of impatience, minister anything unbridled to the doors of the lips; but, when moved by anger, as is human, let him say: "Set, O Lord, a guard upon my mouth, and a door of circumspection upon my lips" (Psalm 141). Let him also add this: "I said, I will guard my ways, that I may not offend with my tongue" (Psalm 38), having before his eyes that saying of the Apostle: "Because those who curse shall not possess the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6). Therefore, if anyone, ungoverned in his mind, breaks forth in these things, let him be kept apart from the conversation of all brothers for thirty days, until, recognizing that he has incurred solitude only within the congregation, he chooses to ask for pardon. Chapter 23. That a monk should both cease and desist from swearing. Let the habit of swearing be entirely removed, if possible, from the speech of monks; so that, even if, on account of human frailty, they may perhaps be less able to avoid the sin of lying, they may at least be able to avoid the damnable crime of perjury. I ask and at the same time admonish them to strive to have sacred words in use, so that oaths may never be necessary. For how all ought to avoid the disgrace of this vice, we have learned from the admonition of the blessed Apostle; for he says: "Do not swear, neither by heaven, nor by earth, nor by any other oath whatsoever. But let your word be yes, yes; no, no: so that you may not fall under judgment" (Luke 5).

And that likewise of divine Scripture: "A man who swears much will be filled with iniquity, and a plague will not depart from his house" (Sirach 23). For these great and most evident proofs, the reading of the Gospel, which is the fullest measure, likewise bears witness, with the Lord saying to the disciples: "You have heard that it was said to the ancients: 'You shall not commit perjury; you shall render to the Lord your oaths.' But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is the throne of God; nor by earth, because it is the footstool of His feet; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King; nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one white hair black or black white. But let your speech be, 'It is, it is; it is not, it is not'; for what is more abundant than that is from evil" (Matthew 5). Therefore, let it suffice that we have taught what is to be avoided by inserting our own warnings with examples. Chapter 24. That a monk should rarely laugh.

I think it fitting for monks to abstain from laughter, if not constantly, then at least frequently. Hence, if anyone seeks an example from the reading of the brethren, let this alone suffice for him: that we read of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Gospel testifies (John 12), that he wept, but we do not know that he laughed; he was saddened by tears, not loosened by laughter. Yet, lest anyone say we have no other testimony from reading besides this, let him hear Solomon saying: "Laughter will be mixed with sorrow; and the end of joy is occupied by grief" (Proverbs 14). And again: "Anger is better than laughter, because through sadness of countenance the mind of the offender is corrected. The heart of the wise is where sadness is; and the heart of fools, where joy is" (Ecclesiastes 7). And again: "The fool raises his voice in laughter, but the wise man will barely smile silently" (Sirach 21). Therefore, whoever, placed in the congregation, as is usual, whether young in mind or in age, does not flee from laughter and jokes, what else does he exchange but a publican for a monk? Those in the more populous cities assign to themselves this sole occupation: to be free for jokes, applause, and guffaws. Yet I especially warn and establish this to be observed purely by all, that whenever a reading suitable for souls devoted to God is recited publicly in church or in the refectory, or in any place whatsoever, no one should be moved to laughter or cause laughter. Likewise, they should know that at that time tales are to be avoided.

If anyone, having been warned by this present declaration, does not keep it, a penalty of a three-day fast shall chastise him. We do not wish anyone to fulfill that three-day period with a single fast, lest discipline be lacking in some measure of discretion; rather, we order three evening fasts, distinguished by a daily meal. This also we decree to be observed concerning the other fasts by which the guilty are corrected according to the rule; yet only if in any guilty monk the abbot does not perceive pride and hardness. Chapter 25. That a monk must altogether avoid foul speech. Foul speech, for the sake of the love of chastity, should be shameful for a monk to utter, avoiding words of lust, which as they excite the mind, so they inflame the body. For the blessed Apostle says: "Put away malice, blasphemy, foul speech from your mouth" (Colossians 3). I ask, brothers, what does he do less than an adulterer, whose tongue shares in sin? What less of lust has he practiced, who has defiled a chaste mouth with the corruption of speech? And to impose upon all the fear of condemnation also for this filth, we decree that the guilty party of this fault shall not have communion or the kiss of the brethren for six months.

