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Listen, My Son
St Benedict for Fathers
by Dwight Longenecker
FOREWORD
In his writings, Pope John Paul II contrasts two things - the civilization of love and the culture of death. He
highlights the basic struggle between good and evil, right and wrong. The Pope is saying, 'Look at the contrast between destruction, violence, and death - all under the name of choice, but
all about selfishness, all about rights, all about me putting myself first - look at the contrast between that
and the civilization of love, which is based on the idea of community and love.'
The most basic community is the family. Jacques Man-tam, a great Catholic philosopher, taught that each person
is made in the image of God. Each human being is unique and therefore to be intimately respected. He resisted the
philosophy of individualism. For Maritain the human personality is at the heart of the equation. People are formed
into communities and the most basic is the family. The family then becomes a neighbourhood, the workplace, school,
institution, whatever it may be, and within those communities you may make things work by giving something of yourself.
That to me is the civilization of love; it is giving something of yourself and not always expecting to have everything
for your benefit.
It is no wonder that Pope Paul VI named St Benedict the patron of Europe. He saw that in Benedict's Rule were the
foundations of a civilization of love. In the Rule, Benedict calls his brother monks not only to obedience to the
rightful authority, but also to mutual obedience, based on their love for one another. This is the love which Christ
has for us since he was sent 'not to be served, but to serve, and to give
his life as a ransom for many'. This same mutual self-giving love is at
the heart of the Christian marriage, and the Christian home. When it begins to live there, it spreads outward to
the whole of society.
Historically we can see how this happened through the Rule of St Benedict. The Rule was written in the dark days
of the sixth century, when the Roman Empire - rotten with decadence from within - was finally crumbling into chaos.
Benedict's 'little Rule' became the foundation document for the monasteries which became the oases of love, learning
and light for the next thousand years. The monasteries kept alive the ideas and learning of earlier civilizations
but they also generated a new ideal: civilization based not on military might, but on worship, service and love.
Theirs was an attempt to build Christ's Kingdom, which flourished for a thousand years and still thrives quietly
today.
The wisdom of Benedict is timeless. His words are completely incarnational, blending practical wisdom with profound
spiritual insight. Neither are Benedict's words simply for monks and nuns. More and more laypeople around the world
are finding guidance, inspiration and encouragement by following the way of Benedict.
In his book, Dwight Longenecker has provided a daily commentary on the Rule of St Benedict for fathers. In the
UK alone, where 800,000 children have no contact with their fathers, we need a parable to facilitate the return
of the lost fathers. Perhaps this is it. But although his focus is on fathers, the commentary applies Benedict's
practical wisdom to every family situation; indeed, Benedict's insights apply not only within the home or monastery,
but wherever people struggle to live, work and pray together. Benedict wrote before the great divisions of the
Reformation. His words are simple, Scriptural and universal. I recommend this book to Christian parents of all
traditions as they seek to build strong Christian families which will, in turn, be the building blocks of a civilization
of love.
Lord David Alton
PREFACE
Whenever I write or speak about religion a certain story of Jesus' echoes in my mind. It is the one where he points
to the Pharisees who 'love to wear long robes and sit in the best seats
in the temple and make long prayers'. This is never more true than when
writing about spirituality, and the excruciating crunch of Christ's words has pressed home even more as I have
written about the vocation of being a Christian husband and father.
I am only too aware that what I have said about the Christian family is idealistic, and that the reality of our
own home is far from the ideal. Gregory the Great said about Benedict, 'He
could not have written what he did not live'. I doubt if someone reviewing
my life could be quite so optimistic. My wife is the first to point out that I don't live up to my own good words,
but I think she admits that even if I don't succeed, at least I'm making the effort. I hope in our better moments
we can have a laugh together and say with the old monk who was asked what they do in the monastery, 'We fall and get up, fall and get up, fall and get up again'.
