16**The abbot should avoid all favoritism in the monastery. 17He is not to love one more than another unless he finds someone better in good actions and obedience. 18*A man born free is not to be given higher rank than a slave who becomes a monk, except for some other good reason. 19But the abbot is free, if he sees fit, to change anyone’s rank as justice demands. Ordinarily, everyone is to keep to his regular place, 20 *because whether slave or free, we are all one in Christ (Gal 3:28; Eph 6:8) and share alike in bearing arms in the service of the one Lord, for God shows no partiality among persons (Rom 2:11). 21Only in this are we distinguished in his sight: if we are found better than others in good works and in humility. 22 *Therefore, the abbot is to show equal love to everyone and apply the same discipline to all according to their merits.
23*In his teaching, the abbot should always observe the Apostle’s recommendation, in which he says: Use argument, appeal, reproof (2 Tim 4:2). 24This means that he must vary with circumstances, threatening and coaxing by turns, stern as a taskmaster, devoted and tender as only a father can be. 25 *With the undisciplined and restless, he will use firm argument; with the obedient and docile and patient, he will appeal for greater virtue; but as for the negligent and disdainful, we charge him to use reproof and rebuke. 26*He should not gloss over the sins of those who err, but cut them out while he can, as soon as they begin to sprout, remembering the fate of Eli, priest of Shiloh (1 Sam 2:11–4:18). 27For upright and perceptive men, his first and second warnings should be verbal; 28but those who are evil or stubborn, arrogant or disobedient, he can curb only by blows or some other physical punishment at the first offense. It is written, The fool cannot be corrected with words (Prov 29:19); 29and again, Strike your son with a rod and you will free his soul from death (Prov 23:14).
30*The abbot must always remember what he is and remember what he is called, aware that more will be expected of a man to whom more has been entrusted.31* He must know what a difficult and demanding burden he has undertaken: directing souls and serving a variety of temperaments, coaxing, reproving and encouraging them as appropriate. 32*He must so accommodate and adapt himself to each one’s character and intelligence that he will not only keep the flock entrusted to his care from dwindling, but will rejoice in the increase of a good flock. 33*Above all, he must not show too great concern for the fleeting and temporal things of this world, neglecting or treating lightly the welfare of those entrusted to him. 34*Rather, he should keep in mind that he has undertaken the care of souls for whom he must give an account. 35That he may not plead lack of resources as an excuse, he is to remember what is written: Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be given you as well (Matt 6:33), 36and again, Those who fear him lack nothing (Ps 33[34]:10).
37The abbot must know that anyone undertaking the charge of souls must be ready to account for them. 38* *Whatever the number of brothers he has in his care, let him realize that on judgment day he will surely have to submit a reckoning to the Lord for all their souls—and indeed for his own as well. 39In this way, while always fearful of the future examination of the shepherd about the sheep entrusted to him and careful about the state of others’ accounts, he becomes concerned also about his own, 40 and while helping others to amend by his warnings, he achieves the amendment of his own faults.
CHAPTER 3. SUMMONING THE BROTHERS FOR COUNSEL
1 As often as anything important is to be done in the monastery, the abbot shall call the whole community together and himself explain what the business is; 2and after hearing the advice of the brothers, let him ponder it and follow what he judges the wiser course. 3The reason why we have said all should be called for counsel is that the Lord often reveals what is better to the younger. 4The brothers, for their part, are to express their opinions with all humility, and not presume to defend their own views obstinately. 5*The decision is rather the abbot’s to make, so that when he has determined what is more prudent, all may obey. 6Nevertheless, just as it is proper for disciples to obey their master, so it is becoming for the master on his part to settle everything with foresight and fairness.
7Accordingly in every instance, all are to follow the teaching of the rule, and no one shall rashly deviate from it. 8In the monastery no one is to follow his own heart’s desire, 9nor shall anyone presume to contend with his abbot defiantly, or outside the monastery. 10Should anyone presume to do so, let him be subjected to the discipline of the rule. 11*Moreover, the abbot himself must fear God and keep the rule in everything he does; he can be sure beyond any doubt that he will have to give an account of all his judgments to God, the most just of judges.
