¹ The Beati is sung standing in the refectory, followed by the Magnificat [Luke 1:46–55], Ego vero [Psalm 13:5 / 14:5], and other canticles.

² It is customary to prepare a thick milk drink with honey added on the eves of the principal feasts—namely Christmas and the two Easters. It is not permitted to feast or drink beer on those nights because Communion is received the next day.

³ On the Sundays of Great Lent, those under strict penance may take a draught of milk. A selann at night is also permitted. Penitents receive no butter, except on Saint Patrick’s Day. If that feast falls on a Wednesday or Friday, only milk is taken; if it falls on a Sunday or a non-fast feast day, a selann (half-portion) is allowed. The Céli Dé permit no increase in bread even on festivals, only in drink, condiments, or other accompaniments.

⁴ If kale is available, the bread ration is not reduced, since kale is regarded as a condiment and is prepared with milk, not butter. Likewise, a small portion of fish, a little colostrum or cheese, a hard-boiled egg, or apples does not reduce the bread allowance, provided only a little is eaten and not all together. Five or six large apples are sufficient with bread; if small, twelve.

⁵ Three or four leeks are permitted. Curds and whey are not eaten but are used to make cheese. Flummery is allowed provided no rennet is used, likely because it is counted as bread. Whey is not drunk alone but mixed with small curds.

⁶ The Easter relaxation allows eggs, lard, and the meat of deer and wild boar.

⁷ Extra penance is imposed on cooks, milkers, and scullions who spill milk or grain.

⁸ Meat may be eaten during Great Lent if other food is scarce, but unless life is endangered, it is better to keep the fast.

⁹ On major feast days falling on Tuesday or Thursday outside Lent, a half-selann is allowed with a small portion (bochtan) of beer or whey-water. If neither is available, a quarter-ration of gruel is taken. When beer is available, it is sipped rather than drunk all at once.

¹⁰ No selann of butter is allowed. Instead, whey-water is taken on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday evenings—even outside Lent or on feast days. Feast-day indulgences falling on Monday are transferred to Tuesday; those on Wednesday to Thursday; those on Friday to the following Tuesday.

¹¹ When new milk is drunk without being mixed with other milk, one-quarter water is added.

¹² Among the Céli Dé, corporal correction is not self-inflicted but administered by another, and only between Epiphany and Easter, or between Low Sunday and Christmas.

¹³ A person attending Midnight Mass for the first time on Easter Eve receives only the Bread, not the Cup. Each year thereafter, participation increases gradually until, after seven years, Communion is received every Sunday.

¹⁴ The Our Father [Matthew 6:9–13] and Deus in adiutorium meum intende… festina [Psalm 70:1] are first recited facing east with raised hands and the sign of the Cross, then repeated facing each direction. This is called the Shrine of Piety. A Cross-Vigil precedes it, called the Corslet of Devotion.

¹⁵ Anyone who misses Communion on Sunday must receive it the following Thursday, since waiting until the next Sunday is too long for one who ordinarily communicates weekly.

¹⁶ Minor confessions—idle thoughts, harsh words, anger, and the like—should be made immediately, not delayed until Sunday.

¹⁷ One who confesses to a spiritual guide (soul-friend) and completes the assigned penance need not confess again, except for sins committed afterward.

¹⁸ Frequent confession is of no benefit if the sin is also frequent.

¹⁹ On Maundy Thursday [John 13], no selann is taken except milk or beer, and possibly a spoon of honey. The day’s diet is bread and whey-water. A sermon is preached, followed by an afternoon meal.

²⁰ During the washing of feet, the Beati [Psalm 1] is recited continuously, followed by a sermon on the washing.

²¹ When intercessions are made at Vespers, the person’s baptismal name is used.

²² When reciting the Psalms, one section is said standing and the next sitting, to avoid both drowsiness and fatigue.

²³ Twelve repetitions of the Beati [Psalm 1] may substitute for the full 150 Psalms.

²⁴ Penitents may take gruel on Sundays and feast days. Vigils are always kept, except for one principal feast evening between Easter and Pentecost, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays between Christmas and Epiphany.

²⁵ Those who habitually abstain from meat take a small portion at Easter, lest famine arise during the year, since Easter is the only permitted relaxation.

²⁶ A priest who abandons his Orders may never again offer the Mass, even after penance.

²⁷ If a major feast falls on Saturday outside Lent, the vigil is excused. If it falls on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, the indulgence is transferred accordingly.

²⁸ Spiritual guidance is burdensome, because prescribed remedies are often ignored. Yet if no remedy is prescribed, guilt falls on the guide. Therefore, it is better to instruct people in what is beneficial, even without requiring confession.

