The current situation does not exempt you from the duty to uphold the holy Rule. An employee who started working in the company during a year of losses must meet work obligations just as much as one who was hired in years of prosperity. The former has taken on an equal commitment as the latter. The company's deficit does not justify employee negligence. The same goes for a monastic institution when it faces a deficit of spiritual values today – and perhaps periodically. (…)
Stick to the holy Rule, understood in its clear and direct sense. If necessary, return to it. If necessary, renew it! Renew it in its original quality.
(Father Jerome /1907–1985/, monk of the Trappist monastery at Sept-Fons,
letter to a fellow brother regarding perpetual vows, April 1972)