12*If less important business of the monastery is to be transacted, he shall take counsel with the seniors only, 13as it is written: Do everything with counsel and you will not be sorry afterward (Sir 32:24).
CHAPTER 4. THE TOOLS FOR GOOD WORKS
1 * * First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, 2 and love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27). 3Then the following: You are not to kill, 4not to commit adultery; 5you are not to steal 6nor to covet (Rom 13:9); 7you are not to bear false witness (Matt 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20). 8You must honor everyone (1 Pet 2: 17), 9*and never do to another what you do not want done to yourself (Tob 4:16; Matt 7:12; Luke 6:31).
10*Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ (Matt 16:24; Luke 9:23); 11discipline your body (1 Cor 9:27); 12do not pamper yourself, 13*but love fasting. 14You must relieve the lot of the poor, 15clothe the naked, 16*visit the sick (Matt 25:36), 17*and bury the dead. 18Go to help the troubled 19and console the sorrowing.
20* Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; 21* the love of Christ must come before all else. 22*You are not to act in anger 23 or nurse a grudge. 24Rid your heart of all deceit. 25*Never give a hollow greeting of peace 26*or turn away when someone needs your love. 27Bind yourself to no oath lest it prove false, 28but speak the truth with heart and tongue.
29*Do not repay one bad turn with another (1 Thess 5:15; 1 Pet 3:9). 30*Do not injure anyone, but bear injuries patiently. 31*Love your enemies (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27). 32*If people curse you, do not curse them back but bless them instead. 33Endure persecution for the sake of justice (Matt 5:10).
34 You must not be proud, 35nor be given to wine (Titus 1:7; 1 Tim 3:3). 36Refrain from too much eating 37 or sleeping, 38and from laziness (Rom 12:11). 39Do not grumble 40or speak ill of others.
41 Place your hope in God alone. 42*If you notice something good in yourself, give credit to God, not to yourself, 43but be certain that the evil you commit is always your own and yours to acknowledge.
44 Live in fear of judgment day 45and have a great horror of hell. 46 Yearn for everlasting life with holy desire. 47*Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die. 48Hour by hour keep careful watch over all you do, 49*aware that God’s gaze is upon you, wherever you may be. 50*As soon as wrongful thoughts come into your heart, dash them against Christ and disclose them to your spiritual father. 51 Guard your lips from harmful or deceptive speech. 52 *Prefer moderation in speech 53and speak no foolish chatter, nothing just to provoke laughter; 54* do not love immoderate or boisterous laughter.
55** Listen readily to holy reading, 56 *and devote yourself often to prayer. 57 *Every day with tears and sighs confess your past sins to God in prayer 58and change from these evil ways in the future.
59 Do not gratify the promptings of the flesh (Gal 5:16); 60*hate the urgings of self-will. 61*Obey the orders of the abbot unreservedly, even if his own conduct—which God forbid—be at odds with what he says. Remember the teaching of the Lord: Do what they say, not what they do (Matt 23:3).
62* * Do not aspire to be called holy before you really are, but first be holy that you may more truly be called so. 63*Live by God’s commandments every day; 64treasure chastity, 65*harbor neither hatred 66*nor jealousy of anyone, 67 and do nothing out of envy. 68 Do not love quarreling; 69shun arrogance.
70* * Respect the elders 71and love the young. 72*Pray for your enemies out of love for Christ. 73If you have a dispute with someone, make peace with him before the sun goes down.
74*And finally, never lose hope in God’s mercy.
75* These, then, are the tools of the spiritual craft. 76When we have used them without ceasing day and night and have returned them on judgment day, our wages will be the reward the Lord has promised: 77What the eye has not seen nor the ear heard, God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9).
78The workshop where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community.