CHAPTER 26. That monks should read daily until the third hour. That up to the third hour of the day, at all times, a monk, whether senior or junior, should apply himself to reading, and only then should the care of the assigned work succeed for the remaining part of the day, except for the sick alone, to whom common infirmity does not permit this to be imposed beyond their own will, or rather strength. For even those to whom it has been commanded by the abbot, at the time of gathering fruits, to perform some work or labor in the morning hours, will not be bound by this rule; nor will they be considered to have been contrary to this definition, since they will have completed what was commanded to them for the sake of utility. For it is the custom of farmers that, scarcely at dawn, they cut the dry grain, made moist by the falling dew, so that they may snatch the less abundant crop more easily from the pursuing heats, while at the beginning of the day they preserve the temperaments of the mild air. For I know that often, by design, the grain, reduced to sheaves, has escaped the flames of the fiery radiance with its fruits before, as we may say, the heat of the sun's orb has drunk up the dew. Therefore, if this also is observed by the monks who are engaged in work, as we said above, they will not be pronounced transgressors of the rule for the sake of expediting the work.

CHAPTER 27. That no monk should eat or drink before the third hour. Let no monk, except the sick, presume to eat or drink, whether asked or asking, before the third hour of the day is completed, even if the occasion is furnished by the arrival of any relative or friend, which is rather an excuse for gluttony, except only at that time when the customary fasts are relaxed by dispensation. After this hour, however, he may extend the deliberation of eating until the sixth hour, if either his friend or his stomach permits. But in this meal, let him seek and have one or two brothers as companions, so that, while this sharing and kindness is seen, he may not appear to have secretly indulged. CHAPTER 28. That a monk should do some work every day. We decree that a monk who, apart from certain solemnities or manifest illness, spends a day without work, is to be excluded from the meal, the blessed Apostle commanding: He who does not work, let him not eat. Yet we foresee the useless excuses that will follow, and therefore we set a limit for the idle. For one such will say: I cannot work, because, having lost the strength of youth, I am an invalid old man in all things; another: Nor can I, because I am broken by infirmity; a third, if he can be found, will also say: Nor can I, because the constant toil has worn me out, the length of journeys has shattered me, the entrusted responsibility has taken away my strength, the imposed action has stripped me of my vigor.

But a discourse of reason, almost contrary to this, may confront them, refuting them and saying: Let him who is unable to persist in work more readily devote himself to reading; let him who does not cultivate the field worship God doubly; and among other things, let him also seek this skill, that he may paint the page with his finger, he who does not mark the earth with the plow. Therefore, let no one, if he does less work, think he can offer a cause for a just excuse: because he who, as we said above, is unable to practice agriculture, can read, write—which is the principal work—can also provide for the catching of fish, weave nets, prepare footwear for the brothers, or do and fulfill the other things which are similar. Therefore, whoever among all these has not chosen a work with which to be occupied, let him be content to suffer hunger with reproach. Chapter 29. That a monk should speak sparingly. Let a monk maintain temperance in speech in every conversation: on account of which Scripture says: In much speaking you will not escape sin (Prov. 10). And again in the Gospel: Do not speak much, like the pagans (Matt. 6). It is also found in the Psalm: A talkative man will not be directed on the earth (Ps. 139). And therefore, whichever brother you are, let your words be few.

Nor is this enough, but also let him impose silence upon himself in the presence of the abbot or even of another elder: so that, unless questioned by him or bidden, you do not presume to break silence, obedient to Scripture, which says: Before you hear, do not answer; and do not thrust yourself into the midst of your elders (Ecclus. 11). And we declare that this is also to be observed most clearly at table. Chapter 30. That the abbot do no work without his own will. That the abbot, if he does not work like the rest, no one dare reprove: because it is fitting that he devote himself more to reading, by which he may daily teach the others, by which he may render those entrusted to him learned, by which he may compose all with holy admonition always. Yet it is fitting that he strive, so that whenever the codex is not held in his hands, according to his strength he make himself common in any work of the brothers: so that, although no one dares call him idle, no one murmurs in silence that he is fastidious.