So this book is not about my attainments, but my aims. It is written from my own experience of growing up in a
Christian family. It is also written from the experience of trying to follow the way of Benedict for about fifteen
years, first as an Anglican minister and now as a Catholic layman. It also comes out of my own experience in the
'thick of things' with four young
children: Benedict, Madeleine, Theodore and Elias. It could not have been written without them and it certainly
could not have been considered without my wife, whose example in self-giving teaches me every day. Without them
I would be a solitary hermit. With them I am a faltering abbot.
If I have had the courage to attempt fatherhood and to attempt to write on it, then I have my own father to thank.
Indeed, if I have any Christian faith at all I have him to thank. He and my mother brought up five children in
an evangelical tradition to 'know and love the Lord'. As a result each one of us has kept the faith and managed to build our own Christian marriages
and families the best we know how. In this day and age my parents' success is a noteworthy accomplishment. My father
knew nothing about St Benedict, but his example of fatherhood was close to the Benedictine ideal I set out here.
He was strict but understanding. When he said, 'This hurts me more than
it hurts you .. .', we believed it. He taught us to respect physical things
and one another. He always stressed the need for good stewardship, balance and gentleness of mind. Most of all
he was unfailing in his spiritual life. He led the family in prayer and we saw him pray. We knew he gave sacrificially.
We saw him get involved in the local church, in the international church and in Christian mission. Because his
faith was real and active we have faith today, for children do what their parents do, not necessarily what their
parents say.
Finally, if I presume to comment on the sacred Rule of St Benedict I must thank June, a Benedictine oblate, who
first encouraged me to visit a monastery over twenty years ago. Among many monastic friends, the late Abbot of
Quarr, Dom Leo Avery, was a humble father and spiritual guide. Dom Joseph McNerney gave friendship and proved an
intelligent and understanding pastor on our journey into the Catholic Church. The community at Mont St Michel have
always given me a warm Gallic welcome, and the monks at Downside Abbey, especially Dom Daniel Rees, have encouraged
and helped me with this text. Finally, Dom Laurence Kelly shows me a life full of grace, wisdom and joy. He is
the old porter who opens the door for me with a word of thanks and blessing.
Dwight Longenecker
Chippenham
The Feast of St Joseph
19 March 1999
INTRODUCTION
The Challenge of Fatherhood
When St Benedict says, 'Listen my son to the advice of a loving father' he calls us into an intimate child-parent relationship. The need to be nurtured and guided
through life doesn't cease when we reach the magic age of eighteen. In every stage of life we need the wisdom,
concern and love of a father figure. If we are fathers ourselves, the need for a mentor is even greater. We cannot
be good fathers if we do not have a good father in our own life.
Jesus taught us to call God 'father' and this teaching flowed from his own intimate relationship with God the father.
Jesus called God 'Abba' or 'papa'. With such an intimate term he reveals the
tenderness and strength which should exist between fathers and children, and between us and our heavenly father.
In recent years the concept of fatherhood has lost its attraction, and some people view fathers as the source of
every ill in society. Of course many have suffered at the hands of poor fathers. Many have also suffered from inadequate
mothering. But the failure of some fathers does not negate the need for positive, potent and compassionate fatherhood.
Indeed bad fathering makes the need for good fathers even more acute. The foundation of successful fathering is
a living relationship with God the Father. It is only from a dynamic spiritual relationship with him that human
fathers can hope to do their very best for their children.
This primary relationship with God the Father can be nurtured and developed through the spiritual fathers we find
within the family of the church. In a spiritual director or wise confessor God gives us a spiritual father to help
us on our journey. Like St Jospeh, our spiritual director adopts us as his own. He protects and provides for us
until we reach maturity. St Benedict has been a spiritual father for countless men and women for well over fifteen
hundred years. Through his little rule generations of monks, nuns and lay people have heard the voice of a wise
and loving father who wishes to guide them to perfection.
A guide for fathers is vital today since fatherhood has been so neglected. Christian fathers especially need resources
to foster their paternal role. Many men in our society are confused and bewildered by a whole array of contradictory
expectations. Short-term contracts, performance-related pay and high pressure competition pushes fatherhood into
second place. On the one hand, the 'new man'
is expected to be the perfect father and husband, while the voices of those who may have been injured by bad fathering
often portray all fathers as domineering villains.
