Vocations

Selected texts from The Rule of Saint Benedict

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THE CALL
THE CHALLENGE
THE INVITATION

LISTEN carefully, my child, to the precepts of the master,
and incline the ear of your heart;
welcome with joy and carry out in practice
the exhortation of a devoted father:
so that, through the labour of obedience,
you may return to Him
from whom you once departed
through the sloth of disobedience.

You, then, are the one
to whom I now address my message:
you, whoever you may be,
who, renouncing self-will,
take up the formidable, glorious weapons of obedience,
to fight in combat for the true King,

CHRIST THE LORD!
- Prologue, 1-3

UP then at last!
For Scripture bestirs us with the words:
Now is the hour for us to rise from sleep!
With eyes open to God's transforming light,
and with ears thrilling to his message,
let us listen to Him as, day after day,
he calls out to us,
Today, if you would hear his voice,
harden not your hearts!
And again:
Whoever has ears for hearing, let him hear
what the Spirit is saying to the churches!
And what is he saying?
Come, my children, listen to me;
I shall teach you the fear of the Lordv. Run while you still have the light of life -
the darkness of death could overtake you!
-Prologue, 8,1-13

SO, with loins girt up through faith
and through the practice of good deeds,
and with the Gospel going on before to guide us,
let us strike out along the very road
the Lord himself has travelled,
that so we may come to see Him
who has called us unto His Kingdom.
-Prologue, 21

IN THE SCHOOL OF THE LORD'S SERVICE
AND so we are going to establish
a school of the Lord's service.
We hope that, in founding it,
we shall be ordaining
nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.
But if, in keeping with the dictates of sound reason,
a certain strictness does result -
though only for the amending of bad habits
and for the preserving of charity -
do not take fright straight off and run away
from the path that means salvation:
its beginning cannot be but strait and narrow.

But as we go forward in this way of life and in faith,
our hearts are going to expand,
and we shall be running the way of God's commands
with a sweetness of love beyond all telling:
so that, never withdrawing from his school and teaching,
but persevering in his doctrine, in the monastery,
even unto death,
we may so share through patience
in the fellowship of Christ's sufferings,
as to be found worthy of also being
partakers of his Kingdom.
-Prologue, 45-50

The Cenobite

THE first kind of monk is that of the coenobites,
which means:
monastics who live in common in a monastery,
serving under RULE and ABBESS.
- Chapter 1, 2

The Rule

IN all things, therefore, let all
follow the Rule as master,
and let no one rashly depart from it.
- Chapter 3, 7

The Abbess

LET the brethren love their abbess
with a charity that is sincere and humble.
- Chapter 72, 10

AN abbess worthy of being head of a monastery
ought ever to be mindful of the name she bears,
and realise in her deeds the meaning of that name:
"Superior" - one from above.
For she is believed
to hold the place of Christ in the monastery,
being called by one of Christ's own titles;
for, as the Apostle has it:
You have received the spirit of adopted children,
whereby we cry, "Abba - Father!"
- Chapter 2, 1-3

SINCE she is believed to be Christ's representative,
let the Abbess be called "Mother" -
not for any pretensions of her own,
but for the honour and love of Christ.
- Chapter 63, 13

The Brethren

JUST as there is an evil zeal of bitterness
which separates from God and leads to hell,
so also there is a good zeal
which separates from vice
and leads to God and to eternal life.
It is this zeal, therefore,
which monastics should practice
with the utmost fervent love -
which is to say:
LET them defer to one another
with signs of honour and respect;
let them bear most patiently
with one another's infirmities,
be these physical or moral;
let them vie in paying obedience,
the one to the other;
let no one follow what they judge useful to themselves,
but what is useful to the other;
and let them chastely tender one another
the charity of brotherhood.
- Chapter 72, 1-8

The Old and the Young

THOUGH very human nature is moved to special kindness
towards these times of life,
that is to say,
towards the elderly and the very young,
still the authority of the Rule, too,
should make explicit provision for them:
at all times, therefore,
let special consideration be shown for their weakness.
- Chapter 37, 1-2a

The Sick

BEFORE all things and above all things,
care must be taken of the sick,
so that they may be served in very deed
as Christ himself.
- Chapter 36, 1

The Guests

LET all the guests who come be received like Christ,
who will one day say:
I was a guest and a stranger,
and you took me in.
Let Christ be worshipped in the guests,
for it is indeed in their persons
that he is received.
Special care should be shown
in the reception of the poor and the pilgrims,
for in them is Christ even more truly received.
- Chapter 53, 1. 7b, 15a

The Quest

WHEN anyone is newly come to be a monastic,
let them not be granted easy admittance;
but rather, just as the Apostle says,
test the spirits if they be of God.
- Chapter 58, 1-2

