Chapter Twenty-Four
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
What the Manner of Excommunication Should Be
THE severity of excommunication or punishment ought to be proportionate to the gravity of the offense. To determine that is left to the judgment of the Abbot. If, however, anyone of the brethren is detected in smaller faults, let him only be excluded from eating at the common table.
The following shall be the practice with respect to one who has been excluded from the common table: he is not allowed to intone a psalm or an antiphon, nor to read a lesson in the oratory until he has given satisfaction. Let him take his meal alone, after that of the brethren. So, if, for instance, the brethren take their meal at the sixth hour that brother will take his at the ninth, and if the brethren take theirs at the ninth, he will take his in the evening, until by due satisfaction he obtains his pardon.