Choose your destination before you set out on a path. Their law is what they like to do, whatever strikes their fancy. Anything they believe in and choose, they call holy; anything they dislike, they consider forbidden (Rule of St. Benedict, 1.8-9) So . . . if you’re thinking that this is a description of …
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Fear Of The Lord
The first step of humility, then, is that a man keeps the fear of God always before his eyes and never forgets it. Psalm 36:1 (Rule of St. Benedict 7.10) The practice of humility isn’t so daunting once you realize that it’s not about what other people think of you. It’s about your existence. The first step in this practice …
Character Building
Post-Hurricane Clean-Up Meditation We shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may deserve also to share in his kingdom. (Rule of St. Benedict Prologue 50) Patience is a topic that we get tired of quickly. If we were hanging out in the Italian countryside like St Benedict, maybe it would be …
Communicate Artfully
As often as anything important is to be done in the monastery, the abbot shall call the whole community together and himself explain what the business is; and after hearing the advice of the brothers, let him ponder it and follow what he judges the wiser course. The reason why we have said all should …
Punish For Posterity
He should not gloss over the sins of those who err, but cut them out while he can, as soon as they begin to sprout, remembering the fate of Eli, priest of Shiloh 1 Samuel 2:11-4:18…. Strike your son with a rod and you will free his soul from death Proverbs 23:14. (Rule of St. …
Discipline To Win
In his teaching, the abbot should always observe the Apostle’s recommendation, in which he says: Use argument, appeal, reproof 2 Timothy 4:2. This means that he must vary with circumstances, threatening and coaxing by turns, stern as a taskmaster, devoted and tender as only a father can be. (Rule of St. Benedict 2.23-24) The purpose of …
Cultivate Fairness
The abbot should avoid all favoritism in the monastery…. But the abbot is free, if he sees fit, to change anyone’s rank as justice demands…. God shows no partiality among persons Romans 2:11. Only in this are we distinguished in his sight: if we are found better than others in good works and in humility. …
Aim For Judgment Day
The abbot must know that anyone undertaking the charge of souls must be ready to account for them. Whatever the number of brothers he has in his care, let him realize that on judgment day he will surely have to submit a reckoning to the Lord for all their souls–and indeed for his own as …
Be A Good Model
Therefore, the abbot must never teach or decree or command anything that would deviate from the Lord’s instructions (Rule of St. Benedict 2.4) Neither should parents. Maybe you fail to hit the bull’s eye, but at least you aim for the target. Your children will imitate whatever they see you do. This means that if …
Live Up To Your Titles: Father And Mother
To be worthy of the task of governing a monastery, the abbot must always remember what his title signifies and act as a superior should (Rule of St. Benedict, 2.1). The father and mother must also remember what their titles signify. Today this seems to require a vocabulary review, even for native speakers. Never in …
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