The Rule of Benedict

by (tr) Carolinne White (Penguin Little Black Classics 122) (retail) (epub)

  During the daytime services the same rule applies to someone who does not arrive at the work of God until after the verse and the Gloria of the first psalm following the verse: he must stand right at the end, and he should not venture to join the choir in singing until he has made amends, unless the abbot has pardoned him and given him permission. Even in this case the one who is guilty must do penance afterwards.

  When someone fails to come to the table before the blessing, thereby preventing everyone from saying the verse and prayers together and going to table at the same time, if his failure to arrive is the result of carelessness or his own fault, he should be reprimanded for this once or even twice, but if he still fails to correct his ways, he should not be allowed to partake of the shared meal, but must eat apart from everyone else without any company and be deprived of his allowance of wine until he has made amends and corrected his ways. Anyone who was not present at the verse said after the meal should be treated in the same way. Let no one presume to take any food or drink before or after the appointed hour. However, if someone is offered something by his superior and refuses it, then when he wants what he earlier refused or anything else, he should receive nothing at all until he has made suitable amends.

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  How the excommunicated should make amends

  If a brother is excommunicated from the oratory and from meals for a serious offence, he should lie prostrate in silence in front of the oratory doors during the divine service, lying face down at the feet of all the brothers as they come out of the oratory. He should continue to do this until the abbot judges that he has made sufficient amends. When he is told by the abbot to come in to the oratory, he should throw himself at the abbot’s feet and then at the feet of everyone else, so that they may pray for him. And then, if the abbot so orders, he should be received into the choir, in the place the abbot assigns him. Even so he should not venture to lead a psalm or do the reading or anything else in the oratory unless the abbot tells him to. At each of the services, at the end of the work of God, he should prostrate himself on the ground in his place, and in this way he should make amends until the abbot gives the order for him to stop. Those who have committed minor offences and are excommunicated only from the meal should make amends in the oratory until the abbot tells them to stop. They should continue until he gives a blessing and says, ‘That is enough.’

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  Mistakes in the oratory

  If anyone makes a mistake in reciting a psalm, responsory, antiphon or reading and does not make reparation humbly in front of everyone, he should be punished more severely for refusing to correct by humility the mistake he made through carelessness. But if a child makes a mistake of this kind he should be beaten.

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  Offences committed elsewhere

  If anyone in the course of whatever work he might be doing, whether in the kitchen, the cellar, in serving, in the bakehouse, or in the garden or in any other place, either breaks something or loses it or does something else wrong, and if he does not immediately come forward before the abbot and community, admit his error and do penance for it of his own accord, and if his error is only discovered by someone else, then he must be punished more severely. If the cause of the sin is hidden in his soul, then he should tell only the abbot or a spiritual father, for they know how to heal their own wounds and those of others without revealing them and making them public.

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  Announcing the time for the work of God

  It is the abbot’s duty to announce the hour of the work of God during the day and at night. He should either announce it himself or assign this task to a brother who will ensure that everything is done at the right time. Those who have been ordered to do so should lead the psalms and antiphons in turn after the abbot. No one should venture to sing or read unless he can fulfil this duty in such a way as to benefit those who are listening. It should be done with humility, seriousness and reverence by the one whom the abbot has asked to do it.

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  Daily manual labour

  Idleness is the enemy of the soul and so the brothers ought to engage in manual labour at set times, and at other times in biblical study. We believe that the times for both should be arranged as follows. From Easter until 1 October the brothers should go out in the morning and work from the first until about the fourth hour, as necessary. From the fourth hour until about the sixth hour, they should spend the time reading. After the sixth hour, when they leave the table they must rest on their beds in complete silence, or if anyone wants to read by himself, he must do so in a way that does not disturb anyone else. The service of None should be said early, half-way through the eighth hour, and then the brothers should work at what needs to be done until Vespers. If local conditions or poverty require them to gather in the harvest themselves, they should not be despondent, because it is when they live by the work of their hands, like our fathers and the apostles, that they are truly monks. But everything should be done in moderation to allow for the weaker brothers.

  From 1 October until the beginning of Lent, they should spend the time reading until the end of the second hour. At that point Terce should be said, and all the brothers should then work until None at the tasks assigned to them. When the first signal has been given for the ninth hour, they should all stop what they are doing and wait in readiness for the second signal. After the meal they should devote themselves to reading or to the psalms.

