Regula, caput XXV
The Ordering of Authority over the Monastery
Christ establishes a threefold guardianship over the monastery—bishop, prince, and pope—and provides for supplementary chapters drawn from the rules of Benedict or Bernard.
Christ ordains here that the diocesan bishop be the father and visitor of the monastery of this religious life, but that the prince of the kingdom or province should be its defender, and the pope their charitable guardian, without whose permission no monastery of this religious life is to be founded. It also says that some devout brothers from the rule of blessed Benedict or blessed Bernard should add to this rule certain chapters on the correction of excesses and on the visitation to be carried out, and on all other matters that they see fit to be necessary for this rule.
The Bishop as Father, Visitor, and Judge
The diocesan bishop bears continual responsibility as father, visitor, and judge, diligently ensuring that every point of the rule is observed.
The bishop in whose diocese the monastery is located will be father and visitor of both sisters and brothers, and also judge in all cases or matters affecting the sisters or brothers. Indeed, he himself must be continually anxious and diligent as overseer, if the rule is to be observed in all its points, so that his salutary decrees should not happen to be slighted by any of the sisters or brothers.1
The Prince as Patron and the Pope as Guardian
The prince serves as patron and defender in temporal necessities, while the pope stands above both bishop and prince as charitable guardian and the one whose license is required to found a monastery.
The prince of the kingdom or region in which the monastery is located will be their patron and defender in all necessities.2 The pope, for his part, over both — that is, over the prince of the land and the bishop — will be their charitable guardian, if they should seek his help, compelled by some necessity.3 Whoever should wish to build a monastery of this religious life, let him by no means presume to do so without the will and license of the pope.
Supplementing the Rule from Benedict and Bernard
Once the rule is confirmed by the pope, devout brothers from the Benedictine or Bernardine traditions are to supply provisions on correction of faults, burial, episcopal visitation, and all other matters necessary for the rule's strengthening.
Then, this rule having been confirmed through the pope, let some devout brothers be sought out from the rules of Benedict or Bernard, who may write into this rule how faults are to be corrected in the monastery, and how the dead are to be buried, and how the bishop will visit, and for which cases he is to enter the monastery. And all other necessary matters that are not told of in these words, for the strengthening of this rule, let them be taken from the rules mentioned above.
Read the original Latin
Christus ordinat hic, quod dyocesanus episcopus sit pater et visitator monasterii istius religionis, princeps vero regni seu prouincie debeat esse defensor et papa earum tutor caritatiuus, sine cuius licencia nullum monasterium istius religionis fundetur. Dicit eciam, quod aliqui deuoti fratres de regula beati Benedicti aut beati Bernardi addant in ista regula aliqua capitula super correccione excessuum et super visitacione fienda et super omnibus aliis, que huic regule necessaria viderint expedire.
"Episcopus, in cuius dyocesi monasterium est, erit tam sororum quam fratrum pater et visitator necnon et iudex in omnibus causis seu casibus sorores aut fratres tangentibus. Ipsum denique oportet continue sollicitum et diligentem esse speculatorem, si regula in omnibus punctis obseruatur, ne contingat ipsius salubria statuta ab aliquibus sororum aut fratrum paruipendi. Princeps regni seu terre, in qua est monasterium, erit eis responsalis et defensor in omnibus necessitatibus. Papa vero super vtrumque, scilicet principem terre et episcopum, erit eorum tutor caritatiuus, si eius adiutorium postulauerint necessitate aliqua compellente. Quicumque monasterium huius religionis construere voluerit, nullatenus sine voluntate et licencia pape hoc presumat. Deinde ista regula per papam confirmata inquirantur aliqui deuoti fratres de regulis Benedicti vel Bernardi, qui huic regule inscribant, quomodo excessus emendandi sunt in monasterio et quomodo mortui sepeliendi sunt et qualiter visitabit episcopus et pro quibus casibus ingredietur monasterium. Et omnia alia necessaria, que in hiis verbis non narrantur, ad huius regule roboracionem assumantur de regulis supradictis."
Notes
- 1 ↩ne + subjunctive: rendered as negative-purpose 'so that...should not' (final clause), not prohibitive.
- 2 ↩responsalis: medieval term; rendered as 'patron' reflecting protective/representative role, though precise legal sense is uncertain.
- 3 ↩vero: adversative discourse marker here marking shift to the pope's role; rendered as 'for his part' to signal the transition.
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