CHAPTER 5. OBEDIENCE
1The first step of humility is unhesitating obedience, 2which comes naturally to those who cherish Christ above all. 3Because of the holy service they have professed, or because of dread of hell and for the glory of everlasting life, 4*they carry out the superior’s order as promptly as if the command came from God himself. 5The Lord says of men like this: No sooner did he hear than he obeyed me (Ps 17[18]:45); 6again, he tells teachers: Whoever listens to you, listens to me (Luke 10:16). 7**Such people as these immediately put aside their own concerns, abandon their own will, 8and lay down whatever they have in hand, leaving it unfinished. With the ready step of obedience, they follow the voice of authority in their actions. 9Almost at the same moment, then, as the master gives the instruction the disciple quickly puts it into practice in the fear of God; and both actions together are swiftly completed as one.
10 *It is love that impels them to pursue everlasting life; 11therefore, they are eager to take the narrow road of which the Lord says: Narrow is the road that leads to life (Matt 7:14). 12*They no longer live by their own judgment, giving in to their whims and appetites; rather they walk according to another’s decisions and directions, choosing to live in monasteries and to have an abbot over them. 13*Men of this resolve unquestionably conform to the saying of the Lord: I have come not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me (John 6:38).
14 This very obedience, however, will be acceptable to God and agreeable to men only if compliance with what is commanded is not cringing or sluggish or half-hearted, but free from any grumbling or any reaction of unwillingness. 15 For the obedience shown to superiors is given to God, as he himself said: Whoever listens to you, listens to me (Luke 10:16). 16Furthermore, the disciples’ obedience must be given gladly, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7). 17*If a disciple obeys grudgingly and grumbles, not only aloud but also in his heart, 18then, even though he carries out the order, his action will not be accepted with favor by God, who sees that he is grumbling in his heart. 19 He will have no reward for service of this kind; on the contrary, he will incur punishment for grumbling, unless he changes for the better and makes amends.
CHAPTER 6. RESTRAINT OF SPEECH
1Let us follow the Prophet’s counsel: I said, I have resolved to keep watch over my ways that I may never sin with my tongue. I have put a guard on my mouth. I was silent and was humbled, and I refrained even from good words (Ps 38[39]:2-3). 2Here the Prophet indicates that there are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence. For all the more reason, then, should evil speech be curbed so that punishment for sin may be avoided. 3 *Indeed, so important is silence that permission to speak should seldom be granted even to mature disciples, no matter how good or holy or constructive their talk, 4because it is written: In a flood of words you will not avoid sin (Prov 10:19); 5and elsewhere, The tongue holds the key to life and death (Prov 18:21). 6 *Speaking and teaching are the master’s task; the disciple is to be silent and listen.
7Therefore, any requests to a superior should be made with all humility and respectful submission. 8We absolutely condemn in all places any vulgarity and gossip and talk leading to laughter, and we do not permit a disciple to engage in words of that kind.
CHAPTER 7. HUMILITY
1Brothers, divine Scripture calls to us saying: Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted (Luke 14:11; 18:14). 2In saying this, therefore, it shows us that every exaltation is a kind of pride, 3which the Prophet indicates he has shunned, saying: Lord, my heart is not exalted; my eyes are not lifted up and I have not walked in the ways of the great nor gone after marvels beyond me (Ps 130[131]: 1). 4And why? If I had not a humble spirit, but were exalted instead, then you would treat me like a weaned child on its mother’s lap (Ps 130[131]:2).
5 *Accordingly, brothers, if we want to reach the highest summit of humility, if we desire to attain speedily that exaltation in heaven to which we climb by the humility of this present life, 6 *then by our ascending actions we must set up that ladder on which Jacob in a dream saw angels descending and ascending (Gen 28: 12). 7Without doubt, this descent and ascent can signify only that we descend by exaltation and ascend by humility. 8Now the ladder erected is our life on earth, and if we humble our hearts the Lord will raise it to heaven. 9 *We may call our body and soul the sides of this ladder, into which our divine vocation has fitted the various steps of humility and discipline as we ascend.
