Chapter 5
(63) Mindful that our ultimate end is God, to Whom each of us ought to tend and aspire, and into Whom we should strive to be transformed, we exhort all the friars to direct their every thought to that end and to turn to it, with every possible yearning of love, all their intentions and desires, so that with their whole heart, mind and soul, power and strength, with actual, continuous, intense and pure affection, they may unite themselves with their supremely good Father.
(64) Since it is impossible to reach the end without the means, let each one cast aside as useless and disastrous, whatever could mislead or preclude us from the way of salvation. Let the friars not be solicitous about irrelevant matters, but choose those things that are useful and necessary to lead us to God. Such are the highest poverty, spotless chastity, humble obedience, and the other evangelical virtues taught us by the Son of God, by word and example, in His own Person and in His Saints.
(65) Because it is very difficult for man to have his mind always raised to God, and to avoid idleness, the root of all evil, to give good example to our fellow-men, to be less burdensome to the world, to follow the example of St Paul who worked while he preached, and of many other saints, to observe the admonition to labour, given us by our Seraphic Father in his Rule, and to conform ourselves to his will, expressed in his Testament, we ordain that the Friars, when not engaged in spiritual exercises, shall occupy themselves in some honest manual labour. They shall not fail, as far as human frailty will permit, to occupy their minds in some spiritual meditation. We further ordain that during the hours of labour they shall speak of God, or have read to them some devout book.
(66) Let the Friars take heed not to make work their sole object, nor to set their affections upon it, nor to become so engrossed in it as to extinguish, diminish or weaken the spirit to which all things should be subservient. With their eyes fixed always on God, let them take the highest and shortest road, so that labour imposed on man by God, accepted and commended by the Saints as a means of preserving interior recollection, may not become an occasion of distraction and laxity.
(67) Let every Friar remember that evangelical poverty consists in not having any affection for earthly things, using the goods of this world most sparingly, as if by constraint, forced by necessity and for the glory of God to Whom we are indebted for all. Whatever is over and above their needs, they shall for the honour of poverty, give to the poor. We should also remember that we dwell in an inn and eat the sins of the people, and that we shall be called upon to render a strict account of everything.
(68) The devout St Bernard used to say that nothing is more precious than time, and that nothing is less esteemed. He also warns us that we shall be rigorously examined as to how we have spent our allotted time. We exhort all our brethren never to be idle, not to spend their time in matters of little or no importance, much less in vain or useless conversations. Let them always bear in mind the fearful warnings of the Infallible Truth, that for every idle word we speak we shall render an account on the Day of Judgement. Let the Friars, therefore, spend all their time in praiseworthy, honest and useful occupations, either of mind or of body. Let them do this for the honour and glory of the Divine Majesty, and for the edification and good example to all our brethren and fellow-men, religious and secular.