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to look at one another, and to hold to one measure of love for the whole body. But if anyone is found having a greater affectionate relationship with a monastic brother, or a relative, or with any other person for any reason whatsoever, as one wronging the community, let him be disciplined. For the excess of disposition towards one person carries a great accusation of deficiency towards the others.

Let the penalties for one convicted of some offense be according to the measure of the sin; and being forbidden to join in the psalmody, and not being admitted into the communion of prayer, and being cast out from the partaking of food; wherein he who is appointed to oversee the common good order will also determine the penalty for the sinner according to the magnitude of the fault. Let the service to the common brotherhood be done in rotation, with two in succession in one week performing all the diligence required by the need, so that the reward of humility may be common, and that it may not be possible for anyone even in a good thing to have more than the brotherhood, and that rest may be available to all equally. For to labor in part, and to rest in part, makes the labor imperceptible to those who are weary. The one presiding over the order has the authority, both to bring forward for necessary journeys those according to his judgment, and to command those whom it profits to stay at home and remain within the house. For often in young bodies, even if the hardship from continence is practiced as much as possible, a certain bloom of youthfulness flourishes, and becomes an occasion of passion for those who encounter them. If therefore anyone is youthful in the flower of his body, let him make such comeliness unseen by concealing himself, until his appearance comes to a proper state. Let there be in them no sign of anger, or resentment, or envy, or contentiousness, nor any gesture, or movement; no word, no stare of the eyes, or disposition of the face, or anything else that is naturally apt to stir up a housemate to anger. But if anyone should be involved in any of these things, having previously suffered something grievous is not sufficient as a defense for the offense in which one is implicated. For an evil dared at any time is equally an evil. Let every oath 31.881 be banished from the list of the ascetics.

Let the nod of the head and the assent by voice be judged in place of an oath, both by the one speaking and the one hearing. But if anyone should disbelieve a simple affirmation, he provides an accusation of his own conscience as not having achieved truthfulness in speech, and for this reason he will be ranked among the offenders by the one presiding, and will be disciplined with a healing penalty. When the day has passed, and every work, both bodily and spiritual, has come to an end, it is fitting that before rest the conscience of each be examined by his own heart. And if anything has happened contrary to what is right, or a forbidden thought, or a word beyond what is proper, or slothfulness concerning prayer, or listlessness in psalmody, or a desire for the common life, let the offense not be concealed, but let it be announced to the community, so that through common prayer the passion of the one involved in such an evil may be healed.

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ἀλλήλους βλέπειν, καὶ ἓν μέτρον τῆς ἀγάπης ἐπὶ παντὸς κρατεῖν τοῦ πληρώματος. Εἰ δέ τις εὑρεθῇ πλείονι σχέσει ἀγαπητικῶς ἔχων πρὸς μοναχὸν ἀδελφὸν, ἢ συγγενῆ, ἢ πρὸς ἄλλον τινὰ δι' οἱανδήποτε πρόφασιν, ὡς τὸ κοινὸν ἀδικῶν, σωφρονιζέσθω. Ὁ γὰρ πλεονασμὸς τῆς διαθέσεως ἐπὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς προσώπου κατηγορίαν ἔχει τῆς ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐλλείψεως πολλήν.

