Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIXTH CHAPTER
The sick Brethren Above everything else and before all others, special (charit able) care must be taken of the sick, so that they may be served like Christ, because he himself said as much: "I was sick, and you visited me" (Matt, xxv, 36); and: "What ye have done to one of these least ones, ye have done to me" (cf. Matt, xxv,
40).
But the sick themselves should reflect that they are being served for the honor of God; and they should not grieve the brethren who take care of them by their demanding attitude.
Nevertheless, they are to be borne with patiently, since with such characters one reaps a greater reward. Let the abbot, therefore, take the greatest (loving) care that they suffer no neglect.1
Let a special room be set aside for the sick brethren, as well as a diligent and solicitous brother (to look after them).2
Let the use of baths be accorded the sick as often as it is expedient. To those in good health, especially the young breth ren, let it be granted less readily.1 Likewise let the eating of flesh meat be allowed the sick who are weak, that they may regain their strength.2 But as soon as they have recovered, they should all abstain from meat as is the custom.
1 Although he was the abbot-general of his monasteries, St. Pachomius wanted to be treated as an ordinary monk. On one occasion when he was sick, he refused to accept a wollen coverlet: "Take it away," he said, "and throw a rush mat over me, as is the custom among the brethren." He expected the same kind of behav ior also from the other superiors. Pachomius, however, likewise knew how the demons tried to torment the sick. He could distinguish between genuine sickness es and illnesses of a demonic origin or influence. He himself was far from being a complainer. Although he was so hale and hearty and was seldom indisposed, he by no means neglected the sick. He was much rather more kind and sympathetic towards them than to all others (Second Life xlvi).
2 Today a sick cell, or infirmary, is a regular adjunct to all our monasteries. And since the canons of the Church have forbidden religious well as the clergy from taking up the practice of medicine and surgery, the custom has been to call in one or the other lay physician in cases of severe illness. One of the monks, with the help of a lay-Brother is given charge over them. (In America frequent use is made of nearby hospitals and their greater facilities, especially in cases where surgery is called for. Fortunate is the house which has a lay-Brother, who is also a registered nurse. The translator!.
The abbot shall exercise the greatest (loving) solicitude that the sick shall not be neglected, either by the cellarer or by their warders. For the delinquencies of his disciples are all a reflec tion upon him.
Excursus.
The sick Brother.—The sick brother becomes the embodiment of the suffering Lord, the "man of sorrows" (Isai. liii, 3). With this concept the Holy Rule repudiates each and every attempt to despise the sick or find an excuse to look upon them as useless and expendable members of the community. A tender loving care of the infirm was precisely an outstanding characteristic of ancient monasticism. Palladius (f before 431), in his Vitae Patrum, tells this story: "Apollonius, called the 'tradesman,' renounced the world and retired to the mountains. Incapable of learning a craft or of acquiring the art of writing on account of his advanced age, he chose the following way of being useful. Sparing neither money nor pains, he traveled regularly to Alexandria, bought there all sorts of medicines and expensive foods, and with them sup plied the brotherhood when any one of them became sick. From early morning until the ninth hour, he could be seen wandering about among the cells. He went through each door and looked about to sec if the inmate was sick. When he found one of them ill, he distributed dried grapes, pomegranates, eggs, white wheaten loaves, and other things suitable for the infirm. This practice, which was most meritorious for him, he kept up until the very night of his
1 There were always among the old monks individuals of such an austere way of life that they allowed themselves no mitigations even in times of sickness. Of course, they were greatly in the minority. With respect to baths, points of view were divided. One marvels at the magnanimity of St. Augustine, who frequently allowed his monks to visit the public baths: "And one should not refuse baths to the body if its infirmity should make them necessary. They should be taken with out question upon the advice of medical authority. Even those who arc averse to them should obey the orders of their superiors in what is to be done for their health. . . In cases of internal body pains, one (confrere or superior) should believe without question a servant of God, who speaks out as to what hurts him. If there remains a doubt as to whether a certain remedy is the specific one to ease the pain, a physician should be consulted. No fewer than two or three at a time . . .should go to the public baths" (Rule 9). The great Antony "did not bathe his body with water, nor wash his feet" (Vita Antonii xlvii; cf. Palladius, Vitae Patrum i & xxxviii; and Gerontius, Vita Melaniae ii). This rather radical rejection of bath ing and the neglect of bodily cleanliness generally, which manifested itself at times among the early monks, should be regarded in the same light as one should regard, for example, the so-called "foolishness for Christ's sake" (cf. HR. chap, vii, com ment 5). The refusal of many an ascetic to bathe (a sort of moral allergy) un doubtedly had its roots in a deep loathing, generated by a memory of the lasciv ious conduct of many worldlings in the public baths. If the old monachism was unquestionably cool towards actual bathing-even Pachomius thought it permis sible only in time of illness—the overwhelming majority of monastic fathers were decidedly favorable toward unconditional cleanliness of the body and its clothing
(cf. HR, chap, lv, comment 3).
2 Cf. chap, xxxix.
years. And when he came to die, he gave all his possessions to another of the same persuasion, asking him to continue his work.
Solicitude of this kind was by no means superfluous, for the hills were somewhat remotely situated and the monks numbered fully 5,000 men (chap, xiii). Pachomius directed that all the better provisions which were delivered at the gates of the monastery or in any other way acquired by the brethren should be brought to the sick (Rule 53; cf. 43-46). He provided, moreover, that the monks be allowed to visit their sick relatives in the world (Rule 54).
With him a "sick cell" was an obvious necessity. And the sick warders also lived in the infirmary. St. Basil wished that in cases of illness an extensive use be made of every medicinal agent: healing herbs and medicines (v.g., oil, wine, poultices, etc.) and that a physician be called in. "The care taken to heal the body," he said, "is an indication of the care to be taken to heal the sicknesses of the soul" (Longer Rules 55).
It is clear that St. Augustine would be outdone by no one in his solicitude for the ailing. During the course of a disease, they were to be provided with special diets. "But after they have recovered, they are to be cared for in such a way that their convalescence may be all the more rapid. Indeed, all this is to be done even if the sick man came from the humblest station in the world and as if he had the same rights during his convalescence as a rich monk had had in his former way of life." Having fully recovered, however, he should return to his previous monastic routine (Rule 5). "One of the brethren should be assigned to look after the sick or the convalescent or those afflicted with any kind of infirmity, even if they have no fever. This brother should order from the kitchen whatever in his judgment he considers necessary" (Rule 9).
"Should anyone in the community be sick, or convalescent after recovering from a sickness, so that he must have some nourishment before the midday meal, I have no objection if God-fearing men and women send him things that they consider beneficial for him" (Sermon ccclvi).