Prologue: On the Healing Medicine of Souls #

¹ As we prepare to speak about the remedies for wounds, according to the definitions of the early Church Fathers, my most faithful brother, let us first briefly summarize the spiritual cures found in Sacred Scripture.

² The first remedy is the remission of sins through baptism in water, as it is written: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God”.

³ The second is the love of charity, as expressed in these words: “Her many sins have been forgiven because she loved much”.

⁴ The third is the fruit of almsgiving, as Scripture states: “Just as water extinguishes fire, so too does almsgiving extinguish sin”.

⁵ The fourth is the outpouring of tears, as the Lord says: “Because Ahab humbled himself before me and walked sorrowfully, I will not bring disaster upon him in his days”.

⁶ The fifth is the confession of sins, as the psalmist testifies: “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin”.

⁷ The sixth is affliction of heart and body, as the Apostle Paul exhorts: “I have handed this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord”.

⁸ The seventh is the amendment of one’s way of life—that is, renouncing sin—as the Gospel warns: “See, you are well again. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you”.

⁹ The eighth is the intercession of the saints, as it is written: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him”. Likewise, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”.

¹⁰ The ninth is the merit of mercy and faith, as Scripture declares: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy”.

¹¹ The tenth is the conversion and salvation of others, as James affirms: “Whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins”. Yet, it is better for you, if you are weak, to live a solitary life rather than perish among many.

¹² The eleventh is the granting of forgiveness, as truth itself promises: “Forgive, and you will be forgiven”.

¹³ The twelfth is the passion of martyrdom, as the one true hope of salvation assured the repentant thief: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”.

¹⁴ Since these remedies are proclaimed with the authority of the sacred canon, You must also study the statutes of the Fathers, who were appointed by the word of the Lord, as it is written: “Ask your father, and he will tell you; ask your elders, and they will explain it to you”. Likewise: “Let the case be brought before them”.

¹⁵ Thus, the Fathers have decreed that the eight principal vices, which are opposed to human salvation, should be cured by these eight corresponding remedies. Indeed, the ancient proverb is true: “Opposites are cured by their opposites.” For the one who has freely indulged in forbidden things must now discipline himself, even in what is lawful.

Chapter 1: On Gluttony #

¹ Those who become drunk on wine or beer against the command of the Savior, as it is written: “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth”, and of the Apostle: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery”, if they have made a vow of holiness, let them atone for their fault with bread and water for forty days; laypeople, however, for seven days.

² Whoever compels another to become drunk, even out of human kindness, shall do penance in the same manner as one who has become drunk.

³ If one causes another to become drunk out of hatred, they shall be judged as a murderer.

⁴ Whoever, being unable to sing, stammers foolishly with his tongue, shall impose discipline upon himself.

⁵ Whoever anticipates the canonical hour or consumes delicacies beyond others merely out of gluttony shall forgo dinner or live on bread and water for two days.

⁶ Whoever experiences excessive bloating and the pain of overindulgence shall do penance for one day.

⁷ If one vomits due to illness, they shall do penance for seven days.

⁸ However, if one vomits up the sacrament, they shall do penance for forty days.

⁹ If this occurs due to illness, the penance shall be seven days.

¹⁰ If one casts the sacrament into the fire, they shall recite one hundred psalms.

¹¹ If dogs lick up such vomit, the one who vomited shall do penance for one hundred days.

¹² Whoever steals food shall do penance for forty days; if they do so again, for three Lents; if a third time, for a full year; and if a fourth, they shall do lifelong penance under another abbot in exile.

¹³ A child of ten years who commits theft shall do penance for seven days.

¹⁴ If afterward, at twenty years of age, they commit another minor theft, they shall do penance for twenty or forty days.

Chapter 2: On Fornication #

¹ A bishop who commits fornication shall be deposed and do penance for twelve years.

² A presbyter or deacon who commits natural fornication, having previously made a monastic vow, shall do penance for seven years. He shall beg for forgiveness at every hour and impose an additional discipline upon himself each week, except during the forty days of Lent. Afterward, he may eat bread without restriction and a dish slightly enriched with butter, amounting to a quarter portion, and live in this manner on Sundays. On other days, he shall consume a full vessel (twelve ounces) of flour made into bread, a small amount of miso lightly enriched, garden vegetables, a few eggs, a British loaf, an ample amount of cumin, six eggs, and Roman milk for bodily frailty. Additionally, he may have a full measure of twelve beaten or tender milk portions, six Roman gallons for thirst, and an appropriate amount of water if he is a laborer. His bed shall not be overly furnished with hay.