Chapter 31. That monks may not use a linen tunic. A monk shall not use linen against the bare body, however delicate his constitution: because it is unfitting that he should cherish with soft garments the flesh, which always swells with the vice of nature, and caress it as if it were less strong; that flesh which daily is stirred up as a new and most powerful warrior for the assault upon the soul. For it renews its strength for warring against the soul as often as it receives something like a rebellious slave of remission. Concerning this battle the blessed Apostle says: "The flesh lusts against the spirit" (Gal. 5). And again: "I see another law in my members fighting against the law of my mind, and leading me captive in the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom. 7). And again: "A goad of my flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan who buffets me, because of which I thrice begged the Lord that it might depart from me, and He said to me: My grace is sufficient for you; for virtue is perfected in infirmity" (2 Cor. 12). And again: "If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if you mortify the works of the flesh by the spirit, you will live" (Rom. 8).

Whoever therefore loves that life should wear down the flesh that is to die; and he, as an ever unwearied combatant, will so afflict it with the daily struggle of certain harsh bonds of discipline that it may contend against the soul even from a slight remission, following the teaching or example of the Apostle who says: "I chastise my body and reduce it to servitude, lest when I preach to others I myself be found reprobate" (1 Cor. 9). Chapter 32. That monks' garments should not have exquisite perfumes. A monk should strive not to have the fragrance of garments or an excessive sheen due to pride; but rather, following the Apostle who says: "We are the good odor of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 2), he should also avoid and not seek to have a white or excessively red color in them, through which the appearance of the body is often presented to the ruin of those who see it; lest he bear witness to his own boastfulness; and, what is more, while he labors temporally to adorn the body with garments that are quickly consumed, he may not care for the ornaments of the soul, which could be eternal, if any such exist. For the divine Scripture chastises those who do such things thus: "Do not glory in the putting on of garments, and do not exalt yourself in the day of glory" (Ecclus. 11). Concerning footwear, we decree that you keep the custom of the rest of the monks.

But this also must be seen to, that the foot is bound with the strap more moderately, so that it is not bound too tightly as a sign of ostentation, but more holily swells with a looser binding: so that in all things simplicity, allied with health, commends to God one whom, possessed by love of Him, the world has seen to be a proven despiser of it. Chapter 32. That monks should have their beds singly. That two, however close or friendly, on account of secret prayer, which is better directed to the Lord with no witness, should not be held together in mind and not in bed: so that a compunctious mind may believe a greater license for praying is granted to it, while it fears neither a witness nor a judge of its vigils. Therefore, by keeping vigil, praying, and psalmody, let each one take care to yield the smallest portion of the night to sleep; so that he is not deceived by (??) who is free from a companion: because he cannot at all claim his own bed unless he defends it by keeping vigil. It also seems fitting to note what the prophet sings to us under a certain admonition: "I will wash my bed each night, I will water my couch with tears" (Psalm 6). And again: "In the nights lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord" (Psalm 133). And that: "I remembered your name in the night, O Lord, and I kept your law" (Psalm 118). Therefore, so that each devout person may more usefully fulfill this in the granted leisure, he will be the sole possessor of his own bed, as we said above, having with him, in a better exchange, the Lord watching instead of a sleeping brother.

CHAPTER XXXIV. That a monk shall not hunt. Among the other worldly pleasures, the monk must know that he is forbidden to engage in hunting, nor is he to have a dangerous contest with wild beasts that yields no benefit, since he ought rather to know that base things are to be slaughtered for beasts. And therefore, let not the custom of the place, the proximity and convenience of the woods, the accessible or easy ascent of a mountain, the hollows of valleys, the secluded groves, the dense thickets of the lands, tempt him to undertake the work of such fruitless labor. For it is necessary that, mindful of the Apostolic saying, he not bring harm to religion, as it warns that each one, in whatever vocation he is called, should remain in it before God (Eph. 4). Let him therefore judge the good course of his life to be lost by vain pursuits, and beware of being harmful; lest, setting aside the monk, he himself be caught by the capture of wild beasts, and, entangled by worldly desires, become a hunter of wild animals and himself a prey to the adversary. But let him rejoice to be free for God alone, whom he seeks; to serve him continually, whom he has chosen: knowing that we are thus bound by the evangelical precept: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone" (Matt. 4). And elsewhere: "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" (Ps. 26). He will therefore strive, setting aside all else, how he may continually please him with every service: so that he may make him a sharer in his kingdom, whom he sees to be wholly his worshiper.