Τὰ δὲ ἐπιτίμια τοῦ ἐπὶ πλημμελείᾳ τινὶ καταγνωσθέντος πρὸς τὸ μέτρον τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος ἔστω· καὶ τὸ κωλυθῆναι συστῆναι εἰς ψαλμῳδίαν, καὶ τὸ μὴ παραδεχθῆναι εἰς εὐχῆς κοινωνίαν, καὶ τὸ ἀπόβλητον γενέσθαι εἰς τὴν τῆς τροφῆς μετουσίαν· ἐν ᾧ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ποσότητα τοῦ σφάλματος ὁρίσει τὸ ἐπιτίμιον τῷ ἐξαμαρτάνοντι ὁ ἐπιστατεῖν ταχθεὶς τῇ κοινῇ εὐταξίᾳ. Ἡ δὲ ὑπηρεσία γινέσθω τῇ κοινῇ συνοδίᾳ ἐκ περιόδου, δύο κατ' ἀκολουθίαν ἐν ἑβδομάδι μιᾷ πᾶσαν τὴν ὑπὸ τῆς χρείας ἐπιζητουμένην σπουδὴν ἐκτελούντων, ἵνα καὶ ὁ μισθὸς τῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης κοινὸς ᾖ, καὶ μὴ ἐξῇ τινι μηδὲ ἐν τῷ καλῷ πλεονεκτεῖν τὴν συνοδίαν, καὶ ἡ ἀνάπαυσις ἐν τῷ ἴσῳ πᾶσιν ὑπάρχῃ. Τὸ γὰρ ἐν μέρει κοποῦσθαι, καὶ ἐν μέρει διαναπαύεσθαι, ἀνεπαίσθητον τοῖς κάμνουσι τὸν κόπον ποιεῖ. Ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ὁ προεστὼς τοῦ τάγματος, καὶ ἐπὶ ἀναγκαίας προόδους τοὺς κατὰ γνώμην προσάγειν, καὶ προστάσσειν οἷς ἂν συμφέρῃ τὸ οἰκουρεῖν, καὶ ἐντὸς τοῦ οἴκου μένειν. Πολλάκις γὰρ τοῖς νέοις σώμασι, κἂν ὅτι μάλιστα ἡ ἐκ τῆς ἐγκρατείας κακοπάθεια σπουδάζηται, ἐπανθεῖ πως ἡ ἐκ τῆς ἡλικίας εὔχροια, καὶ ἀφορμὴ πάθους τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι γίνεται. Εἰ οὖν τις νεάζοι κατὰ τὸ ἄνθος τοῦ σώματος, ἀφανῆ τὴν τοιαύτην ποιείτω εὐσχημοσύνην ὑποκρυπτόμενος, ἕως ἂν εἰς τὴν πρέπουσαν κατάστασιν τὸ φαινόμενον ἔλθῃ. Ὀργῆς, ἢ μνησικακίας, ἢ φθόνου, ἢ φιλονεικίας σημεῖον ἐν αὐτοῖς ἔστω μηδὲν, ἢ σχῆμα, ἢ κίνημα· μὴ ῥῆμα, μὴ βλέμματος ἔνστασις, ἢ προσώπου διάθεσις, ἢ εἴ τι ἄλλο ὑποκινεῖν πέφυκε πρὸς ὀργὴν τὸν συζῶντα. Εἰ δέ τίς τινι τούτων συνενεχθείη, τὸ προπεπονθέναι τι τῶν λυπούντων οὐχ ἱκανόν ἐστιν εἰς ἀπολογίαν τοῦ πλημμελήματος, ἐν ᾧ τις ἐνέχεται. Τὸ γὰρ κακὸν ἐν οἱῳδήποτε χρόνῳ τολμώμενον ἐπίσης ἐστὶ κακόν. Ὅρκος μὲν 31.881 ἅπας ἐξοριζέσθω τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν ἀσκουμένων.

Ἡ δὲ κατάνευσις τῆς κεφαλῆς, καὶ ἡ διὰ τῆς φωνῆς συγκατάθεσις ἀντὶ ὅρκου κρινέσθω, καὶ τῷ λέγοντι καὶ τῷ ἀκούοντι. Εἰ δέ τις ἀπιστήσειε τῇ ψιλῇ διαβεβαιώσει, κατηγορίαν τοῦ ἰδίου συνειδότος παρέχεται ὡς οὐ κατορθώσας ἀψευδὲς ἐν λόγῳ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐν τοῖς πλημμελοῦσι ταχθήσεται ὑπὸ τοῦ προκαθηγουμένου, καὶ ἐπιτιμίῳ θεραπεύοντι σωφρονισθήσεται. Τῆς ἡμέρας παρελθούσης, καὶ παντὸς ἔργου εἰς πέρας ἐλθόντος, σωματικοῦ τε καὶ πνευματικοῦ, πρὸ τῆς ἀναπαύσεως ἀνακρίνεσθαι προσήκει τὸ συνειδὸς ἑκάστου ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας καρδίας. Καὶ εἴ τι γέγονε παρὰ τὸ δέον, ἢ ἐνθύμημα τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων, ἢ λόγος ἔξω τοῦ καθήκοντος, ἢ περὶ τὴν προσευχὴν ῥᾳθυμία, ἢ ἀκηδιασμὸς τῆς ψαλμῳδίας, ἢ τοῦ κοινοῦ βίου ἐπιθυμία, μὴ ἐπικρυπτέσθω τὸ πλημμέλημα, ἀλλὰ τῷ κοινῷ ἐξαγγελλέτω, ὡς ἂν διὰ κοινῆς προσευχῆς θεραπευθῇ τὸ πάθος τοῦ συνενεχθέντος τῷ τοιούτῳ κακῷ.