Everyday Facebook 5

 From " The Holy Rule and oblates".

The same moderation must be found in a monk's food , so that all signs of overeating be absent. The flesh of four-footed animals is forbidden, but Benedict allows at each meal a choice of food to satisfy different tastes, together with a limited portion of bread. Although wine is permitted, abstinence is lauded and drunkenness decried.

In Lent something of the allotted amount is to be voluntarily subtracted , but only with the blessing of the abbot, that pride may not enter in.

Idleness is the enemy of the soul, Benedict asserts, and the brethren, therefore, must be occupied at stated hours in manual labor, and again at other hours in sacred reading. Between the hours of the office and between the two meals( whether the first be at noon or in afternoon) , the monks are to devote their time to reading , studying the psalms , or to tasks assigned to them. To those who are slothful or who cannot study , some work with their hands is to be given, that no one spend his time in idleness or gossiping.