²⁹ A person may seek another spiritual guide if permission is obtained from the first.

³⁰ The Céli Dé do not sleep in the oratory. Two remain until midnight reciting the Psalms; others take their place until Matins, after which all assemble at Terce.

³¹ During meals, one brother reads aloud from the Gospels, the Rule, or the lives of saints, so that attention is on God, not food. The preacher eats later and is questioned the next day to ensure attentiveness.

³² One who misses Mass on Sunday must recite fifty Psalms standing indoors with the sign of the Cross on his eyes. Alternatively, a hundred genuflections with a Cross-Vigil and the Beati suffice.

³³ No drink may be taken before midnight, no matter the thirst. Drinking is allowed between midnight and Compline.

³⁴ If one becomes angry with a servant without cursing or abuse, the penance is one hundred blows on the hands and a night on bread and water.

³⁵ A Céli Dé may not drink immediately after urinating.

³⁶ Maelruain’s community fasts once a month on half rations of bread and whey-water.

³⁷ Confession should be refused to anyone who refuses penance. If a learned spiritual guide is unavailable, confession may be made to any suitable cleric, provided penance is fulfilled.

³⁸ Four sins admit no penance in Ireland: necrophilia, incest with close kin, grave sin committed in major Orders, and betrayal of confession.

³⁹ A light, refined diet is considered better for the soul than heavy food. On Sundays and major feasts, a change of food is allowed rather than an increase.

⁴⁰ When thirsty, a small portion of diluted whey or buttermilk may be taken, drunk in sips.

⁴¹ Anyone who eats early or consumes uncustomary food must fast two nights on bread and water.

⁴² Latrines are considered places of evil spirits. The sign of the Cross should be made when entering. Prayer is forbidden there, except Deus in adiutorium… festina [Psalm 70:1].

⁴³ Food in a house where someone has died must be blessed and given to the poor.

⁴⁴ Anyone who abandons Ireland (except moving within it) denies Patrick in heaven and the faith he brought.

⁴⁵ Every act done for the dead—vigils, fasting, Masses, blessings—benefits the soul. Sons should do penance for parents. Maedoc of Ferns and his community fasted a full year for the soul of Brandub mac Echach.

⁴⁶ Abstinence should be increased gradually, by eighths over six-month periods. What is borne patiently will last for life.

⁴⁷ Bathing in polluted water is forbidden. Clerics must anoint and sign themselves if polluted water touches their heads.

⁴⁸ Giving half one’s ration to God counts as a fast.

⁴⁹ If a pregnant woman is dying, the baptismal rite is read over water, confession made for the unborn child, a neutral name given, and the mother drinks the water. This is considered baptism.

⁵⁰ During menstruation, women are excused from vigils and Communion, and gruel is provided at Terce.

⁵¹ Food brought from afar on Sunday may not be eaten by the recipient but must be given to the poor.

⁵² Sunday evening discipline is administered Saturday at None.

⁵³ Tonsure is performed monthly on Thursdays.

⁵⁴ Tithes are collected by counting every tenth animal, except oxen, whose labour is tithed instead.

⁵⁵ Three daily goods: prayer, work, and study—so that none appear idle before God: “You shall not appear before me empty-handed” [Exodus 23:15].

⁵⁶ Do not eat until hungry; do not sleep until ready; do not speak without cause.

⁵⁷ Churches may claim support only if they provide Baptism, Communion, intercession, and the Eucharistic sacrifice. Otherwise they are, as Christ says, “a den of thieves” [Matthew 21:13].

⁵⁸ An ordained priest is entitled to sustenance if he fulfills his duties of Mass, the Hours, instruction, and prayer. One incapable of these has no claim to priestly privilege.

⁵⁹ A bishop who ordains the unfit offends Christ and the Church and must do six years’ penance and pay restitution.

⁶⁰ Ireland must have a chief bishop for each kingdom to safeguard faith, learning, and order, lest paganism return.

⁶¹ Offering a child to God for study restores the faith of Ireland; withdrawing him destroys it.

⁶² Teachers of such students are owed proper sustenance and reward.

⁶³ The greatest labour is labour in piety, for the Kingdom of Heaven is promised to teacher, student, and supporter alike.

⁶⁴ Those under a church’s care must accept a confessor. Refusal excludes one from Communion, intercession, and burial.

⁶⁵ Whoever exploits the Church for gain sells his soul. But whoever protects her with humility will receive a hundredfold now and eternal life [cf. Mark 10:29–30], forever and ever. Amen.

⁶⁶ Amen.