The Rule Of Pachomius, Part 4
Translated by Esmeralda Ramirez de Jennings
Edited by Rev. Daniel R. Jennings
Prescriptions and Laws of our Father Pachomius concerning the six Prayers of the
evening and the Sinaxis of Six Prayers that are celebrated in each house
The chief of the house and his second in command would weave twenty five armfuls of palm leaves so that
everybody else will adjust their work to follow their examples. If they are absent at that moment, the one who
replaces them will be applied to fulfill this measurement of work. The brothers should go to the sinaxis after having
been summoned; before the signal, no one will leave their cell. If anyone transgresses these prescriptions he will
receive the usual reprimand.
You should not force the brothers to work more than they really need to; a task exactly measured to stimulate
everybody at work is all that is needed; and the peace and concord will reign among them; if you follow this rule they
will submit gladly to their superiors whether they are seated, walking or standing in their places and together they will
compete in humility.
In the presence of any sin all of the fathers of the monasteries will be able and should reprimand and set the
deserved correction.
The chief of the house and his second in command will only have the right to obligate the brothers to submit to
penance (by the individual sins) in the sinaxis of the house and at the great sinaxis, namely the one that all of the
brothers celebrate.
If a chairman has gone on a trip, his second in command will occupy his place to receive the penances of the
brothers as well as for anything that is necessary at the house.
If in the absence of the chairman and his second somebody comes to another house, to another brother of
another house, to borrow a book or any other object, and if such thing is proven, he will be rebuked according to the
rule of the monastery.
The one who wants to live without fault and without contempt in the house that has been assigned to him will
have to observe before God everything that has been prescribed.
When the chief of the house is busy, the second in command will provide everything necessary in the monastery
and at the fields.
The supreme happiness is to celebrate the six prayers in the evening upon the model of the great sinaxis that
reunites all of the brothers at the same time; it is celebrated with so much joy that the brothers do not find anything
shameful in it nor experience any misfortune.
If anyone has endured the heat and comes in from outdoors at the moment when the other brothers are
celebrating the prayers, he will not be obligated to attend if his situation allows it.
When the chiefs of the house instruct the brothers about the way to have a holy life (in the community), no one
will restrain from attending without having a good reason.
The elders that are sent outside with the brothers will have, during the time that they spent outside, the powers of
the chairmen and will determine all of the things by their own initiative. They will give the catechesis to the brothers
all of the set days, and if it happens that there is some rivalry and competition the brothers, the elders will be the
ones to listen and to judge about the matter; they will reprimand the guilty one and the brothers who receive their
orders will receive peace with all of their hearts.
If any of the brothers experiences resentment against the chief of the house, or the same chairman has any
complaint against a brother, those brothers of observance and solid faith should listen and judge about their
matters. If the father of the monastery is absent and if he has left for a short period of time, they will wait for him, but
if they see that his absence is prolonged for some more time, then they will hear the chairman and the brother for
fear that a long time of waiting will be the cause of a deeper resentment. The chairman and the brother, as well as
the ones who listen, need to do according to all that the fear of God requires and to not give occasion to discord.
In the area of clothing, if anyone has more clothes than what the rule authorize, he will send it to the one that
keeps it in the clothing room without waiting for a warning from their superior and will not be able to go to ask for it
because those articles will be at the disposition of the chairman and his second in command.
End of the fourth and last part.