  During Lent they should spend the morning reading until the end of the third hour, and then they should work on the tasks assigned them until the end of the tenth hour. During Lent they should all be given a book from the library which they should read from cover to cover. These books should be handed out at the beginning of Lent. It is very important that one or two of the older monks be appointed to go round the monastery during the period when the brothers are reading, to check that no one is being lazy and wasting his time doing nothing or chatting rather than concentrating on his reading, for not only does he derive no benefit from this himself but he also distracts others. If they come across such a person (which God forbid), he should be reprimanded once and even a second time, but if he does not correct his ways he should be subjected to the punishment of the rule, as a warning to the others. The brothers should not be in each other’s company at inappropriate times.

  On Sundays they should all spend time reading, apart from those who have been assigned various tasks. But if anyone is so lacking in concentration and so lazy that he refuses or is unable to study or read, he should be given a task to prevent him being idle. Brothers who are weak or delicate should be given a task or craft that prevents them being idle but does not cause them to feel oppressed by the difficulty of the task or to try to avoid it. The abbot should have consideration for their weakness.

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  Observance of Lent

  The life of a monk ought at all times to be Lenten in its observances but because few have the strength for this, we urge that in Lent they should maintain a life of complete purity to make up, during these holy days, for all the careless practices throughout the rest of the year. We can achieve this if we refrain from all sin and put all our effort into prayer accompanied by tears, into reading, compunction of heart and abstinence. And so during these days let us increase the amount of our service, by going further in the way of special prayers and abstinence from food and drink, so that each person, of his own free will, offers to God something more than usual, with the joy of the Holy Spirit. In other words he must cut down on food, drink, sleep, talkativeness, joking, and should look forward to holy Easter with the joy of spiritual longing. Each brother must tell the abbot what he is offering and ask for the abbot’s blessing and consent, because whatever is done without the father’s permission might be attributed to unwarranted pride and a desire for self-glorification rather than to any reward. And so everything ought to be done with the abbot’s approval.

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  Brothers working or travelling far from the oratory
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br />   If any brothers are working far away and cannot get to the oratory at the right time and if the abbot recognizes that this is the case, then they should perform the work of God in their place of work, kneeling down in reverence before God. Similarly those who have been sent on a journey should not neglect the appointed hours but should say the liturgy to themselves if possible and not neglect to pay the due measure of service.

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  Brothers on a short journey

  A brother who is sent out on some errand and is expected to return to the monastery the same day should not eat while away, even if someone invites him to do so, unless it happens that his abbot has told him to. If he does not obey, he should be excommunicated.

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  The monastery oratory

  The oratory should be just what its name implies and nothing else should be done or stored there. When the work of God is finished, everyone should leave the oratory in complete silence, showing reverence for God, so that any brother who perhaps wishes to pray by himself is not hindered by someone else’s lack of restraint. But if someone wishes to pray alone at any other time, he should just go in and pray, not in a loud voice but with tears and spiritual concentration. Anyone who does not pray in this manner should not be allowed to remain in the oratory when the work of God is finished, to prevent him being a nuisance to anyone else, as we have said.

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  The reception of guests

  All guests who arrive should be received as if they were Christ, for he will say, ‘I was a stranger and you took me in’ (Matt. 25:35). Each person should be treated with respect, particularly pilgrims and those ‘who share the faith’ (Gal. 6:10). So when a guest arrives, the superior or some of the brothers should go to meet him and treat him with all courtesy and love. First of all they should pray together so as to be united in peace. The kiss of peace should not be offered until the prayers have been said, to prevent the devil deluding them. In greeting those who are arriving or departing, the greatest humility should be shown: the brothers should bow the head or prostrate the whole body, and in this way Christ should be worshipped in guests, for it is he who is welcomed in their person.

  When the guests have been welcomed, they should be taken to prayer and then the superior (or someone to whom he delegates this task) should sit with them. The law of God should be read to the guest for his edification, and after this all kindness should be shown to him. The superior can break his fast for the sake of his guest, unless it happens to be an important fast day which cannot be violated. The brothers, however, should observe the customary fasts. The abbot should give the guests water for their hands, and the abbot as well as the whole community should wash all the guests’ feet; after washing them, they should say this verse, ‘O God, we have received your mercy in the midst of your temple’ (Ps. 48:9).

  Special care and attention should be shown in the reception of the poor and of pilgrims because in such people Christ is more truly welcomed. When it comes to rich people we are more likely to show them respect because we are in awe of them.

  There should be a separate kitchen for the abbot and guests, so that if guests (of which a monastery will never have a shortage) turn up at odd times, they will not disturb the brothers. Two brothers who are suitably competent should be deputed to work in this kitchen for a year at a time, and they should be given assistance when they need it, so that they can do their work without grumbling. When they have less work to do, they should go out and do whatever task has been assigned them. In fact assistance should be given not only to them when they need it, but to all those who have duties to perform in the monastery, and when they have spare time, they too should obediently do anything they are told to do.