But we also thought it not to be omitted, that if perhaps wild beasts, which are more violent, lying in wait for a livelihood sought by one's own labor, should threaten the fruits, then for the sake of avenging only the damage to the fruits, the savagery of dogs should opportunely deter them, and one should take more delight in driving them away than in pursuing them; so that he may appear a lover of fruits rather than of hunting. Chapter XXXV. That a monk shall not presume to touch fruit without permission. If any monk, of any kind of fruit, while it still clings unordained to its tree, plucks it for the sake of his own gluttony, or if he violates the first-fruits of fruits fallen to the ground, or of the remaining fruits, as is customary, by the incontinence of his gullet for sport, he, like the old Adam, the first man, shall fittingly do penance by a fast for his similarly chastised gluttony; as if he were deemed unworthy of the banquet of paradise in turn. And unless he first obtains pardon through the remission of all the brothers, he shall not be permitted to come to the table; because it is just that he who has taken away what was common to all should seek the indulgence of all. Therefore, all must take care that everything which is established as food for man, if it happens that any of the brothers takes or even finds it, before he either brings it to the table or hands it over to the cellarer, he shall keep it untouched with all fidelity; avoiding that he steal for himself by taste the food common to all; and though no companion clings to him, yet for destroying innocence, or for practicing plunder, gluttony is with him as a comrade.

Therefore, the congregation shall always have one property, so that all things belong to everyone, and everything belongs to all. Chapter 36. That the abbot shall not presume to manumit a slave of the monastery. The abbot shall not have the license to set free a slave of the monastery without the consent of all the monks, unless he delivers to all the brothers in the present a substitute of his own property of equal merit or age; because the slave of many cannot pass to freedom by the remission of one, nor can he become a freedman whom all do not unanimously absolve, since it is manifest that he has as many masters as there are monks. Chapter 37. Concerning how the abbot ought to conduct himself. Let the abbot be commended to all the monks over whom he is placed by vigor indeed, but by gentleness, and rather by his life, so that they fear him more as holy than as severe; and they fear in him more what he is first by merits than what he is foremost by honor. For let him have moderation in correction, and temperance in familiarity; and he will be so ordered in all his manners that he calls by blandishment, chastises by terror; making himself, because he hates vices, more loved by all. For his entire conduct will be as a foundation laid, so that whoever desires to approach God by merits through imitation of him may be built upon it. No one shall be condemned by him by power, but by reason; nor yet shall anyone be so familiar with him as to presume more than others; nor so offended that he does not return to pardon when contrition is completed.

For it is fitting that he who is feared by all should fear all, and with all zeal and industry provide, if any of those whom he has undertaken to govern should depart from the number by any adverse chance. And therefore it is necessary to relieve the many infirmities of the monks and the sicknesses of their minds with many remedies, and to apply the cure of spiritual care: that is, if he sees a proud man, let him offer the potion of humility by constant exhortation; if an angry man, let him offer him the ointment of patience; if a follower of falsehood, let him administer the antidote of truth, stirred up in this by the exhortations of the blessed Apostle, who says: "Attend to them, be instant in them: for by doing this, you will both do good and make those who hear you good" (2 Tim. 4). And again to Timothy: "Have the form of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1). And again: "But you watch, in all things labor, do the work of an Evangelist; fulfill your ministry" (2 Tim. 4). Similarly, the blessed Peter writes to him: "I beseech the elders who are among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's passion, and a partner of that glory which shall be revealed, feed the flock of God which is among you" (1 Pet. 5). And he added: "Not as lords over the clergy, but be an example to the flock, so that when the prince of shepherds appears, you may receive the flourishing and unfading crown of glory.

