The Three Lentils

During the week of a certain brother, the steward, passing by, saw three lentils lying on the ground. They had slipped out of the hand of the monk on duty for the week, along with the water in which he was washing them, as he was hurriedly preparing them for cooking. The steward at once consulted the abbot about it. The abbot judged the monk a pilferer, careless about sacred property, and so he was barred from prayer. The offense of his negligence was pardoned only when he had atoned for it by public penance. For they believe not only that they themselves are not their own, but also that everything they possess is consecrated to the Lord. So if anything whatever has once been brought into the monastery, they hold that it must be treated with the greatest reverence as a holy thing. They attend to everything and arrange it with great faithfulness, even things that are thought unimportant or regarded as common and paltry. If they move things and put them in a better place, or fill a bottle with water, or give someone a drink out of it, or remove a little dust from the oratory or from their cell, they believe with complete faith that they will receive a reward from the Lord. [a]