Cap. XLVIII
DE OPERE MANUUM QUOTIDIANO

[Ms P, fol. 130v – Paulus Diaconus –
Ps.-Basil: Ms K¹, fol. 132r; Ms E¹, fol. 147v; Ms E², fol. 224r]

Ch. 48
ON DAILY MANUAL WORK

Translated by: David Ganz

Quia non uno modo omnes ipsa opera agunt, dicit B. Augustinus in libro, qui vocatur de opere monachorum, hoc modo: Aliud est enim, corpore laborare animo libero, sicut opifex potest, si non sit fraudulentus et avarus et privatae rei avidus; aliud autem ipsum animum occupare curis colligendae sine corporis labore pecuniae, sicut sunt vel negotiatores vel procuratores vel conductores; cura enim praesunt [page 477] sunt, non manibus operantur; ideo ipsum animum suum occupant habendi sollicitudine. [Augustine, De opere monachorum, c. 15:16, CSEL 41 p. 557]

Augustine says that everyone does not do the same tasks in the same way in his book which is called Of the Work of Monks: For it is one thing to labor in body, with the mind free, as a craftsman can do, if he is not fraudulent and avaricious and greedy for his own private gain; but it is another thing to occupy the mind itself with cares of collecting money without the body's labor, as do either merchants, or bailiffs, or undertakers, for these conduct their business with care of the mind [page 477] and do not work with their hands, and in that regard occupy their mind itself with anxiety of getting [Augustine, De opere monachorum, c. 15:16, CSEL 41 p. 557].

Sequitur: ₁Otiositas inimica est animae. Rectum ordinem tenuit in hoc loco, cum dixit de sollicitudine horarum, quae significandae sunt, [cf. Regula Benedicti, c. 47] et subjunxit statim de opere manuum quotidiano, in quo diceret, quibus horis deberent monachi laborare vel lectioni vacare, dicendo: Otiositas inimica est animae. Vere otiositas inimica est animae, quia hoc vitio otii male utentes Sodomitae ceciderunt in peccatum detestabile Deo, sicut Dominus dicit ad Jerusalem: Haec fuit iniquitas sororis tuac Sodomae: abundantia panis et otium. [Ez 16:49] Ideo otium, quia terra illa erat nimis fertilis veluti paradisus. Propter nimiam fertilitatem non necesse habentes laborare, ideo vacabant otio; unde factum est, quia, quanto plus erant otio vacantes, tanto magis lapsi sunt in nefandissimum scelus.

Next: ₁Idleness is the enemy of the soul. He kept a proper order in this place when he spoke of concern for the hours -- how they are to be announced [cf. Regula Benedicti, c. 47] -- and immediately adds Concerning daily manual work in which he says at what hours the monks should work or spend time in reading, saying Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Truly idleness is the enemy of the soul, for by badly using this vice of idleness the Sodomites fell into a sin detestable to God, as the Lord said to Jerusalem: This was the sin of your sister Sodom, abundance of bread and of idleness [Ez 16.49]. There was idleness for this reason, because the earth was very fertile like paradise. Because of the very great fertility they did not need to work and so they spent time in idleness, and the result was that the more they spent time in idleness the more they fell into the most shameful crime.

Sequitur: ₁et ideo certis temporibus occupari debent fratres in labore manuum, certis iterum horis in lectione divina, quasi diceret: quia otiositas inimica est animae, [et] propterea, ne otiosi sint fratres, certis temporibus debent praeoecupari in labore manuum, et certis iterum horis in lectione divina. Et scriptura dicit: Omnis otiosus in desideriis est; [cf. Prov. 21:26] et collationes dicunt: Laborantem monachum unus daemon pulsat, otiosum autem mille. [cf. Cassian, Institutiones X, c. 23]  Quia cognovit B. Benedictus, has duas vitas, i. e. activam et contemplativam necessarias esse homini perfecto, ideo illas [B. Benedictus] divisit per tempora et bene primum activam designavit, et postea contemplativam; per exercitationem operis designavit activam vitam, et per vacationem lectionis designavit comtemplativam. Has duas vitas designaverunt illae duae mulieres Jacob, i. e. Lia et Rachel. Jacob enim non accepit, quam voluit, Rachel, sed Liam, et nocte accepit illam. Lia vero erat lippis oculis et foecunda, Rachel formosa aspectu, sed infoecunda. [cf. Gen 29:17-27]  Jacob interpretatur supplantator [cf. Jerome, Liber de Nominibus Hebraicis]; per Jacob intelligitur bonus monachus, per Liam vero, quae lippis erat oculis, sed foecunda, liguratur activa vita [cf. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Hiob VI, c. 37, CCSL 143, p. 329]. Bene per Liam figuratur activa vita, quia activa vita [page 478] etsi non est intenta in contemplatione, tamen filios Deo procreat. Per Rachel pulchram figuratur contemplativa vita; quantum plus proficit in contemplatione, tanto minus procreat Deo filios. Hoc attendendum est, quia, sicut ille voluit accipere Rachel et non accepit, sed Liam, ita et bonus homo non potest prius pervenire ad comtemplationem, nisi excercitatus fuerit in activa vita, et ille ad contemplativam bene veniet, qui recte prius conversatus fuerit in activa vita. [cf. Gregory the Great, Homilia in Ezechielem II, n. 2, c. 10, CCSL 142, p. 231] Et ille monachus, si caute et recte opera manuum exercuerit, quando ad lectionem venerit, aut contemplationem aut lacrimas accipiet. Nequaquam enim poterit ille studiose lectioni vacare, si prius non legitime opera manuum exercuerit. Contemplativa vita est lectio et oratio et psalmodia; activa vita est exercitatio manuum.