³ For three Lents, he shall add some additional penance, according to his strength. He must always grieve deeply for his sin and obey with the greatest willingness in all things. After a year and a half, he may receive the Eucharist, be restored to peace, and chant psalms with the brothers, lest his soul, deprived of heavenly medicine for so long, should perish.

⁴ If a monk of lower rank commits this sin, he shall do penance for three years, but the measure of his bread shall not be excessively restricted. If he is a laborer, he may take a Roman sextarius of milk, another of thin gruel, and as much water as needed to quench his thirst.

⁵ If a presbyter or deacon commits this sin without having taken monastic vows, he shall do penance in the same manner as a monk without holy orders.

⁶ If, after committing this sin, a man wishes to become a monk, he shall do penance under a strict superior for a year and a half. However, the abbot has the authority to moderate this, provided that the man’s obedience is pleasing to both God and his abbot.

⁷ One who sins with a beast shall do penance for one year; if he alone is guilty, for three Lents; if he holds holy orders, for one year; a boy of fifteen years shall do penance for forty days.

⁸ A man who commits adultery with his mother shall do penance for three years along with lifelong pilgrimage.

⁹ Those who sin with kisses shall do penance for four years; if they have made a habit of it, for seven years.

¹⁰ Those who commit the crime of male-on-male relations, like the Sodomites, shall do penance for seven years.

¹¹ If the sin was committed between the thighs, the penance shall be for two years.

¹² Whoever desires fornication in his mind but does not commit it shall do penance for one year, especially during three Lents.

¹³ Whoever is defiled by obscene speech or impure gazing, yet does not willfully commit fornication in the body, shall do penance for twenty or forty days, according to the severity of the sin.

¹⁴ If one is violently overcome by sinful thoughts in mental struggle, he shall do penance for seven days.

¹⁵ Whoever is long troubled by thoughts of fornication, resisting them weakly for one, two, or more days, shall do penance for as long as the duration of his thoughts persisted.

¹⁶ If someone experiences pollution in a dream through their own will, they should rise and recite nine psalms in order while kneeling. On the following day, they should live on bread and water, or alternatively, kneel and recite thirty psalms, bowing at the end of each.

¹⁷ If someone intends to sin in sleep, whether they become defiled or only consent in will, they should recite twelve to fifteen psalms. If they sin without defilement, they should recite twenty-three psalms.

¹⁸ A cleric who fornicates once should do penance for one year, living on bread and water. If he fathers a child, he must do penance in exile for seven years; the same applies to a virgin.

¹⁹ Whoever loves a woman without any wrongdoing beyond certain conversations should do penance for forty days.

²⁰ However, if he has kissed and embraced her, he must do penance for one year, especially during three Lenten seasons.

²¹ If someone loves only in mind, they should do penance for seven days.

²² If someone has spoken words of love but was not received by the woman, they should do penance for forty days.

²³ A layperson who fornicates and sheds blood, upon conversion, must do penance for three years. In the first year and during the three Lenten seasons of the remaining years, they should live on bread and water. Throughout the entire period, they must abstain from wine, meat, weapons, and their wife.

²⁴ A layperson who defiles the wife or virgin of his neighbor must do penance for one year, living on bread and water and abstaining from his own wife.

²⁵ If someone defiles a consecrated virgin and fathers a child with her, he must do penance for three years without carrying weapons. In the first year, he should live on bread and water, and in the following years, he must abstain from wine and meat.

²⁶ If someone has not fathered a child but has committed defilement, they must do penance for one and a half years, abstaining from luxuries and from their wife.

²⁷ Whoever lies with his own servant must sell her and do penance for one year.

²⁸ If he fathers a child with her, he must set her free.

²⁹ If a man’s wife is barren, both he and she must remain in continence.

³⁰ If a wife has left her husband and later returns, he should receive her back without a dowry, and she must do penance for one year, living on bread and water. However, if he has taken another wife in the meantime, he must do penance instead.

³¹ A married person must observe continence during the three Lenten seasons of the year, on the Sabbath, on the Lord’s Day (both night and day), on the two lawful fasts, after conception, and during menstruation, until the flow of blood has ceased.

³² After childbirth, a woman must abstain for thirty-three days if she has borne a son, and for sixty-six days if she has borne a daughter.

³³ If a child dies without baptism due to the parents’ negligence, they must do penance for three years. In the first year, they should live on bread and water, and in the remaining two years, they must abstain from luxuries and marital relations.

