Caput XLII. De rerum ecclesiasticarum dispensatione.
The Sacred Duty of Dispensing Church Gifts
Gifts given to holy churches must be actively distributed by clergy to the poor, widows, orphans, altar servants, guests, and strangers rather than hoarded, reflecting the principle that all such offerings belong to those in need.
Whatever gifts have been brought together by the faithful for the most holy churches are received by bishops, priests, and clerics to be dispensed, not stored up or hoarded, but distributed. Whatever they have belongs to the poor, to widows and orphans, and to those who serve at the altar, so that they may live from the altar.✦ But the contributions made for the use of Christ's servants in monasteries must be dispensed by designated persons, so that what remains after the brothers' necessities are met is not locked away in purses but distributed to guests, strangers, and the poor.1
Read the original Latin
Quae enim sacrosanctis ecclesiis a fidelibus collata sunt, episcopi, sacerdotes et clerici dispensanda suscipiunt, et non recondenda; non possidenda, sed eroganda. Quidquid habent, pauperum est, viduarum et orphanorum, et eorum qui altari deserviunt, ut de altari vivant. Sed ea quae in usus servorum Christi monasteriis conferuntur, a certis personis dispensari oportet, ut quod nccessitatibus superest fratrum, non includatur marsupiis; sed hospitibus, peregrinis atque pauperibus erogetur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩1Cor.9.13 — Do you not know that those who perform the sacred rites eat from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?
Notes
- 1 ↩necessitatibus likely intends 'necessities' in the sense of basic needs of the brothers; normalized from nccessitatibus.
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