Longer Rules (Asceticon, Regulae fusius tractatae) 24–34

Question. Now that these things have been sufficiently handed on to us, it would follow for us to learn about the manner of our life with one another.

Answer. Since the Apostle says, “Let all things be done decently and in order,” we consider that way of life decent and orderly in the fellowship of the faithful in which the principle of the members of the body is preserved: so that one, entrusted with the common care, holds the power of the eye, both in examining what has been done and in foreseeing and considering what is to be done; another that of the ear or the hand, in hearing and in carrying out what falls to him; and so on, each in his place. We must know, then, that just as among the members it is not without danger for any member to neglect what falls to it, or not to use another for what it was made for by God who created it (for if the hand or the foot does not obey the guidance of the eye, the one will necessarily touch deadly things to the ruin of the whole, and the other will stumble or even be carried over cliffs; and if the eye shuts so as not to see, it too must perish with the other members suffering what has been described), so neither is negligence without danger for the superior, who will be judged for all, nor is disobedience harmless and without loss for the one who obeys; and it is more dangerous still if he also causes others to stumble. Each one, then, showing in his own place unflagging zeal and fulfilling the Apostle's command, “Do not be slothful in zeal,” has the praise of his eagerness; but for negligence the opposite, plainly lament and woe. “For cursed,” he says, “is everyone who does the works of the Lord negligently.”

That the judgment is fearful for the superior who does not rebuke those who sin.

Answer. The one entrusted with the common care, then, as one who must give account for each, should be disposed thus: knowing that if one of the brothers falls into sin without his having told him beforehand the ordinance of God, or having fallen, persists in it without being taught the way of correction, his blood will be required at his hand, as it is written; and especially if he overlooks something pleasing to God not through ignorance, but, going along with each one's faults out of flattery, relaxes the exactness of their way of life. “For those who call you blessed,” he says, “lead you astray and confuse the path of your feet”; and “the one who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.” Therefore, that we may not suffer this, we must follow the apostolic rule in our dealings with the brothers: “For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed, God is witness; nor did we seek glory from men, whether from you or from others.” The one who is pure of these passions may perhaps carry out a guidance that does not go astray, rewarding for himself and saving for those who follow. For the one who does not, for the sake of human honours, practise giving no offence to sinners in order to be pleasant and agreeable to them, will truly in love and with boldness be an ambassador of the word, without peddling it and with sincerity, choosing in nothing to falsify the truth; so that what follows also applies to him: “But we were gentle among you, like a nurse cherishing her own children; so, longing for you, we were well pleased to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our own selves.” The one who is not so is a blind guide, throwing himself over the cliff and drawing his followers along with him.

How great an evil it is to become, instead of a guide, a cause of error to one's brother can be seen from what has been said. It is also a sign that the commandment of love is not being fulfilled; for no father overlooks his own child when he is about to fall into a pit, or leaves him in his fall once he has fallen. How much more terrible it is that a soul falling into a depth of evils should be left to perish, what need is there to say? The superior is answerable to the brotherhood, then, to keep watch over their souls and to take thought for the salvation of each, as one who will give account; and to take thought so far as to show his zeal for them even to death, not only according to the Lord's common principle of love toward all, “that one lay down his life for his friends,” but according to the special principle of him who said: “Longing for you, we were well pleased to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our own selves.”

On laying open everything, even the secrets of the heart, to the superior.

Answer. Each of those under authority, if he means to show any notable progress and to come into a settled habit of the life according to the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ, must keep no movement of his soul hidden within himself and utter no word unexamined, but must lay bare the secrets of his heart to those of the brothers who are entrusted with caring compassionately and sympathetically for the weak. For so what is praiseworthy is confirmed, and what is unacceptable will receive fitting treatment; and from such training together, by gradual addition, perfection will come to us.

That the superior too must be reminded by those foremost in the brotherhood, if ever he errs.

