Today’s Reading from the Rule of Benedict

TODAY’S READING FROM THE RULE OF BENEDICT

Chapter 24: What the Measure of Excommunication Should Be

The measure of excommunication or of chastisement
should correspond to the degree of fault,
which degree is estimated by the judgment of the Abbott.

If a brother is found guilty of lighter faults,
let him be excluded from the common table.
Now the program for one deprived of the company of the table
shall be as follows:
In the oratory he shall intone neither Psalm nor antiphon
nor shall he recite a lesson
until he has made satisfaction;
in the refectory he shall take his food alone
after the community meal,
so that if they eat at the sixth hour, for instance,
that brother shall eat at the ninth,
while if they eat at the ninth hour
he shall eat in the evening,
until by a suitable satisfaction he obtains pardon.