De monasteriis et monachis et praesulibus.
Concerning monasteries, monks and abbots.
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The life in a monastery is so honorable and so adapted to conciliate the man entering it with God, that it cleanses him of all human stain, makes him pure, fit
to live according to a rational nature, generally strong in meditation and superior to human cares. If any one, therefore, is to be a perfect monk, he is in need of training and diligent exercise in the word of God, so as to become worthy of so great a change. Hence it has also seemed good to us to direct what they must do, to make them true combatants on the way that leads to God. And that is the purpose of the present law, so that, after making laws concerning the God-beloved bishops and the reverend clergymen, we may not leave matters relating to monks destitute of proper order.
1) It is, first of all, to be decided, therefore, that at all times and in every part of our empire, whenever any one wants to build a venerable monastery, that shall not be permitted to be done, till he has called the God-beloved bishop, and he has consecrated the place to God with prayer and hands stretched out to heaven, affixing in it the sign of our Saviour—we mean the cross worthy of veneration and the only one to be honoured—and he may then, after laying such beautiful and becoming foundation, commence the building. This, then, shall be the beginning of piously building venerable monasteries.
2) After that, we must also give consideration to each of the monks, in what becoming manner they should be made such. We therefore ordain, following the sacred canons, that those who devote themselves to a monastic life, shall not inconsiderately and immediately receive the monastic attire from the reverend abbots of the venerable monasteries, but they shall remain for a full term of three years (unless exception is made by the bishop), without as yet being considered worthy of the monastic attire, but they shall be tonsured as, and wear the dress of, the so-called laymen, remaining to learn the word of God. And their reverend abbots shall interrogate them whence they received the desire for a monastic life; and when they have learned from them that they have been led thereto by no vicious occasion, they shall be accepted among the number of those who are instructed and admonished, and they shall prove their perseverance and honor. For a change in life is not easy, if not made with a mental struggle. And if they, indeed, sustain that manner of life throughout the three years, proving themselves noble and persevering to the remaining monks and to the abbot, they shall be considered worthy of the monastic attire and tonsure. Nor do we give any one liberty to curiously follow up accusations of theft pertaining to him, but we want him to continue in his monastic practice. And even though he committed some offense in his previous life—for human nature is commonly prone toward offenses—yet the three years’ testimonial shall suffice for a proper purging of sins and for having become better; provided, however, that in such case, too, the property taken by theft shall, wherever it may be found, be restored to its owner.
3) We must next see how to make them worthy combatants in monastic philosophy in connection with their habitation and manner of living. For we want no monastery under our sway, whether having many or few men, to separate the monks, who are there, from each other, using separate houses; but we ordain that they shall eat together and all sleep in a place common to them all, each of them, indeed, sleeping in his own bed, but all of them placed in one house; or if one house has insufficient capacity to hold them all, they may be placed in two houses or more, not by themselves and alone, but together, so that they may be witnesses of each other’s honorable conduct and purity and so that they may not indulge in indolent sleep, giving offense to those who see, but may be modest therein; except that those of them who lead a life of contemplation and perfection, who are usually called anchorites and hesychasts, may have their own cottage, as though, excepted from a life in common, reserved for something better. We want the rest, who engage in monastic practice among the multitude, to be in community-houses. In that way their emulation in virtue will increase, especially that of the young men, when associated with their seniors. For the manner of life of the seniors will serve as a careful education of the youths. They shall thus, in their monasteries, obey their abbot, preserving the prescribed monastic practice uncorrupted.
4) If a man, however, after consecrating himself, and after obtaining the monastic attire, wants thereafter to leave the monastery and follow a life by himself, perchance, he must know what account he must render thereof to God. All the property that he had when entering the monastery will pass into its ownership, and he shall carry nothing away with him.
5) We further direct, that the person who wants to enter a monastery shall have the right, before he does so, to dispose of his property in whatever manner he wishes. For his property follows him in his entrance, although he has not expressly stated that he was bringing it, and he will no longer be its owner. If he has children, and he has, perchance, already given them some property in an amount of a fourth of his property, the children shall have no part in remaining property. But if he has given them nothing or less than such fourth, such fourth shall be due the children even after he renounced the world and entered the monastery, either to make up the deficiency, if they, perchance, already received something, or to supply the whole thereof. If he has a wife, and enters a monastery after leaving her, the dowry and the agreement making provisions in case of death shall be preserved. Everything, moreover, said in regard to this matter, concerning monks, shall also apply to women who enter a monastery.
6) If he leaves the monastery in which he engaged in monastic practice, and goes to another monastery, in that case, too, his property shall remain with and be claimed by the former monastery, where he, renouncing the world, left it.
7) If one of those professing Orthodox monastic practice is considered worthy of ordination as clergyman, he shall also in such case persevere in the purity of such practice, so that if he abuses the freedom of the clergy and dares to marry—occupying a grade as clergyman which permits him to marry, namely, that of singer or reader—for we forbid all others, according to the divine canons, to marry or have a concubine, or in any way give themselves to a life of luxury—he shall be expelled from the order of the clergy, as one who has dishonoured the monastic practice and life; he shall thereafter be a private person and shall not dare to aspire to any imperial service; but he shall live the life of a private person and see what account he is to render to God in this matter.
8) Whatever provisions, moreover, have been made by us in all our constitutions, formerly or now enacted, concerning the clergy or monks or monasteries, shall equally apply to males and females, monasteries and hermitages, and we do not, in this respect, separate the male from the female, because all things are one in Christ.
9) All these provisions the holy patriarchs shall make known to the Godbeloved metropolitan bishops under them, and the latter shall inform the Godbeloved bishops under them thereof, and these shall communicate with the monasteries under their control, so that the worship of the Lord God may everywhere and perpetually remain uncorrupted. Heavenly punishment will hang over those who transgress these provisions; we mean celestial punishment, which needs must hang over those who despise correct dogmas. But the magistrates of our empire must, if these provisions are announced to them, be zealous in every respect to carry the provisions contained in the divine canons, and which our law enacted by us follows, into effect. And punishment will not fail them, if they neglect these provisions.
Given at Constantinople, 17 March 535.