Answer. Just as the superior is answerable for guiding the brotherhood in everything, so in turn it falls to the rest, if ever some fault is suspected in the superior, to remind him. But so that good order may not be broken, the reminding should be left to those foremost in age and understanding. If, then, there is something deserving correction, we have both helped our brother and, through him, ourselves, having set straight the one who is, as it were, the rule of our life and who ought by his own straightness to expose what is crooked in us. But if some have been troubled about him in vain, they are freed from their doubt about him once they have been assured by the bringing to light of what was suspected without truth.

How all should be disposed toward the disobedient.

Answer. Toward one who is sluggish in obeying the Lord's commandments, all should first feel compassion as toward a sick member, and the superior should try by his own exhortations to set his illness right. If he persists in disobedience and does not accept correction, he should be rebuked more severely before the whole brotherhood, and remedies applied to him with every encouragement. But if after much admonition he is not ashamed and does not heal himself in his deeds, being, as the proverb says, his own destroyer, then with many tears and laments, yet nonetheless, as a corrupted and wholly useless member, he must be cut off from the common body, in imitation of physicians. For they too, whatever member they find seized by an incurable disease, are accustomed to remove by cutting and burning, so that the harm may not spread far and destroy the adjacent parts by contact. This we too must of necessity do with those who are hostile to the Lord's commandments or hinder them, according to the command of the Lord himself, who said: “If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you.” For kindness toward such people is like the undisciplined indulgence of Eli, for which he is reproved, since he used it toward his sons against what pleased God. A pretended kindness toward evildoers, then, is a betrayal of the truth, a plot against the community, and a training in indifference to evil; for then what is written is no longer done, “Why did you not rather mourn, so that the one who did this deed might be removed from among you?” and what follows necessarily comes about, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” “Those who sin,” says the Apostle, “rebuke before all”; and he at once adds the reason: “so that the rest also may stand in fear.”

In general, the one who does not accept the treatment applied to him by the superior is inconsistent even with himself. For if he will not submit, but defends his own will, why is he with him at all? Why does he enrol him as the guardian of his life? But having once accepted enrolment in the body of the brotherhood, if he is judged fit to become an instrument of service [for some work, even if] the command seems beyond his strength, let him throw the responsibility on the one who commands beyond his strength and show himself compliant and obedient even to death, remembering the Lord, who became “obedient to death, even death on a cross.” Resisting and contradicting show many evils: sickness of faith, wavering of hope, arrogance and pride of character. For no one disobeys without first despising the one who advised him; nor will one who believes God's promises and has a firm hope in them ever shrink from what is commanded, even if it is laborious, knowing that “the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed.” And one who is persuaded that “he who humbles himself will be exalted” shows more eagerness than the one who gave the command expected, knowing that “this momentary lightness of affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.”

On one who works with pride or grumbling.

Answer. The work of one who grumbles, or is found to act in pride, must not be mixed with the work done by those who are humble in heart and contrite in spirit, nor indeed be used at all among the devout. For “what is exalted among men is an abomination before God.” And there is another command of the Apostle, who says, “Nor grumble, as some of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer”; and, “not reluctantly or under compulsion.” The work of such people is therefore unacceptable, like a blemished sacrifice, and it is not holy to mix it with the work of the others. For if those who brought strange fire to the altar experienced such wrath, how is it not dangerous to admit into the service of the commandments a work coming from a disposition hostile to God? “For what partnership,” he says, “has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever?” Therefore he says: “The lawless man who sacrifices a calf to me is like one who kills a dog, and he who offers fine flour is like one who offers swine's blood.” So the works of the slothful and contentious must necessarily be kept away from the brotherhood. The superiors must attend exactly to this part, so that they themselves may not corrupt the decree of him who said, “He who walks in a blameless way, he shall minister to me; he who acts proudly shall not dwell in the midst of my house”; and so that, by accepting the work of one who mixes sin with the commandment and soils his work with slackness in labour or pride in his superiority, they may not encourage him to persist in his perversity, not allowing him to come to an awareness of his own faults. The superior must therefore be persuaded that to preside over his brother not according to reason brings on him heavy and inescapable wrath, for “his blood will be required at his hand,” as it is written; and the one who obeys must be so prepared as not to shrink from any command, not even the hardest, persuaded that his reward is great in heaven. Let the hope of glory gladden the one who obeys, so that the Lord's work may be done with all joy and endurance.

