Whether Religious Are Bound to Manual Labor?
Objection 1: It would seem that religious are bound to manual labor.
For religious are not exempt from the observance of precepts. Now
manual labor is a matter of precept according to 1 Thess. 4:11, "Work
with your own hands as we commanded you"; wherefore Augustine says
(De oper. Monach. xxx): "But who can allow these insolent men,"
namely religious that do no work, of whom he is speaking there, "who
disregard the most salutary admonishment of the Apostle, not merely
to be borne with as being weaker than others, but even to preach as
though they were holier than others." Therefore it would seem that
religious are bound to manual labor.
Obj. 2: Further, a gloss [*St. Augustine, (De oper. Monach. xxi)] on
2 Thess. 3:10, "If any man will not work, neither let him eat," says:
"Some say that this command of the Apostle refers to spiritual works,
and not to the bodily labor of the farmer or craftsman"; and further
on: "But it is useless for them to try to hide from themselves and
from others the fact that they are unwilling not only to fulfil, but
even to understand the useful admonishments of charity"; and again:
"He wishes God's servants to make a living by working with their
bodies." Now religious especially are called servants of God, because
they give themselves entirely to the service of God, as Dionysius
asserts (Eccl. Hier. vi). Therefore it would seem that they are bound
to manual labor.
Obj. 3: Further, Augustine says (De oper. Monach. xvii): "I would
fain know how they would occupy themselves, who are unwilling to work
with their body. We occupy our time, say they, with prayers, psalms,
reading, and the word of God." Yet these things are no excuse, and he
proves this, as regards each in particular. For in the first place,
as to prayer, he says: "One prayer of the obedient man is sooner
granted than ten thousand prayers of the contemptuous": meaning that
those are contemptuous and unworthy to be heard who work not with
their hands. Secondly, as to the divine praises he adds: "Even while
working with their hands they can easily sing hymns to God." Thirdly,
with regard to reading, he goes on to say: "Those who say they are
occupied in reading, do they not find there what the Apostle
commanded? What sort of perverseness is this, to wish to read but not
to obey what one reads?" Fourthly, he adds in reference to preaching
[*Cap. xviii]: "If one has to speak, and is so busy that he cannot
spare time for manual work, can all in the monastery do this? And
since all cannot do this, why should all make this a pretext for
being exempt? And even if all were able, they should do so by turns,
not only so that the others may be occupied in other works, but also
because it suffices that one speak while many listen." Therefore it
would seem that religious should not desist from manual labor on
account of such like spiritual works to which they devote themselves.
Obj. 4: Further, a gloss on Luke 12:33, "Sell what you possess,"
says: "Not only give your clothes to the poor, but sell what you
possess, that having once for all renounced all your possessions for
the Lord's sake, you may henceforth work with the labor of your
hands, so as to have wherewith to live or to give alms." Now it
belongs properly to religious to renounce all they have. Therefore it
would seem likewise to belong to them to live and give alms through
the labor of their hands.
Obj. 5: Further, religious especially would seem to be bound to
imitate the life of the apostles, since they profess the state of
perfection. Now the apostles worked with their own hands, according
to 1 Cor. 4:12: "We labor, working with our own hands." Therefore it
would seem that religious are bound to manual labor.
_On the contrary,_ Those precepts that are commonly enjoined upon all
are equally binding on religious and seculars. But the precept of
manual labor is enjoined upon all in common, as appears from 2 Thess.
3:6, "Withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly,"
etc. (for by brother he signifies every Christian, according to 1
Cor. 7:12, "If any brother have a wife that believeth not"). Now it
is written in the same passage (2 Thess. 3:10): "If any man will not
work, neither let him eat." Therefore religious are not bound to
manual labor any more than seculars are.
_I answer that,_ Manual labor is directed to four things. First and
principally to obtain food; wherefore it was said to the first man
(Gen. 3:19): "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," and it
is written (Ps. 127:2): "For thou shalt eat the labors of thy hands."
Secondly, it is directed to the removal of idleness whence arise many
evils; hence it is written (Ecclus. 33:28, 29): "Send" thy slave "to
work, that he be not idle, for idleness hath taught much evil."
Thirdly, it is directed to the curbing of concupiscence, inasmuch as
it is a means of afflicting the body; hence it is written (2 Cor.