  A brother whose heart is filled with the fear of God should be assigned to look after the guest-house where there should be enough beds ready. The house of God should be looked after by sensible people in a sensible way. No one should associate with guests or converse with them unless he is told to do so. But if a brother meets or sees a visitor, he should greet him with humility, as we said, and ask for a blessing as he passes, explaining that he is not permitted to converse with a guest.

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  Letters or gifts for monks

  A monk should on no account be allowed to receive letters, gifts, or any little tokens from his parents or from anyone else, or to send them in return without the abbot’s permission. If he is sent something by his parents, he must not accept it before he has shown it to the abbot. If permission is given for it to be accepted, it is up to the abbot to decide whom to give it to; the brother to whom it was sent should not be upset or he might ‘give an opportunity to the devil’ (Eph. 4:27). Anyone who presumes to do otherwise must submit to the discipline of the rule.

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  The brothers’ clothing and footwear

  The clothing given to the brothers should be appropriate for the conditions of the place where they live and the local climate, because they will need to wear more in cold areas and less in warm places. It is up to the abbot to take this into consideration. We believe that normally it will be enough for each of the monks to have a tunic and a cowl (a woollen hood in winter, and a thin or old one in the summer) and a scapular for work; on their feet they should wear shoes and socks. The monks should not complain about the colour or thickness of all these items but be content with what is to be found locally and what can be bought cheaply. With regard to the size, the abbot should take care that the clothes are not too short but are the right size for the person wearing them. When the brothers receive new ones they should always hand in the old ones at once, so that they can be put away in the clothes room for the poor. It is enough for each monk to have two tunics and two cowls, so that he has a change for night wear and to allow for washing. Anything more is superfluous and ought to be removed. They should hand in their shoes and anything else that is old when they receive new ones. Those who are sent on a journey should receive underpants from the clothes room, which they should wash and hand back on their return. The tunics and cowls they receive from the clothes room when they go off on their journey should be slightly better than the ones they usually wear; these, too, they must hand back on their return.

  As for bedding, it is enough for them to have a mat, together with a blanket, a cover and a pillow. The abbot should inspect the beds frequently to check for personal property, and if anything is found which the brother did not receive from the abbot, he must be punished severely. So as to eradicate this vice utterly, the abbot should hand out everything that is needed; in other words, cowls, tunics, shoes, socks, belt, knife, pen, needle, handkerchief and writing tablets: then no one can pretend that they have need of something. The abbot, however, should always remember the passage from the Acts of the Apostles where it says that ‘things were given to each person according to his needs’ (Acts 4:35). And so the abbot should take into account the weakness of those who are in need, rather than the ill-will of the envious. In all his decisions he must bear in mind God’s retribution.

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  The abbot’s table

  The abbot should always eat with the guests and pilgrims, but when there are no guests he has the right to invite any of the brothers he wishes to. However, one or two of the older brothers should always be left with the others to maintain discipline.

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  The monastery craftsmen

  If there are any craftsmen in the monastery, let them practise their crafts with complete humility, as long as the abbot gives his permission. But if one of them becomes arrogant because he is skilled at his craft, believing that he is benefiting the monastery, he should be removed from that craft and not allowed to resume it until he has shown humility and the abbot tells him he can. If any of the craftsmen’s work is to be sold, those who are responsible for arranging the transaction should take care not to act dishonestly. They should always remember the example of Ananias and Saphira, so that they (or anyone else who commits some fraud with monastery property) do not
suffer the same death in their souls as these two suffered in their body. As for the price, the sin of avarice must not be allowed to creep in: instead, things should always be sold a little more cheaply than they can be sold by people outside the monastery, so that in all things God may be glorified.

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  Regulations regarding the admission of brothers

  Newcomers to the monastic life should not be granted easy entry, but as the Apostle says, ‘Test the spirits to see whether they are from God’ (1 John 4:1). If the newcomer persists in knocking and seems to endure patiently the harsh treatment and the difficulty of entry, and if he continues to make his petition, then he should be allowed in and permitted to stay for a few days in the guest-house. After this he should stay in the novices’ centre, where they study and eat and sleep. An older brother who is skilled at gaining souls should be assigned to watch over them with the greatest care. He must make sure that the novice is really seeking God and find out whether he is keen to perform the work of God, to be obedient and to be treated in a humbling manner. The novice should be told about all the difficult and harsh things he will experience along the road to God.