He who begins anything precipitately and with too great eagerness, and even in the very beginning is deprived of the power and the ability to complete it, whether he is actually vicious, or has undertaken more than he can accomplish, should be despised and considered worthy of censure. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who always makes use of proverbs in his instructions, mentions this in the Gospels when he speaks of the foundation and completion of a city, and it is therefore reasonable that Our Sacred Laws and Imperial Decrees should also employ the same language whenever they forbid the foundation of a monastery, where the means are insufficient to complete it. For it is only when some enterprise can be perfected that the name which it is destined to bear can be given it, and so long as it is imperfect, it would be absurd to designate it by the appellation that it can only have when it is entirely finished. Therefore, as has already been stated, it is only reasonable that both Our Sacred and Civil Laws should forbid the foundation of a monastery, when sufficient funds are not available for its completion. Still, as one can not exactly know when a monastery should be considered finished, for the laws have prescribed nothing definite in this respect, We have deemed it advisable to promulgate an Edict which will render this matter clear and certain. Hence We declare (as has been stated by Our Lord), "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them," the application of which is, that for any building whatever to be able to assume the name of monastery, it must be large enough to accommodate at least three persons; in which case, if considerable property should be added thereto, it will be entitled to be designated a monastery. Thus, in order for a monastery to be devoted to sacred uses, it will he necessary for at least three monks to take part in the consecration. But as the greater portion of the persons who apply themselves to undertakings of this kind die before the latter are completed, We hereby decree that when they have made a will, their monastery can ask to be released from the acceptance of the legacies bequeathed to it; and if the founder should die intestate, which frequently happens on account of the uncertainty of the time of death, the monastery will be entitled to a fourth of his estate where he only left three children, or if he left a larger number it can, in preference to all charges and obligations, take out of their share a portion equal to that of each one of them. When, on the other hand, the deceased had no children, but left some ascendants, his estate shall be divided into two equal parts, one of which shall go to his ascendants, and one to his monastery, and if, instead of children or ascendants, he left only collateral relatives as heirs, the latter, no matter what the number may be, will only be entitled to one-third of the estate, and the other two-thirds will go to the monastery; and finally, if, through forgetfulness, or for any other cause, the testator, having lawful ends in view, made a will in opposition to these provisions, the ecclesiastic in authority in the neighborhood will have the power to take from the estate a sufficient sum to maintain the monastery, and provide for the monks; and the other testamentary dispositions made by the deceased shall be observed, so far as the remainder of the property is concerned.