Apr. 8—Aug. 8—Dec. 8
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Benedict, Saint, Abbot of Monte Cassino and Doyle, Leonard J. (Leonard Joseph)
For bedding let this suffice: a mattress, a blanket, a coverlet and a pillow.
The beds, moreover, are to be examined frequently by the Abbot, to see if any private property be found in them. If anyone should be found to have something that he did not receive from the Abbot, let him undergo the most severe discipline.
And in order that this vice of private ownership may be cut out by the roots, the Abbot should provide all the necessary articles: cowl, tunic, stockings, shoes, girdle, knife, pen, needle, handkerchief, tablets; that all pretext of need may be taken away. Yet the Abbot should always keep in mind the sentence from the Acts of the Apostles that “distribution was made to each according as anyone had need.” In this manner, therefore, let the Abbot consider the weaknesses of the needy and not the ill-will of the envious. But in all his decisions let him think about the retribution of God.