33. Whether Monks Should Have Anything of Their Own
Above all, this vice must be cut from the monastery at its root: 2 namely, no one should presume to give or to receive anything without the abbot’s command, 3 and no one should presume to have anything of his own, nothing at all—neither book nor tablet nor pen—indeed nothing at all, 4 since they are not even free to have control either of their bodies or of their own wills.
5 Rather they should trust that everything necessary will come from the father of the monastery, and anything that the abbot has not given or permitted they are not free to have. 6 “Let them all have all things in common,” as it is written, so that “no one may call anything his own” or presume to do so (Acts 4:32).
7 If anyone is caught indulging in this most wicked vice, let him be counseled once and again. 8 If he does not change, let him be subject to correction.
