Here begins the Regulum (sic) of St Mochuda, Preaching the Commandments to Every Person #

¹ This is the way to come to the kingdom of the Lord,
Jesus, the all-powerful:
that God should be loved by every soul,
both in heart and in deed.

² To love him with all your strength
is not difficult if you are wise;
and together with this, love your neighbour
as you love yourself.

³ You shall not worship idols,
because of the great Lord;
you shall not offend your Creator
through wrongful pride.

⁴ Give honour to your parents;
give obedience to the king,
and to everyone who is above you
and who is older in years.

⁵ Give honour to the Abbot,
the Son of Mary never-failing;
you shall not steal, you shall not conceal,
you shall not kill anyone.

⁶ You shall not be covetous of the world,
nor of ill-gotten gain;
you shall not bear false witness against anyone,
you shall cause bitterness to no one.

⁷ Whatever good you would desire
from everyone for yourself,
do the same to everyone,
so that you may reach the kingdom.

⁸ Whatever harm or evil
you would not desire for yourself,
desire it for no other person
as long as you are in the body.

For a Bishop #

¹ If you are a bishop of noble rank,
take up your governance in full;
be obedient to Christ, without deceit,
and let all others be obedient to you.

² Heal difficult disorders
through the power of the pure Lord;
reconcile the multitudes of the laity—
restrain the noble kings.

³ Be a vigilant shepherd
over the laity and over the Church;
be orthodox in your teaching,
be encouraging and gracious.

⁴ To restrain the wicked,
who love doing evil,
and to exalt every truth:
this is what is required of you.

⁵ You shall know Holy Scripture
when you take holy orders,
for you are a stepson of the Church
if you are deficient and ignorant.

⁶ For every unwise person is ignorant—
this is the truth and what is right—
he is no representative of the Lord
who does not read the Law.

⁷ To condemn every heresy and every wickedness
truly belongs to you;
therefore let there be no evil in you,
either in word or in deed.

⁸ No one will rise for you,
nor will you be obeyed,
if you are lenient towards these;
you yourself will share in the guilt.

⁹ For it is certain that you will answer for it
when the great assembly comes:
together with your own transgressions,
for the sin of everyone under your governance.

For the Abbot of a Church #

¹ If you are the head of a church,
it is a noble distinction;
it will be well for you if you worthily assume
the office of representative of the King.

² If you are the head of a church,
it is a noble distinction;
govern the church with justice,
from the least to the greatest.

³ Whatever Christ, the All-pure, commands,
preach to them in full;
and whatever you command others to do,
do it yourself.

⁴ As you love your own soul,
so love the souls of all others;
it is your duty to promote all good
and to banish all evil.

⁵ Your learning, free from obscurity,
shall not be like a candle under a bushel;
it is your duty to heal all your people,
whether they are weak or powerful.

⁶ It is your duty to judge each person according to his rank
and according to his deeds,
so that they may accompany you at the Judgement,
in the presence of the King.

⁷ It is your duty to exhort the aged,
upon whom sickness and sorrow have fallen,
to beseech the Son of the King
with torrents of flowing tears.

⁸ It is your duty to instruct the young,
so that they do not fall into evil—
so that the dark demon does not drag them
into the stinking house of death.

⁹ It is your duty to give thanks
to everyone in turn
who carries out his work
in the holy, pure Church.

¹⁰ It is your duty to correct the foolish,
to rebuke the people,
to bring the disorderly into order,
and the stubborn, wretched and ignorant.

¹¹ Patience, humility, prayer,
fasting and cheerful abstinence,
steadfastness, modesty and calmness
are also required of you.

¹² To teach everyone in truth
is no small achievement;
unity, forgiveness and purity,
and uprightness in all moral conduct.

¹³ Be constant in preaching the Gospel
for the instruction of everyone;
offer the sacrifice of the body of the great Lord
upon the holy altar.

¹⁴ Whoever does not observe these things
in this earthly world
is not an heir of the Church,
but an enemy of God.

¹⁵ He is a thief and a robber:
so declares the King;
it is through the side of the Church
that he seeks to enter it.

¹⁶ He is wild, like a deer;
he is a hateful enemy;
it is he who seizes by force
the Queen of the great King.

