The Holy Rule of St. Benedict

About this book

The Rule of St. Benedict — the foundation of Western monasticism

Text from Christian Classics Ethereal Library; in the public domain.

Contents

1. The Holy Rule of St. Benedict
2. Prologue
3. Chapter I. Of the Kinds or the Life of Monks
4. Chapter II. What Kind of Man the Abbot Ought to Be
5. Chapter III. Of Calling the Brethren for Counsel
6. Chapter IV. The Instruments of Good Works
7. Chapter V. Of Obedience
8. Chapter VI. Of Silence
9. Chapter VII. Of Humility
10. Chapter VIII. Of the Divine Office during the Night
11. Chapter IX. How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office
12. Chapter X. How the Office Is to Be Said during the Summer Season
13. Chapter XI. How the Night Office Is to Be Said on Sundays
14. Chapter XII. How Lauds Are to Be Said
15. Chapter XIII. How Lauds Are to Be Said on Week Days
16. Chapter XIV. How the Night Office Is to Be Said on the Feasts of the Saints
17. Chapter XV. At What Times the Alleluia Is to Be Said
18. Chapter XVI. How the Work of God Is to Be Performed during the Day
19. Chapter XVII. How Many Psalms Are to Be Sung at These Hours
20. Chapter XVIII. In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said
21. Chapter XIX. Of the Manner of Reciting the Psalter
22. Chapter XX. Of Reverence at Prayer
23. Chapter XXI. Of the Deans of the Monastery
24. Chapter XXII. How the Monks Are to Sleep
25. Chapter XXIII. Of Excommunication for Faults
26. Chapter XXIV. What the Manner of Excommunication Should Be
27. Chapter XXV. Of Graver Faults
28. Chapter XXVI. Of Those Who without the Command of the Abbot Associate with the Excommunicated
29. Chapter XXVII. How Concerned the Abbot Should Be about the Excommunicated
30. Chapter XXVIII. Of Those Who Having Often Been Corrected Do Not Amend
31. Chapter XXIX. Whether Brethren Who Leave the Monastery Ought to Be Received Again
32. Chapter XXX. How Young Boys Are to Be Corrected
33. Chapter XXXI. The Kind of Man the Cellarer of the Monastery Ought to Be
34. Chapter XXXII. Of the Tools and Goods of the Monastery
35. Chapter XXXIII. Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own
36. Chapter XXXIV. Whether All Should Receive in Equal Measure What Is Necessary
37. Chapter XXXV. Of the Weekly Servers in the Kitchen
38. Chapter XXXVI. Of the Sick Brethren
39. Chapter XXXVII. Of the Aged and Children
40. Chapter XXXVIII. Of the Weekly Reader
41. Chapter XXXIX. Of the Quantity of Food
42. Chapter XL. Of the Quantity of Drink
43. Chapter XLI. At What Times the Brethren Should Take Their Refection
44. Chapter XLII. That No One Speak after Complin
45. Chapter XLIII. Of Those Who Are Tardy in Coming to the Work of God or to Table
46. Chapter XLIV. Of Those Who Are Excommunicated—How They Make Satisfaction
47. Chapter XLV. Of Those Who Commit a Fault in the Oratory
48. Chapter XLVI. Of Those Who Fail in Any Other Matters
49. Chapter XLVII. Of Giving the Signal for the Time of the Work of God
50. Chapter XLVIII. Of the Daily Work
51. Chapter XLIX. On the Keeping of Lent
52. Chapter L. Of Brethren Who Work a Long Distance from the Oratory or Are on a Journey
53. Chapter LI. Of the Brethren Who Do Not Go Very Far Away
54. Chapter LII. Of the Oratory of the Monastery
55. Chapter LIII. Of the Reception of Guests
56. Chapter LIV. Whether a Monk Should Receive Letters or Anything Else
57. Chapter LV. Of the Clothing and the Footgear of the Brethren
58. Chapter LVI. Of the Abbot's Table
59. Chapter LVII. Of the Artists of the Monastery
60. Chapter LVIII. Of the Manner of Admitting Brethren
61. Chapter LIX. Of the Children of the Noble and of the Poor Who Are Offered
62. Chapter LX. Of Priests Who May Wish to Live in the Monastery
63. Chapter LXI. How Stranger Monks Are to Be Received
64. Chapter LXII. Of the Priests of the Monastery
65. Chapter LXIII. Of the Order in the Monastery
66. Chapter LXIV. Of the Election of the Abbot
67. Chapter LXV. Of the Prior of the Monastery
68. Chapter LXVI. Of the Porter of the Monastery
69. Chapter LXVII. Of the Brethren Who Are Sent on a Journey
70. Chapter LXVIII. If a Brother Is Commanded to Do Impossible Things
71. Chapter LXIX. That in the Monastery No One Presume to Defend Another
72. Chapter LXX. That No One Presume to Strike Another
73. Chapter LXXI. That the Brethren Be Obedient to One Another
74. Chapter LXXII. Of the Virtuous Zeal Which the Monks Ought to Have
75. Chapter LXXIII. Of This, that Not the Whole Observance of Righteousness Is Laid Down in this Rule