10 * *The first step of humility, then, is that a man keeps the fear of God always before his eyes (Ps 35[36]:2) and never forgets it. 11 *He must constantly remember everything God has commanded, keeping in mind that all who despise God will burn in hell for their sins, and all who fear God have everlasting life awaiting them. 12While he guards himself at every moment from sins and vices of thought or tongue, of hand or foot, of self-will or bodily desire, 13 * *let him recall that he is always seen by God in heaven, that his actions everywhere are in God’s sight and are reported by angels at every hour.
14 The Prophet indicates this to us when he shows that our thoughts are always present to God, saying: God searches hearts and minds (Ps 7: 10); 15again he says: The Lord knows the thoughts of men (Ps 93[94]: 11); 16likewise, From afar you know my thoughts (Ps 138[139]:3); 17and, The thought of man shall give you praise (Ps 75[76]: 11). 18That he may take care to avoid sinful thoughts, the virtuous brother must always say to himself: I shall be blameless in his sight if I guard myself from my own wickedness (Ps 17[18]:24).
19Truly, we are forbidden to do our own will, for Scripture tells us: Turn away from your desires (Sir 18:30). 20 *And in the Prayer too we ask God that his will be done in us (Matt 6: 10). 21 *We are rightly taught not to do our own will, since we dread what Scripture says: There are ways which men call right that in the end plunge into the depths of hell (Prov 16:25). 22Moreover, we fear what is said of those who ignore this: They are corrupt and have become depraved in their desires (Ps 13[14]: 1).
23 *As for the desires of the body, we must believe that God is always with us, for All my desires are known to you (Ps 37[38]: 10), as the Prophet tells the Lord. 24 *We must then be on guard against any base desire, because death is stationed near the gateway of pleasure. 25For this reason Scripture warns us, Pursue not your lusts (Sir 18:30).
26 *Accordingly, if the eyes of the Lord are watching the good and the wicked (Prov 15:3), 27if at all times the Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see whether any understand and seek God (Ps 13[14]:2); 28 *and if every day the angels assigned to us report our deeds to the Lord day and night, 29then, brothers, we must be vigilant every hour or, as the Prophet says in the psalm, God may observe us falling at some time into evil and so made worthless (Ps 13[14]:3). 30After sparing us for a while because he is a loving father who waits for us to improve, he may tell us later, This you did, and I said nothing (Ps 49[50]:21).
31 * *The second step of humility is that a man loves not his own will nor takes pleasure in the satisfaction of his desires; 32 *rather he shall imitate by his actions that saying of the Lord: I have come not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me (John 6:38). 33 *Similarly we read, “Consent merits punishment; constraint wins a crown.”
34 *The third step of humility is that a man submits to his superior in all obedience for the love of God, imitating the
Lord of whom the Apostle says: He became obedient even to death (Phil 2:8).
35 *The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, his heart quietly embraces suffering 36and endures it without weakening or seeking escape. For Scripture has it: Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved (Matt 10:22), 37and again, Be brave of heart and rely on the Lord (Ps 26[27]: 14). 38Another passage shows how the faithful must endure everything, even contradiction, for the Lord’s sake, saying in the person of those who suffer, For your sake we are put to death continually; we are regarded as sheep marked for slaughter (Rom 8:36; Ps 43[44]:22). 39They are so confident in their expectation of reward from God that they continue joyfully and say, But in all this we overcome because of him who so greatly loved us (Rom 8:37). 40Elsewhere Scripture says: God, you have tested us, you have tried us as silver is tried by fire; you have led us into a snare, you have placed afflictions on our backs (Ps 65[66]:10-11). 41Then, to show that we ought to be under a superior, it adds: You have placed men over our heads (Ps 65[66]:12).
RB 1980- The Rule Of St Benedict Page 31