Caput II. Reclusio corporis solius nihil prodest.
The Vanity of Mere Bodily Enclosure
A recluse is asked to examine the sincerity of her vow, for merely confining the body within walls profits nothing when the mind wanders in anxiety, idle speech, and forbidden desires.
What did you have in mind when you vowed yourself to this way of life? Many people, either not understanding or not caring what this way of life is really about, think it's enough to keep their bodies confined within walls — when in fact the mind is not only loosened and scattered by wandering, but is dissipated by cares and anxieties, and is even driven about by unclean and forbidden desires; and furthermore the tongue runs idly all day long through streets and towns, through marketplaces and fairs.
Read the original Latin
Quid tibi visum fuit, cum te huic institutioni voveres? Nam multi rationem hujus ordinis vel ignorantes, vel non curantes, membra tantum intra parietes cohibere satis putant esse: cum mens non solum per vagationem dissolvatur, curis et sollicitudinibus dissipetur, immundis etiam et illicitis desideriis agitetur; sed etiam lingua tota die per vicos et civitates, per foros et nundinas otiose discurrant.
De institutione inclusarum (A Rule of Life for a Recluse) companion
A rule only lives if you keep it daily
Chosen Portion gives your new rule its anchor: one free devotional portion every day.
Aelred built his sister's day around fixed times of prayer and meditation; Chosen Portion supplies the fixed daily portion that makes a modern rule of life keepable.
- Anchor your rule with a fixed 10-minute daily portion
- Practice Aelred's threefold meditation with guided daily prompts
- Review and adjust your one-page rule after 30 days of tracked practice