³⁴ If a cleric refuses to receive a child from his own congregation for baptism, he must do penance for one year. If the child was from a different congregation, he must do penance for six months.

Chapter 3: On Avarice #

¹ Whoever commits theft once must do penance for one year; if they steal again, they must do penance for two years.

² If a child steals, they must do penance for forty or thirty days, depending on their age and level of understanding.

³ Whoever hoards excessive wealth for the future out of ignorance should distribute it to the poor. However, if they do so out of contempt for those who rebuke them, they should seek correction through almsgiving and fasting under the judgment of a priest. If they persist in avarice, they should be cast out.

⁴ Whoever demands back what was taken from them against the command of the Lord and the Apostolic authority must give what they recover to the needy.

⁵ Whoever unjustly seizes another’s property in any way must restore four times the amount to the person they wronged.

⁶ If they do not have the means to make restitution, they must do penance as previously stated.

⁷ Whoever steals consecrated items must do penance as stated before but in confinement.

⁸ Whoever swears a false oath must do penance for four years.

⁹ Whoever leads another into perjury unknowingly must do penance for seven years.

¹⁰ Whoever was led into perjury unknowingly but later realizes it must do penance for one year.

¹¹ Whoever suspects they might be led into perjury but still swears the oath must do penance for two years due to their consent.

¹² Whoever gives false testimony must first make amends with their neighbor. They must face the same judgment they imposed on their brother, under the authority of a priest.

¹³ Whoever fails to fulfill the works of mercy for which the Lord says, “Come, you blessed of my Father”, must do penance for as long as they neglected them and must live generously. If they refuse, they should be cast out.

¹⁴ A cleric who possesses excessive wealth must give it to the poor; if they refuse, they should be excommunicated.

¹⁵ If they later repent, they must live in penance for the same duration as they persisted in their refusal.

¹⁶ Whoever lies out of greed must make restitution through generosity to the one they deceived.

¹⁷ If someone lies out of ignorance and does not know the truth, they must confess to the one they lied to and to a priest, and they should observe a period of silence as penance or recite fifteen Psalms.

¹⁸ However, if the lie was intentional, they must repent by remaining silent for three days or recite three Psalms if they are able.

Chapter 4: On Anger #

¹ If someone causes distress to another, whether justly or unjustly, they must ease the resentment they have conceived through reconciliation before they can pray.

² If reconciliation is impossible, they should instead repent under the judgment of a priest.

³ Whoever refuses to reconcile should fast on bread and water for as long as they remained unforgiving, like a murderer.

⁴ Whoever hates their brother must fast on bread and water until they cast out their hatred and unite with the one they hated in sincere love.

⁵ Whoever commits murder through the contemplation of hatred must renounce all weapons and remain dead to the world, living only for God until death.

⁶ However, if this occurs after vows of perfection, they must renounce the world entirely and live in perpetual pilgrimage.

⁷ If someone commits violence out of rage rather than premeditation, they must repent for three years with fasting on bread and water, giving alms, and offering prayers.

⁸ If someone unintentionally kills their neighbor, they must do penance for one year.

⁹ If someone, in a fight, strikes another and causes weakness or disfigurement, they must pay for medical expenses, compensate for the injury, restore the victim’s ability to work until they recover, and do penance for six months.

¹⁰ If they cannot afford to make restitution, they must do penance for one year.

¹¹ Whoever strikes their neighbor without realizing it must do penance for one, two, or three periods of forty days, fasting on bread and water.

¹² Whoever curses their brother in rage must seek reconciliation with the one they cursed and live in solitude for seven days, fasting on bread and water.

¹³ Whoever speaks harsh words in anger, though not injurious, must make amends by offering additional satisfaction to their brother.

¹⁴ However, if someone remains silent despite feeling pale, flushed, or trembling, they must fast on bread and water for one day.

¹⁵ Whoever feels internal agitation must seek reconciliation with the one who caused it.

¹⁶ Whoever refuses to confess to the one who provoked them must be cast out from the assembly of the faithful; if they repent, they must do penance for as long as they resisted.

Chapter 5: On Sorrow #

¹ Whoever holds on to bitterness for a long time should be healed through a cheerful countenance and a joyful heart.

² However, if they do not quickly cast it off, they must be corrected through fasting under the judgment of a priest.

³ If they persist in bitterness, they should be cast out until they recognize their sin with joy and gladness while fasting on bread and water.