¹⁷ After seizing her by force,
he then devours her;
he is the enemy of truth;
he is revealed even in his concealment.

¹⁸ I myself do not believe
(and this is true, not false)
that he will reach the land of the living
who gives her over to him.

¹⁹ It would be better for the young priest
to seek the pure Christ;
he cannot be in unity with us
until he submits to obedience and law.

²⁰ Those who are of one mind
in offending the King
shall together be punished in the pains of hell
for all eternity.

Of the Duties of a Priest #

¹ If you are a priest, you will be diligent;
you must speak nothing but the truth;
noble is the order you have taken,
to offer up the body of the King.

² It is better for you not to be ignorant;
let your learning be sound:
be mindful and well instructed
in rule and in law.

³ Let your baptism be lawful—
such a precious act requires it;
noble is your fellow-worker,
the Holy Spirit from heaven.

⁴ If you go to give communion
at the dreadful point of death,
you must receive the confession
without shame and without reserve.

⁵ Let him receive your Sacrament,
if his body laments;
the penitence is not worthy
that does not turn away from evil.

⁶ If you take up the order—
for it is a great undertaking—
let your goodwill be towards everyone
in word and in deed.

⁷ Except towards unrighteous people
who love their evil ways;
to these you shall never offer it
until the day of your death.

Of the Duties of a Soul-Friend Who Takes Penitents unto Himself Here #

¹ If you are anyone’s soul-friend,
you shall not sell his soul;
you shall not be a blind man leading the blind;
you shall not allow him to fall into neglect.

² Let them give you their confessions
openly and devoutly;
do not receive their alms
unless they are guided by you.

³ Though you receive their offerings,
they [the offerings] must not remain in your keeping;
let them be as though they were fire upon your body
until you have distributed them with all your might.

⁴ By fasting and prayer
pay their price;
if you do not, you shall pay
for the sins of the people.

⁵ Teach the ignorant,
so that they submit to your guidance;
do not let them fall into sin
by imitating you.

⁶ For the sake of gifts, do not be false,
whether through denial or stinginess;
for your soul is far more precious to you
than the gifts.

⁷ Give them to strangers,
whether they are powerful or weak;
give them to the poor,
from whom you expect no reward.

⁸ Give them to the elderly
and to widows—this is no falsehood;
do not give them to sinners
who already have abundant gifts.

⁹ Give them to those in genuine distress,
to each person in turn,
without ostentation and without boasting,
for in this lies their virtue.

¹⁰ To sing the requiems
is yours by special right,
at each canonical hour
when the bells are rung.

¹¹ When you come to the celebration,
you shall contemplate there, in complete faith,
the people of the earth as a whole,
and not each one separately.

¹² Celebrate Mass on the appointed days,
Sunday together with Thursday,
if not on every day,
to banish every wickedness.

¹³ It is also lawful on solemn feast-days—
I should almost have said,
the feast of an apostle or noble martyr,
and the festivals of pure believers.

¹⁴ Masses for all Christians,
and for all those in holy orders;
Masses for the multitudes,
from the least to the greatest.

¹⁵ For everyone who merits it,
before you offer it for all,
and for all who shall merit it
from this day until the Judgement comes.

¹⁶ When you come to Mass—
it is a noble office—
let there be penitence of heart, the shedding of tears,
and the lifting up of hands.

¹⁷ Without greeting, without enquiry,
with meekness and with silence,
with forgiveness of every ill-will
that is, shall be, or has been;

¹⁸ At peace with every neighbour,
with very great reverence,
with confession of sins,
when you come to receive.

¹⁹ Two hundred genuflections at the Beata
every day, perpetually;
to sing the three times fifty
is an indispensable practice.

²⁰ If you desire to preserve the Faith
under the governance of a pure spirit,
you shall neither eat nor sleep
with a layman in a house.

²¹ There shall be no abiding love in your heart
but the love of God alone;
for pure is the Body that you receive,
and purely must you go to receive it.

²² He who observes all these things,
which are found in Scripture,
is a priest—this is his privilege;
may he not possess the privilege unworthily.