6:5, 6): "In labors, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity."
Fourthly, it is directed to almsgiving, wherefore it is written (Eph.
4:28): "He that stole, let him now steal no more; but rather let him
labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may
have something to give to him that suffereth need." Accordingly, in
so far as manual labor is directed to obtaining food, it comes under
a necessity of precept in so far as it is necessary for that end:
since that which is directed to an end derives its necessity from
that end, being, in effect, so far necessary as the end cannot be
obtained without it. Consequently he who has no other means of
livelihood is bound to work with his hands, whatever his condition
may be. This is signified by the words of the Apostle: "If any man
will not work, neither let him eat," as though to say: "The necessity
of manual labor is the necessity of meat." So that if one could live
without eating, one would not be bound to work with one's hands. The
same applies to those who have no other lawful means of livelihood:
since a man is understood to be unable to do what he cannot do
lawfully. Wherefore we find that the Apostle prescribed manual labor
merely as a remedy for the sin of those who gained their livelihood
by unlawful means. For the Apostle ordered manual labor first of all
in order to avoid theft, as appears from Eph. 4:28, "He that stole,
let him now steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his
hands." Secondly, to avoid the coveting of others' property,
wherefore it is written (1 Thess. 4:11): "Work with your own hands,
as we commanded you, and that you walk honestly towards them that are
without." Thirdly, to avoid the discreditable pursuits whereby some
seek a livelihood. Hence he says (2 Thess. 3:10-12): "When we were
with you, this we declared to you: that if any man will not work,
neither let him eat. For we have heard that there are some among you
who walk disorderly, working not at all, but curiously meddling"
(namely, as a gloss explains it, "who make a living by meddling in
unlawful things). Now we charge them that are such, and beseech them
. . . that working with silence, they would eat their own bread."
Hence Jerome states (Super epist. ad Galat. [*Preface to Bk. ii of
Commentary]) that the Apostle said this "not so much in his capacity
of teacher as on account of the faults of the people."
It must, however, be observed that under manual labor are comprised
all those human occupations whereby man can lawfully gain a
livelihood, whether by using his hands, his feet, or his tongue. For
watchmen, couriers, and such like who live by their labor, are
understood to live by their handiwork: because, since the hand is
"the organ of organs" [*De Anima iii, 8], handiwork denotes all kinds
of work, whereby a man may lawfully gain a livelihood.
In so far as manual labor is directed to the removal of idleness, or
the affliction of the body, it does not come under a necessity of
precept if we consider it in itself, since there are many other means
besides manual labor of afflicting the body or of removing idleness:
for the flesh is afflicted by fastings and watchings, and idleness is
removed by meditation on the Holy Scriptures and by the divine
praises. Hence a gloss on Ps. 118:82, "My eyes have failed for Thy
word," says: "He is not idle who meditates only on God's word; nor is
he who works abroad any better than he who devotes himself to the
study of knowing the truth." Consequently for these reasons religious
are not bound to manual labor, as neither are seculars, except when
they are so bound by the statutes of their order. Thus Jerome says
(Ep. cxxv ad Rustic Monach.): "The Egyptian monasteries are wont to
admit none unless they work or labor, not so much for the necessities
of life, as for the welfare of the soul, lest it be led astray by
wicked thoughts." But in so far as manual labor is directed to
almsgiving, it does not come under the necessity of precept, save
perchance in some particular case, when a man is under an obligation
to give alms, and has no other means of having the wherewithal to
assist the poor: for in such a case religious would be bound as well
as seculars to do manual labor.
Reply Obj. 1: This command of the Apostle is of natural law:
wherefore a gloss on 2 Thess. 3:6, "That you withdraw yourselves from
every brother walking disorderly," says, "otherwise than the natural
order requires," and he is speaking of those who abstained from
manual labor. Hence nature has provided man with hands instead of
arms and clothes, with which she has provided other animals, in order
that with his hands he may obtain these and all other necessaries.