Next: ₁And therefore the brothers should have fixed times for manual labour and fixed times for divine reading, as if he were to say: since idleness is the enemy of the soul so that the brothers are not idle they should be occupied at fixed times in manual labour and fixed times for divine reading. And Scripture says: In desires everyone is idle [Prov 21:25]¹ and the Collations say: One demon troubles the monk who is working but a thousand trouble an idle one [cf. Cassian, Institutiones X, c. 23]. Since St Benedict knew that these two lives, that is the active and the contemplative, are necessary for a perfect man, therefore he divided them by times and rightly designated first the active and then the contemplative. He designated the active as keeping busy at (good) work and he designated the contemplative through free time spent in reading. These two ways of life are indicated by the two wives of Jacob, that is, Leah and Rachel. Jacob did not take her whom he wanted, Rachel, but took Leah, and by night. Leah was blear-eyed but fertile, Rachel beautiful in appearance but infertile. [cf. Gen 29 17-27] Jacob is interpreted “the supplantor” [cf. Jerome, Liber De Nominibus Hebraicis]. By Jacob the good monk is understood, but by Leah who was bleary eyed but fertile the active life is represented [cf. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job VI, c. 37, CCSL 143, p. 329]. The active life is represented well by Leah, for the active life, [page 478] even though it is not intent in contemplation, nevertheless produces sons for God. By the beautiful Rachel the contemplative life is represented, for the more it advances in contemplation, the less it procreates sons for God. This is to be noted: as he wanted to receive Rachel but did not receive her but Leah, so the good man is not able first come to contemplation unless he was busy in the active life and he comes to the contemplative life in the correct manner who rightly first was accustomed to an active life [cf. Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Ezechielem II, n. 2, c. 10]. And the monk, if he carefully and rightly performed manual labour, when he comes to reading will either receive contemplation or tears. He cannot spend time in reading studiously if he was not busy before in manual labour. Contemplative life is reading and prayer and psalmody; active life is manual exercise.

Sequitur: ₂Ideoque hac dispositione credimus utraque tempora ordinari, ₃i. e. ut a Pascha usque ad Calendas Octobria a mane exeuntes a prima usque ad horam paene quartam laborent, quod necessarium fuerit. ₄Ab hora autem quarta usque ad horam quasi sextam lectioni vacent. ₅Post sextam autem surgentes a mensa pausent in lectis suis cum omni silentio, aut forte qui voluerit legere, sic legat, ut alium non inquietet. ₆Agatur nona temperius mediante octava hora, et iterum, quod faciendum est, operentur usque ad vesperam. ₇Si autem necessitas loci aut paupertas exegerit, ut ad fruges colligendas per se occupentur, non contristentur, ₈quia tunc vere monachi sunt, si labore manuum suarum vivunt, sicut et patres nostri et apostoli. ₉Omnia tamen mensurate fiant propter pusillanimes. ₁₀A Calendis autem Octobris usque ad caput Quadragesimae usque ad horam secundam plenam lectioni vacent. ₁₁Hora secunda agatur tertia, et usque nonam omnes in opus suum laborent, quod eis injungitur. ₁₂Facto autem primo signo horae nonae disjungant se ab opere singuli et sint parati, dum secundum signum pidsaverit. ₁₃Post refectionem autem vacent lectionibus suis aut psalmis. ₁₄In Quadragesimae vero diebus a mane usque ad tertiam plenam vacent lectionibus suis et usque ad decimam plenam operentur, quod eis injungitur. ₁₅In quibus diebus Quadragesimae accipiant [page 479] omnes singulos codices de bibliotheca, quos per ordinem ex integro legant, ₁₆qui codices in capite Quadragesimac dandi sunt.

Next: ₂So we believe that the times for reading may be arranged as follows: ₃i.e. From Easter until the first of October they will spend their mornings after Prime until about the fourth hour at whatever work needs to be done. ₄From the fourth hour until Sext they will devote themselves to reading. ₅After Sext rising from the table they may rest on their beds in complete silence and if someone wants to read to himself let him do so without disturbing anyone. ₆They should say None midway through the eighth hour and then they are to return to whatever work is necessary until Vespers. ₇If local needs or their poverty should force them to harvest the grain themselves they should not be distressed. ₈For they are really monks when they live by the labor of their hands as our fathers and the apostles did. ₉Yet everything is to be done with moderation on account of the fainthearted. ₁₀From the first of October to the beginning of Lent the brothers ought to devote themselves to reading until the end of the second hour. ₁₁At the second hour Terce is to be said and they should all continue at their assigned tasks until None. ₁₂At the first signal for the hour of None they should put aside their work to be ready for the second signal sound. ₁₃Then after the meal they will devote themselves to reading or to the psalms. ₁₄During the days of Lent they should spend time in reading in the morning until the third hour, after which they should work at their assigned tasks until the end of the tenth hour. ₁₅During the days of Lent everyone is to receive [page 479] a book from the library, which they should read the completely straight through. ₁₆These books are to be given out at the beginning of Lent.

Si enim diligentius hoc capitulum attenderimus, magna pars regulae in eo contineri invenitur, quia si diligenter et studiose monachus hoc capitulum observaverit, i. e. si nunquam sine obedientia extiterit usque ad lectionem et caetera, sicuti in hoc capitulo dicitur, exercuerit, de magnis periculis liberabitur, i. e. de murmuratione, de ira, de detractione, de otio, de verbositatibus, de fabulis, et quae ad rem non pertinent neque ad utilitatem, et de caeteris malis, eo quod diabolus non poterit eum tentare, si ita viderit cimi intentum, sicut dicitur: Otiosum monachum mille daemones tentant et reliq. [cf. Cassian, Institutiones, X c. 23] unde intelligendum est, quia ibi bonum non erit, ubi hoc capitulum diligentius non fuerit observatum.

If we attend carefully to this chapter it is found to contain a great part of the rule, for if a monk carefully and studiously observes this chapter, that is, if he is never without obedience until reading and the rest as it is said in this chapter, he will be freed from great dangers, that is, from grumbling, from anger, from detraction, from idleness, from verbosity, from idle tales and from what is not helpful or useful, and from other evils, so that the devil cannot tempt him, if he sees him intent, as it is said: A thousand demons tempt an idle monk and so on, [cf. Cassian, Institutiones X, c. 23] from which we may understand there is no good where this chapter is not carefully observed.