Chapter 6: On Sloth #

¹ Whoever is idle should be burdened with extra labor, and whoever is prone to drowsiness should be engaged in greater vigilance, such as staying awake for three nights or occupying themselves with Psalms.

² Whoever is restless and unstable should be healed by remaining in one place.

Chapter 7: On Boasting #

¹ Whoever is contentious should submit to the opinion of another; if they refuse, they are to be anathematized, for they are estranged from the kingdom of God).

² Whoever boasts of their good deeds must humble themselves; otherwise, whatever good they have done is lost, as it was performed for human glory.

Chapter 8: On Pride #

¹ Whoever presumes to introduce any novelty outside of the Scriptures, leading to heresy, must be cast out.

² However, if they repent, they must publicly renounce their error, bring back those they deceived to the faith, and fast according to the judgment of a priest.

³ Whoever reproaches others for their pride in any way must first make amends with them and then fast as determined by a priest.

⁴ Whoever is disobedient must remain outside the assembly without food, knocking humbly until they are received again. For as long as they were disobedient, they must fast on bread and water.

⁵ A blasphemer must be healed in the same manner, in private.

⁶ Whoever murmurs should be separated from others, and their work should be rejected. They must remain on half rations of bread and water.

⁷ Whoever is envious must make amends with the one they envied; if they have caused harm, they must seek reconciliation through generosity and do penance.

⁸ Whoever, out of envy, slanders another or willingly listens to slander must fast in solitude for nine days on bread and water.

⁹ However, if they slandered someone in authority, they must do penance for seven days and thereafter show due respect.

¹⁰ As some say, it is not wrong to tell the truth when correcting someone, but according to the Gospel, you should first rebuke them privately, between you and them alone. If they do not listen, take one or two others with you; if they still do not listen, tell the church.

¹¹ A person who delays or postpones should be treated similarly. If the one who is delayed denies their fault, both should do penance for one year. Every week, they must fast on bread and water for two days, and at the end of each month, they should fast for two days. All brothers must witness this and testify that God is their judge.

¹² Those who persist in their obstinacy after one year must be excluded from communion at the altar. They will be associated with judgment by fire and left to the judgment of God.

¹³ If one has confessed, they must do as much penance as the harm they have caused to the other.

¹⁴ Whoever, by speaking carelessly, slanders their brother, must do penance in silence for one or two days.

¹⁵ However, if the slander involves conversation or discussion, they must sing twelve Psalms.

¹⁶ If someone does not receive correction, yet wishes to be healed of their malady, they must refrain from agreeing with or endorsing the wrongdoers. If they fail to meet these conditions, the critic must sing thirty Psalms in order.

¹⁷ Whoever, in front of the abbot, offers an excuse or gives an apology for not following the rule out of ignorance must do penance for one day; if they are knowledgeable about the rule, they must offer a greater penance.

¹⁸ Whoever intentionally refuses to submit to an elder must fast from meals.

¹⁹ If someone has kept secret a sin of their brother that leads to death, they should rebuke them confidently, and for as long as they kept silent, they must live on bread and water.

²⁰ If someone conceals a minor sin, they should be rebuked, but they must do penance under the judgment of a priest, either by reciting psalms or fasting.

²¹ Whoever rebukes others harshly should first seek to calm them and recite thirty psalms.

²² Whoever accuses a brother of a shameful sin should, before rebuking him privately, make satisfaction by doing penance for three days.

²³ Whoever speaks alone with a woman or stays under the same roof with her at night must forgo supper.

²⁴ But if they persist despite being warned, they must do penance with only bread and water.

²⁵ Some decree that twelve three-day fasts should be observed in place of a full year of penance, which I neither praise nor condemn.

²⁶ Others prescribe one hundred days of penance, with half-rations of bread, water, and salt, along with the recitation of fifty psalms every night.

²⁷ Others require fifty prostrations, with a single intervening night of rest.

²⁸ Some decree that the sick should perform penance by giving alms—namely, the value of a man or a maidservant. However, it is more fitting that each person gives half of all they own, and if they have defrauded anyone, they must repay fourfold.

Chapter 9: On Minor Offenses #

¹ If someone negligently loses the consecrated sacrament and leaves it to be consumed by wild animals or birds, they must do penance—forty days if excusable, but an entire year if not.

² Whoever knowingly communicates with someone excommunicated from the Church must do penance for forty days.

³ Likewise, whoever knowingly eats carrion must do penance for forty days; if they do so unknowingly, they must still do penance for a year.

⁴ It must be understood that the longer someone remains in sin, the longer their penance must be.