²³ If you are a monk under authority,
cast every evil from your hands;
abide by the ordinances of the Church
without laxity and without fault,

²⁴ without quarrelling, without negligence,
without dislike of anyone,
without theft, without falsehood, without excess,
without seeking a better place,

²⁵ without railing, without insubordination,
without seeking great renown,
without murmuring, without reproaching anyone,
without envy, without pride,

²⁶ without contention, without self-will,
without rivalry, without anger,
without persecution, without particular malice,
without vehemence, without idle words,

²⁷ without listlessness, without despair,
without sin, without folly,
without deceit, without rashness,
without frivolity, without precipitance,

²⁸ without wandering about, without haste,
without intemperance—which defiles everything—
without drunkenness, without revelry,
without foolish, vulgar talk;

²⁹ without rushing, without loitering,
with permission for every act;
without repaying evil for evil,
in a decaying body of clay;

³⁰ with humility, with lowliness,
towards the exceptional and the ordinary alike;
with devotion, with humbleness,
making yourself the servant of everyone.

³¹ In voluntary nocturns,
without stubbornness, without deceit,
awaiting your rewards
at the relics of the saints.

³² With modesty, with meekness,
with constancy in obedience;
with purity, with faultlessness
in every act, however small.

³³ With patience, with purity,
with gentleness towards everyone;
with groaning, with prayer
to Christ at all hours.

³⁴ With the teaching of every truth,
with the condemnation of every wickedness,
with complete and frequent confessions
under the direction of a holy abbot;

³⁵ with the guarding of feet and hands,
and of eyes and ears,
and of the heart, in every deed
that is due to the King above;

³⁶ with remembrance of the day of death,
which is appointed to everyone;
with fear of the eternal punishment
in which [souls] shall be after the Judgement.

³⁷ To welcome illnesses,
and to bear them patiently at all times,
with the protection of the people of heaven—
this is a holy custom.

³⁸ To reverence your elders
and to obey their directions;
to instruct the young
for their perfect good.

³⁹ To pray for our contemporaries—
we should greatly cherish this—
that they may not exchange their Creator
for the hardened, condemned demon.

⁴⁰ To forgive everyone
who has done us evil,
in voice, in word or in deed,
is the command of the King of Heaven.

⁴¹ To love those who hate us
in this earthly world,
and to do good to those who persecute us,
is the command of God.

For the Céle Dé (Culdee), or Regular Cleric #

¹ If we serve in the priestly office,
it is a high calling;
we attend the holy church
at [canonical] hours continually.

² When we hear the bell—
the practice is indispensable—
we quickly raise our hearts,
and bow our faces down;

³ We say a Pater and a Gloria,
so that we may meet with no curse;
we sign our breasts and our faces
with the sign of the Cross of Christ.

⁴ When we reach the church,
we kneel three times;
we do not bend the knee in [worldly] service
on the Sundays of the living God.

⁵ We celebrate, we instruct,
without toil, without sorrow;
illustrious is the one whom we address,
the Lord of the clouded heavens.

⁶ We keep vigils, we recite prayers,
each according to his strength;
according to your allotted time, you contemplate
the Glory until the third hour.

⁷ Let each order proceed as befits it,
according as propriety requires;
as it is appointed to each,
from the third hour until noon.

⁸ Those in holy orders attend to prayer,
and celebrate Mass with due reverence;
the students attend to their studies,
according as their strength permits;

⁹ the young attend to their duties,
according as their clothing allows;
for every person who does nothing
is lawful prey for the devil.

¹⁰ Give occupation to the unlearned,
as a worthy priest shall direct;
works of wisdom in their mouths,
works of ignorance in their hands.

¹¹ We observe every [canonical] hour
with each order in its proper way;
three genuflections before the office,
and three more after it.

¹² Silence and fervour,
tranquillity without distress,
without murmuring, without contention,
are required of everyone.

Of the Order of Meals and of the Refectory #

¹ Next comes the Rule of the Refectory;
there is no harm in mentioning it.
It belongs to the abbot of proper rank
to judge each person according to his station.

² As for the refectory at all times,
this is what is permitted:
an ample meal for the labourers,
wherever they may be.

³ Show consideration to the elderly
who cannot come to their meals,
whatever their condition may be,
so that they do not fall into neglect.

⁴ Each person’s condition is different;
the nature of every infirmity is different;
different, too, is the rule governing
the addition made to a meal.

