Life, Rule & Works 49

Since many things established in the monasteries of maidens or of monks seem to differ, we have chosen a few things out of many, whereby the elders together with the younger may live according to rule, and may strive spiritually to fulfill what they perceive to be especially fitting to their own sex; these things first befit your holy souls. I. If any woman, having left her parents, wishes to renounce the world and to enter the holy sheepfold, that she may with God's help escape the jaws of the spiritual wolves, let her not depart from the monastery until her death, nor from the basilica, where the door is seen to be. II. Let her strive to flee and avoid oath-taking and cursing as the poison of the devil. III.

To her, then, who by God's inspiration is converted, it shall not be permitted at once to take up the habit of religion, unless her will has first been proved in many trials; but let her, committed to one of the elders, persevere for a whole year in the habit in which she came. Yet concerning the changing of that habit, or having a bed in the schola, let it be in the power of the prioress; and according as she perceives the person or the compunction, let her be careful to temper it, whether more quickly or more slowly. IV.

But those widows who come to the monastery, either having lost their husbands or having changed their garments, are not to be received unless first, concerning all their little property, those who so wish make deeds, or donations, or sales, in such wise that they reserve nothing to their own power which they may seem in any private way either to administer or to possess; on account of that word of the Lord: 'If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you possess' (Matt. 19); and, 'If anyone does not forsake all things, and follow me, he cannot be my disciple' (Luke 14). This I say, therefore, venerable daughters, because nuns who have possessions cannot have perfection.

And this matter also—those who are converted as virgins—if they are unwilling to fulfill it, let them either not be received, or at least not be permitted to take up religious garments, until they have made themselves free from all the impediments of this world. But those who, while their parents are still living, cannot have their substance in their own power, or who are still of minor age, let them then be compelled to make deeds when they can have the property of their parents in their power, or when they attain to lawful age. This we enjoin upon your holy souls, fearing the example of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), who, when they said they had offered the whole to the apostles, offered a part, and unfaithfully reserved a part to themselves—which is neither becoming, nor lawful, nor expedient to be done.

Let it be permitted to no one, not even to the abbess, to have her own personal maidservant in her service; but if she has need, let her receive from among the younger sisters for her assistance. V. And if it can be done, either it is difficult, or let no little infant ever be received into the monastery, except from the age of six or seven years, who can already learn letters and be capable of obedience. Let the daughters of nobles or of the ignoble by no means be received for nursing or teaching. VI. Let no one choose for herself any work or handicraft to do according to her own pleasure; but let what is judged useful be commanded at the discretion of the elder. VII. Let it be permitted to no one to choose a secluded lodging, nor let her have a chamber, or a little cupboard, or anything of this kind that can be privately locked;

but let all remain in one cell with separate beds. But those who are aged and infirm, it befits them to be complied with, or arranged for, in such wise that they do not each have separate cells, but let all be received into one where they may also remain. VIII. Let them never speak with a louder voice, according to that word of the Apostle: 'Let all clamor be taken away from you' (Eph. 4). Likewise, while the psalms are chanted, let it not be permitted at all to talk or to work. IX. Let no one presume to receive in baptism the daughter of anyone whatsoever, neither of the rich nor of the poor. X. She who, when the signal is given, comes too late to the work of God or to the labor, shall be subject to rebuke, as is fitting. But if, admonished a second or third time, she is unwilling to amend, let her be separated from Communion or from the common table. XI.

She who is admonished, chastised, or corrected for any fault, let her by no means presume to answer back to the one reproving her; she who is unwilling to fulfill any of those things which are commanded, let her be separated, according to the nature of the fault, from the Communion of prayer or from the table. XII. To those who cook, let the unmixed wine be added to each for their labor. In every service—bodily service, that is—in the kitchen, or whatever daily use requires, they ought to succeed one another by turns, except the mother and the prioress. XIII. In the vigils, that no one be weighed down by sleep through idleness, let such work be done as does not draw the mind away from the hearing of the reading. If any is weighed down by sleep, let her be bidden to stand while the others sit, that she may drive the drowsiness of sleep from herself, lest in the work of God she be found either lukewarm or negligent.