Nunc vero quasi interrogasset aliquis S. Benedictum dicens: 'B. Benedicte, tu jussisti laborare et legere; quid faciendum est, si necessitas est ad fruges ire? quid facere debemus?' llle vero quasi respondens dicit: 'Si autem necessitas loci aut paupertas exegerit, ut ad fruges colligendas per se occupentur, non contristentur.' Istud ut causalis est, non similitudinis [cf. Priscian, Partitiones, Keil III 512], et intelligitur propter fruges, quasi diceret: si necessitas est propter fruges colligendas, non debent lectioni vacare nec dormire, sed laborare, et dat consolationem, cum subdit: non contristentur, quia tunc vere monachi sunt, si labore manuum suarum vivunt. Et hoc sciendum est, quia per hoc, quod dicit ad fruges, intelligenda est etiam alia necessitas, quae nimis incumbit, quae differri non potest nec exspectari, sicut est domum fabricare, quia non est, ubi dormiant, molendinum facere, quia non est, ubi molatur, sive et ligna incidere. Istud enim vere, quod dicitur, non intelligitur ob hoc vere, ut illi, qui lectioni vacent, non sint veri monachi, sed intelligendum est, quia pro consolatione hoc dixit; verbi gratia quia cognovit B. Benedictus, esse ditiora monasteria et pauperiora, ideo [enim] monachis in illis monasteriis, quae sunt ditiora et possunt esse intenti studio spirituali, dicit, lectioni vacare et operari per horam; qui si semper lectioni vacarent, [page 480] fastidium haberent et non potuissent ob hoc forte implere; si autem dixisset semper laborare absque necessitate, non fuisset bonum sine studio spirituali. Istis enim¹ monachis, quia pauperiores sunt, considerans eorum necessitatem dixit, dimittere lectionem et laborare; sed ne isti desperarent se videntes, alios studio spirituali vacare, ideo ad consolationem praebendam dixit: tunc vere sunt monachi et reliq.

Now if someone we to ask St Benedict saying, “Blessed Benedict, you ordered us to read and to work; what is to be done if we need to go to the harvest? What should we do?” And as if answering he says If local needs or their poverty should force them to harvest the grain themselves, they should not be distressed. This ut is causal and not comparative, [cf. Priscian, Partitiones, Keil III 512] and it is to be understood because of the grain, as if he said if there is a need for collecting grain they should not devote themselves to reading nor sleep but work and he gives consolation when he adds they should not be distressed, for they are truly monks when they live by the labor of their hands. And you should know that in what he says about grain any other need is to be understood which is very urgent, which cannot be put off or waited for, for example to build a house if there is nowhere to sleep, or to build a mill if there is nowhere to grind corn, or to fell wood. The truly which he says should not be understood as if those who devote themselves to reading are not true monks, but it is to be understood that he said this as a consolation, for St Benedict knew that there are wealthier monasteries and poorer ones, and so the monks in those monasteries which are richer can be intent on spiritual studies and, he says, devote themselves to reading for an hour, for if they always devoted themselves to reading [page 480] they would be tired and could not complete, but if he were to say always work without need it would not be good without spiritual study. He said for those monks who are poorer, considering their need, they should be free from reading and work, but so that they do not despair seeing others spending time in spiritual study he said, offering consolation, then they are truly monks and so on.

Et dedit exemplum pro majori consolatione dicens sicut patres nostri et apostoli, ac si diceret illis: nolite vos contristari, si illos, qui ditiores sunt, videritis studio spiritali vacare, quia vos tunc vere cognoscitis esse monachos, si operibus manuum vestrarum vivitis, sicut apostoli et reliq. Quod autem dicit sicut patres nostri et apostoli, aut patres dicit Paulum, Antonium, Hilarionem etc.; deinde ascendendo dicit apostolos; aut dicit patres nostros Abraham, Isaac et Jacob et reliquos, et post apostolos; sed superior sensus est melior. Quod autem dicit pausent in lectis suis cum omni silentio, tale silentium jubet esse in meridie, quale et in nocte; quia, sicut in nocte dixit maxime nocturnis horis, [Regula Benedicti, c. 42:1] ita et hic dicit cum omni silentio, quod unum significat; et sicut in nocte non debent quidquam agere fratres, ita etiam in meridie, et hoc silentium incipere debet a tertia. Quod autem dicit a Calendis autem Octobris etc. et usque ad horam secundam plenam lectioni vacent, sciendum est, quia illo die, in quo Calendae sunt, jejunare debent usque ad nonam et ita lectioni vacare, sicut supra jam diximus. Quod dicit hora secunda agatur tertia, subaudiendum est: transacta, hoc est, cum incipitur tertia, tunc canenda est tertia; nam rectitudo est, ut completa tertia canatur tertia, quia completa hora debet cani tertia sive sexta sive nona; ad undecimam canendum est vesperum vel decimam, juxta quod potest, ut cum luce tantum agant omnia, sicut ipse definivit. Vacare est enim aliam rem relinquere et aliis insistere rebus, sicuti in hoc loco relicta exercitatione manuum jubet insistere lectioni. Illud enim, [page 481] quod dixit in Quadragesima usque ad decimam plenam operentur, ideo plenam dicit, quia tunc in suo monasterio non canebatur missa; nunc autem, quia missa canitur, non possunt fratres usque ad plenam decimam operari et missam cantare et cum luce omnia agere, sed considerare debet abbas, ut usque ad illud tempus laborent, quatenus missam et vesperam et manducare et omnia cum luce agere possint. Ergo ob hoc non debet esse plena decima, sed incipiente decima canere debent nonam; deinde nona cantata statim canenda est missa. Deinde parvo intervallo facto canenda est vespera.

And he gives an example for greater consolation saying as our fathers and the apostles did, as if he were saying to them: do not be sad if you see those who are richer devote themselves to spiritual study, because you know that you are truly monks if you live by manual work like the apostles. What he says -- as our fathers and the apostles did -- either means fathers such as Paul, Anthony, Hilarion and so on, and then ascending he says apostles, or he says our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the rest and afterwards the apostles, but the former meaning is better. When he says they should rest on their beds in complete silence he orders that there should be the same silence in the day as at night for just as at night he says especially in the night hours [Regula Benedicti, c. 42:1] so here he says in complete silence which means the same and just as at night the brothers should not do anything, so during the day and that silence should begin at Terce. When he says From the first of October to the beginning of Lent the brothers ought to devote themselves to reading until the end of the second hour it should be known that on the day which is the first they should fast until None and devote themselves to reading as we have already said above. What he says at the second hour Terce starts, you must understand at the end of it, that is, when the third hour starts you are to sing Terce; for properly when the third hour is finished you sing Terce or Sext or None. At the eleventh hour you should sing Vespers or at the tenth hour, as possible, so that everything is done during daylight as he determined. Vacare means to leave one thing and concentrate on other things, here he orders that having given up manual labour they should press on with reading. When he says [page 481] in Lent they will work until the end of the tenth hour, he says the end because then in his monastery mass was not sung but now, because mass is sung, the brothers cannot work until the end of the tenth hour and sing mass and do everything during daylight, but the abbot should consider that they should work until that time when they can sing mass and Vespers and eat and do everything by daylight. So for that reason they should sing None at the beginning and not at the end of the tenth hour, and when they have sung None they should immediately start singing the Mass. And then after a short space they should sing Vespers.

