Cap. XLIV
DE GRAVIORIBUS CULPIS¹

[Ms P, fol. 128v – Paulus Diaconus –
Ps.-Basil: Ms K¹, fol. 127r; Ms E¹, fol. 144v; Ms E², fol. 220r]

Ch. 44
ON GRAVER FAULTS¹

Translated by: Anna Wilson

Congruum ordinem tenuit in hoc loco S. Benedictus in eo, quia coepit dicere, quomodo satisfacere debent illi, qui ad opus Dei tarde occurrunt [Regula Benedicti, c. 43], et subsecutus est, quomodo debeant etiam et illi, qui aut pro gravi vel levi culpa excommunicantur.

S. Benedict kept harmonious order in this section when he begins to say how those who run slowly to the work of God ought to make amends [Regula Benedicti, c. 43], and there follows how those who are excommunicated² either for a serious or for a light fault ought to be excommunicated.

Sequitur: ₁Qui pro gravi culpa, ab oratorio et a mensa excommunicatur, hora, qua opus Dei in oratorio percelebratur, ante fores oratorii prostratus jaceat nihil dicens, ₂nisi tantum posito in terram capite prostratus pronus omnium de oratorio exeuntium pedibus; ₃et hoc tamdiu faciat, usquedum abbas judicaverit satisfactum esse.

Next: ₁He who is excommunicated from the oratory and from the table for a serious fault should, in the hour in which the work of God is celebrated in the oratory, lie prostrate before the oratory entrance saying nothing ₂unless he is prostrate and flat with his head placed on the ground before the feet of everyone leaving the oratory. ₃Let him do this up until the point at which the abbot judges that he has made amends.

Animadvertendum est, quia non oportuerat dicere de satisfactione gravium culparum, sed tamen, quia dicturus erat de levium culparum satisfactione, ideo dixit de gravium culparum satisfactione.

It should be observed that it was not necessary to speak about the penance for serious faults, but however because he was about to speak about the penance for mild faults, for this reason he spoke about the penance for serious faults.

Hoc notandum, quia si multis diebus pro gravi culpa in custodia tenetur, paucis [vero] diebus teneri debet in oratorio, et si paucis diebus tenuerit cum in custodia, i. e. extra oratorium, multis diebus debet teneri in oratorio.

It should be noted that if he has been kept in custody for many days for a serious fault, [then] he ought to be kept in the oratory for few days, and if he has been kept for a few days when in custody, i.e. outside the oratory, he ought to be held for many days in the oratory.

Et iterum notandum est, quia non debet abbas ante absolvere illum, quam satisfaciat in oratorio, quia, si fecerit, non est ordo regularis. Verum potest, si vult aliquantulum ei satisfactionem levius facere isto modo, ut non transgrediatur ordinem regularem, i. e. ad capitulum cum miserit eum, in oratorio satisfacere, post sextam vel nonam, cum exiit abbas cum congregatione, debet vocare congregationem illo absente et dicere: 'Est justum et ratio, ut ille frater quiescat a sua satisfactione?' Si dixerint, quia [page 468] rectum est, ut quiescat, debet vocare coram fratribus et debet illi parcere.

And it should also be noted that the abbot ought not to absolve him before he has made amends in the oratory, because if he does, it is not the regular order. But the abbot may, if he wishes, lightly set a small penance for him in a way that does not transgress the regular order. For example, when the abbot has sent the brother to the chapter house to do penance in the oratory, when the abbot has left with the congregation after Sext or None, the abbot ought to call the congregation together in the chapter house in the absence of that brother and say, 'Is it just and right for that brother to rest from his penance?' If they say that [page 468] it is right that he should rest, the abbot ought to call him before his brothers and to reprieve him.

Sequitur: ₄Qui dum jussus ab abbate venerit, volvat se ipsius abbatis pedibus, deinde omnium vestigiis fratrum, ut orent pro ipso, ₅et tunc, si jusserit abbas, recipiatur in choro vel ordine, quo abbas decreverit, ₆ita sane, ut psalmum vel lectionem aut aliud aliquid non praesumat in oratorio imponere, nisi iterum abbas jubeat; ₇et omnibus horis, dum completur opus Dei, projiciat se in terram in loco, quo stat, ₈et sic satisfaciat, usque dum jubeat ei iterum abbas, ut quiescat jam ab hac satisfactione. ₉Qui vero pro levibus culpis excommunicantur tantum a mensa, in oratorio satisfaciant usque ad jussionem abbatis; ₁₀hoc perficiant, usque dum benedicat et dicat: sufficit.

