Guidelines for Christian Monks

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The Rule
Prologue

Prologue

Chapter 1: On the Kinds of Monks
Chapter 2: What Kind of Man the Abbot Ought to Be
Chapter 3: On Calling the Brethren for Counsel
Chapter 4: What Are the Instruments of Good Works
Chapter 5: On Obedience
Chapter 6: On the Spirit of Silence
Chapter 7: On Humility
Chapter 8: On the Divine Office During the Night
Chapter 9: How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office
Chapter 10: How the Night Office Is to Be Said in Summer Time
Chapter 11: How the Night Office Is to Be Said on Sundays
Chapter 12: How the Morning Office Is to Be Said
Chapter 13: How the Morning Office Is to Be Said on Weekdays
Chapter 14: How the Night Office Is to Be Said on the Feasts of the Saints
Chapter 15: At What Times “Alleluia” Is to Be Said

Chapter 16: How the Work of God Is to Be Performed During the Day
Chapter 17: How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at These Hours
Chapter 18: In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said
Chapter 19: On the Manner of Saying the Divine Office
Chapter 20: On Reverence in Prayer
Chapter 21: On the Deans of the Monastery
Chapter 22: How the Monks Are to Sleep
Chapter 23: On Excommunication for Faults
Chapter 24: What the Measure of Excommunication Should Be
Chapter 25: On Weightier Faults
Chapter 26: On Those Who Without an Order Associate With the Excommunicated
Chapter 27: How Solicitous the Abbot Should Be for the Excommunicated
Chapter 28: On Those Who Will Not Amend After Repeated Corrections
Chapter 29: Whether Brethren Who Leave the Monastery Should Be Received Again
Chapter 30: How Boys Are to Be Corrected

Chapter 31: What Kind of Man the Cellarer of the Monastery Should Be
Chapter 32: On the Tools and Property of the Monastery
Chapter 33: Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own
Chapter 34: Whether All Should Receive in Equal Measure What Is Necessary
Chapter 35: On the Weekly Servers in the Kitchen
Chapter 36: On the Sick Brethren
Chapter 37: On Old Men and Children
Chapter 38: On the Weekly Reader
Chapter 39: On the Measure of Food
Chapter 40: On the Measure of Drink
Chapter 41: At What Hours the Meals Should Be Taken
Chapter 42: That No One Speak After Compline
Chapter 43: On Those Who Come Late to the Work of God or to Table
Chapter 44: How the Excommunicated Are to Make Satisfaction
Chapter 45: On Those Who Make Mistakes in the Oratory

Chapter 46: On Those Who Fail in Any Other Matters
Chapter 47: On Giving the Signal for the Time of the Work of God
Chapter 48: On the Daily Manual Labor
Chapter 49: On the Observance of Lent
Chapter 50: On Brethren Who Are Working Far From the Oratory or Are on a Journey
Chapter 51: On Brethren Who Go Not Very Far Away
Chapter 52: On the Oratory of the Monastery
Chapter 53: On the Reception of Guests
Chapter 54: Whether a Monk Should Receive Letters or Anything Else
Chapter 55: On the Clothes and Shoes of the Brethren
Chapter 56: On the Abbot’s Table
Chapter 57: On the Craftsmen of the Monastery
Chapter 58: On the Manner of Receiving Brethren
Chapter 59: On the Sons of Nobles and of the Poor Who Are Offered
Chapter 60: On Priests Who May Wish to Live in the Monastery

Chapter 61: How Pilgrim Monks Are To Be Received
Chapter 62: On the Priests of the Monastery
Chapter 63: On the Order of the Community
Chapter 64: On Constituting an Abbot
Chapter 65: On the Prior of the Monastery
Chapter 66: On the Porters of the Monastery
Chapter 67: On Brethren Who Are Sent on a Journey
Chapter 68: If a Brother Is Commanded to Do Impossible Things
Chapter 69: That the Monks Presume Not to Defend One Another
Chapter 70: That No One Venture to Punish at Random
Chapter 71: That the Brethren Be Obedient to One Another
Chapter 72: On the Good Zeal Which Monks Ought to Have
Chapter 73: On the Fact That the Full Observance of Justice Is Not Established in This Rule

“Listen... with the ear of your heart.”

— Rule of Saint Benedict, Prologue

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Guidelines The Rule Prologue

The Rule of Saint Benedict — for those who seek to listen with the ear of the heart.