Quick divorce and re-marriage, along with the financial attraction of co-habitation, and a mentality which separates
sexuality from procreation encourage many men to avoid marriage and fatherhood altogether, or to walk out on the
family once the stresses of real family life begin to develop. The younger generation of men can hardly be blamed.
Many young men are themselves the product of broken homes, where in most cases it was the father who was the absent
parent. Without a father it is impossible for them to be fathers.
However, within this grim scenario there is cause for great hope. Fatherhood may be neglected and despised, but
there are signs of a swing back. In all sorts of low-key ways men are returning to the priority of parenting. In
larger enterprises which cross cultural and religious boundaries men are being encouraged to take their domestic
responsibilities seriously; to return to their families and to take up the challenge of compassionate leadership
within the home. Men who have been excluded from their homes and children by harsh divorce laws are fighting back
for the rights of fathers. Through marriage guidance, counselling and self-help programmes thousands of men are
learning new ways of relating to their wives and families, and finding renewal in the heart of their homes. In
addition, an increasing number of firms are recognizing the need for paternity leave, shorter hours and proper
responses to family requirements; recognizing that a man who is fulfilled at home is a better and more productive
worker. Many men who work for impersonal multinational firms are discovering that it is within family life that
they have true identity, and there they discover a sense of belonging and a true vocation.
This return to fatherhood should not be seen as an attempt to turn the clock back. If an old patriarchy has died
it is so that a better view of fatherhood can be resurrected. The new fatherhood is not a return to an antiquated
patriarchy in which the man is king and the woman a mere chattel. Instead the new father is caring, involved and
fully integrated into the life of the family. The new father relates with his wife on equal terms. There is a new
interdependence and complementary self-giving which recognizes the advances in women's self-understanding as well
as the demands of modern society. If the mother has had a more formative role on children in recent years, then
the new father is now sharing that function in full partnership with her. If she shares the bread-winning, then
he shares in the child-care. The new father is there not as the king, but as the servant-king. In fact, while this
approach to fatherhood seems new, it is there in the Scriptural pattern for marriage, and St Benedict points to
it in his chapter on mutual obedience. The new fatherhood does not expect obedience or respect by right, but earns
respect and obedience by self-sacrifice and compassionate leadership.
This kind of fatherhood is hard work, but it pays rich dividends. Not only is the man rewarded with loyal and loving
children as he grows older, but he also enjoys a deepening and more profound relationship with his wife. In addition,
his children go out into the world brimming with confidence and strength from his contribution.
Finally, it is easy to see the decay and confusion in modern life and to run for cover. The instinctive response
of Christian parents may be to construct a family fortress against the wicked world. But while the home is a place
of refuge, it is also a place of preparation and interaction with the wider world. Parents will best protect their
children from the destructive forces in the world not by running away from them, but by equipping their children
to engage with the world in a creative and dynamic way. In fact, there may be no more effective way to make the
world a better place than for men and women to take their responsibility as parents seriously, and so contribute
members of society who are responsible, compassionate and confident.
Christian parents help to redeem and transform the world by building a good home, for good homes are the building
blocks of a solid, prosperous and peaceful society. When this calling to parenthood is linked with a strong Christian
vision, the home, as Tertullian said, becomes the 'seminary of the human
race', and the Christian father and mother find in their parental roles
a path which leads to heaven.
The Christian family can be the place for the soul's training because it is, by its nature, a Christian community.
A person may choose a convent or a monastery to join, but they cannot choose every monk they have to live with;
neither can they choose every successive abbot or abbess to whom they must vow obedience. Likewise, we may choose
our wives or husbands, but we can't choose all our in-laws and we certainly can't choose our children. They are
given to us and we must learn to live with them in community. Since Jesus first called twelve men to live in intimate
community with him, the Church has been a family, a community, a Kingdom of God. So it is with the natural family:
we find within our own home all the necessary ingredients for progress in the Christian life.
