Christian Mission and Poverty

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Christian Mission and Poverty

collected after use and stored away. Let the Abbot keep a list of these articles, so that, when the brothers in turn succeed each other in using them, he may know what he gives and what he receives back. If anyone, however, handles the goods of the monastery lazily or carelessly let him be reprimanded and if he does not change let him come under the discipline of the Rule. 2. Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own The vice of personal ownership must by all means be cut out in the monastery by the very root, so that no one may dare to give or receive anything without the command of the Abbot; nor to have anything whatever as his own, neither a book, nor a writing tablet, nor a pen, nor anything else whatever, since monks are allowed to have neither their bodies nor their wills in their own power . . . Let all things be common to all, as it is written. And let no one call or take to himself anything as his own (cf. Acts 4:32). But if anyone should be found to indulge this most destructive vice, and, having been warned once and again, does not change, let him be subjected to punishment. 3. Whether All Should Receive in Equal Measure What Is Necessary It is written, “Distribution was made to everyone according as he had need” (Acts 4:35). We do not say by this that respect should be had for persons (God forbid), but regard for infirmities 3 . Let him who has need of less thank God and not give way to sadness, but let him who has need of more, humble himself for his infirmity, and not be

3 Infirmities – sicknesses or weaknesses