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During the week of a certain brother the steward passing by saw lying
on the ground three lentil beans which had slipped out of the hand of the
monk on duty for the week as he was hastily preparing them for cooking,
together with the water in which he was washing them; and immediately he
consulted the Abbot on the subject; and by him the monk was adjudged a
pilferer and careless about sacred property, and so was suspended from
prayer. And the offence of his negligence was only pardoned when he had
atoned for it by public penance. For they believe not only that they
themselves are not their own, but also that everything that they possess is
consecrated to the Lord. Wherefore if anything whatever has once been
brought into the monastery they hold that it ought to be treated with the
utmost reverence as an holy thing. And they attend to and arrange
everything with great fidelity, even in the case of things which are
considered unimportant or regarded as common and paltry, so that if they
change their position and put them in a better place, or if they fill a
bottle with water, or give anybody something to drink out of it, or if they
remove a little dust from the oratory or from their cell they believe with
implicit faith that they will receive a reward from the Lord.
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