Quod autem dicit: qui codices in capite Quadragesimae dandi sunt, non dicit, ut post, si necesse fuerit accipere fratrem, non accipiat, quasi diceret, si necessitas fuerit, accipiat post; si autem non acceperit ante, tamen in Quadragesimae capite dandi sunt libri; quos per ordinem ex integro legant, quia debent intelligere, quod legant. Isto enim modo debet fieri, i. e. debet ille, qui librum recipit et dat, interrogare fratrem de illo libro. Deinde si potest inde aliquid rationem mittere, tunc recipiat, si autem non potest, tunc non debent recipi libri, sed iterum habeant illos. Dicendum est nunc, qualiter et cum quanta moderatione atque silentio monachi lectioni vacare debent.

What he says -- how the books are to be given out at the start of Lent how the books are to be given out at the start of Lent -- he doesn’t say as later, if it was necessary to receive a brother he should not receive, as though he were to say that if there was a need he should receive after, but if he did not receive before then at the start of Lent the books are to be given out which they should read completely from beginning to end, for they should understand what they read. This is how it should be done, that is, the person who receives and gives the book should ask the brother about that book. Next, if he can give some account, then he may receive it, but if he cannot then they should not receive [new] books but have those again. Now we must explain how and with what restraint and silence the monks should devote time to reading.

De hac re hoc, quod B. Benedictus dicit breviter: neque frater ad fratrem jungatur horis incompetentibus, et iterum: videant, ne forte inveniatur frater otiosus, qui vacat otio aut fabulis et non est intentus lectioni, B. Basilius latius docet dicens: Cum lectioni vacatur, oportet eos sequestratos legere et ne in unum redacti omnis congregatio suis sibi vocibus obstrepent; infantes vero in tabulis meditentur. Tempore orationum vel psalmorum non oportet aliquem loqui in domo praeter eos, qui ministerii sollicitudinem gerunt, vel eos, quibus disciplinae cura commissa est vel dispensationis operum, qui et ipsi tamen considerantius agere debent, ut quantum necessitas exigit, hoc solum loquantur, et hoc ipsum cum quiete et honestate, ne interturbent aut offendiculum faciant ceteris. Cunctos reliquos silentium habere convenit. Si enim prophetis in ecclesia dicentibus apostolus [page 482] dicit, quia, si sedenti revelatum fuerit, prior taceat [c. 1 Cor 14:30], quanto magis in tempore psalmorum et orationum tacere et silentium agere cunctis convenit, nisi quem forte, ut superius diximus, communis providentiae causa aliquid proloqui cogit. [Regula Basilii, c. 137, CSEL 86, pp. 166-167]

About this matter that blessed Benedict mentions briefly – nor should a brother associate with one another at inappropriate times and again they should see that no brother is so idle as to waste his time in idleness or chatter and is not intent on his reading, Saint Basil teaches in more detail, saying, “When they spend time in reading they should read separated lest assembled together they disturb one another by their voices; the children should study their writing tablets. At the time of prayers or psalms no one should speak in the house except those who carry out the charge of ministry or those who are entrusted with the care of discipline or the organization of tasks and they should act more considerately so that only when it is necessary should they speak and do so quietly and correctly lest they disturb or cause offence to the others. It is right that all the others keep silence. If the Apostle says that when the prophets were speaking in church [page 482] if a revelation was made to someone sitting, let the first be silent, [cf. I Cor 14:30] how much more at the time of psalms and prayers it is fitting that everyone should be silent unless for the sake of common providence something needs to be said” [Regula Basili, c. 137].

Codex multorum librorum, ut Isidorus dicit, est liber unius voluminis; et dictus “codex” per translationem a caudicibus arborum sive vitium, quasi “caudex”, quod in se multudinem librorum quasi ramorum contineat. [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae VI, c. 13.1] Capitulum est, quod vulgo capitulare dicunt, idem et cappa, vel quod duos apices ut cappa litera habeat, vel quia capitis ornamentum est. [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XIX, c. 31. 3]. Bibliotheca est locus, ubi reponuntur libri; βίβλος enim graece liber, δηχη repositorium dicitur. [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XV. c. 5.5-6] Theca dicitur ab eo, quod aliquid receptum tegat; c litera pro g posita. Alii graeco nomine thecam vocari asserunt, quod ibi aliquid reponatur; inde et 'bibliotheca' librorum repositio dicitur. [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XVIII, c. 9.3] Item versus: Hieronyme interpres variis doctissime linguis! Te Bethlehem celebrat, te tolus personal orbis, Te quoque nostra tuis promit bibliotheca orbis. [Carmina S. Isidoro ascripta, v. 6, CCSL 113A/PL 83, col. 1109A-B] Sciendum est, quia isti tres versus non sunt per elegiacum metrum compositi, sed tantum per heroicum carmen.

A codex is composed of many books, as Isidore says, [but] a book of one roll, and a codex is so called by metaphor from the trunks of trees or vines, as if it were a caudex, a wooden stock, because it contains in itself a multitude of books as of branches [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae VI, c. 13]. Capitulum, a hood, is commonly called a capitulare and also a cappa, either because it has two points like the letter kappa or because it is an ornament for the head [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XIX, c. 31.3]. The bibliotheca is a place where books are deposited, for biblos in Greek means book and theke means repository [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XV. c. 5.5-6]. Theca is so named because it covers what is put in it, with the letter c put for g. Others claim that theca is a Greek word because something is stored there, so a storage place for books is called bibliotheca, a library [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XVIII, c. 9.3]. And in the verses ‘Jerome, translator, most learned in several languages! Bethlehem praises you, the whole world resounds with your name. Our library also celebrates you though your books. [Carmina S. Isidoro ascripta, v. 6, CCSL 113A/PL 83, col. 1109A-B] Know that these three verses are not composed in elegiac metre but in heroic metre [dactylic hexameter].

