How can a text written over 1,500 years ago still inspire the lives of men and women today? The Rule we follow was written in central Italy by Saint Benedict in the first half of the 6th century.
A young nobleman from Nursia in Italy, Benedict was born around 480. Very soon, he abandoned the classical studies he had begun in Rome to lead a solitary life. But as the number of disciples gathering around him grew, he first founded the monastery of Subiaco, then that of Monte Cassino. It was there that he died in 547.
As well as setting out the practical organisation of the monks’ daily life, the Rule describes the monastic virtues of obedience, humility and the spirit of silence. Furthermore, it sets out in detail the monastic liturgy, which Saint Benedict calls the Opus Dei, the work of God, and which forms the heart of the monk’s life. He also paid great attention to the head of the monastic community, the abbot. As a figure of Christ within the monastery, he requires the abbot to possess exemplary wisdom and doctrine. The abbot must therefore devote all his care to guiding his disciples along the path to holiness, ensuring that he is ‘loved rather than feared’ (ch. 64).
At the end of this rule, Saint Benedict emphasises the charity that must unite the brothers: ‘Each one shall seek to honour his brothers, putting their interests before his own’ (ch. 72). Yet the Rule is not an end in itself; Saint Benedict himself states that it is merely a ‘draft’ (ch. 73). It sets the monk on his path, opening up infinite horizons of wisdom and virtue. Those who put it into practice will, under God’s guidance, reach the heavenly homeland towards which they are hastening.
The humanity, spirit of discernment and discretion that permeate these pages remain, even today, qualities to be cultivated so that the Kingdom of God may grow within us. Therefore, as Saint Benedict asks (ch. 66), let us read a passage from this Rule every day, so that it may continue to instil in our lives that spirit which has enriched so many generations of monks and nuns.
