Chapter Sixty-Five
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
On the Prior of the Monastery
IT OFTEN happens that grave scandals arise in monasteries through the installation of the Prior; since there are some who, puffed up with the wicked spirit of pride and thinking themselves to be second Abbots, take for themselves usurped power. As a result they foster scandals and cause dissension in the community. This is especially the case in those places where the Prior has been appointed by the same Bishop or the same Abbots who appointed his Abbot. The absurdity of this custom is easily observed because, from the very beginning of his installation, he is spurred to pride when his thoughts suggest to him that now he is exempt from the authority of the Abbot, because “thou too hast been installed by the same power by whom the Abbot was installed.” From this material arise envy, discord, slander, quarrels, jealousy, and disorders. While the Abbot and the Prior are thus at odds with each other, it must follow that their souls are endangered by this discord and that those who are under them, as long as they favor one party over another, rush to their ruin. The blame for this evil rests on the heads of those who were the authors of such disorders.
We foresee, therefore, that for the preservation of peace and charity it is best that the governance of the monastery should depend on the will of the Abbot. When at all possible, the affairs of the monastery (as we have explained before) should be overseen by deans, as the Abbot shall dispose, so that, the same Office being shared by many, no one will become proud.
If, however, the needs of the place require it, or the community reasonably and with humility makes a request—and the Abbot shall deem it useful—the Abbot himself should appoint as whomever he wish as Prior, but he should do so after the counsel of the God-fearing brethren. Let the Prior reverently undertake what his Abbot has enjoined on him, doing nothing against the will or the direction of the Abbot; for the higher he is placed above others, the more careful ought he to be in obeying the precepts of the Rule.
If the Prior be found disorderly or blinded by vainglory, or has been proved to be a scoffer of the Holy Rule, let him be admonished up to the fourth time. If he does not amend, the correction of the regular discipline should be applied to him. But if he does not amend even after that, let him be deposed from the Office of priorship, and another who is worthy be appointed in his stead. Afterward, if he is not quiet and obedient in the community, let him also be expelled from the monastery. Still, let the Abbot reflect that he must give an account to God for all his decisions, lest perhaps the flame of envy or jealousy should consume his soul.