Jeremiah, the most holy, also says in the person of the Lord: "I will give you shepherds after my heart, and they will pasture you with knowledge and teaching" (Jeremiah 3). And again: "Thus says Adonai the Lord to the shepherds of Israel: Do shepherds pasture themselves?" And he adds: "For this reason, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I myself will come to the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hands" (Ezekiel 34). The Lord himself, in the Gospel, questioning Peter, the prince of the apostles, if he loves himself, adds: "Feed my sheep" (John 21). Therefore it is clear, brother, that whoever you are who seem to be set over monks, a great burden has been placed upon you through the honor; so that while you are first in dignity, you labor, laden with the weight of all. For this reason, run the path of the right way, which leads to heaven; and show the flock an unimpeded path, and precede them also with the steps of sanctity; and strive in such a way that whoever follows you as a leader with the steps of imitation does not err; so that you may seem to have fulfilled the admonitions of the apostolic sentence, which has: "Be an example to the faithful in word, in conduct, in charity, in faith, in chastity" (1 Timothy 4). And again: "Diligently take care to show yourself a praiseworthy worker of God, irreproachable, rightly handling the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2).

Therefore, abbot, we mark this title for you, so that you may not grieve at being passed over in the discourse of the Rule, and so that you may recognize yourself as one of the congregation, as it were, in a more particular way: admonishing you, or rather beseeching you before God, that while preserving all these things with fervent zeal, you also keep, for the sake of example, the other things that have been said to the rest. Chapter 24. At what times the abbot should attend the kitchen, and likewise the washing of feet. Three times a year, that is, on the day of the Lord's Nativity, likewise on the first day of Easter, and also on the feast of the special patron, the holy and most blessed and always venerable martyr Ferreolus, or indeed at least on those feasts of the saints to whom the same place has been consecrated, the abbot shall enter the kitchen to prepare food for the congregation; and there, having taken up the ministry of a junior, by serving at table he shall provide a form of humility in the dishes, willingly inclining himself to this holy abjection, which produces him greater than the others, while rendering him equal. For his authority in all things increases as much as he descends to the equality of a lower ministry. He shall also strive, following the divine example, to wash the feet of the brothers, and even of pilgrims, more often; fulfilling the Lord's command, and handing down to the monks an example by deeds rather than by words. For the Lord says to the disciples in the Gospel: "If I, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

I have given you an example, so that just as I have done for you, you also may do (John 13). Therefore, let all monks imitate the abbot doing this, and in the common observance of this title, with following spirits: to such an extent that, at appointed times and with distinct turns, they be solicitous about the preparation of food, serve one another in turn, and, by the equality of the ministry, rule over each other. Chapter 39. The chastisement of monks for many excesses. This title has undertaken to chastise many negligent monks. It demands to condemn not so much persons as faults. Therefore, let the love of health, the ambition of perfection, the expectation of truth, the promise of glory, the perpetuity of life, and that dwelling with the Author which we believe in—concerning which the Apostle speaks thus: "We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord, and thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4)—render them clean and, as it were, purified from the defilement of all vices.

The word of correction, therefore, for those who sow quarrels among the brothers is this: that if such a perverse path does not draw forth faith, they should be struck not only by the sentence of the abbot but also by the hatred of all, until they abandon their habitual error. Concerning these, the evangelist Luke records that the Lord said: "It is impossible that scandals should not come. But woe to him through whom they come; it is better for him if a millstone be placed around his neck and he be thrown into the sea" (Luke 17). For those, however, who, after correction, attack the judgments of their seniors and strive to excuse their sin, and who have passed not to repentance through recollection of the fault but to the hardness of excessive indignation, this sentence applies: that as long as we are recalled from the intended purpose and do not lay aside the swelling of the mind by manifest amendment, they shall be subject to the harshest discipline at the discretion of the abbot, because they did not say, "I acknowledge my sin" (Psalm 50), but they said what is read in the prophet Isaiah concerning the rebellious: "There is no one who repents of his sin, saying, 'What have I done?'" (Jeremiah 8).

