May a Monk Be Supported by His Family?

On this point you have certainly left no room for any further doubt. We are sure that, near our families, we could not possibly keep up our present shabby dress or our daily going barefoot, and that there we would not even get what we need for our living with the same labor, as here we actually have to carry our water on our necks for three miles. For shame, theirs as well as ours, would not let us do this in front of them at all. But how would it hurt our way of life if we were set entirely free from worry about providing our food, by being supplied by them with everything, and so gave ourselves simply to reading and prayer? Then, with the labor that now distracts us taken away, we could devote ourselves more earnestly to spiritual concerns alone. [a]