XIV. In the wool-working itself, let them receive their daily task with humility, and strive with great diligence to fulfill it. XV. Let no one judge anything as her own, whether in clothing or in any other matter whatsoever. XVI. Let no one do anything with murmuring, lest she perish by the like judgment as the murmurers, according to that word of the Apostle: 'Do all things without murmurings' (Phil. 2). Let all obey the mother after God, and defer to the prioress. Sitting at table, let them keep silence, and bend their mind to the reading. But when the reading has ceased, let holy meditation not cease from the heart. But if anything is needed, let her who presides over the table take the care, and let her ask for what is necessary by a nod rather than by voice.

Let not your throats alone take food, but let your ears also hear the word of God. XVII. Let all learn letters; at all seasons let them devote two hours—that is, from morning until the second hour—to reading. XVIII. But in the remaining space of the day let them do their work, and let them not occupy themselves with idle tales, on account of that word of the Apostle: 'Working with silence' (2 Thess. 3); and this: 'In much talking you shall not escape sin' (Prov. 10). And therefore this alone is to be spoken by you, which pertains to the edification or profit of the soul. But when the necessity of the work requires it, then let them speak. While the rest are working together, let one of the sisters read until Terce; for the rest, let meditation on the word of God and prayer from the heart not cease.

Let there be for you one soul and one heart in the Lord, let all things be common to you; for so you read in the Acts of the Apostles: 'For all things were common to them, and distribution was made to each according as each had need' (Acts 4). XIX. Those who had anything in the world, when they enter the monastery, let them humbly offer it to the mother, to be for the common use. But those who had nothing, let them not seek in the monastery those things which they could not have even outside. Yet those who seemed to have something in the world, let them not despise their sisters who have come to that holy fellowship out of poverty; nor let them be so proud of their riches which they have offered to the monastery, as if they were enjoying them in the world.

What does it profit to scatter abroad, and by giving to the poor to become poor, if the wretched soul is puffed up with devilish pride? All of you, therefore, live with one mind and in concord, and honor in one another God, whose temples you have been counted worthy to be. Persist in prayers without intermission, according to that word of the Gospel: 'Praying at all times, that you may be counted worthy' (Luke 21), and the Apostle: 'Pray without ceasing' (1 Thess. 5). XX. But when you pray to God with psalms and hymns, let that be turned over in the heart which is uttered by the voice. Whatever work you do, when the reading is not being read, always ruminate upon something from the divine Scriptures. But the sick are to be treated in such wise that they may recover the more quickly;

but when they have recovered their former strength, let them return to the happier custom of abstinence. Let not your habit be notable, nor seek to please by garments, but by morals, as befits your profession. XXI. Let no concupiscence of the eyes for any man whatsoever arise in you at the devil's instigation; nor say that you have chaste minds, if the eye is the messenger of an unchaste heart. Nor ought she who does not simply turn her gaze upon a man think that she is not seen by others when she does this: she is assuredly seen by those by whom she does not think herself to be seen. But even suppose she is hidden, so as to be seen by no human being—what will she do about that heavenly Beholder from whom nothing whatsoever can be hidden? Let her fear, then, to displease God; let her take thought lest she wickedly please a man.

When, therefore, you stand together, if either the overseer of the monastery or any of the men with him should come upon you, guard your chastity toward one another. For God, who dwells in you, will guard you also in this way. XXII. But if you see any acting more freely than is fitting, correct her more secretly, as a sister; if she neglects to hear, bring it to the mother's notice; and let it not judge you to be malevolent when you disclose this with a holy mind: for you are rather guilty, and make yourselves partakers of that very sin, if you permit your sister, whom by chastising you could have corrected, to perish by keeping silence.

For if she had a wound in her body, and had been struck by a serpent, and wished to conceal this because she feared to be cut, would it not be cruel to keep it silent, and merciful to disclose it? How much more, then, ought you to make manifest the counsels of the devil and his snares, lest the wound of sin grow worse in the heart, lest the evil of concupiscence be nourished longer in the breast? And do this with love for your sisters and hatred for their vices. XXIII. But whichever of you—which God forbid—shall have advanced so far into evil that she secretly receives from anyone letters, or any messages, or little gifts; if she confesses this of her own accord, let her merit indulgence, and let there be prayer for her;

