01-09# The Rule of our Holy Father Benedict. Chapter 2: What Kind of Man an Abbot Ought to Be
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An abbot who is worthy to preside over a monastery ought always to remember what he is called and to justify his title by his deeds. For he is deemed in the monastery the representative of Christ, since it is by His title he is addressed, for the Apostle says: “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption of sons in which it is we cry out Abba, Father.” And so an abbot ought not to teach, establish, or order anything contrary to the spirit of the Lord’s revealed will, but let his commandments and teaching, as being the leaven of divine justice, sprinkle the minds of the disciples.