⁵ Sunday is to be honoured,
because of the King who made it free;
the feast of an apostle or noble martyr,
and the feasts of the saints,

⁶ are to be without vigil, with increased meals.
A tranquil and easy life is permitted
from the night of great Christmas
until after the Christmas of the Star.

⁷ The festivals of the King of truth,
in whatever season they occur,
it is proper to honour them,
and right to glorify them.

⁸ The fast of Lent was kept by Christ
in the desert;
as though it were your last day, you shall not eat
the ordinary daily meal during it.

⁹ I do not command fasting on Sunday,
because of the gracious Lord;
in the reckoning of the tithe
of the year, it is not included.

¹⁰ Joy, glory and reverence
at great and glorious Easter;
as though every day were Easter,
so it is proper until Pentecost,

¹¹ without fasting, without heavy labour,
without great vigils;
as a figure of the glorious salvation
which we shall receive hereafter.

¹² The feast of an apostle or martyr
during the time of great Lent;
as a figure of the righteousness
which we shall receive hereafter.

¹³ The two fast-days of the week
are to be observed with a proper fast,
as the occasion requires,
by anyone who has the strength.

¹⁴ Summer Lent or Winter Lent,
which are difficult to observe,
are what the laity are bound to keep,
since they do not fast continually.

¹⁵ As for the clergy,
who live according to proper discipline,
it is certain that for them
every season is a time of Lent and fasting.

¹⁶ The meritorious fast,
and the abstinence so bright,
is from noon to noon—this is no false assertion;
so it has been practised from ancient times.

¹⁷ A tredan [three days’ total fast] every quarter, for those
who do not fast every month,
is required throughout the great regions
in which the Faith of Christ is found.

¹⁸ From the feast of the birth of John
until Easter—happy is the struggle—
from vesper-time to vesper-time
is the proper interval before going to table.

¹⁹ From Easter again until John’s feast,
it is from noon to noon;
it is on the evening of alternate days
that refreshment is permitted to them.

²⁰ When the little bell
of the refectory, which is not insignificant, is rung,
the brethren who hear it
all come at its call;

²¹ without running, without stopping,
without exceeding proper bounds;
each man separately—it is no sad assertion—
receives the punishment [of the board?]

²² Then they enter the house
and shed tears with fervour;
they recite a Pater for rest in God;
they bow down three times.

²³ They then sit at the table,
they bless the meal;
Alleluia is sung, the bell is rung,
and the blessing is pronounced.

²⁴ A senior responds in the house;
he says, “God bless you”;
they eat their food and drink,
and afterwards give thanks.

²⁵ If there is anything more choice
for which someone might long,
let it be given privately
to a senior by himself.

²⁶ Let relief be given, if necessary,
to those [penitents] who have devoutly fasted;
if it is not necessary, let it be withheld from them
until the men have done penance.

²⁷ After this, let each man go to his chamber,
without murmuring, without anger,
to reading and to prayer,
to sighing before his King;

²⁸ afterwards to go to Vespers,
and celebrate them fittingly;
afterwards to retire to rest
in the place assigned to him;

²⁹ to bless the house
entirely on every side;
to attend the canonical hours
without delay and without fail;

³⁰ to pray to God for everyone
who serves the Church of God,
and for every Christian
who has come into this earthly world.

Of the Duties of a King #

¹ If you are a king, be a just king;
you shall ordain no injustice.
Illustrious is the One who appointed you—
the Lord of holy Heaven!

² You shall not be rash;
you shall not be arrogant and fierce.
You shall be mindful of the Almighty,
who has given you your rank.

³ The wealth you have obtained,
if you are not obedient to Him,
shall be taken from you in a short time,
and you shall be left in suffering.

⁴ For this has brought complete downfall
upon every king who has ever been:
when you exchange—wretched power!—
your righteousness for unrighteousness.

⁵ For it is through the unrighteousness of kings
that all peace is broken
between the Church and the laity—
all truth is shattered.

⁶ For through their strife
comes every plague, as is known;
through their excesses there comes no
corn, or milk, or fruit;

⁷ through them come all deadly plagues,
which defy every power;
through them their enemies gain
victory in battle over their lands;

⁸ through them come the tempests
of the angry, cold skies,
the insects and the many diseases
that cut off all the people.