The Rule
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St Benedict of Nursia · c. 530
The Rule of St Benedict
Seventy-three short chapters and a prologue —
read whole, or a few minutes a day on the Rule page.
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Prologue
1
On the Kinds of Monks
2
What Kind of Man the Abbot Ought to Be
3
On Calling the Brethren for Counsel
4
What Are the Instruments of Good Works
5
On Obedience
6
On the Spirit of Silence
7
On Humility
8
On the Divine Office During the Night
9
How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office
10
How the Night Office Is to Be Said in Summer Time
11
How the Night Office Is to Be Said on Sundays
12
How the Morning Office Is to Be Said
13
How the Morning Office Is to Be Said on Weekdays
14
How the Night Office Is to Be Said on the Feasts of the Saints
15
At What Times “Alleluia” Is to Be Said
16
How the Work of God Is to Be Performed During the Day
17
How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at These Hours
18
In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said
19
On the Manner of Saying the Divine Office
20
On Reverence in Prayer
21
On the Deans of the Monastery
22
How the Monks Are to Sleep
23
On Excommunication for Faults
24
What the Measure of Excommunication Should Be
25
On Weightier Faults
26
On Those Who Without an Order Associate With the Excommunicated
27
How Solicitous the Abbot Should Be for the Excommunicated
28
On Those Who Will Not Amend After Repeated Corrections
29
Whether Brethren Who Leave the Monastery Should Be Received Again
30
How Boys Are to Be Corrected
31
What Kind of Man the Cellarer of the Monastery Should Be
32
On the Tools and Property of the Monastery
33
Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own
34
Whether All Should Receive in Equal Measure What Is Necessary
35
On the Weekly Servers in the Kitchen
36
On the Sick Brethren
37
On Old Men and Children
38
On the Weekly Reader
39
On the Measure of Food
40
On the Measure of Drink
41
At What Hours the Meals Should Be Taken
42
That No One Speak After Compline
43
On Those Who Come Late to the Work of God or to Table
44
How the Excommunicated Are to Make Satisfaction
45
On Those Who Make Mistakes in the Oratory
46
On Those Who Fail in Any Other Matters
47
On Giving the Signal for the Time of the Work of God
48
On the Daily Manual Labor
49
On the Observance of Lent
50
On Brethren Who Are Working Far From the Oratory or Are on a Journey
51
On Brethren Who Go Not Very Far Away
52
On the Oratory of the Monastery
53
On the Reception of Guests
54
Whether a Monk Should Receive Letters or Anything Else
55
On the Clothes and Shoes of the Brethren
56
On the Abbot’s Table
57
On the Craftsmen of the Monastery
58
On the Manner of Receiving Brethren
59
On the Sons of Nobles and of the Poor Who Are Offered
60
On Priests Who May Wish to Live in the Monastery
61
How Pilgrim Monks Are To Be Received
62
On the Priests of the Monastery
63
On the Order of the Community
64
On Constituting an Abbot
65
On the Prior of the Monastery
66
On the Porters of the Monastery
67
On Brethren Who Are Sent on a Journey
68
If a Brother Is Commanded to Do Impossible Things
69
That the Monks Presume Not to Defend One Another
70
That No One Venture to Punish at Random
71
That the Brethren Be Obedient to One Another
72
On the Good Zeal Which Monks Ought to Have
73
On the Fact That the Full Observance of Justice Is Not Established in
Today
Pray
Listen
Still