The Rule of Saint Benedict

Ir any abbot desire to have a priest or deacon ordained let him choose from his monks one who is worthy to fill the office of priesthood. Let the monk, however, who is ordained beware of haughtiness and pride, and let him not presume to do anything except what is ordered by the abbot, remembering that he is now much more subject to regular discipline. Let him not make his priesthood an excuse for forgetting obedience and the rigour of the Rule, rather he should strive on account of it to draw more and more towards God.

He shall, moreover, always keep the place he had

108 THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT

when he came to the monastery, except in his service at the altar, or if on account of the holiness of his life, by the wish of the community and the will of the abbot, he be moved up to a higher place. Even then let him understand that he must keep the rules prescribed for him by the deans or provosts, and if he presume to act otherwise he shall be judged not as a priest but as a rebel. If after frequent warnings he shall not amend his ways, even the bishop shall be brought in to witness to the fact. And if after this he does not amend, and his faults become notorious, let him be expelled from the monastery, if his contempt be such that he will not submit and obey the Rule.