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anything that might reasonably be called ownership, 14except as much land as necessity requires for the integrity and proper seclusion of the monastery, 15and this land may not be cultivated except as a garden for the needs of the sisters.a
[Chapter Seven: The Manner of Working]
1Let the sisters to whom the Lord has given the grace of working work faithfully and devotedly after the Hour of Terce at work that pertains to a virtuous life and the common good. 2[Let them do this] in such a way that, while they banish idleness, the enemy of the soul, they do not extinguish the Spirit of holy prayer and devotion to which other temporal things must contribute.b
3At the Chapter, in the presence of all, the abbess or her vicaress is bound to assign the work that each should perform with her hands. 4Let the same be done if alms have been sent by anyone for the needs of the sisters, so that an acknowledgement of them be made in common. 5Let all such things be distributed for the common good by the abbess or her vicaress with the advice of the discreets.c
[Chapter Eight: The Sisters Shall Not Appropropiate
Anything as Their Own; Begging Alms; The Sick Sisters]
1Let the sisters not appropriate anything to themselves, neither a house nor a place nor anything at all; 2instead, as pilgrims and strangers in this world who serve the Lord in poverty and humility, let them confidently send for alms.d 3Nor should they be ashamed, since the Lord made Himself poor in this world for us. 4This is that summit of the highest poverty which has established you, my dearest sisters, heiresses and queens of the
- For an important general treatment of the problem of economic and pastoral support for medieval religious women see Brenda Bolton, “Mulieres Sanctae,” originally published in Studies in Church History, vol. 10, pp. 77-85, edited by Derek Baker (London: Basil Blackwell, 1973; New York: Barnes and Noble, 1973).
- Echoing Francis’s Later Rule V 1-2, Clare describes work as a normal means of subsistence and a concrete way of practicing poverty and inculcating a spirit of minority. This passage indicates the existence of a monastic style of horarium. The Process of Canonization describes Clare as never idle, but given over to her spinning even when ill, cf. Process I 11.
- The use of the chapter as the place for assignments and distribution of goods was to prevent favoritism.
- The medieval pilgrimage was a major expression of a life of penance that accentuated the renunciation of financial security and its consequent reliance upon daily work and alms created a spirit of pilgrim-like insecurity for the sisters. Cf. Jonathan Sumption, Pilgrimage: An Image of Medieval Religion (Totowa, NJ: Rowan and Littlefield, 1975).
Regula [Clarae], Fontes Franciscani, p. 2300-2301
13seu etiam aliquid quod rationabiliter proprietas dici possit, 14nisi quantum terrae pro honestate et remotione monasterii necessitas requirit; 15et illa terra non laboretur nisi pro horto ad necessitatem ipsarum.
[Caput VII - De modo laborandi].
1Sorores, quibus dedit Dominus gratiam laborandi, post horam tertiae laborent, et de laboritio quod pertinet ad honestatem et communem utilitatem, fideliter et devote, 2ita quod, excluso otio animae inimico, sanctae orationis et devotionis spiritum non exstinguant cui debent cetera temporalia deservire.
3Et id quod manibus suis operantur, assignare in capitulo abbatissa vel eius vicaria coram omnibus teneatur. 4Idem fiat si aliqua eleemosyna pro sororum necessitatibus ab aliquibus mitteretur, ut in communi pro eisdem recommendatio fiat. 5Et haec omnia pro communi utilitate distribuantur per abbatissam, vel eius vicariam, de consilio discretarum.
[Caput VIII Quod nihil approprient sibi sorores, et de eleemosyna procuranda et de sororibus infirmis].
1Sorores nihil sibi approprient, nec domum nec locum, nec aliquam rem; 2et tanquam peregrinae et advenae in hoc saeculo, in paupertate et humilitate, Domino famulantes,: mittant pro eleemosyna confidenter; 3nec oportet eas verecundari, quia Dominus pro nobis se fecit pauperem in hoc mundo. 4Haec est illa celsitudo altissimae paupertatis, quae vos, carissimas sorores meas, heredes et reginas regni caelorum instituit, pauperes rebus fecit, virtutibus sublimavit.