Those, indeed, who set themselves before their seniors, and do not blush to invade the places of others through the vice of pride, and who contradict the Lord’s commands, by which we are thus instructed: “Whoever among you wishes to become greater, let him be your minister; and whoever among you wishes to be first, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20), are to be confounded by the rebuke of the abbot or even of the rest, and recalled to their own place which they had abandoned. We decree that they be promoted to a higher rank more slowly, lest, with added dignity, the presumption rooted in them should grow stronger. We therefore establish that, when the brothers are gathered at table, no one is to presume upon or snatch the portion of another from what is set before them, nor is anyone to plunge his hand importunately into the dish more often than the others, on account of the Apostle’s words: “One indeed is hungry, another is drunk” (1 Corinthians 11). And again: “Food for the belly, and the belly for foods; but God destroys both this and these” (1 Corinthians 6). And again: “The kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 4). And again: “Such men do not serve Christ our Lord, but their own belly” (Romans 16). And again: “Whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their own confusion” (Philippians 3). We also read in the Psalm, which is far from monks as well: “Their food was still in their mouths, and the wrath of God came upon them” (Psalm 77).

Whoever, therefore, transgresses this statute shall be subject to the abbot’s judgment as to how many fasts the violence of the table shall be deemed to merit. Concerning drunkenness, I consider it superfluous to admonish a monk, since even if he takes a little wine, he departs from the prescribed mortification of the body. Yet, because it cannot be hidden from monks what the Apostle writes to Timothy, saying: “Use medicated wine for your stomach and your frequent infirmities” (2 Tim. 3), let them receive, according to the resources of the monastery, as much wine as is offered each day by the abbot’s command or dispensation, and let them not seek any more at all. We also decree that this is to be observed regarding the other provisions. For we affirm by the testimonies of Scripture that drunkenness is forbidden even to those who live in the world, as the Apostle writes to the Ephesians: “Do not,” he says, “get drunk on wine, in which there is lust” (Eph. 5). And likewise the Prophet: “Woe to those who are strong in drinking wine, and mighty in mixing strong drink” (Isa. 5). And again: “Woe to those who rise in the morning and pursue strong drink; who wait for evening to be inflamed with wine.” And therefore, if it should ever happen that a monk is seen drunk—which is unspeakable—I command, full of zeal and anger toward him, that he be suspended from drinking wine for thirty days, so that the soul, congested by accumulated infusion, may be emptied by this period of digestion.

We therefore decree that those monks whom the end of a single day finds discordant, who drag out quarrels until evening and do not shut out hatred before the sun knows its setting, who contradict the Apostle saying, "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath" (Ephesians 4), through disobedience, shall be worn down by abstinence for as long a time as it takes for them to turn to true concord by voluntary satisfaction. It shall not be permitted for them, after a long scandal, to make peace in secret, lest any feigned purity of charity be admitted; but their reconciliation shall be public, just as their discord was manifest. Therefore, in the presence of all the brothers standing by, they shall ask pardon of each other: for each is guilty, marked by prolonged ill-will, in that either one ceased to seek indulgence, or the other, desiring to be asked, did not forgive. And thus one remained impious, the other unrepentant: the one to be condemned after his anger, the other after his fault. For this reason, the offended party shall not retain anger in contempt of the Gospel, but shall quickly have recourse to that example: "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you" (Luke 6). And that of the Apostle: "Clothe yourselves, as chosen and beloved of God, with the bowels of mercy, kindness, humility, modesty, patience: supporting one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another: just as the Lord forgave you, so also you" (Colossians 3). But he who inflicted the injury shall be quickly terrified by this example: "The Lord executes judgment for those who suffer injury" (Psalm 145).

And elsewhere: "What a man sows, that he also reaps" (Gal. 6). We therefore decree that a monk who is conscious of theft—if indeed we can still call him a monk—be subjected, like an adulterer, to the lash and be considered to be under great affliction, giving him the same sentence as a fornicator, because he too has indulged in lust while stealing. For we not incongruously call them similar, whom we find placed together in sacred reading. Thus the Lord says through the Prophet: "There is no knowledge of God upon the earth" (Hos. 4). And a little later: "Theft and adultery have flooded." And again in the Psalm: "If you saw a thief at the same time, you ran with him, and you set your portion with adulterers" (Ps. 43). We also read in the Gospel that the Lord said: "Fornications, thefts"; and without delay he added: "These are the things that defile a man" (Matt. 15). From these things, indeed, the servants of these crimes can understand that, just as the vices rule over them equally, so too is punishment equally owed.

And lest you be, dearest brothers in Christ, negligent through forgetfulness of those things which are piously written above, once you have all been gathered together, read them over again within thirty days, that is, on the Calends.