With what disposition superiors should care for the brothers.

Answer. Let not his rank make the superior proud, lest he too fall from the blessedness of humility, or, puffed up, fall into the condemnation of the devil; but let him be persuaded of this, that care for many is service of many. Just as one who serves many wounded people, cleaning the discharge from each wound and applying remedies according to the nature of the injury in question, takes his service not as an occasion for pride but rather for humility, anxiety, and struggle, so much more must the one entrusted with healing the infirmities of the brotherhood think and be anxious as the servant of all, who will give account for all. For in this way his aim will be achieved, since the Lord said: “If anyone among you would be first, let him be last of all and servant of all.”

That one must accept service from the superior.

The brothers in general should also accept bodily service offered by those who are held to be foremost in the brotherhood. For the principle of humility both prompts the greater to serve and shows that it is not unfitting for the lesser to be served. The Lord's example leads us to this: he did not disdain to wash his own disciples' feet, and they did not dare to resist it. Indeed Peter, who out of great reverence did not at first accept it, at once turned himself to obedience when he was taught the danger of disobedience. So the one under obedience need not fear that his aim of humility is undone when he is sometimes served by the greater. For the service is offered him for teaching and as a practical example rather than, as often, for necessary need. Let him show his lowliness, then, by obedience and imitation; and let him not, by setting himself against it under a show of humility, do a work of pride and boastfulness. For contradiction shows self-will and insubordination. It is proof, then, of conceit and contempt rather than of lowliness and of obedience in all things. Therefore it is necessary to obey the one who said: “Bearing with one another in love.”

How one should be disposed toward one's kinsfolk according to the flesh.

Answer. Those once received into the brotherhood should not be allowed by the superior to be distracted toward anything, nor on the pretext of visiting relatives to withdraw from the brothers and live a life without witnesses, nor be permitted to have cares about the protection of their kinsmen according to the flesh. For the word altogether rejects the saying of “mine” and “yours” in a brotherhood: “All who believed,” it says, “were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things he possessed was his own.” As for anyone's parents or brothers according to the flesh, if they live according to God, let them be cared for by all in the brotherhood as common fathers or kinsfolk. “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven,” says the Lord, “is my brother and sister and mother.” And we judge that the care of these belongs to the superior of the brotherhood. But if they are entangled in common life, we have nothing in common with them, we who are eager to achieve what is decent and devoted to the Lord without distraction. For besides giving them no benefit, we also fill our own life with noise and confusion and draw on ourselves occasions of sin. Nor is it fitting to receive, when they come to visit those who were once their kin, those who despise God's commandments and set at nought the work of godliness, since they do not love the Lord, who said: “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” “And what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever?” And above all we must strive in every way to remove from those still in training for virtue the occasions of sinning, of which the greatest is the memory of their former life, lest they suffer what was said, “In their hearts they turned back to Egypt”; which mostly happens through constant conversation with kinsfolk according to the flesh.

In general, we should allow neither kinsman nor stranger to address any words to the brothers unless we are persuaded that they hold their conversations for the building up and strengthening of souls. And if there should be need of speech with those who happen to come, let the gift of speech be exercised by those entrusted with it, as having the power to speak and to listen with skill for the building up of faith; for the Apostle clearly teaches that the power of speech is not present in all, but that the gift belongs to few, when he says: “To one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge”; and elsewhere: “that he may be able to exhort in sound teaching and to refute those who contradict.”

What is the manner of meeting with the sisters?

