_Rule 10._—If we have a tendency to criticise a Superior’s wisdom or the correctness of any action, to believe that thereby our Lord is injured and the vocation weakened by such thoughts, since we are under our Superiors in and for the Lord, and that the Lord reveals His will only through our spiritual Father or Mother.
_Rule 11._—To conceal nothing, even our most inmost thoughts, from the abbot, or abbess.
_Rule 12._—Never to repeat anything said to us by our Superiors, unless commanded to do so.
_Rule 13._—Never to speak unnecessarily during “silence,” and, when necessary, only while kneeling upon both knees, with the hands under the scapular, the eyes fixed on the ground, and the words we speak must be uttered in a soft whisper, “for the Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth _keep silence_ before Him.”
_Penance._—To recite five psalms at recreation for each breach of this rule.
_Rule 14._—To obey the convent bell as the voice of an angel calling us.
_Penance if late for matins._—To recite the whole of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, kneeling.
_Rule 15._—Never to be late at meals, choir, dormitory, or work.
_Penance._—If late at meals, to eat off the floor; if late for choir, to kneel at the door during the office; as to the rest, any penance the Superior likes to impose.
_Rule 16._—Never to speak about home or our earthly relations, except to God in prayer: “Forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; SO shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty.”
_Penance._—Any one the Superior LIKES to appoint.
_Rule 17._—To be joyful and ready in our obedience.
_Penance._—To confess it at once, and wear front scapular pinned over the left shoulder for two days.
_Rule 18._—Never to excuse ourselves if in fault.
_Penance._—To kneel in front of the altar, _holding a large crucifix_ at every office, for one day.
_Rule 19._—Never to excuse ourselves, even if unjustly accused of any fault, unless it be necessary for God’s glory that the true offender should be discovered.
N.B.—Our Superiors never did think it for God’s glory that we should give any reason or explanation (so that this part of the rule is nothing else than a farce). Under this rule they would keep us on our knees for hours.