Sequitur: ₁₇Ante omnia sane deputetur unus aut duo seniores, qui circumeant monasterium horis, quibus vacant frutres lectioni, ₁₈et videant, ne forte inveniatur frater acidiosus, qui vacat otio aut fabulis et non est intentus lectioni et non solum sibi inutilis est, sed etiam alios extollit. ₁₉Hic talis si repertus fuerit, quod absit, corripiatur semel et secundo; ₂₀si non emendaverit, correptioni regulari subjaceat taliter, ut ceteri timeant. ₂₁Neque frater ad fratrem jungutur horis incompetentibus. Quod autem dicit ante omnia sane deputetur unus aut duo seniores et reliq., non dicit, ut, antequam praepositus aut decanus et ceteri ministri, ordinentur, sed ob hoc dicit ante,² quasi diceret, ut nullo modo dimittat [page 483] abbas, ut istos non ordinet. Istos seniores non dicit de aetate, sed de sensu. Isti seniores debent esse valde boni, quia per istos ordo monachorum consistit. Ideo dixit seniores, ut sciant, qualiter vel quando arguere debeant. Isti seniores potestatem debent habere corrigendi decanos et praepositos, etiam ipsum abbatem, quamquam non omnes uno modo, subjectos admonendo, rogando atque increpando, aequales admonendo et rogando, priores rogando. Fratres, cum lectioni vacant, isto modo debent vacare: illi, qui sunt sub custodia, debeut insimul legere cum magistris suis; ceteri vero in claustra, non singillatim per cubicula, aut in dormitorio, sed, sicut dixi, in claustra, et non conjunctim, ut, si vult, contemplationem vel lacrimas possit habere; nam si insimul legerint, non possunt compunctionem vel lacrimas habere. Neque frater ad fratrem jungatur horis incompetentibus, i. e. ineptis. Istae sunt horae incompetentes, in quibus vacent lectioni fratres et tempore suo. In bis enim horis non debet frater ad fratrem jungere nec loqui. Sed si necessitas fuerit, debet ille abbas constituere fratrem sapientem in tali loco, ut impedimentum non sit aliis legentibus; postea, qui necesse habet, debet ante illum suam lectionem recitare et legere. Potest etiam, si necessitas est, cellararius loqui in horis, quibus vacant fratres lectioni. Istis horis incompetentibus potest etiam intelligere in illo tempore, quando fratres laborant, i. e. non debet frater dimittere suam obedientiam et ire loqui cum alio; si vero necessitas fuerit, potest ire. Sunt, qui intelligunt etiam, cum omnes fratres insimul laborant, ut non debeat cum altero fratre loqui in ipsa obedientia, ubi insimul laborant; sed iste sensus non potest perfecte stare, eo quod regula dicit si qua requirenda sunt a priore et reliq. Deinde debet alter alterum fraterna caritate corrigere. Et hoc notandum est, quia non solum decanus aut praepositus vel circator debet corrigere, sed etiam junior debet corrigere priorem suum, si negligentem illum viderit. Forte dicit aliquis: 'quare junior priorem suum debet corrigere, cum non est rectum?' Cui respondendum est: quamquam [page 484] junior videatur esse, tamen senior est in illa hora illo, eo quod melius facit ille quam suus senior faciat. Et hoc etiam notandum est, quia ita iste junior secrete debet corrigere suum priorem duabus vel tribus vicibus, secrete sic, ut decano et abbati, si opus fuerit, possit nuntiare.

Next: ₁₇Above all one or two seniors must be deputed to make the rounds of the monastery while the brothers are reading ₁₈and they should see that no brother is so slothful as to waste his time or engage in idle talk and is not intent on his reading and so not only harms himself but distracts others. ₁₉If such a monk is found, which God forbid, he should be reproved a first and a second time. ₂₀If he does not amend he must be subjected to the punishment of the Rule as a warning to others. ₂₁And brothers are not to associate with one another at inappropriate times. What he says -- Above all one or two seniors must be deputed etc. -- does not say they are to be appointed before the prior or the dean or the other officers, but he says it first for this reason, as if he were to say [page 483] that the abbot should not be allowed not to appoint them. He called them seniors not in age but in mind. These seniors should be especially good, since the order of monks consists in them. He calls them seniors who know know how or when they should use argument. These older monks have the power to correct deans and priors and even the abbot himself, although they should not correct everyone in the same way, admonishing, asking, and rebuking those subject to them: equals by admonishing and asking, superiors by asking.² Brothers, when they spend time in reading, should do so thus: those who are under guardianship should read together with their masters, but cloister monks not singly on their beds or in the dormitory, but, as I said, in the cloister, and not in a group so that if someone wants, he may contemplate or weep. For if they read together, they cannot contemplate or weep. And brothers are not to associate with one another at inappropriate times, that is, unsuitable ones. Inappropriate times are those in which brothers spend time in reading and on their own time. At neither time should a brother join with or speak to another. But if there is a need the abbot should appoint a wise brother in such a place that he is not a hindrance to others reading but afterwards if there is need he should recite his reading and read to him. And if it is necessary the cellarer may speak during those hours when the brothers are engaged in reading. These inappropriate times can be understood³ as that time when the brothers are at work; that is, a brother should not set aside his obedience and go to speak with another. But if there is a need, he can go. There are some who even understand that when all brothers are working together, one brother should not speak to another while performing that obedience where they are working together. But this sense cannot be completely right, because the Rule says If anything is asked by the prior and so on [Regula Benedicti, ch. 6.7]. Finally, one brother must correct another in fraternal love. And this should be noted, that not only the dean or the prior or the overseer should correct, but a junior may even correct his prior if he sees he is negligent. Perhaps someone will say, “Why should a junior correct his prior, since it is not right?” It should be replied to him that although he seems to be junior, yet he is senior to the other at that moment, because he does better than his senior. And this also is to be noted: this junior should correct his prior two or three times in secret, secretly in this way, so that he can tell the dean or the abbot if need be.