LET a senior monastic be assigned to the novices,
one who is skilled at winning souls,
to watch over them with particular attention.
They must examine:
whether the novice is truly seeking God,
and whether they are zealous
for the Work of God,
for obedience,
and for the things that humble them.
They must be told of all the rough and rugged ways
through which we travel on our way to God.
- Chapter 58, 6-8

IF, upon mature deliberation,
the novice promises to keep the Rule in its entirety,
and to observe all that is commanded,
only then let them be received into the community...
In the oratory, in the presence of all,
the one to be received shall promise,
before God and his saints:
STABILITY,
CONVERSION in the monastic way of life,
And OBEDIENCE.
- Chapter 58, 14, 17-18a

A Practical Program for Monks

IN the first place, to love the Lord God
with all one's heart, with all one's soul,
and with all one's strength;
and then to love one's neighbour as oneself.
- Chapter 4, 1-2

The Monastery

THE monastery ought to be so arranged that,
if at all possible,
all the necessary things -
water, mill, garden, shops for arts and crafts -
may all be accommodated within the enclosure,
so that monastics may have no need
to go wandering about outside:
something most unhelpful for the spiritual life!
- Chapter 66, 6-7

The Work of the Monk

IDLENESS is the enemy of the soul.
The brethren should therefore be occupied
at certain times in manual labour,
and again at other set times in spiritual reading...
then are they truly monks
when they earn their living
by the work of their hands...
- Chapter 48, 1. 8a

LET all the monastery utensils and goods
be regarded as so many sacred vessels of the altar.
- Chapter 31, 10

AS soon as the signal for the Divine Office is heard,
the brethren should lay aside whatever they have in hand
and hurry on their way with all possible speed -
but yet with seriousness:
no room for levity here!
Let nothing, therefore, be put before the Work of God.
- Chapter 43, 1-3

LET us always be mindful of the Prophet's words:
Serve the Lord in fear;
and again:
In the sight of angels will I sing you psalms.
We should consider, then,
with what reverence we ought to stand
in the sight of God and of his angels,
and chant the psalms in such a way
that heart sings in harmony with lips.
- Chapter 19, 3-7

LISTEN with joy to reading in community.
Kneel frequently for prayer.

- Chapter 4, 55-56

OF this we can be sure,
that not for our much speaking does God hear us,
but for purity of heart and tears of compunction.
- Chapter 20, 3

The Monk as Disciple of Christ

DENY yourself in order to follow Christ;
chastise your body.
Do not embrace soft living;
Love fasting.
- Chapter 4, 10-13

THE first degree of humility
is obedience without delay.
This is the virtue of those who hold
that nothing is more dear to them than Christ...
they imitate the example of the Lord, who said:
I came not to do my own will,
but the will of him who sent me.
- Chapter 5, 1-2, 13

SINCE the spirit of silence is so important,
permission to speak should rarely be granted
to monks advanced in perfection.
Speaking and teaching belong to the master;
the disciple's part is
to be silent and listen.
- Chapter 6, 3. 6

BRETHREN,
Holy Scripture cries out to us, saying:
Everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled,
and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.
And so brethren, if we wish to attain
To the summit of humility,
and to arrive speedily at that heavenly exaltation
to which we ascend
by the lowliness of the present life,
then we must set up, by our ascending actions,
that ladder which appeared to Jacob in a dream,
whereon were shown to him
angels descending and ascending.
What does that "descending and ascending" mean?
This, surely:
By self-exaltation we descend;
by humility we ascend.
The ladder thus set up is our life in this world,
which the Lord raises up to heaven,
if only our heart be HUMBLED.
- Chapter 7, 1. 5-8

WHEN the monk has climbed all the rungs of humility,
He will straightaway come to God's charity:
the PERFECT LOVE THAT CASTS OUT FEAR.
All those precepts he had formerly observed,
not without fearfulness,
he will now begin to keep, by reason of that love,
without effort;
naturally, as it were;
by force of habit:
no longer for fear of the Gehenna,
but simply for love of Christ,
good habit,
and delight in virtue.
All this will the Lord deign
to show forth in his workman
now that he is cleansed from vice and sin.
- Chapter 7, 67-70

TOWARDS THE HEIGHTS

FEAR the Day of Doom,
be in dread of the day of the Gehenna;
desire eternal life with all the yearning of your soul
and keep death present daily before your eyes.
- Chapter 4, 44-47

WHOEVER you are, who hasten on your way
to the heavenly homeland,
fulfil, with Christ to help you,
this little Rule for mere beginners;
and then at last you shall attain,
under God's protection,
to still loftier heights of doctrine and virtue.
- Chapter 73, 8-9

AND never lose your hope in God's mercy.
- Chapter 4, 74

LET the brethren prefer nothing whatever to CHRIST -
and may he bring us, one and all,
to ETERNAL LIFE!
- Chapter 72, 11-12