⁵ If someone is assigned a task and refuses to do it out of contempt, they must forgo supper.

⁶ Whoever fails to arrive by the conclusion of the second psalm must recite eight psalms in order.

⁷ If someone is awakened after Mass, they must repeat whatever the brothers have sung and ask for forgiveness.

⁸ If they fail to attend a second time, they must forgo supper.

⁹ If someone mistakenly alters any sacred words where an error is deemed dangerous, they must perform three prostrations.

¹⁰ If the sacrament falls to the ground due to negligence, the offender must do penance.

¹¹ We must offer sacred prayers for good rulers, but not for wicked ones.

¹² However, priests are not forbidden to offer prayers for their bishops.

¹³ Whoever leads barbarians as guides must do penance for fourteen years—unless their actions did not result in Christian slaughter. But if they did, they must renounce arms, live as if dead to the world, and dedicate themselves to God until death.

¹⁴ Whoever plunders monasteries under the false pretense of ransoming captives must do penance for a year with only bread and water, give all stolen goods to the poor, and abstain from meat and wine for two years.

¹⁵ Whoever destroys a living creature must do penance for seven days.

¹⁶ If an animal eats carrion whose death was unknown, it must be sustained on bread and water for one-third of a year and, for the remainder of the year, abstain from meat and wine.

Chapter 10: On Children’s Games, The Decrees of Our Forefathers #

¹ Children who converse alone and violate the statutes of their elders must correct themselves with three prostrations.

² If a child gives a simple kiss, they must perform six prostrations; if it is a lustful kiss without defilement, eight; if accompanied by defilement or an embrace, ten.

³ After the age of twenty—adulthood and the state of continence—those guilty must be excluded from the table and expelled from the church, living on bread and water for forty days.

⁴ Those who engage in fornication or provoke each other to impurity—yet are not fully defiled due to the immaturity of their age—must do penance for twenty days; if it is habitual, forty.

⁵ A child who partakes of the sacrament while in a state of sin must do penance for one hundred days.

⁶ If children around the age of twenty defile each other with their hands and confess before receiving Communion, they must do penance for twenty or forty days

⁷ If they repeat the sin after penance, they must do penance for one hundred days; if it becomes frequent, they must be separated and do penance for a year.

⁸ If someone of the above-mentioned age commits fornication between the thighs, they must do penance for one hundred days; if they repeat the act, a full year.

⁹ If a young child under ten years old is assaulted by an older person, they must fast for a week; if they consented, they must do penance for twenty days.

¹⁰ If a child eats something stolen, they must do penance for seven days.

¹¹ If, after the age of twenty, they steal even something small, they must do penance for twenty days.

¹² If a mature man commits a similar offense, he must do penance for forty days; if repeated, for one hundred days; if it becomes habitual, for a year.

¹³ A man who defiles himself must do penance for one hundred days for the first offense; if repeated, for a year.

¹⁴ Men who commit fornication between the thighs must do penance for a year for the first offense; if repeated, for two years.

¹⁵ Those who commit sodomy—if they are boys, must do penance for two years; if men, for three or four years. If it becomes habitual, they must do penance for seven years, with additional penance as determined by a priest.

¹⁶ Those who indulge in lust through kissing must do penance for three years; if habitual, for seven years.

¹⁷ A boy coming from the secular world who attempts fornication with a girl but is not defiled must do penance for twenty days; if defiled, for one hundred days; if he fully indulges in his desires, for a year.

¹⁸ Whoever eats the skin of his own body (i.e., scabs) or, worse, consumes lice, drinks his own urine, or eats his own feces, must do penance for a full year with bread and water, with the laying on of hands by a bishop.

¹⁹ Whoever blesses an infant in place of baptism must do penance for a year, either outside the community or with bread and water.

²⁰ If an infant dies after only such a blessing, the one who performed it shall be judged as a murderer by the council.

²¹ Young children who strike each other must do penance for seven days; if older, for twenty days; if adolescents, for forty days.

Chapter 11: On Issues Concerning the Sacrament #

¹ Whoever fails to properly guard the sacrament and allows a mouse to eat it must do penance for forty days.

² Whoever loses part of the sacrament inside the church—such that a piece falls and cannot be found—must do penance for twenty days.

³ Whoever loses their chrismal or the sacrament itself in any region and it cannot be found must do penance for three forty-day periods or a full year.

⁴ Whoever spills some of the chalice’s contents on the altar must do penance for seven days when the linen is removed. If the spillage is excessive, they must perform additional penance for seven days.