Sequitur: ₂₂Dominica die lectioni vacent omnes, exceptis his, qui variis officiis deputati sunt; hoc est, quibus obedientiae commissae sunt. Et sciendum est, quia sicut dicit die dominico exceptis his, qui variis officiis deputati sunt, ita intelligendum est etiam in omnibus diebus, cum dicit, vacare lectioni, exceptis his, qui variis officiis deputati sunt, h. e. qui talem obedientiam habent commissam, quae exspectari non potest; tunc etiam horis, quibus alii vacant lectioni, ille debet suam obedientiam peragere, quia obedientia fortissima atque praeclara arma est [cf. Regula Benedicti, prol.3], sicut superius dixit. Si autem scribere necessitas magna est, etiam scribere potest, sed videre debet, ne hunc ordinem temporum confundat. Acidiosus enim dicitur otiosus. Quod autem dicit qui vacat otio aut fabulis, potest quis vacare otio et non fabulis, cum ita est, ut nil agat, nec fabulas loquitur. Hoc vero quod dicit non solum sibi inutilis est, sed etiam alios extollit, videndum est, quod sit istud extollit. Istud enim extollit intelligitur: jactantiae occasionem tribuit, quasi diceret: non solum se dejicit, sed etiam aliis tribuit occasionem jactandi. Verbi gratia est talis frater, qui intentus est lectioni; deinde alter est, qui non est intentus lectioni. Iste, qui legit, cum alios videt, non esse intentos lectioni, elevatur in mente dicens: 'Ego lego, iste autem, qui non legit, pejor est, quam ego.'

Next: ₂₂On Sunday all are to be engaged in reading except those who have been assigned various duties, that is, to whom obediences have been assigned. And this should be known: when he says on Sunday except for those who have been assigned various duties it is to be understood as on all days when he says devote themselves to reading except for those who have been assigned various duties, that is, those who have the sort of obedience assigned to that they cannot expect. Then in the hours when others devote themselves to reading he should carry out his obedience for obedience is obedience is the strongest and noblest weapon [cf. Regula Benedicti, prol.3], as he said above. If there is a great need to write then he may write, but he should see that this does not disturb the order of time. Apathetic means idle. What he says -- who wastes time or engaged in idle talk – [means] someone can waste time and not engage in idle talk when he does nothing and does not talk idly. What he says -- he does not only harm himself but is harmful to others – begs the question of what this harming. This harming is to be understood as offering an occasion for boasting, as if he said that not only does he abase himself, but he also gives others an occasion for boasting. For example, there is one brother who is intent on reading and there is another who is not intent on reading. He who reads when he sees that others are not intent on reading is raised up in his mind saying: “I am reading but he who is not reading is worse than I.”

De hoc verbo, quod est extollit, B. Augustinus docet in Ps. 72 [Ps 71:7] hoc modo dicens: et abundantia pacis, donec tollatur luna. Id quod dictum est tollatur, alii interpretati sunt auferatur, alii vero extollatur, unum verbum graecum, sicut unicuique visum est, transferentes, quod ibi positum est άντανιρεθή. Sed qui dixerunt tollatur, et qui dixerunt auferatur, non usque adeo [page 485] dissonant; tollatur enim magis habet consuetudo ita dici ut auferatur et non sit, quam ita, ut alius elevetur; auferatur vero prorsus aliter intelligi non potest, nisi ut perdatur, hoc est, ut non sit; extollatur autem nihil nisi ut alius elevetur. Quod quidem cum in malo ponitur, superbiam solet: significare, sicuti est: In tua sapientia non extolli [Sir 32:6]; in bono aut ad honorem pertinet ampliorem, vel cum aliquid elevatur, sicuti est: In noctibus extollite manus vestras ad sancta et benedicite Dominum [Ps 133:2]. [Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos 71, c. 10, CCSL 39, p. 979].

About the word extollit Augustine teaches on Psalm 72 [Ps 71:7]: “Abundance of peace, until the moon be taken away.” The expression “tollatur” some have interpreted by “be taken away,” but others by “be exalted,” translating one Greek word, as each group sees it, which is there used, good. But they who have said, “be removed,” and they who have said, “be taken away,” do not so very much [page 485] differ. For by the expression, “be removed,” custom has it that it should rather be implied that a thing is taken away and is no more, than that it is raised to a higher place. But “be taken away” can be understood in no other way at all than that a thing is destroyed: that is, it is no more: but by “be exalted,” only that it is raised to a higher place. Which indeed when it is put in a pejorative sense is accustomed to mean pride, as in the passage, “In your wisdom be not exalted” [Sir 32:6]. But in a good sense it belongs to a fuller honor as, for instance, when anything is being raised, as in, “In the nights exalt your hands unto holy places, and bless the Lord.” [Ps 133:2] [Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos 71, c. 10]

Istud vero, quod dicit: regulari correptioni subjaceat taliter, ut ceteri metum habeant - ac si diceret: quaudo correptione publica corripitur frater, graviter debet illum corripere, i. e. si plus in hac negligentia inventus fuerit, graviter tunc debet correptus ire taliter, ut etiam alii timeant. Hoc notandum est, cum quali silentio legunt fratres mane, cum tali etiam debent legere post nonam, cum dicit: post refectionem vero vacent lectionibus suis aut psalmis.

What he says -- He must be subjected to the punishment of the rule as a warning to others – is as if he were to say that when a brother is corrected in a public correction he should be corrected more severely, that is if more negligence is found in him then he should be corrected more severely so that even the others are afraid. And this should be noted that the brothers should read after None in the same silence as in the morning, when he says after their meal they will devote themselves to reading or to psalms.

Sequitur: ₂₃Si quis vero ita negligens et desidiosus fuerit, ut non velit aut non possit meditari aut legere, injungatur ei opus, quod faciat, ut non vacet. Negligens et desidiosus unum significat. Negligens attinet ad opus, quod non agit studiose, desidiosus vero attinet ad id, quod vitam suam negligit, sed tamen unum significant. Desidiosus enim, ut Isidorus dicit, dicitur tardus, piger, a desidendo vocatus, hoc est, valde sedendo (idem et reses a residendo); 'de' enim hic augentis adverbium est. [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae X, c. 77]

Next ₂₃If anyone is so remiss and indolent that he is unwilling or unable to study or to read, he is to be given some work so that he may not be idle. Remiss and indolent mean the same thing. Remiss refers to work he does not do carefully, indolent refers to the fact that he neglects his life, but they mean the same thing. Desidiosus [idle], as Isidore says, means indolent, sluggish, lazy, so called from settling down [desidiendo], that is from sitting too much (as reses comes from remain seated [residiendo],) for de here is an augmentative adverb. [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae X, c. 77]

Notandum est autem, ut iste, qui non velit legere, prius debet duci per sex gradus, quia superius dicit regula: si inventus est acidiosus, admoneatur semel et iterum, deinde corripiatur publice taliter, ut ceteri timeant. Post vero cum ductus fuerit per sex gradus, cum debet jaetari, non jactetur, sed injungatur ei opus vel ars. Sciendum est, quia omnis ars opus est, non omne opus ars. Ars est, quam non operatur nisi magister, opus est sine [page 486] arte, veluti fabam mundare aut granum et reliq. Iste antem, qui non velit legere, postquam ductus fuerit per sex gradus, tunc debet illi iujungi opus vel ars, ut operetur; ille autem, qui non potest legere, intelligunt multi secundum intentionem S. Benedicti, ut injungatur ei oratio. Si autem dixerit ille frater: 'quia nolo me circumvenire, non possum legere, jube mihi, ut faciam opus, tunc injungatur illi opus.' Alii sunt, qui intelligunt dicentes: non oratio debet illi injungi, sed solummodo opus; sed superior sensus est melior, quo dicunt orare. Quod autem dicit meditari, i. e. cogitare vel orare.

