Chapter Fifty-Five
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
On the Clothing and the Footgear of the Brethren
CLOTHING should be given to the brethren according to the circumstances of the place and the nature of the climate in which they live, because in cold regions more in needed, while in warm regions less. The abbot should, therefore, take such things into consideration. We are of the belief that for a temperate climate a cowl and a tunic for each monk are sufficient—a woolen cowl for winter and a thin or worn one for summer. Monks should also have a workman’s apron, and sandals and a pair of boots to protect their feet.
Monks should not worry about the color or the texture of all these things. Let them be the sort that can be obtained locally and bought rather cheaply. Let the Abbot, however, pay attention to the size, so that these garments are not too small, but rightly fitted.
When a monk receives new clothes, he should promptly return the old ones, to be put away in the store room for the poor. For it is sufficient for a monk to have two tunics and two cowls, for wearing at night and for washing. Anything over and above that amount is superfluous and should be taken away. So, too, let them return sandals and whatever is old, when they receive anything new.
Those who are sent out on a journey should receive leggings from the wardrobe, which, on their return, they will place back, washed. The cowls and the tunics taken on the journey should also be a little better than the ones they usually wear. These all they receive from the wardrobe when they set out on a journey, and give back when they return.
For their bedding, let a straw mattress, a blanket, a coverlet, and a pillow be sufficient. The Abbot should frequently examine these to determine if anyone is hiding private possessions there. And if anything is found that a monk did not receive with the permission of the Abbot, let him fall under the severest discipline. And that this vice of private ownership may be torn out by the roots, the Abbot should provide each monk the kind of things that he requires—namely, a cowl, tunic, sandals, boots, belt, knife, pen, needle, towel, writing tablet; that all pretence of being needy may be removed. With respect to this matter, let the following sentence from the Acts of the Apostles always be kept in mind by the Abbot: “And distribution was made to every man according as he had need.” (Acts 4:35). And so, let the Abbot should give attention to the infirmities of the needy, not for the ill will of the envious. Yet in all his decisions, let the Abbot think of the judgment of God.