Next: ₄This monk, when he has been ordered by the abbot that he may come, should bow at the feet of that abbot, then before the feet of all the brothers, so that they might pray for him, ₅and then, if the abbot should order it, he may be received into the choir or the order,³ to whichever the abbot has decreed, of course, so that he may not presume to contribute a psalm or lesson or anything else in the oratory unless the abbot should order it again; ₇and at all the hours when the work of God is being fulfilled, let him prostrate himself on the earth in the place where he is, ₈and thus do penance until the abbot should again order that he might now rest from this penance. ₉But those who are excommunicated for milder faults from the table alone, let them make amends in the oratory until the abbot's order; ₁₀let them do this until he shall bless them and say, 'It suffices.'

Istud enim, quod dicit prostratus vel pronus, sciendum est, quia pronus superfluum est aut certe hoc significat pronus, quod prostratus et causa exaggerationis humilitatis S. Benedictus dixit.

At the point which says prostrate and flat, it should be understood that flat is redundant, or certainly flat signifies what prostrate does, and St. Benedict has said this for the sake of emphasizing humility.

Hoc autem, quod dicit volvat se abbatis pedibus, ita faciendum est: debet ille frater fixis genibus in terra fratres salutare ex omni parte, et tunc debet se prosternere abbatis pedibus.

This part which says he should bow at the feet of the abbot should be done thus: the brother, with his knees fixed on the ground, should greet the brothers on every side, and then should prostrate himself before the abbot's feet.

Quid est in loco, in quo stat, quomodo debet se ibi projicere in terra? hoc est, ille abbas debet illum in tali loco constituere, ubi veniam possit postulare sine suo et aliorum impedimento.

What is in the place where he is, and how ought he to throw himself to the ground there? It is this: that abbot ought to set him in a place where he may seek pardon without impediment to himself or others.

Istud enim, quod dicit benedicat et sufficit, benedicat attinet ad gratias bene petenti referendas atque ad benedictionem dandam, cum dicit abbas: 'Benedicat tibi Dominus, quia poenitentiam tuam bene egisti;' sufficit autem attinet ad indulgentiam tribuendam, cum dicit: 'Sufficiat tibi hoc,' et 'Noli amplius agere.'

At the point which says he shall bless and it suffices, he shall bless refers to conferring grace well on the penitent and to granting benediction, when the abbot says, 'May the Lord bless you because you have done your penance well.' It suffices however refers to granting indulgence, when the abbot says, 'Let this suffice for you,' and 'Do not do any more.'

Terra autem dicta est a terendo, sicut Cassiodorus dicit in secundo psalmo, eo quod commeantium gressibus atteratur [Cassiodorus, Expositio Psalmorum 2:11, CCSL 97, p. 48] sive ut Isidorus dicit: Terra est in media mundi regione posita omnibus partibus coeli in modum centri aequali intervallo consistens, quae singulari numero totum orbem significat, plurali vero singulas partes, cujus nomina diversa dat ratio; nam terra dicta a [page 469] superiori parte, qua teritur, humus ab inferiore, velut humida ut sub mari [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XIV.I, c. 1].

The earth (terra), however, derives from 'treading' (terendo), just as Cassiodorus says concerning the second psalm, because it is trodden down by the steps of travellers [Cassiodorus, Expositio Psalmorum 2:11] or as Isidore says, The earth is placed in the central region of the world, standing fast in the center equidistant from all other parts of the sky. In the singular the word earth (terra) signifies the whole globe, but in the plural, distinct parts. Logic supplies the earth's diverse names, for the word 'terra' is derived from [page 469] the upper surface that is worn away (terere), 'soil' (humus) from the lower, or moist (humidus) earth, like that under the sea [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XIV.I, c. 1, transl. by Stephen A. Barney et al., Cambridge: CUP 2006, p. 285].

Pedes ex graeca etymologia nomen sortiti sunt; hos enim graeci podas dicunt, qui alternis motibus solo fixi incedunt [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XII.I, c. 112].

The feet (pedes) are assigned a name from Greek etymology, for the Greeks call those parts 'podes,' and they move forward set on the earth in alternating motion [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XI.I, c. 112, transl. Barney et al, p. 238].

Fores et valvae claustra sunt, sed fores dicuntur, quae foras, valvae, quae intus revolvuntur, et duplices complicabilesque sunt; sed generaliter usus vocabula ista corrupit. [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XV.VII, c. 4]

Door panels (fores) or leaves (valva) are also elements of a door, but the former are so called because they swing out (foras), the latter swing (revolvere) inward, and they can be folded double - but usage has generally corrupted these terms. [Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae XV.VII, c. 4, transl. Barney et al., p. 311]