From Monachos.net
Translated by Esmeralda Ramirez de Jennings; based on the text edited by the Revd D.R. Jennings, with additional editorial work by the Monachos.net Library Project
Prescriptions and laws of our father Pachomius, concerning the six prayers of the evening and the synaxis of six prayers that are celebrated in each house
The chief of the house and his second in command would weave twenty five armfuls of palm leaves so that everybody else will adjust their work to follow their examples. If they are absent at that moment, the one who replaces them will be applied to fulfil this measurement of work. The brothers should go to the synaxis after having been summoned; before the signal, no one will leave their cell. If anyone transgresses these prescriptions he will receive the usual reprimand.
You should not force the brothers to work more than they really need to; a task exactly measured to stimulate everybody at work is all that is needed; and the peace and concord will reign among them; if you follow this rule they will submit gladly to their superiors whether they are seated, walking or standing in their places and together they will compete in humility.
In the presence of any sin all of the fathers of the monasteries will be able and should reprimand and set the deserved correction.
The chief of the house and his second in command will only have the right to obligate the brothers to submit to penance (by the individual sins) in the synaxis of the house and at the great synaxis, namely the one that all of the brothers celebrate.
If a chairman has gone on a trip, his second in command will occupy his place to receive the penances of the brothers as well as for anything that is necessary at the house.
If in the absence of the chairman and his second somebody comes to another house, to another brother of another house, to borrow a book or any other object, and if such thing is proven, he will be rebuked according to the rule of the monastery.
The one who wants to live without fault and without contempt in the house that has been assigned to him will have to observe before God everything that has been prescribed.
When the chief of the house is busy, the second in command will provide everything necessary in the monastery and at the fields.
The supreme happiness is to celebrate the six prayers in the evening upon the model of the great synaxis that reunites all of the brothers at the same time; it is celebrated with so much joy that the brothers do not find anything shameful in it nor experience any misfortune.
If anyone has endured the heat and comes in from outdoors at the moment when the other brothers are celebrating the prayers, he will not be obligated to attend if his situation allows it.
When the chiefs of the house instruct the brothers about the way to have a holy life (in the community), no one will restrain from attending without having a good reason.
The elders that are sent outside with the brothers will have, during the time that they spend outside, the powers of the chairmen and will determine all of the things by their own initiative. They will give the catechesis to the brothers all of the set days, and if it happens that there is some rivalry and competition the brothers, the elders will be the ones to listen and to judge about the matter; they will reprimand the guilty one and the brothers who receive their orders will receive peace with all of their hearts.
If any of the brothers experiences resentment against the chief of the house, or the same chairman has any complaint against a brother, those brothers of observance and solid faith should listen and judge about their matters.
If the father of the monastery is absent and if he has left for a short period of time, they will wait for him, but if they see that his absence is prolonged for some more time, then they will hear the chairman and the brother for fear that a long time of waiting will be the cause of a deeper resentment. The chairman and the brother, as well as the ones who listen, need to do according to all that the fear of God requires and to not give occasion to discord.
In the area of clothing, if anyone has more clothes than what the rule authorize, he will send it to the one that keeps it in the clothing room without waiting for a warning from their superior and will not be able to go to ask for it because those articles will be at the disposition of the chairman and his second in command.
End of the fourth and final part.