1 Excerpts from the Rule of St Benedict Benedict of Nursia ca 510 520 followed to this day The Rule of St Benedict was probably the most influential medieval monastic order These selections are designed to give you a sense of the wide variety of activities the Benedictines the monks who followed this rule regulated in their monasteries Chapter 6 Of Silence Psalm 38 39 2 3 Here the prophet shows that if at times we ought to refrain from useful speech for the sake of silence how much more ought we to abstain from evil words on account of the punishment due to sin Therefore because of the importance of silence let permission to speak be seldom given to perfect disciples even for good and holy and edifying discourse for it is written In much talk thou shalt not escape sin Proverbs 10 19 For it belongs to the master to speak and to teach it becomes the disciple to be silent and to listen If therefore anything must be asked of the Superior let it be asked with all humility and respectful submission But coarse jests and idle words or speech provoking laughter we condemn everywhere to eternal exclusion and for such speech we do not permit the disciple to open his lips Chapter 22 How the Monks Are to Sleep Let the brethren sleep singly each in a separate bed Let them receive the bedding befitting their mode of life according to the direction of their Abbot If it can be done let all sleep in one apartment but if the number doth not allow it let them sleep in tens or twenties with the seniors who have charge of them Let a light be kept burning constantly in the cell till morning Let them sleep clothed and girded with cinctures or cords that they may be always ready but let them not have knives at their sides whilst they sleep lest perchance the sleeping be wounded in their dreams and the sign having been given rising without delay let them hasten to outstrip each other to the Work of God yet with all gravity and decorum Let the younger brethren not have their beds beside each other but intermingled with the older ones and rising to the Work of God let them gently encourage one another on account of the excuses of the drowsy Chapter 33 Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own The vice of personal ownership must by all means be cut out in the monastery by the very root so that no one may presume to give or receive anything without the command of the Abbot nor 2 to have anything whatever as his own neither a book nor a writing tablet nor a pen nor anything else whatsoever since monks are allowed to have neither their bodies nor their wills in their own power Everything that is necessary however they must look for from the Father of the monastery and let it not be allowed for anyone to have anything which the Abbot did not give or permit him to have Let all things be common to all as it is written And let no one call or take to himself anything as his own Acts 4 32 But if anyone should be found to indulge this most baneful vice and having been admonished once and again doth not amend let him be subjected to punishment Chapter 48 Of the Daily Work Idleness is the enemy of the soul and therefore the brethren ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times at others in devout reading Hence we believe that the time for each will be properly ordered by the following arrangement namely that from Easter till the calends of October they go out in the morning from the first till about the fourth hour to do the necessary work but that from the fourth till about the sixth hour they devote to reading After the sixth hour however when they have risen from table let them rest in their beds in complete silence or if perhaps anyone desires to read for himself let him so read that he doth not disturb others Let None be said somewhat earlier about the middle of the eighth hour and then let them work again at what is necessary until Vespers If however the needs of the place or poverty should require that they do the work of gathering the harvest themselves let them not be downcast for then are they monks in truth if they live by the work of their hands as did also our forefathers and the Apostles However on account of the faint hearted let all things be done with moderation From the calends of October till the beginning of Lent let them apply themselves to reading until the second hour complete At the second hour let Tierce be said and then let all be employed in the work which hath been assigned to them till the ninth hour When however the first signal for the hour of None hath been given let each one leave off from work and be ready when the second signal shall strike But after their repast let them devote themselves to reading or the psalms During the Lenten season let them be employed in reading from morning until the third hour and till the tenth hour let them do the work which is imposed on them During these days of Lent let all received books from the library and let them read them through in order These books are to be given out at the beginning of the Lenten season Above all let one or two of the seniors be appointed to go about the monastery during the time that the brethren devote to reading and take notice lest perhaps a slothful brother be found who gives himself up to idleness or vain talk and doth not attend to his reading and is unprofitable not only to himself but disturbs also others If such a one be found which God forbid let him be punished once and again If he doth not amend let him come under the correction of the Rule in such a way that others may fear And let not brother join brother at undue times 3 On Sunday also let all devote themselves to reading except those who are appointed to the various functions But if anyone should be so careless and slothful that he will not or cannot meditate or read let some work be given him to do that he may not be idle Let such work or charge be given to the weak and the sickly brethren that they are neither idle nor so wearied with the strain of work that they are driven away Their weakness must be taken into account by the Abbot Chapter 55 Of the Clothing and the Footgear of the Brethren Let clothing be given to the brethren according to the circumstances of the place and the nature of the climate in which they live because in cold regions more in needed while in warm regions less This consideration …
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