but if, concealing it, she is betrayed or convicted, let her be more severely corrected according to the statutes of the monastery. Let her be subject to the like strictness, if she herself has presumed with sacrilegious daring to transmit letters or little gifts to anyone; yet out of affection for kinsfolk, or for the acquaintance of anyone, if she wishes to transmit any bread to someone, let her suggest it to the mother; and if she herself permits, let her give it through the portresses, and let them transmit it in her name to whomever she wishes: let her not presume by herself, without the prioress or the portress, either to give or to receive anything. XXIV. And although it ought not only not be thought, but by no means even believed, that holy virgins should bite one another with harsh words or insults;

yet if perchance, as human frailty is wont, some of the sisters, at the devil's instigation, should break out into such great wickedness that they either commit theft or lay hands upon one another, it is just that they receive lawful discipline, by whom the ordinances of the rule are violated. For it is necessary that there be fulfilled in them that which the Holy Spirit foretold through Solomon concerning undisciplined children: 'He who loves his son applies the rod to him frequently' (Ecclus. 30); and again: 'When you strike with the rod, you shall deliver his soul from hell' (Prov. 23). Let them receive this discipline in the presence of the congregation, according to that word of the Apostle: 'Rebuke those who sin in the presence of all' (1 Tim. 5). XXV.

And since the mother of the monastery must needs bear solicitude for the salvation of souls, and continually take thought concerning the little substance of the monastery, which is needful for the food of the body, and also bestow affection upon those who greet her, and reply to the letters of any of the faithful; the care of wool-working, whereby garments may be provided for the holy sisters, will pertain to the solicitude of the prioress or the wool-weigher. Through their diligence let whatever garments are necessary be prepared so faithfully, with zeal and love of God, that as often as the holy sisters have need, she may dispense them with holy discretion. XXVI.

Yet let the garments be made in the monastery with such great diligence that it be never necessary for the abbess to purchase them outside the monastery. And let it not pertain to you what kind of garment is offered to you according to the fitness of the season. But if from this there arise among you contentions and murmurings, if any of you should perchance receive some garment less worthy than she had before; from this prove yourselves how much you lack in that inner holy habit of the heart, you who murmur over the habit of the body. If your infirmity is tolerated, so that you have more than daily food requires, yet in one place, under a common keeper, store up what you have, and let the keeper of the wardrobe hold the keys of your little chests or little presses. XXVII.

Let no one work anything as her own, unless the abbess has commanded or permitted it; but let all your works be done in common, with such holy zeal and fervent alacrity, as if you were doing them for your own. XXVIII. To the storeroom, and to the gate, or to the wool-weighing, let such be chosen by the elder as consider, in the fear of God, not the wishes of some few, but the necessities of all; and therefore whatever pertains to eating or drinking, let none of the sisters presume to place or to keep about her bed. Whoever does this, let her sustain the gravest severity. Above all, I adjure it before God and His angels, that none of the sisters either secretly buy wine, or receive it transmitted from anywhere;

but if it has been transmitted, in the presence of the abbess or prioress, let the portresses receive it and hand it over to the cellarers; and through her dispensation, according to the institution of the rule, let it be dispensed to her to whom it was transmitted, in such wise as befits her infirmity. And since it is wont to happen that the cellar of the monastery does not always have good wine, it will pertain to the care of the holy abbess to provide such wine whereby either the sick or those who are more delicately nourished may be comforted. XXIX. Let baths also, which infirmity demands, by no means be denied; but let it be done without murmuring, on the counsel of medicine, so that even if she who is sick were unwilling to wash, at the elder's bidding let what is needful for health be done.

But if she is compelled by no infirmity, let no assent be given to her desire. XXX. The care of the sick, or of those laboring under any weakness, ought to be enjoined upon one who is sufficiently faithful and contrite, who may seek from the storeroom whatever she perceives to be needful; and such a one ought to be chosen as will both guard the monastic strictness and serve the sick with piety. And if the necessity of the sick requires it, and it seems just to the mother of the monastery, let the sick also have their little storeroom and their own kitchen in common. Those who are set over the storeroom, or the cellar, or the garments, or the books, or the gate, or the wool-weighing, let them receive the keys upon the Gospel, and serve the rest without murmuring.