You should note that he who does not want to read should be led through the six steps⁴ for the Rule says earlier if he is found slothful he should be reproved a first and second time and then he should be publically corrected so that the others are afraid. Afterwards when he has been lead through the six steps, when he should rejoice and not be cast down, but he should be given a task or an art. You should know that every art is a task but not every task is an art. An art is not done without a master; a task without art [page 486] is one such as cleaning a bean or a seed and so on. He who does not want to read after he has been taken through the six grades should be charged with a task or an art so that it be done, but he who does not know how to read many understand according to the intention of St Benedict that he is to be charged with prayer. But if that brother says, “Because I do not want to be oppressed, I cannot read; order me that I do a task” then he should be charged with a task. There are others who understand it saying that he should not be charged with prayer, but only with work. But the former interpretation, in which they say pray, is better, for he says to reflect, that is to think or to pray.

Sequitur: ₂₄Fratribus infirmis aut delicatis talis opera aut ars injungatur, ut nec otiosi sint, nec violentia laboris opprimantur, ut effugentur, quorum imbecillitas ab abbate consideranda est. Fratres infirmi sunt clodi nec non senes, quorum senectus ipsa infirmitas est, et dicuntur infirmi, qui infirmitate illa, quam habent, moriuntur, veluti sunt clodi. Delicati sunt illi, qui de nobili genere sunt orti et non sunt ita nutriti, ut illa opera facere possint, quae alii laciunt, veluti illi, qui per naturam, eo quod de potentibus sunt nati et ob hoc non fuerunt docti, talem artem facere, et ideo non possunt operari. Similiter et de pauperioribus hominibus delicati possunt esse, qui vel nutriti sunt secundum delicias saeculi vel etiam parentes sui noluerunt illos artem insinuare propter nimiam dulcedinem, quam habuerunt erga illos. Delicatus namque, ut Isidorus dicit, dicitur, quod sit delictis pastus, vivens in epulis et nitore corporis. [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae X, c. 70]

Next ₂₄Brothers who are sick or weak should be given a type of work or art so they are not idle nor oppressed by the effort of work or driven away. Their weakness should be taken into account by the abbot. Weak brothers are either crippled or old, whose old age is their weakness and they are called weak because they die of that weakness which they have, or they are crippled. The weak are those who come from a noble family and are not brought up so that they can do those tasks which others do or those who by nature, because they are born to powerful men and for that reason were not taught to do that kind of task and so cannot work. But there can be weak poor men who have either been brought up according to the pleasures of the world or whose parents did not want to teach then an art because of the excessive love which they had for them. Delicatus [weak], as Isidore says, because one is fed on sins [delictis], living in feasts and daintiness of body [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae X, c. 70].

Istud enim, quod dicit: injungatur ei ars vel opera, ut nec otiosi sint, nec violentia laboris opprimantur, ut effugentur - ars est, si sapit cantare, doceat alium cantum, vel etiam si scit grammaticam, tradat aliis, aut alias artes, quae sunt utiles in monasterio, si sapit, doceat alios. Dicta autem est ars ab artando, eo quod artat hominem in scientiae re uniuscujusque artis. Opera vero attinet ad legumen mundare³ [page 487] aut refectorium scopare aut olera mundare et reliq. Vide quia cognovit S. Benedictus, inimicum esse otiositatem, ideo etiam infirmos dixit operari et non solum aliis diebus, sed etiam dominico die jubet operari, si legere non potest quilibet, ut non vacet, cum omnes christiani die dominico quiescunt ab opere. Quasi interrogasset S. Benedictum dicens: 'Quare ita dicis, ut etiam infirmus sine labore non sit, etiam in die dominico?' ille [vero] quasi respondens dicit: Quia otiositas inimica est animae, et collationes dicunt: Laborantem monachum unus daemon pulsat, otiosum autem mille. [cf. Cassian, Institutiones X, c. 23]

He says this: He should be given a type of work or art so they are not idle nor oppressed by the effort of work or driven away. Art is if he knows how to sing, he should teach someone else a chant, or if he knows grammar he should teach others, or if he knows other arts which are useful in the monastery, he should teach them to others. Art is so called from compressing [artando] because it compresses someone into knowing the matter of each art. Works pertain to cleaning beans [page 487] or sweeping the refectory or washing vegetables and so on. See that St Benedict knew that idleness was an enemy and so he said even the sick should work and not only on other days but even on Sunday he ordered someone to work if he could not read so that he was not idle, since all Christians rest from work on Sundays. It is as though someone had asked St Benedict saying, “Why do you say this as a sick man should not be without work, even on Sunday?” and he as if replying said Because idleness is the enemy of the soul and the Collations say One demon strikes a working monk but a thousand an idle one. [cf. Cassian, Institutiones X, c. 23]

Sciendum autem est, quia isto modo dandi libri in capite Quadragesimae: Ille bibliothecarius, qui est monasterii, defert omnes libros cum adjutorio fratrum in capitulum. Deinde sternuntur tapetia et super tapetia ponuntur libri. Capitulo finito tunc legit bibliothecarius in breve, qui frater habet librum usque ad illam horam. Tunc ille frater ponit librum, quem habuit, in tapeti; et tunc ille prior, aut cui ille jusserit, accipit librum et interrogat illum fratrem de illo libro sapienter causa probationis, ut cognoscat, utrum legerit studiose librum. Si vero ille frater responderit de illo libro, tunc interrogat illum, qui liber illi utilis est, et tunc, quem postulaverit dabit illi. Si autem cognoverit abbas, illi non esse aptum, tunc dicet illi: 'Non est iste liber tibi aptus, sed talis aptus est tibi.' Et non dabit illi, quem quaesivit, sed quem cognovit illi esse aptum. Si autem talis fuerit frater, qui non potuerit rationem de libro ponere secundum interrogationem, tunc si videt ille abbas, quia negligenter legit librum illum, non dabit alium illi, sed ipsum ei reddit, et tamdiu illum habebit postea, donec studiose legerit, et dicit illi: 'Quia non legisti bene, debuisti antea significare, ut tibi dedissemus tempus interrogandi.' Si autem cognoverit abbas illum fratrem studiosum in lectione et tamen non potuit intelligere, dat illi alium librum. Post quam vero exierint omnes fratres de capitulo, tunc inspicit abbas et requirit, utrum sint inibi omnes libri per brevem; si forte non invenerit libros totidem, sicuti habet per brevem, tunc quaerit [page 488] diligenter, usquequo invenerit.

