Course XLVI - Teaching 11: Food and Table

The Sons will take breakfast and afternoon collation standing and as quickly as possible. You can drink milk, tea or mate, and eat bread, in accordance with your needs. The Superior can offer sweets, butter, et cetera, in holiday or when he deems proper.
In meat days, you will eat three courses at lunch and supper, that is, soup, meat and vegetables, cereals or pasta and dessert.
The Superior must take care of a healthy, clean and abundant food for the Sons.
In holidays, they may receive something special and also a little of drink.
In abstinence days, they should eat two courses at lunch and supper, that is, one of vegetables, legumes, cereals or pasta with cheese or egg, and dessert.
Fish is equivalent to meat.
During recreation and when and if he deems convenient, the Superior can offer some hot tea, and during hot days some cold drink.
The Sons can eat the ordinary food in Houses of Cafh where in a special case they have to eat with guests or people who are retreated there. Sons: be careful with objects of the House, especially with those objects trusted to you.
If you break or damage any object, do not elude your responsibility and make due confession and penitence.
Read every day at the table a useful book or magazine; the Superior will avoid those books that are heavy and demand much concentration.
They can converse at the table in days off, but with permission of their Superior.
Sons: at the table, they must observe general rules of urbanity without affectation. Since the Sons come from different social circles, all of them should remain on the same level of education, which could be named spontaneous education.
Sons: as we said above, behave at the table with much composure; do not lean too much over the plate, do not make excess noise when you masticate, and use the utensils to eat.
Eat always with bread, which is the first food of the poor, and do not eat eagerly.
Keep your utensils in the plate as long as you eat, and do not use the knife to bring food to your mouth.
Every Son must keep at his left a dessert plate with his ration of bread, cheese and extraordinary food. If your food is abundant and you do not wish to eat all, before its consumption, set aside, in the dessert plate, that portion that you will not eat, not to waste food.
During their stay in the Seminary, the Sons will wash plates in turns; every one, one week. When there is much to wash, the Director will prepare a second weekly list to dry plates.
Their meat must be properly cooked.
Do not converse during breakfast and afternoon collation, and as soon as you eat what you need, return quickly to your occupations.
Out of established hours, you do not eat anything or drink water without permission; you will offer this mortification to the Divine Mother for the sake of love of those souls that are spiritually thirsty in the world.