St. Benedict's Rule for Monasteries
Read St. Benedict's Rule for Monasteries by Saint Benedict online. Browse the complete text, chapters and notes.
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Table of contents
1. Front matter2. PROLOGUE3. CHAPTER 1 On the Kinds of Monks4. CHAPTER 2 What Kind of Man the Abbot Ought to Be5. CHAPTER 3 On Calling the Brethren for Counsel6. CHAPTER 4 What Are the Instruments of Good Works7. CHAPTER 5 On Obedience8. CHAPTER 6 On the Spirit of Silence9. CHAPTER 7 On Humility10. CHAPTER 8 On the Divine Office During the Night11. CHAPTER 9 How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office12. CHAPTER 10 How the Night Office Is to Be Said in Summer Time13. CHAPTER 11 How the Night Office Is to Be Said on Sundays14. CHAPTER 12 How the Morning Office Is to Be Said15. CHAPTER 13 How the Morning Office Is to Be Said on Weekdays16. CHAPTER 14 How the Night Office Is to Be Said on the Feasts of the Saints17. CHAPTER 15 At What Times “Alleluia” Is to Be Said18. CHAPTER 16 How the Work of God Is to Be Performed During the Day19. CHAPTER 17 How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at These Hours20. CHAPTER 18 In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said21. CHAPTER 19 On the Manner of Saying the Divine Office22. CHAPTER 20 On Reverence in Prayer23. CHAPTER 21 On the Deans of the Monastery24. CHAPTER 22 How the Monks Are to Sleep25. CHAPTER 23 On Excommunication for Faults26. CHAPTER 24 What the Measure of Excommunication Should Be27. CHAPTER 25 On Weightier Faults28. CHAPTER 26 On Those Who Without an Order Associate With the Excommunicated29. CHAPTER 27 How Solicitous the Abbot Should Be for the Excommunicated30. CHAPTER 28 On Those Who Will Not Amend After Repeated Corrections31. CHAPTER 29 Whether Brethren Who Leave the Monastery Should Be Received Again32. CHAPTER 30 How Boys Are to Be Corrected33. CHAPTER 31 What Kind of Man the Cellarer of the Monastery Should Be34. CHAPTER 32 On the Tools and Property of the Monastery35. CHAPTER 33 Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own36. CHAPTER 34 Whether All Should Receive in Equal Measure What Is Necessary37. CHAPTER 35 On the Weekly Servers in the Kitchen38. CHAPTER 36 On the Sick Brethren39. CHAPTER 37 On Old Men and Children40. CHAPTER 38 On the Weekly Reader41. CHAPTER 39 On the Measure of Food42. CHAPTER 40 On the Measure of Drink43. CHAPTER 41 At What Hours the Meals Should Be Taken44. CHAPTER 42 That No One Speak After Compline45. CHAPTER 43 On Those Who Come Late to the Work of God or to Table46. CHAPTER 44 How the Excommunicated Are to Make Satisfaction47. CHAPTER 45 On Those Who Make Mistakes in the Oratory48. CHAPTER 46 On Those Who Fail in Any Other Matters49. CHAPTER 47 On Giving the Signal for the Time of the Work of God50. CHAPTER 48 On the Daily Manual Labor51. CHAPTER 49 On the Observance of Lent52. CHAPTER 50 On Brethren Who Are Working Far From the Oratory or Are on a Journey53. CHAPTER 51 On Brethren Who Go Not Very Far Away54. CHAPTER 52 On the Oratory of the Monastery55. CHAPTER 53 On the Reception of Guests56. CHAPTER 54 Whether a Monk Should Receive Letters or Anything Else57. CHAPTER 55 On the Clothes and Shoes of the Brethren58. CHAPTER 56 On the Abbot’s Table59. CHAPTER 57 On the Craftsmen of the Monastery60. CHAPTER 58 On the Manner of Receiving Brethren61. CHAPTER 59 On the Sons of Nobles and of the Poor Who Are Offered62. CHAPTER 60 On Priests Who May Wish to Live in the Monastery63. CHAPTER 61 How Pilgrim Monks Are To Be Received64. CHAPTER 62 On the Priests of the Monastery65. CHAPTER 63 On the Order of the Community66. CHAPTER 64 On Constituting an Abbot67. CHAPTER 65 On the Prior of the Monastery68. CHAPTER 66 On the Porters of the Monastery69. CHAPTER 67 On Brethren Who Are Sent on a Journey70. CHAPTER 68 If a Brother Is Commanded to Do Impossible Things71. CHAPTER 69 That the Monks Presume Not to Defend One Another72. CHAPTER 70 That No One Venture to Punish at Random73. CHAPTER 71 That the Brethren Be Obedient to One Another74. CHAPTER 72 On the Good Zeal Which Monks Ought to Have75. CHAPTER 73 On the Fact That the Full Observance of Justice Is Not Established in This Rule