One has to know how books are to be distributed at the beginning of Lent: the librarian who belongs to the monastery brings all the books with the help of the brothers into the chapter house. Then carpets are spread out and the books are placed on them. At the end of chapter the librarian should read on his list which brother has had a book until that hour. Then that brother is to place the book he had on the carpet, and then the prior, or whoever he designates, should take the book and ask that brother about that book wisely as a test, so he may know whether he has read the book attentively. If the brother answers about that book then he should ask him whom the book is useful to and then he should give it to him whom he asked. But if the abbot knows that it is not suitable for him then he should say to him ‘This book is not suitable for you but this one is suitable for you.’ And [the abbot] should not give him the one he asked for but the one he knows to be suitable for him. But if the brother is someone who cannot give an account of the book following the questioning, then if the abbot sees that he has read the book carelessly then he should not give him another, but give him that one back and he should have it as long as he needs to read it carefully and he should say to him, “Because you did not read it carefully you should have said beforehand so that we would have given you time for questioning.” But if the abbot knows that that brother is studious in reading and yet could not understand he should give him another book. After all the brothers have gone out of chapter then the abbot should look and ask if all of the books on the list are there: if by chance he does not find all of the books as they are on the list, then he should look [page 488] carefully until he finds them.

Hoc notandum est, quia meditari significat, sicut jam diximus, discere, orare, cantare vel psallere, quia meditari attinere potest ad oratiotiem et psalmodiam. Ideo melius est, ut de aliquo opere intelliganius, quod manibus operatur illud, quod dicitur injungatur ei ars vel opus, quam intelligere de opere orationis, eo quod dixit superius, qui non potuit meditari vel noluerit, injungatur ei opus, quod faciat, ut non vacet. Cum enim dicit a mane prima, non dicit, ut prima legitima custodiatur, sed cum dicit a mane prima - quasi diceret: mane prima cantetur; deinde inter primam cantatam et capitulum factum jam prope est prima perfecta, sicut te docet punctus in superiore hac forma et crux.

It should be noted that meditari means, as we have already said, to learn, to pray, to sing or to sing the psalms, for meditari can pertain to prayer and psalmody. So it is better that by “work” we understand that which is done with the hands (because it reads he should be given some skill or task) than to understand it as the task of prayer, for he said above that someone who cannot learn or does not want to should be given some task which he should do so he is not idle. When he says from Prime in the morning he does not say so that Prime be kept properly but when he says in the morning from Prime it is as if he were to say Prime should be sung in the morning and then between singing Prime and holding chapter soon after Prime is completed, as the dot and the cross teach you in this figure.

Crux est, quando⁴ cantari debet prima; punctus, quando potest exire de capitulo. Deinde hoc, quod dicitur pene quarta et quasi sexta, varie intelligitur. Abbates enim spiritales custodiunt pene quarta, i. e. antequam quarta inchoetur, sicut te docet punctus, qui in tertio campo, h. e. spatio horologii est, ita dum⁵ tertia cantata quarta inchoetur. Deinde quasi sexta autem, i. e. antequam sexta incipiat, sicut punctus, qui in quinto spatio est horologii, edocet, ut sexta cantata tunc incipiat sexta hora. Item abbates saeculares, qui volunt laborare, custodiunt ita, i. e. pene quarta intelligunt, quasi aliquid de quarta transactum, sicut punctus, [page 489] qui in quarto spatio horologii, demonstrat. Ita etiam quasi sexta, intelligunt, hoc est, quasi aliquid de sexta transactum sit, sicut punctus, qui in sexto spatio est, indicat. Sed melior est sensus superior, sicut abbates spiritales intelligunt, De octava hora non est dubium, quia quando exeunt de refectorio, tunc est plena sexta; deinde dormiunt septima hora et media octava; deinde media octava surgendum est. Vespera vero debet cantari inchoante undecima, sicut crux te docet, quae est in virgula decima.⁶ Unde fit, si legitime laboraveris, tunc omni tempore quatuor horis debet laborare monachus. Ideo dixi inchoante undecima, quia, usque ad decimam debent operari. Verumtamen consideranda est quantitas fratrum, quia, si multitudo est, etiam in decima hora cantanda est vespera, eo quod non potest multitudo ita cito agere, sicut paucitas aliquid [minus] agit.⁷

The cross is when Prime should be sung, the dot when you can go out of chapter. Next what he says – almost the fourth hour and about the time of Sext -- can be understood in various ways. Spiritual abbots keep almost the fourth hour, that is, before the fourth hour starts, as the dot in the third field teaches you, that is, the third space in the dial. So when Terce has been sung the fourth hour starts. Then about the time of Sext, that is, before Sext starts (as the dot in the fifth space on the dial teaches), [so] when Sext has been sung the sixth hour starts. But worldly abbots who want to work keep it in this way, that is, they understand almost the fourth hour as if part of the fourth hour has passed, as the dot in the fourth field indicates. Also thus they understand about the time of Sext as if part of the sixth hour has passed, as the dot in the sixth field indicates.⁵ But the former meaning, the way spiritual abbots understand it, is better. From the eighth hour is not doubtful, for when they go out of the refectory then the sixth is completed and then they sleep during the seventh hour and to the middle of the eighth, and then in the middle of the eighth hour they should rise. Vespers should be sung at the start of the eleventh, as the cross in the tenth⁶ field teaches you. So if you work properly then a monk should work for four full hours. So I said at the start of the eleventh for they should work until the tenth hour. Nevertheless you need to consider the number of brothers, for if it is large then Vespers should be sung at the tenth hour for a large number cannot do things as quickly as a small number does.