CHAPTER LXVII: Of brethren who are sent on a journey.
Of the porter of the Monastery.
At the gate of the Monastery, let there be stationed a wise old man, who knows how to receive and to give an answer, and whose ripeness of age will not suffer him to wander from his post. He ought to have a cell near the gate, that such as come may always find him at hand, ready to give them an answer.
As soon as any one shall knock, or a poor man cry for aid, let him presently answer: "Thanks be to God," or invoke a blessing; and with all mildness of the fear of God, let him reply speedily in the fervour of charity. If he need help, he shall have a junior Brother with him. The Monastery ought, if possible, to be so constructed as to contain within itself all necessaries, that is, water, a mill, a garden, and a bakehouse; also that the various crafts be exercised within it, so that there be no occasion for Monks to go abroad, because it is in no wise expedient for their souls. We wish this rule to be frequently read in the Community, that no Brother may excuse himself on the score of ignorance. __________________________________________________________________
Of brethren who are sent on a journey.
Let those who are to be sent on a journey commend themselves to the prayers of all the Brethren and of the Abbot, and always at the last prayer of the Work of God let a commemoration be made of all the absent. When they come back, they shall, on the very day of their return, lie prostrate on the ground of the Oratory during all the Canonical Hours, while the Work of God is being fulfilled, and beg the prayers of all, on account of the faults they may have committed on the way, by sight or hearing of evil things, or by idle discourse. Let no one presume to relate unto others what he has seen or heard outside the Monastery; because this is a fruitful source of evil. If any one shall presume to do so, let him be liable to the penalty prescribed by the Rule. In like manner shall he be punished who shall presume to break the enclosure of the Monastery, or go anywhere, or do anything, how trifling soever without leave of the Abbot. __________________________________________________________________