But if any think that garments, footwear, or utensils are to be dispensed or guarded carelessly, let them be corrected more severely as embezzlers of the monastery's goods. XXXI. Have no quarrels, according to that word of the Apostle: 'The servant of God must not wrangle' (2 Tim. 2); and this: 'Refrain from strife, and thou shalt lessen thy sins' (Sir. 28); or, if quarrels do arise, let them be ended as swiftly as possible, lest anger grow into hatred, and a mote grow into a beam, and the soul become a murderer; for thus you read: 'He that hateth his brother is a murderer' (1 John 3); and, 'Lifting up holy hands, without anger and contention' (1 Tim. 2).

Whoever shall have injured her sister by reviling or cursing, or even by the charge of a crime, let her remember to purge her fault by making satisfaction. And if she presume to repeat this vice, let her be struck with the most severe discipline, until she deserve to be received back through satisfaction. Let the younger especially defer to the elder. But if any be excommunicated for any matter whatever, let her be removed from the community and dwell in a place appointed by the abbess, together with one of the spiritual sisters, until by humble penance she obtain pardon. But if, as often happens, at the devil's prompting they injure one another, they ought to beg pardon of one another and to remit their debts, for the sake of the prayers which, the more frequent they are, the purer they ought to be.

But if she of whom pardon is asked refuse to forgive her sister, let her be removed from communion, and let her fear that word: 'But if you will not forgive, neither will it be forgiven you' (Matt. 6). And she who never wishes to ask pardon, or asks it not from the heart, or, when it is asked of her, does not forgive, seems to be in the monastery without cause. Therefore spare yourselves from harsher words; but if they have been uttered, let it not irk you to bring forth from the very mouth by which the wounds were made the remedies. But when necessity of discipline, for the sake of curbing evil habits, compels you who are set as superiors to speak hard words, if perhaps you feel that in these very words you have exceeded measure, it is not required of you to beg pardon;

lest among those who ought to be subject, while humility is too much preserved, the authority to govern be broken. Yet pardon must be sought of the Lord of all, who knows with how great goodwill you love even those whom you rebuke more than is just. XXXII. To the mother who bears care for all of you, and to the prioress, be obedient without murmuring, lest charity be grieved in them. But let those who are set over you strive with charity and true devotion to keep discretion and rule. Toward all let them show themselves an example of good works (Titus 2); let them rebuke the restless, comfort the fainthearted, support the weak (1 Thess. 5), often reflecting that they will render an account to God for you;

whence you too, by obeying more devoutly, have mercy not only on yourselves but also on them: for the more they are seen to be superior in rank among you, the greater is the peril in which they stand. Wherefore obey humbly and with reverence not only the mother, but also the prioress, the chief officer, or the principal. XXXIII. Above all, for the guarding of your good name, let no man enter into the inner part of the monastery and into the oratories, except bishops, the steward, and the priest, deacon, subdeacon, and one or two lectors, whom both age and life commend, who are at times to celebrate Mass.

But when roofs must be repaired, or doors or windows are to be set in place, or anything of this kind is to be mended, let workmen only and servants, to do some work, enter with the steward if necessity require it; but not even they without the knowledge or permission of the mother. But let the steward himself never enter the inner part of the monastery except for those needs which we have set forth above; and either never, or with difficulty, without the abbess or another most honorable witness: that the holy women may keep their seclusion, as is fitting and expedient. XXXIV. Secular matrons also, or girls, or other women, or men still in lay dress, are likewise to be forbidden to enter. XXXV.

Care must be taken that the abbess go not out to those who greet her in the parlor without her due honor, that is, without two or three sisters. Bishops, abbots, or other religious whom a great life commends, if they ask, ought to enter the oratory for prayer. Care must also be taken that the gate of the monastery lie open at suitable hours to those who greet. XXXVI. Neither shall you prepare a banquet for these persons, that is, for bishops, abbots, monks, clerics, secular men, women in secular dress, nor for the abbess's kinsfolk, nor ever for any nun, either within the monastery or outside the monastery: nor let a banquet be made even for the bishop of this city, nor even for the steward of the monastery itself.

From the city, indeed, not even religious women, unless perhaps they be of great conversation and such as sufficiently honor the monastery; and let this be done very rarely. If, however, any woman come from another city to seek her daughter, or to visit the monastery, if she be a religious and has been seen by the abbess, she ought to be invited to a meal; the rest, never at all, because holy virgins devoted to God ought rather, being free for Christ, to pray for the whole people, than to prepare bodily banquets. XXXVII. But if anyone wish to see his sister, or daughter, or any kinswoman or acquaintance, let him not be denied speech with her, in the presence of the formaria or some senior. XXXVIII.

