Regula, caput XXII
The Rule of Continual Devotion
Christ commands that all time outside of prayer, reading, and bodily necessities must be spent in devout and upright work.
Christ established here that, except for the time given to prayer and reading and meeting bodily necessities, all the remaining time should be usefully spent by the nuns and brothers in work that is devout and upright.
The Threefold Time of Mary
The Virgin Mary's life models a threefold division of time—praise, service, and bodily care—which the sisters must imitate in laboring for God's honor and the poor, not worldly gain.
"My mother divided all her time into three parts: one, in which she praised God with her mouth; another, in which she served him with her hands; and a third, in which, bearing with the weakness of the body, she granted him what was needful, as each situation required. So also the sisters, whenever they are not present at the divine offices or at reading, and when such time occurs, should labor with their hands, so that, just as they serve me with their mouth, so they may also serve with the remaining members. And let this labor serve no worldly vanity and no personal gain, but, like the labor of my Mother, be for the honor of God and the benefit of the churches or the poor.
Obedience in Labor
All work must be undertaken only with the permission of the abbess.
But they are to do all their work with the permission of the abbess.
Christ and the Apostles as Laborers
Christ and his apostles labored continually in body and spirit, setting an apostolic pattern that makes bodily labor a preparation for spiritual eagerness.
Was I myself, the God of all, in the world without labor? Did I not labor by going about, teaching, and suffering? Were my apostles without labor, to whom I could well have given all things sufficiently? But they themselves served me, their God, with all their members, and so that through bodily labor they might be more eager for spiritual labor."
Read the original Latin
Christus statuit hic, quod, excepto tempore oracionis et leccionis et recepcionis necessitatum corporalium, totum residuum tempus in labore pio et honesto a monialibus et fratribus vtiliter expendatur.
"Mater mea omne tempus suum tribus distinxit temporibus; vnum, quo laudauit Deum ore suo, aliud, quo manibus suis ei seruiebat, tercium, quo corporis infirmitati compaciens necessaria tribuit ei iuxta modum. Sic sorores omni tempore, quo diuinis non intersunt vel leccioni et tale tempus fuerit, eciam manibus suis laborent, vt, sicut michi seruiunt ore, sic seruient et reliquis membris. Et iste labor non sit ad aliquam mundi vanitatem, non ad aliquod proprium lucrum sed, sicut labor Matris mee, pro honore Dei et ecclesiarum vel pauperum vtilitate. Omnia autem opera sua facient cum licencia abbatisse. Numquid ego ipse, omnium Deus, fui in mundo sine labore? Numquid non laboraui eundo, docendo, paciendo? Numquid apostoli mei fuerunt sine labore, quibus bene omnia potuissem sufficienter dedisse? Sed ipsi omnibus membris suis seruierunt michi, Deo suo, et vt per laborem corporalem apciores essent ad laborem spiritualem."
Regula Sancti Salvatoris companion
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Chosen Portion delivers your daily reading and prayer portion automatically — the one rule item you never have to plan.
Birgitta's Rule fixed a daily rhythm of prayer and reading for her order, and the Chosen Portion app supplies that same fixed daily portion for readers outside the cloister.
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