Hence it is clear that this precept, even as all the precepts of the
natural law, is binding on both religious and seculars alike. Yet not
everyone sins that works not with his hands, because those precepts
of the natural law which regard the good of the many are not binding
on each individual, but it suffices that one person apply himself to
this business and another to that; for instance, that some be
craftsmen, others husbandmen, others judges, and others teachers, and
so forth, according to the words of the Apostle (1 Cor. 12:17), "If
the whole body were the eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole
were the hearing, where would be the smelling?"
Reply Obj. 2: This gloss is taken from Augustine's _De operibus
Monachorum,_ cap. 21, where he speaks against certain monks who
declared it to be unlawful for the servants of God to work with their
hands, on account of our Lord's saying (Matt. 6:25): "Be not
solicitous for your life, what you shall eat." Nevertheless his words
do not imply that religious are bound to work with their hands, if
they have other means of livelihood. This is clear from his adding:
"He wishes the servants of God to make a living by working with their
bodies." Now this does not apply to religious any more than to
seculars, which is evident for two reasons. First, on account of the
way in which the Apostle expresses himself, by saying: "That you
withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly." For he
calls all Christians brothers, since at that time religious orders
were not as yet founded. Secondly, because religious have no other
obligations than what seculars have, except as required by the rule
they profess: wherefore if their rule contain nothing about manual
labor, religious are not otherwise bound to manual labor than
seculars are.
Reply Obj. 3: A man may devote himself in two ways to all the
spiritual works mentioned by Augustine in the passage quoted: in one
way with a view to the common good, in another with a view to his
private advantage. Accordingly those who devote themselves publicly
to the aforesaid spiritual works are thereby exempt from manual labor
for two reasons: first, because it behooves them to be occupied
exclusively with such like works; secondly, because those who devote
themselves to such works have a claim to be supported by those for
whose advantage they work.
On the other hand, those who devote themselves to such works not
publicly but privately as it were, ought not on that account to be
exempt from manual labor, nor have they a claim to be supported by
the offerings of the faithful, and it is of these that Augustine is
speaking. For when he says: "They can sing hymns to God even while
working with their hands; like the craftsmen who give tongue to fable
telling without withdrawing their hands from their work," it is clear
that he cannot refer to those who sing the canonical hours in the
church, but to those who tell psalms or hymns as private prayers.
Likewise what he says of reading and prayer is to be referred to the
private prayer and reading which even lay people do at times, and not
to those who perform public prayers in the church, or give public
lectures in the schools. Hence he does not say: "Those who say they
are occupied in teaching and instructing," but: "Those who say they
are occupied in reading." Again he speaks of that preaching which is
addressed, not publicly to the people, but to one or a few in
particular by way of private admonishment. Hence he says expressly:
"If one has to speak." For according to a gloss on 1 Cor. 2:4,
"Speech is addressed privately, preaching to many."
Reply Obj. 4: Those who despise all for God's sake are bound to work
with their hands, when they have no other means of livelihood, or of
almsgiving (should the case occur where almsgiving were a matter of
precept), but not otherwise, as stated in the Article. It is in this
sense that the gloss quoted is to be understood.
Reply Obj. 5: That the apostles worked with their hands was sometimes
a matter of necessity, sometimes a work of supererogation. It was of
necessity when they failed to receive a livelihood from others. Hence
a gloss on 1 Cor. 4:12, "We labor, working with our own hands," adds,
"because no man giveth to us." It was supererogation, as appears from
1 Cor. 9:12, where the Apostle says that he did not use the power he
had of living by the Gospel. The Apostle had recourse to this
supererogation for three motives. First, in order to deprive the
false apostles of the pretext for preaching, for they preached merely
for a temporal advantage; hence he says (2 Cor. 11:12): "But what I
do, that I will do that I may cut off the occasion from them," etc.
Secondly, in order to avoid burdening those to whom he preached;
hence he says (2 Cor. 12:13): "What is there that you have had less
than the other churches, but that I myself was not burthensome to
you?" Thirdly, in order to give an example of work to the idle; hence
he says (2 Thess. 3:8, 9): "We worked night and day . . . that we
might give ourselves a pattern unto you, to imitate us." However, the
Apostle did not do this in places like Athens where he had facilities
for preaching daily, as Augustine observes (De oper. Monach. xviii).
Yet religious are not for this reason bound to imitate the Apostle in
this matter, since they are not bound to all works of supererogation:
wherefore neither did the other apostles work with their hands.
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