04-12# The Rule of our Holy Father Benedict. Chapter 58: Concerning the Discipline of Those to Be Received As Brethren. Continued.
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Let him then who is to be received, in the oratory, in the presence of all the brethren, make promise of stability, of conversion of life and of obedience, in the presence of God and of His saints, that if he should ever act otherwise he may know he will be condemned by Him Whom he mocks. And concerning that promise of his let him make petition, calling to witness the saints whose relics are there and the abbot there present: the which petition let him write with his own hand, or at the least, if he is unlettered, let another write it at his request and let him, the novice, make his mark and with his own hand place it upon the altar: and when he shall have placed it there let the novice himself immediately begin this versicle: “O stablish me according to Thy word, that I may live: and let me not be disappointed of my hope”; which versicle let the whole community repeat thrice, adding “Gloria Patri.” Then let him, the novice brother, prostrate at the feet of all that they may pray for him; and from thenceforth let him be accounted one of the community. If he has any property, let him either assign it beforehand to the poor, or else by formal donation confer it upon the monastery, reserving nothing at all for himself, as becomes one who must know that thenceforth he will hold no power even over himself. Forthwith therefore, in the oratory, let him also be stripped of the garments, his own property, with which he is clad and be clothed with such as are the property of the monastery: and let those garments of which he was stripped be put away to be kept in the wardrobe, that if at any time, by suasion of the devil, he should consent to go forth from the monastery, which God forbid, he may then be cast forth unfrocked. Let him not receive back that petition of his which the abbot took from upon the altar, but let it be kept in the monastery.