Chapter 54
FIFTY-FOURTH CHAPTER
Whether a Monk may receive Letters or Anything else ll will not be permitted a monk to receive letters, blest articles, or any other small gifts from his parents or others, or to give or send the same without the permission of the abbot.1
Should something have been sent to him, even by his parents, let him not presume to accept it before it has first been shown to the abbot. Even after he has sanctioned its receipt, the abbot may still give it to whomsoever he will. Only let the brother to whom something has been sent not be grieved, lest occasion be given to the devil.2 Should one, however, presume to do other wise, let him undergo the discipline of the Rule.
/ 1 Here, again, the Holy Rule bases its prescriptions with respect to the receiving of gifts and the like upon the monk's complete renunciation and abandonment of the world. As little as he may without the permission of the abbot associate with the guests, so little may he in other respects make any contacts with the world on his own authority. On this subject all monastic tradition is wholly in agreement.
St. Pachomius ruled tersely and to the point: "No one may receive anything from anyone else without the consent of his superior" (Rule 106). See also Cassian
Institutes iv, 16; St. Augustine, Rule 8 and sermon cclvi; and Caesarius, "Rule for Nuns," Rule 25. St. Augustine would not hear of his monks receiving gifts that were destined for some individual of the house and not for the community as a whole. — As to Eulogiae (blest articles, etc.) see St. Gregory, Dialogues 11, viii. Under the term Eulogiae St. Benedict probably also understood souvenirs from pilgrims, that is, blest articles and so on, which they had brought with them and distributed among their friends: for example, relics, oil from lamps and wax from candles that had been lighted before the graves of the martyrs; moreover, oil
(or dew) that had exuded from their remains, oil that had been brought into contact with such remains; earth from the Holy Land; dust from the graves of the martyrs; waters from the Jordan or other healing waters; facsimiles of the holy nails, medals, rings, and the like. From this enumeration one can readily understand how cur iosity might be aroused and interior recollection be dissipated. Under these and other pious disguises, the world could easily creep into the cloister, f This reference (cf. also chaps, xxxviii, xliii, & lxx) takes it for granted that the devil and his imps do wander about the cloister looking for an unfaithful monk who may present them with an "occasion" for success, or to employ another figure of speech, inadvertently open a door for them to slink in and stir up mischief. At his profession the monk should not be satisfied with merely an oral or a symbolic renunciation of "the devil and all his pomps." It must, in fact, follow that: "this is what it means to have renounced the devil and his works; for Satan watches every transgression and every perverse movement of the will for a chance to in sinuate himself into our hearts; for faults belong to him, just as virtues belong to God. Consequently, if we harbor an affection for sin in our hearts, they allow the devil, who is the Lord of sin, when he comes near, to enter in and take pos session of his domain. So it comes about that such hearts are never at peace with themselves, but always restless and in turmoil . . . They have within them the very worst of all tenants, to whom they have given admittance through their vices and