The Holy Rule of St. Benedict, The 1949 Edition, Translated by Rev. Boniface Verheyen,
Annotation of text copyright ©2009 David Trumbull for
Agathon Associates
. All Rights Reserved.
Prologue and Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1:
Of the Kinds or the Life of Monks
The Abbot
Chapter 2:
What Kind of Man the Abbot Ought to Be
Chapter 3:
Of Calling the Brethren for Counsel
The Formation of Monks
Chapter 4:
Of Good Works
Chapter 5:
Of Obedience
Chapter 6:
Of Silence
Chapter 7:
Of Humility
The Arrangement of the Daily Office
Chapter 8:
Of the Divine Office during the Night
Chapter 9:
How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office
Chapter 10:
How the Office Is to Be Said during the Summer Season
Chapter 11:
How the Night Office Is to Be Said on Sundays
Chapter 12:
How Lauds Are to Be Said
Chapter 13:
How Lauds Are to Be Said on Week Days
Chapter 14:
How the Night Office Is to Be Said on the Feasts of the Saints
Chapter 15:
At What Times the 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 Sung at These Hours
Chapter 18:
In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said
Chapter 19:
Of the Manner of Reciting the Psalter
Chapter 20:
Of Reverence at Prayer
The Domestic Arrangments of the Abbey and Discipline and Order Within the House
Chapter 21:
Of the Deans of the Monastery
Chapter 22:
How the Monks Are to Sleep
Chapter 23:
Of Excommunication for Faults
Chapter 24:
What the Manner of Excommunication Should Be
Chapter 25:
Of Graver Faults
Chapter 26:
Of Those Who without the Command of the Abbot Associate with the Excommunicated
Chapter 27:
How Concerned the Abbot Should Be about the Excommunicated
Chapter 28:
Of Those Who Having Often Been Corrected Do Not Amend
Chapter 29:
Whether Brethren Who Leave the Monastery Ought to Be Received Again
Chapter 30:
How Young Boys Are to Be Corrected
Chapter 31:
The Kind of Man the Cellarer of the Monastery Ought to Be
Chapter 32:
Of the Tools and Goods 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:
Of the Weekly Servers in the Kitchen
Chapter 36:
Of the Sick Brethren
Chapter 37:
Of the Aged and Children
Chapter 38:
Of the Weekly Reader
Chapter 39:
Of the Quantity of Food
Chapter 40:
Of the Quantity of Drink
Chapter 41:
At What Times the Brethren Should Take Their Refection
Chapter 42:
That No One Speak after Complin
Chapter 43:
Of Those Who Are Tardy in Coming to the Work of God or to Table
Chapter 44:
Of Those Who Are Excommunicated -- How They Make Satisfaction
Chapter 45:
Of Those Who Commit a Fault in the Oratory
Chapter 46:
Of Those Who Fail in Any Other Matters
Chapter 47:
Of Giving the Signal for the Time of the Work of God
Chapter 48:
Of the Daily Work
Chapter 49:
On the Keeping of Lent
Chapter 50:
Of the Brethren Who Work a Long Distance form the Oratory or Are on a Journey
Chapter 51:
Of the Brethren Who Do Not Go Very Far Away
Chapter 52:
Of the Oratory of the Monastery
Chapter 53:
Of the Reception of Guests
Chapter 54:
Whether a Monk Should Receive Letters or Anything Else
Chapter 55:
Of the Clothing and the Footgear of the Brethren
Chapter 56:
Of the Abbot's Table
Chapter 57:
Of the Artists of the Monastery
Chapter 58:
Of the Manner of Admitting Brethren
Chapter 59:
Of the Children of the Noble and of the Poor Who Are Offered
Chapter 60:
Of Priests Who May Wish to Live in the Monastery
Chapter 61:
How Stranger Monks Are to Be Received
Chapter 62:
Of the Priests of the Monastery
Chapter 63:
Of the Order in the Monastery
Chapter 64:
Of the Election of the Abbot
Chapter 65:
Of the Prior of the Monastery
Chapter 66:
Of the Porter of the Monastery
Chapter 67:
Of the Brethren Who Are Sent on a Journey
Chapter 68:
If a Brother is Commanded to Do Impossible Things
Chapter 69:
That in the Monastery No One Presume to Defend Another
Chapter 70:
That No One Presume to Strike Another
Chapter 71:
That the Brethren be Obedient to One Another
Chapter 72:
Of the Virtuous Zeal Which the Monks Ought to Have
Additional Direction
Chapter 73:
Of This, that Not the Whole Observance of Righteousness is Laid Down in this Rule