Answer. The one who has once renounced marriage will, plainly, much more renounce the cares which the Apostle says the married man has, how to please his wife; and he will cleanse himself altogether of every care aimed at pleasing a woman, fearing the judgment of him who said, “God has scattered the bones of men-pleasers.” So he will not endure meeting even with a man for the sake of pleasing him; but for the sake of the zeal owed by each to his neighbour according to God's commandment, he will come to a meeting when need requires. Yet the meeting should not simply be allowed to those who wish it, nor is every time or every place suitable for it. But if we mean, according to the Apostle's command, to give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, and to do all things decently and in order and all for building up, the person, the time, the need, and the place must be fittingly fixed by choice; by all of which every suspicion of evil, even its shadow, will be driven away, and proof of dignity and chastity will appear in every way in those who have been approved to see one another and to take counsel about what pleases God, both as to bodily need and as to the care of souls. Let there be not fewer than two on each side; for a single person is easily open to suspicion, not to say more, and is weaker for confirming what is said, since Scripture clearly declares that every word stands on two or three; nor more than three, so that the zeal for work done because of the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ may not be hindered.

If any others in the brotherhood need to say or to hear something of private concern, let them not come into conversation with one another themselves; but let chosen elders serve as go-betweens with chosen elder sisters, and so let the need for speech be met through their mediation. Let the same good order be kept not only of women toward men or men toward women, but also among those of the same sex toward one another. Let these, then, be marked by reverence and dignity in all things besides, prudent in asking and answering, faithful and wise in handling what is said, fulfilling the saying, “He will order his words with judgment,” so that for those who confide in them the need is met and at the same time there is assurance about what is stirring in them. Let some others also serve bodily needs, they too after testing, advanced in age and dignified in bearing and character, so as not to strike anyone's conscience with evil suspicion. “For why should my liberty be judged by another's conscience?”

What kind of men those who manage necessities in the brotherhood should be.

Answer. Among those within who distribute necessities, there will surely be in each rank some who can imitate those in the Acts who did what was said, “Distribution was made to each as any had need”; taking great care to be compassionate and patient toward all, and to give no one cause to suspect attachment or favouritism toward some, according to the command of the Apostle, who said, “doing nothing from partiality”; or again of contentiousness, which the same Apostle rejects as unfitting for Christians, saying, “If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God”: as though by these means they would withhold what is needed from those against whom they are contentious, and give in excess to those to whom they happen to be partial. The one is a sign of hatred of the brothers, the other of attachment, which is most of all to be condemned; by these the harmony of the brotherhood, which comes from love, is torn apart, and evil suspicions, jealousies, strifes, and sluggishness toward work enter in its place. Those who distribute necessities to the brotherhood must therefore be utterly free from attachment and contentiousness, because of what has been said and many other such consequences.

They ought to be conscious in themselves of such a disposition, and to show such zeal, both they and those who carry out the other work of serving the brothers, as serving not men but the Lord himself, who in his great goodness counts as done to himself the honour and zeal shown to those dedicated to him, and promises the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven for them. “Come,” he says, “you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” And conversely they should recognize the danger of negligence, remembering him who said, “Cursed is everyone who does the works of the Lord negligently”; for not only are such people cast out of the kingdom, but they also await that dreadful and fearful sentence of the Lord against them: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

And if those who offer care and service find so great a gain from their zeal, and await so great a judgment for their negligence, how great a struggle is needed for those who receive the service, to show themselves worthy of the name of the Lord's brothers, according to the Lord's teaching, who said: “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” For the one who has not set before himself the will of God as his goal through all his life, so as to show in health the labour of love through zeal for the Lord's works, and in sickness to show all endurance and patience with joy, is in danger: first and greatest, because he is estranged from the Lord and has cut himself off from the portion of his brothers by not doing the will of God; second, because he dares unworthily to share in what is prepared for the worthy. Therefore it is necessary here too to remember the Apostle, who said, “Working together with him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain”; and that those called to the place of the Lord's brothers should not insult such grace of God, nor betray so great a dignity through neglect of God's will, but should rather obey the same Apostle, who says: “I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthily of the calling to which you have been called.”