Regula, caput XIII
The Foundation of the Brothers' Community
Christ establishes the number of priests, deacons, and converts serving the monastery of nuns, along with their habit and the manner of their blessing and consecration.
Christ here determines the number of priests, deacons, and converts serving the said monastery of nuns, the habit they are to wear, and the manner in which they are to be blessed and consecrated.
The Habit and Its Sacred Symbols
The prescribed garments for priests, deacons, and lay brothers are detailed, including the red cross of the Passion, the evangelists' circle with tongues of fire, and the white cross of innocence, along with footwear and a limit of twenty-five brothers.
All the priests and brothers may have two white under-tunics of coarse wool and one tunic of gray coarse wool, and a cowl of gray coarse wool with a hood sewn onto it, and over the cowl a mantle of gray coarse wool. A fur garment and the lining under the mantle may be used, made from lamb or sheep skins, for as long as it's needed. The priests themselves, thirteen in number, will wear a red cross of cloth sewn onto the left side of their mantles, in reverence for my Passion, and in the center of the cross a small piece of white cloth, because of the mystery of my Body, which they offer daily. The four deacons, however, will wear a white circle on their mantles, in reference to the incomprehensible wisdom of the four evangelists, whose representation they bear. On that circle four red pieces are to be sewn in the shape of tongues, because the Holy Spirit inflamed them: concerning the excellence of the Godhead, concerning the mystery of my Incarnation, concerning the vanity and contempt of the world, concerning the rewards of the just and the punishments of the wicked. The lay brothers, however, will wear a white cross on their mantles, for the sake of the innocence by which they may be, as it were, five red pieces, in reverence for my five wounds. The priests and brothers are to have shoes up to the ankles and boots in the summer; in the winter, slippers lined with coarse wool and boots. And it's to be known that these brothers can never number more than twenty-five in the monastery.
The Rite of Consecration for the Brothers
The bishop receives and consecrates the brothers with blessings parallel to those of the sisters, substituting the laying on of hands for the veil, a cross for the crown, and a tonsure, after which they are enclosed in the brothers' court.
The brothers are to be received and consecrated by the bishop in the same manner, in the same places, and with the same blessings as the sisters, except that instead of a ring the bishop will receive the brothers' hands with the blessing with which the ring is placed on the sisters. And in place of a veil, let the bishop lay his hands on their heads with the same words with which the veil is placed on the sisters. In place of a crown, however, let a cross be made with the blessing with which the crown is placed. Let the brothers also have a tonsure, just as in other monasteries. After Mass, however, the bishop will place them in the brothers' court, from which they will never go out except into the church.
Read the original Latin
Christus determinat hic numerum sacerdotum, dyaconorum et conuersorum seruiencium dicto monasterio monialium et habitum, quem debent portare, modum quoque, quo debeant benedici et consecrari.
"Sacerdotes omnes et fratres duo subtunicalia alba de burello et vnam tunicam de griseo burello habere possunt et cucullam de burello griseo, cui assutum sit capucium, et super cucullam mantellum de griseo burello. Pellicium quoque et forratura sub mantello de pellibus agninis vel ouinis, dum necesse fuerit, habeantur. Ipsi quidem sacerdotes tredecim ob reuerenciam mee passionis portabunt in mantellis suis ad sinistram partem crucem rubeam de panno assutam et in medio crucis modicum albi panni propter misterium mei corporis, quod cottidie immolant. Dyaconi autem quatuor portabunt in mantellis suis circulum album propter incomprehensibilem sapienciam quatuor doctorum, quorum figuram gerunt. In quo circulo quatuor particule rubee in modum linguarum assuantur, quia Spiritus Sanctus inflammauit eos de excellencia deitatis, de misterio incarnacionis mee, de vanitate et contemptu mundi, de premiis iustorum et de penis malorum. Fratres autem laici in mantellis suis crucem albam portabunt propter innocenciam, in qua cruce sint quasi quinque particule rubee ob reuerenciam quinque vulnerum meorum. Sacerdotes vero et fratres calceos habeant vsque ad talos et caligas in estate, in hyeme sotulares sufforatos burello et caligas. Et est sciendum, quod isti fratres numquam possunt esse plures in monasterio quam viginti quinque.
Qui eodem modo et eisdem locis et benediccionibus per episcopum recipiendi sunt et consecrandi, quibus sorores, excepto quod pro annulo recipiet episcopus manus fratrum cum benediccione, qua imponitur sororibus annulus. Et pro velo imponat episcopus manus suas super capita eorum eisdem verbis, quibus imponitur sororibus velum. Pro corona vero fiat crux cum benediccione, qua imponitur corona. Tonsuram eciam habeant fratres sicut in aliis monasteriis. Post missam autem locabit eos episcopus in curia fratrum, de qua numquam egredientur nisi in ecclesiam."
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