Living the Rule
Integrating Benedictine Spirituality in the Twenty-First Century
The ancient text, composed by Saint Benedict in the Sixth
Century, and based largely upon the Rule of Saint Basil from the Fourth
Century, is of immense value to us in this Twenty-First Century. It has, like
the Sacred Scriptures, retained its value over the centuries because of the
truth it contains and of how it holds the capacity to lead inquiring and
willing hearts deeper into the mind and will of God – both as individuals and
as communities.
The Rule has, over these many centuries, directed men and
women in becoming monks and religious sisters. It has also been the Rule of
life for untold numbers of men and women, married and single, that have felt a
call to monastic spirituality and offered themselves to the Order of Saint
Benedict as Oblates of Saint Benedict.
The precepts contained in the Rule, whether applied to life
as a monk, religious sister, Oblate, or any lay person, are ever new and never
become outdated.
A lot of centuries have passed since Benedict lived in a
cave in Subiaco as a praying hermit and before he founded his first monastery
at Cassino in the Sixth Century. Monasticism flourished, did so for centuries,
and had a tremendous impact on populations, cultures, and the Church. Some
congregations became quite large and wealthy. Some remained small and poor.
Yet, despite their size and economy, all monasteries have been a significant
influence in the communities where they were planted.
I am a late-comer to Benedictine monastic spirituality
during this time in history where it would appear, at least to the natural eye,
that the heyday for monasticism is past. I am, likely because of my own
experience as an Oblate, a bit prejudiced in the matter. I do believe that
monasteries and monastic spirituality still offer to the world a quality and
depth of spiritual life that is, pardon me for my honestly, often overlooked or
neglected in the Church at large.
There simply does not exist, in my experience anyway, a
consistent and ongoing emphasis placed upon young people where considering monastic
vocations is concerned. How can people possibly know if they have a vocation to monastic
life if they are not presented with monastic life as an option? How can
monasteries possibly flourish without new professions coming in to take up the
seats of our brothers and sisters that grow feeble and die in their habits?
One of the amazing things about the Rule is that Benedict’s
school appeals to all serious followers of Christ without respect to
denomination or non-denomination. Benedict invites all of us to accept and
learn through the precepts presented in the Rule. My own walk of faith now
happens to be in the Church with its headquarters in Rome. Though I attempt to
write with ecumenism in mind, I am sure there are times when my Catholicism,
and my love for the Catholic Church is evident. I do not see this evidence as a
bad thing. It is good for all of us to get beyond the barriers of
denominationalism and develop a better understanding of the journey of faith
that other believers in Christ are walking.
This page begins an undertaking that will likely take months,
possibly a year or more, to complete. It is not something that can be hurried.
Even upon its completion, it will not be completed. Complete would suggest an
arrival at a destination. There is no real or tangible point that characterizes
completion. Benedict’s school is about much more than mastering the rubrics. Conversatio
Morum is a life-long journey in the way of Saint Benedict.
This work will be a personal step by step, verse by verse,
chapter by chapter personal journey through the Rule of Saint Benedict. I started
to do this in the early years of my Oblation. It did not take long for me to
realize that so soon out of my novitiate was not the time for such an
undertaking. Zeal is a good thing. Zeal, and still wet behind the ears, is not
so good.
This is not intended to be a scholarly examination of the
Rule. A scholar I am not. Nor is it intended to be a definitive statement
defining the right or wrong way to interpret the Rule. It is being written not
by a professed member of the monastery. It is being written by an Oblate living
in the world, an Oblate that is making every possible effort to integrate the
precepts taught in Benedict’s school into life in the Twenty-First Century
outside the blessed walls of the monastic enclosure.
The process, from beginning to conclusion, is something that
I need to do, first of all, for myself this far this side of my Oblation. Beyond
this, this being my own interior reckoning with the Rule, it is also something
that may (hopefully) assist others in discovering this beautiful little school
that Benedict founded those many centuries ago. Perhaps it will assist others
in walking out their Oblations.
For whatever good this accomplishes, in my own
life or in the lives of others, I say in advance Deo Gratias – Thanks be to
God.
A word about the translation of the Rule being used.
Here, at the outset, I am using The Rule of Saint Benedict, Translated
into English. A Pax Book, London: S.P.C.K., 1931. This translation is in the
public domain. I normally use the RB 1980. It has copyright restrictions. I am
corresponding with the copyright owner, Liturgical Press, in reference to using
the text of the RB 1980. I may, if permission is granted, switch texts and
replace the older public domain text with the more modern translation.
As I begin this work, I do so with three Benedictine monks
in mind – Father Thomas O’Connor, OSB, Father Edward Markley, OSB, and Father
Howard Moussier, OSB. Each of these Benedictine monks touched my life deeply and
left their lasting impression upon me. They each fought the good fight. They
each completed the race they were called to run. It is not hard at all to
imagine their voices, along with the voice of Abbot Benedict, speaking the words
of the Rule to me as I read them.
I approach this endeavor as Ora et Labora – Prayer and Work as something to be done at a deep,
intimate, and confessional level; as an older version of that seeker knocking
at the door of Saint Bernard Abbey where Father O’Connor met me at the door,
welcomed me into the Benedictine community as an Oblate Novice, then confirmed
me as an Oblate of Saint Benedict through the signing of my Oblate Promise at
the side altar of the Abbey Church.
I hear them saying to me,
Hearken continually
within thine heart, O son, giving attentive ear to the precepts of thy master.
Understand with
willing mind and effectually fulfil thy holy father’s admonition; that thou
mayest return, by the labour of obedience, to Him from Whom, by the idleness of
disobedience, thou hadst withdrawn.
To this end I now address a word of
exhortation to thee, whosoever thou art, who, renouncing thine own will and
taking up the bright and all-conquering weapons of obedience, dost enter upon
the service of thy true king, Christ the Lord.
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