Regula Monachorum Cujusdam Patris

Rule of a Certain Father. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I. Let the good reader beware lest he make the Scriptures conform to his own understanding, but rather let him make his understanding conform to the holy Scriptures. The cup of passion is bitter, but it thoroughly cures all diseases. The cup of passion is bitter, but the physician drinks first, so that the sick man may not hesitate to drink. For he who wishes to heal the wounds of another must himself be free from every disease of infirmity and stand sound. The devil destroys a monk and drags him to death by no other vice so much as when he sees him, having neglected the counsels of his seniors, trusting in his own judgment and defense. II. First of all, God is to be feared and loved with all one's strength (Luke 10); and one's neighbor is to be greatly loved, according to the Lord's command. III. Next, the virtue of obedience is to be sought, and is to be practiced according to the strength of each one; and at the first word of a senior, all the brothers who have heard it ought to rise; and whoever has not risen should ask pardon and do penance, as the senior judges; and he should carry out what he is ordered, even if it seems harsh. Obedience is to be rendered unto death, according to the example of the Lord, who was obedient to the Father unto death (Phil. 2). And each one ought to serve his brother as he would his own abbot or father; as the Apostle says: "Serve one another in the fear of Christ" (Eph. 5). And again: "Let all your actions be done with charity" (1 Cor. 16).

IV. If any brother is found to be disobedient to the abbot, or to the steward, or to any of the brothers, he is to be sent to prison, and he shall do penance as the elder judges. If, however, after examination in prison he is found to be reprobate, once and twice, again and again, he is to be cut off from the entire body of the brotherhood, according to the Lord’s command saying: For it is expedient for you that one of your members perish, than that your whole body go into the fire of Gehenna (Matt. 5); and because a little leaven corrupts the whole mass (1 Cor. 5). V. Not all are to be obeyed in the presence of the abbot or the steward, because one person does not attend to everyone; but nevertheless each brother should strive to obey the elder brother as the Lord. Whatever he does to his neighbor, let him not doubt that he does to the Lord. VI. If any brother is found to be murmuring, he himself is to be sent to prison, and his work is to be rejected. He shall do penance according to the judgment of the elder. If he is permitted, he shall make satisfaction; but if he does this frequently, he is to be expelled from the monastery.

VII. At the first word of the elder’s examination, whether of the steward or of any brother, pardon is to be sought; and he is to lie prostrate on the ground until the elder has completed the examination. But if the elder repeats the examination, he ought to repeat the request for pardon. If anyone is found to be too slow in seeking pardon, or utters any words contrary to the religious life, whether in excuse of his fault, he is to be sent to prison; and he shall do penance according to what the elder judges, until he is corrected. But if he is found obstinate, he is to be separated from the brothers. VIII. Lying, and swearing, or idle speech is to be condemned throughout the entire body of the brotherhood. If any brother is found with any of these, he is to be sent to prison, and shall do penance until he is corrected of the vice: because the mouth that lies kills the soul (Wisdom 1); and the Lord in the Gospel forbade swearing, saying: But I say to you, do not swear at all (Matthew 5). And again: Every idle word that men speak, they will render an account for it on the day of judgment (Matthew 12). And the Apostle says: Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth; but if any good speech for the edification of the faith, that it may give grace to the hearers (Ephesians 4). If any brother, after examination in prison, is unable to avoid these vices, he is to be cast out from the brothers, and is to be condemned.

IX. If any brother is found to be wrathful, he will be guilty before the council of the fire of Gehenna, unless he does penance, just as putrefying wounds are to be burned out by chastisement, namely, by the medicine of fire; and a swollen wound is to be treated with the incision of a spiritual iron: that is, capital and mortal sins, which lead to death, must be harshly treated and corrected, until he is reformed and becomes sound, according to the judgment of the abbot or the steward. X. If any brother speaks a word about a brother, the latter not hearing it, or in his absence, if it does not pertain to his praise and love, he is to be judged as a blasphemer: and he shall immediately seek pardon from God, and confess to the brother what he has said about him. But if he is found to repeat it, he is to be sent to prison, and shall do harsh penance, until he learns what the Apostle said: “Let speech be seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4). An excuse for an offense before pardon is not to be made by any brother; after pardon, it is proper.

