Before all, and above all, attention shall be paid to the care of the sick, so that they shall be served as if they were Christ Himself.

Be careful to be gentle, lest in removing the rust, you break the whole instrument.

Whenever you begin any good work you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection.

Listen and attend with the ear of your heart.

Then are they truly monks when they live by the labor of their hands.

Girded with faith and the performance of good works, let us follow in his [Jesus] paths by the guidance of the Gospel.

It is useless to subdue the flesh by abstinence, unless one gives up his irregular life, and abandons vices which defile his soul.