Monday, March 5, 2018

The Holy Rule of St. Benedict - A Review


I found in the Holy Rule of St. Benedict not a harsh, repressive, or violent prescription for daily life. Rather, I was almost surprised by the kindness of spirit St. Benedict manifests in his rule. The contents of this Rule seem more like advice written by a kind grandfather for his grandchildren than a ‘rule’ for ‘monks’. The Rule is full of examples of the kindliness of this Saint.
            Consider, for instance, that Benedict makes sure that his sons do not overwork themselves; when speaking of manual labor, he writes: “let all things be done ini moderation on account of the faint hearted”.[1] Upon reading the Rule, one can agree that this life ordains “nothing that is harsh or burdensome” [2] - so contrary to the manner in which monastic life is imagined by those who have never experienced it!
            The kindness and humanity of St Benedict become more evident in his treatment of food and drink. In this area, Benedict draws his inspiration from the book of Acts, which recalls how among the first Christians, “distribution was made according as he had need”. (Acts 4:35) [3]. The weekly table servers are prescribed “over and above the regular allowance” of food and drink “in order that they may serve their brethren without murmuring and undue hardship”.[4] As to boys and old men, it is forbidden that “the rigor of the Rule in regard to food be applied to them”. On the contrary, they are to “receive compassionate consideration” from the kitcheners. [5] And the sick are to be provided with meat – a delicacy in Benedicts’ day. [6]
            One may object to any claim for St Benedict’s kindness and compassion on the grounds of frequent mention of punishments, which were at times corporeal. However, if one considers that the punishments were necessary for constraints for the order of large communities, and that the spirit with which the punishment was to be carried out, then any argument for a brutal Benedict is turned on its head. For the Abbot is charged with “all diligence in his care for erring brethren, for ‘they that are in health need not a physician, but they that are sick (Mat. 4:12)”.[7] In this view, the punishments prescribed by the rule are not administered in a spirit of vindication, but in a spirit of compassionate healing.
            It should be no surprise that the Rule of St Benedict prescribes mercy and compassion in so many instances. For St Benedict saw the monastery as the place of spiritual discipleship, where the monk learns to live his life in accord with the Gospel. And what is the essence of Gospel living if not that agapic love of Christ? Benedict envisioned his monasteries as a place to grow in love of God and neighbor. This is evident from the metaphors employed by the text of monastery as a “school of the Lord’s service”[8] in which one learns to use the “tools of the spiritual craft”[9] in the workshop of charity.[10]
            It is within the context of these metaphors that one can understand the corporal, psychological, and spiritual demands for discipline in the monastic life. In a school, one should maintain an attitude of listening and openness to truth. Silence flows from this attitude of learning, and greatly contributes to it. A “perpetual ban” on “buffoonery and talk that is vain and stirs laughter”[11] would seem harsh in an area for the purpose of recreation. But anyone would approve of such a ban in an area for the purpose of learning and reflection, such as a library. Indeed, “it becometh the master to speak and to teach, but it befits the disciple to be silent and to listen”.[12]
            It is in the context of apprenticeship that one can understand St Benedict’s teachings on humility. If someone really desires to learn an art or craft (here, the art of loving God), it would behoove him to do all things carefully, mindful of the watchfulness of his master. Those who are learning should not carry out their work willfully and independently, opening their own shop, as it were. Hence Benedict’s insistence on turning from self-will, and of vowing obedience to a superior in all things. A reading of the twelve steps of humility described in this rule is very intelligible if one keeps these steps in mind as the necessary qualities of an apprentice.[13]
            St Benedict was aware that man’s life on earth is not simply a life of quiet learning – one must constantly struggle against the evil tendencies of fallen nature if one wishes to love God. For this reason, St Benedict includes the metaphor of the battlefield for the monastic life: “To thee are my words now addressed, whosoever thou mayest be that renouncing thine won will to fight for the true king, Christ, dost take up the strong and glorious weapons of obedience”.[14] Benedict saw that to do good, we must cut off the evil tendencies of our own will, which are manifested as unruly passions. To do this requires the “weapons” of obedience; for to fulfill the law of Christ’s love is difficult and exhilarating, it is battle against the foe. It is significant that Benedict mentions obedience in the first line of his Rule. For it is by obedience to the Rule and to the Abbot that the monk obeys Christ the Kings’ commands in the battle “against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12).
            For all the importance given to the Rule in the monastic life, St Benedict did not see his Rule as an end to itself. “Whoever, thou art that hasteneth to thy heavenly country, fulfill first of all by the help of Christ this little Rule for beginners.”[15] Benedict saw his rule as an aid for those seeking to arrive at their heavenly country by means of love. By insisting that “the full observance of justice is not established in this rule” [16] Benedict prevents the observance of his Rule from becoming a rigid legalism. Benedict was a man of the Gospel – that is why he is a saint! He knew that just is fulfilled only in love of God and neighbor. Because in this very chapter Benedict mentions St Basil’s Detailed Rule for Monks, we can assume that Benedict read and agreed with Basil that “the love of God is not founded on a disciple imposed on us from outside, but is constitutively established as the capacity and necessity of our rational nature”. [17] Benedict saw that his rule served to awaken within man the spark of divine love that is hidden within us. It was the saints’ hope that by observing this rule,

Our hearts may be enlarged, and we shall run with unspeakable sweetness of love in the way of God’s commandments, so that, never abandoning his rule, but persevering in the monastery until death, we shall share by patience in the sufferings of Christ, that we may deserve to be partakers also of his kingdom. Amen.[18]



[1] Benedict of Nursia, The Rule of Saint Benedict,(Newman, Westminster, 1960) chapter 48, pg. 111
[2] Ibid, prologue, pg. 13
[3] Ibid, ch.34, pg. 87
[4] Ibid, ch.35,pg.89
[5] Ibid, ch.37,pg.93
[6] Ibid, ch.36, pg.91
[7] Ibid, ch.27.pg.77
[8] Ibid, prologue, pg.13
[9] Ibid.ch.4.pg.31
[10] Ibid.ch.4.pg.32
[11] Ibid.ch.6.pg.37
[12] Ibid.ch.6.37
[13] The twelve steps of humility are given in chapter seven of the Rule.
[14] St Benedict, Rule of St Benedict, prologue, pg. 7
[15] Ibid,ch.73pg.163
[16] Ibid.ch.73.pg.161
[17] St Basil the Great, Detailed Rule for Monks
[18] St Benedict, The Rule of Saint Benedict, prologue,pg.13

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