XI. In abstinence from food, one rule ought to be observed by all brothers, except the elderly, the sick, and children; and there shall be one measure for all: that is, from the ninth hour until the second hour, one must refrain from food. Nor before or after the meal, which is commonly set before the brothers for supper, is anything to be indulged by mouth, unless infirmity, or a difference of age or body, has compelled something. But neither is one to eat to satiety. Meat and wine, or drink in which drunkenness occurs, are to be rejected by monks, and not to be received, by whom the world is crucified for Christ, and they themselves to the world. And a monk is not to have feasts beyond the earth, except a little at the arrival of brothers, as of Christ, if a more choice food has been offered for the sake of charity. Nevertheless, abstinence is to be concealed, lest we fall into the vice of boasting, which is the gravest of all vices. XII. We ought to seek nothing from those things which pertain to the world, beyond our daily bread and a brief garment with which we are clothed. These very things are to be sought by us without anxiety; lest we be found at any time not thinking of the kingdom of God, and it be said to us: All these things the nations seek (Matthew 6).

Nevertheless, monks must always work and pass their life without anxiety: all things they have labored for, except, as we said above, a little bread and clothing, they should distribute to the poor. Care for the poor must always be performed, and all our works done with charity; and without charity our works are fruitless before God. XIII. It is to be left to the judgment of each individual superior to provide the annual bread for his monastery: whether from the hoe or from oxen, as is the custom of some, as with us; or from crafts, or from business dealings, or from hired labor, or from any kind of work. XIV. It is not greatly to be cared about how each one works, but how each one lives. As dew and reason and the situation of the place permit each one, one must always work, and the law of God, which contains both visible and invisible things, is to be observed: and nothing from the commandments of God, whether great or small, is to be passed over. For he who transgresses one has become guilty of all (James 2).

XV. The purpose of the monk, which we have promised, must be exercised and fulfilled with whole heart and complete devotion; it consists in three renunciations. First, we must utterly reject all our possessions; and all worldly riches are known to be alien to us. Then, in the second place, all vices of the flesh and of the soul are to be abandoned and shunned: and all anger, and indignation, and shouting, and blasphemy are to be removed from you, along with every malice (Ephes. 4). The third renunciation, therefore, is this: all things whatsoever that are seen, whether in heaven, or on earth, or in the sea, or even in all of God’s creatures, not only must we claim nothing of these as belonging to the Lord, but we must also consider all of them as inferior to ourselves: for we, as it were, extend ourselves beyond them to the kingdoms of heaven, and to the knowledge of the Lord Himself. And therefore we do not greatly attend to these things, which are healthy and soon passing away; according to what the Apostle says: All things that are seen are temporal; but those that are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4).

XVI. Silence is to be maintained in all things, and the discipline of keeping silence is to be observed in everything; especially, however, near the Mass and the table: but in all things nothing is to be spoken except what necessity demands. If anyone, contrary to this discipline, answers with shouting and a harsher speech, let him be noted until he is corrected. If, however, he cannot be cured of this fault, let him be expelled from the unity of the brothers. XVII. Nothing is to be possessed as one’s own, and especially among monks; but let all things be common to them. Whoever says, “This is mine,” or “that is mine,” has sinned before God; unless it was said through a slip of the tongue, but even for this, let him nevertheless seek pardon from God, and beware for the future, and not dare to repeat it. If anyone remains incurable in this fault, he is to be expelled by all the brothers: because the vice of philargyria is the most serious of all vices, and philargyria is the root of all evils (1 Tim. 6).

XVIII. If any of the brothers should fall into a more grievous lapse, that is, of fornication, he is to be cast out from the congregation of the brothers, and until the day of his death, whether in another region, he is to do penance. Therefore, sisters are to be seen rarely, and we forbid the desire to speak frequently with them, lest we be found to give occasion to the weak. Nevertheless, we command that benefits and munificence be shown to them with a whole heart, since they are members of Christ and mothers of the Lord; and through a virgin Christ redeemed us. But gifts are to be sent to them through the most faithful and most proven men, so that the occasion of evil speech, the favor of the worst men, may be avoided. XIX. No one is to be permitted to preside over the congregation of brothers unless he has learned by obeying those things which ought to be commanded to others. But if perhaps he is sufficiently instructed in the Holy Scriptures, yet if he gives credence to the deeds of his actions—that is, if he has fulfilled in deed what he teaches, showing humility from charity, patience and gentleness, and fulfilling the will of his elder, and doing all the commandments of the Lord.