⁵ If the sacrament falls from someone’s hand onto straw, the one responsible must do penance for seven days.

⁶ Whoever spills the chalice at the conclusion of the solemn Mass must do penance for forty days.

⁷ If someone vomits the sacrament due to overeating and throws it into the fire, they must do penance for twenty days. If they fail to do so, forty days are required.

⁸ If dogs eat such vomit, the person responsible must do penance for one hundred days.

⁹ If the person vomits due to illness and throws the sacrament into the fire, they must recite one hundred psalms.

¹⁰ If someone neglects to receive the sacrament and does not inquire about it, nor has any valid excuse, they must undergo penance. Likewise, if someone receives the sacrament while defiled by nocturnal emissions, they must also do penance.

¹¹ If a deacon forgets to bring the oblation until after the linen is removed and the names of the deceased are recited, they must do penance in the same way.

¹² Whoever gives another person a drink in which a dead mouse or weasel has been found must do penance for three superpositions.

¹³ If someone is harmed as a result of drinking such a liquid, the one who provided it must do additional penance.

¹⁴ If small creatures are found in flour, dried food, porridge, or curdled milk, whatever is around their bodies should be discarded, but the rest may be consumed in good faith.

¹⁵ Whoever touches contaminated food with an unclean hand shall be punished with a hundred lashes.

¹⁶ If a liquid becomes discolored, the one who distributed it must atone by fasting for seven days.

¹⁷ Whoever unknowingly consumes such a substance and later realizes it must endure stomach pain in fasting for fifteen days.

¹⁸ Whoever eats or drinks something that has been dipped into by a domestic animal, such as a mouse, shall be cleansed by two acts of penance.

¹⁹ Whoever neglects the sacrament to the extent that it dries out and is entirely consumed by worms must atone for three Lenten seasons with bread and water.

²⁰ If the sacrament remains whole but a worm is found in it, it must be burned, and its ashes hidden under the altar; whoever neglected it must atone for forty days.

²¹ If the sacrament changes color while being consumed, one must fast for twenty days; if it becomes sticky, for seven days.

²² Whoever submerges the sacrament must immediately drink the water from the chrismal, consume the sacrament, and atone for ten days.

²³ If the sacrament falls from the hands of the one offering it and is lost, everything found in the place where it fell must be burned, and its ashes hidden as described above. The priest must then be suspended for half a year.

²⁴ If the sacrament is found, the place must be swept clean, the straw burned as previously stated, and the priest must atone for twenty days.

²⁵ If it has fallen only as far as the altar, an additional penance must be performed.

²⁶ If any of the consecrated wine spills onto the ground due to negligence, it must be licked up with the tongue, the affected surface scraped, and the scrapings burned. As we have said before, the spilled sacrament should either be reverently consumed or the one responsible must do penance for several days.

²⁷ If the consecrated wine spills upon the altar, the minister must immediately consume the drop and do penance for three days. Any linens touched by the spilled wine must be washed three times, with a chalice placed underneath to catch the water used for the cleansing. The minister must then consume this water as well.

²⁸ If the chalice spills within the sanctuary, on the first occasion the minister must recite twelve psalms. On the second occasion, he must recite twice as many. On the third, three times as many.

²⁹ If the priest falters while reciting the Lord’s Prayer—considered a grave matter—then for the first mistake, he must be disciplined with fifty lashes; for the second, one hundred; for the third, even more severe penance must be imposed.

³⁰ However, in every case of penance, one must carefully consider how long the sinner has remained in their wrongdoing, the level of their spiritual instruction, the passion with which they struggle, their strength in enduring, the sorrow they feel, and the weight of the temptation that led them to sin. For Almighty God, who knows the hearts of all and has created diverse natures, does not measure the burden of penance equally for all sins. As the prophet says:

³¹ “For caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; but caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick. Grain for bread is crushed…”.

³² Likewise, “The mighty will suffer mightily”, and as another wise man has said, “To whom much is given, much will be required”.

³³ Therefore, let the priests of the Lord, who preside over His churches, understand that they share in the responsibility of those whose sins they have reconciled. For what does it mean to reconcile a sinner, if not to lead them to true repentance—by admonishing, encouraging, teaching, and correcting them—so that they turn away from their errors, abandon vice, and are restored to a state where God, in His mercy, forgives them? Thus, if you are such a priest, and your teaching and words have led others to righteousness, then you share in the merits of those whom you have corrected. Their salvation becomes your glory, and their virtue is your reward.