Let not the abbess take refreshment entirely apart from the community, unless some inequality or infirmity, or pressing occupation, compel it. XXXIX. This above all things I admonish and adjure you, holy mother, and you, venerable one, whoever you shall be that are prioress, and also whoever has the care of the infirm to be committed to her, the chief officer too or the formaria: that you consider most watchfully whether there are any among the sisters who, because they have been more delicately reared, or perhaps suffer more frequently from weakness of the stomach, and if any others cannot abstain, or fast only with great labor, if these, out of bashfulness, do not presume to ask, you command that food be given them from the storerooms, and appoint that they receive it.

And let them most surely trust that whatever they receive at any hour by the dispensation or command of a senior, in that refreshment they receive Christ. But let the storeroom, and she who is to serve the sick, and the care and diligence toward the infirm, be enjoined upon them, before God and His angels, beyond all other solicitude. This too I admonish, that on account of excessive disturbance, daily or constant almsgivings be not made at the gate of the monastery; but what God has given, that it may remain for the uses of the monastery, let the abbess through the steward appoint to be distributed to the poor. XL. Above all it must be observed that, if anyone give or send garments or anything else to his daughter or to any woman related to him by some tie, these be not received secretly:

wherefore all who keep watch at the postern I adjure before God and His angels, that they permit nothing to be given out of the monastery, nor consent that anything be received from outside into the monastery, against the conscience or counsel of the abbess. Yet if the abbess, as usually happens, be occupied with visitors, let the portresses in charge of the postern show whatever has been presented to the prioress. And if they neglect to fulfill this, both those portresses who permit it, and those who receive it, shall not only undergo the most grievous discipline of the monastery; but on account of the transgression of the holy rule they shall know that they have a case to plead with me before God. But that very thing which has been sent, if she has need of it for her own uses, let her have it;

but if she needs nothing, let it be brought into common stock and given to her who has need, on account of that command of the Lord: 'He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none' (Luke 3). But when they receive new garments, if they do not have need of the old ones, let them hand them back to the abbess, to be distributed to the poor, or to beginners, or to the younger. Let them have all their garments of a plain and modest color only, never black, not shining, but only natural or milk-white; let them be made in the monastery by the industry of the prioress or the care of the wool-weigher, and be distributed by the mother of the monastery, according to what has reasonably become necessary for each. XLI. Let no other dye be used in the monastery except, as was said above, natural and milk-white:

because anything else does not befit the humility of virgins. Let the bedding itself be plain, for it is quite unseemly if upon a religious bed secular coverlets or painted tapestries should gleam. Have no silver in your use, apart from the service of the oratory. XLII. Let feather-work and embroidery, and every kind of damask, or coverlets, or ornaments, never be made in the monastery. The very ornaments in the monastery ought to be plain, never feathered, never all-silk; and let nothing else be applied upon them, save crosses either black or milk-white only, of patchwork from cloths or linens. For neither ought waxed hangings to be hung up, nor painted panels to be affixed, nor any painting to be made on the walls or vaults:

because in a monastery that ought to be which pleases not human, but only spiritual eyes. But if any ornaments have been bestowed, either by you or by another of the faithful, upon the monastery, let them either be sold to profit the uses of the monastery, or, if it be necessary, be assigned to the basilica of holy Mary. Let embroidery never be done except on the little cloths and hand-towels which the abbess shall command.

Let none of you presume, apart from the abbess's command, to receive garments of clerics, or laymen, or kinsfolk, nor of any men or outside women, whether to wash, or to sew, or to store, or to dye, without the abbess's command, lest through this incautious familiarity, hostile to honor, the good name of the monastery be harmed. But whoever shall refuse to observe this, let her be struck with the discipline of the monastery as though she had committed a crime. XLIII.

But you, holy and venerable mother of the monastery, and you, prioress of the holy congregation, before God and His angels I admonish and adjure, that never anyone's flattery, or backbiting, or coaxing soften your mind, so that you diminish anything of the institution of the holy and spiritual rule. Yet I trust, by the mercy of God, that not for any negligence will you incur guilt, but through holy obedience pleasing to God you may happily attain to eternal blessedness.