XX. If any of the seniors, whether he who is called abbot, should be voluptuous, and a drunkard, and rich; and who conforms himself to this world, that is, runs about from place to place in chariots and on horses, this man is not only unworthy of the principate of the brothers, but is also to be judged a murderer of souls: and another is to be set over his monastery. But if they cannot, the monks are to go out from him, and he is to be excommunicated. If, however, he repents, let him submit himself under the hands of a senior, and subject himself to servitude, until he who presides has approved him. XXI. We do not permit monks to run about in chariots and on horses, except for the infirm, but the weak and the lame. If, however, they do this, let them be alien from the unity of the brothers. XXII. For brothers whose habitation is in a barren land, that is, without bread, and who are in mountainous and fruitful places, we permit a little milk mixed with water. But we do not permit a monk to dwell with women, that is, with mothers and sisters.

XXIII. How ought we to obey him who exhorts us to the work of the commandment? As an infant obeys its nurse, or one who invites it to her breast; nay, if anything more readily and more swiftly, because the future life is far more precious than the present, we must obey even unto death. XXIV. How ought a senior to become towards the brothers? As if a nurse cherishes her little ones, loving and strengthening each one; and opens for them the way of perfection; and himself proceeds in all perfection and holiness of heart and body; and without any exception of persons, loves all equally with sincere affection, as if they were his own children, with his whole heart. But if he sees that any of them has passed over the Lord’s commandment, let him not be moved to anger against him, but to pity and compassion; according to that one who said: Who is sick, and I am not sick? Who is scandalized, and I am not burned (2 Cor. 11)? But if he is negligent in those things which pertain to the uses of body and soul, without doubt he will be subject to that sentence which says: Go, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and you did not give me to drink (Matt. 25): and those things which follow. And, Cursed is the man who does the works of God negligently (Jer. 47).

XXV. If any of the seniors or abbots is found to be wrathful, let him be noted until he is corrected. But if he is incurable from this vice, he is to be removed from authority over the brothers, because whether justly or unjustly, it is not fitting to be angry. XXVI. If anyone has spoken ill of his senior, he does not detract from the senior, but from the Lord, for whom the senior performs the work. If he does this frequently, let him be cut off from the brotherhood and from the care of the brotherly body. But if he repents, his sins are to be forgiven. "The detractor," says the Prophet, "who speaks secretly against his neighbor, I pursued him." (Psalm 100). XXVII. If anyone is found to despise his senior in any matter, he does not despise the man, but God, and so forth. If anyone does this, let him repent, and he will be reconciled to his senior. And all things whatsoever the senior has commanded are to be fulfilled according to the Lord's command. XXVIII. If any of the brothers is found negligent regarding the property of the monastery, he is to be judged guilty of sacrilege, of private possession. If anyone has seen this and has let the day pass without helping and correcting it, he is to be judged as a neglecter and perverter of sacred substance. For each one ought to labor and act more carefully regarding the property of the monastery, as if he himself were the lord of all and ruled over all. And again, through excessive humility, let him consider himself as a stranger, and seek nothing from it beyond the daily necessities.

XXIX. If anyone, at the voice of the one summoning or inviting him to anything whatsoever, does not rise immediately, he is guilty of disobedience. Let him ask pardon from God, and not presume to repeat it. For each one ought to rise at the first voice of the one inviting, as if a burning coal of fire had fallen upon him. But if this obedience of which we speak is not present, it is dead and not acceptable before God. For everything that is not from faith is sin (Rom. 14). One must always work with joy: “Rejoice in the Lord, O righteous ones, and praise is always fitting” (Ps. 32). And again the Apostle says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice” (Phil. 4). But if something sad is offered by us among the gifts of God, it will not be acceptable before God. XXX. Three gatherings by day, and the same number by night, are to be held in church. Are three psalms to be sung at each daytime gathering? But twelve will be sung at the night gatherings, besides that Mass which is celebrated at sunrise. Prayers and two readings, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New, are to be said at each night gathering. At these gatherings, that is, on Saturday and Sunday, Mass is to be celebrated until cockcrow; and vigils are to be performed as far as the strength of each one can endure.

XXXI. But he who does not come for the first psalm of the day shall not be received into the assembly of the brothers; but afterwards he shall ask pardon publicly. If he does this frequently, he shall be rebuked until he is corrected. At night, a delay is allowed up to the second psalm. XXXII. On the Lord’s days, the Eucharist is always to be received as a remedy for sins: but with a pure heart and with all holiness of heart and body we must approach the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.