St John has written, 'Those who live in love live in God and God lives
in them.' So within the love of the Christian family the father can come
to understand and dwell in all wisdom. Through his love with his wife, the two share in a union which is as intimate
as the one Christ shares with his Church. Through their relationship with the children a three-way bond is nurtured
which takes each family member into a love which reflects the Holy Trinity itself, for there Father, Son and Holy
Spirit exist in the perfect unity of the Divine Family. The ordinary Christian home is part of the God-given sacrament
of marriage, and as in all sacraments it is a physical means of meeting the invisible God face to face.
This is a high ideal. It sounds mystical and sublime. But the reality often seems far from celestial. Being a parent
is a gritty, realistic and demanding vocation. Our lives are rooted in the physical and emotional needs of small
children. We need to be equipped for Christian fatherhood. There are many resources for spiritual growth, but not
many which combine the practical demands of fatherhood with the aspirations of the spiritual journey. Some books
are full of practical advice on parenting while others take us on a wonderful, but too other-worldly, journey of
spirituality. Not many books combine practical advice with spiritual insight. The Rule of St Benedict, more than
any other, combines the two into a fully incarnational guide to life.
The Life and Rule of St Benedict
The sixth-century Rule of St Benedict is a code written for the foundation and maintenance of a Christian monastery.
It has been in use for the last fifteen hundred years as the basis for every Benedictine monastery and convent
and for many other religious orders which are loosely Benedictine. Some scholars even credit Benedict and his Rule
as the foundation of Western civilization, for there the basic guidelines of all community can be traced, and it
was the monastic communities, following Benedict's inspiration, which kept human learning and civilization alive
during the Dark Ages.
Benedict's Rule may have been written with sixth-century needs in mind, but it has stood the test of time because
of Benedict's profound understanding of human psychology. Benedict understands that we need something to aspire
towards, but we also need a realistic view of ourselves. We need to reach for the stars, but keep our feet on the
ground. Like all works of genius, Benedict's Rule inspires and humbles us at the same time. He takes us to lofty
heights, and yet his Rule is full of practical wisdom and principles of human relationship which can be applied
to almost any situation where people live and work together. A serious reading of Benedict will enlighten and inspire
not only our family life, but our relationships at work, in the parish, and in our wider community.
Although it was written for monks, Benedict's Rule is not a piece of mystical writing as such. It doesn't give
extravagant and obscure teaching on prayer and mysticism. The Rule is a practical document for everyday living.
It is modest in its aim: indeed, Benedict himself calls it a 'little Rule
for beginners'. The Rule is also modest in its composition. Benedict never
claims complete originality. Christian monasticism began in Egypt in the middle of the fourth century, and Benedict
has drawn from the literature of those first Egyptian monks - the Desert Fathers. He also relies on the Eastern
Conferences of Cassian and on the contemporary Rule of the Master. But Benedict makes his own mark. Unlike the
earlier writers, Benedict promotes a new balance. He tempers monastic austerities with a gentle tolerance of human
weakness. He eschews extremism and builds a Rule which strives for heaven while understanding how bound we are
to earth. For Benedict heaven and earth are not in conflict; as a master of incarnational spirituality he helps
us see 'heaven in ordinary'. So
every material possession is to be treated as a sacred vessel of the altar, and Christ is to be seen in the abbot,
every brother, and every guest of the monastery.
Benedict the Man
Benedict's Rule speaks to our time because he also wrote in a century of social upheaval and uncertainty. In AD
410 - seventy years before he was born - Rome fell to the barbarian invasions, and by the middle of the sixth century
Rome had been sacked for a second time and the Huns were ravaging northern Italy. The civil authority was in tatters;
wars, violence and anarchy were raging and the Church too was torn in pieces by theological controversy over the
nature of grace. In the midst of this turbulent time Benedict managed to construct a way of life which rode the
storm like an ark in the raging flood.
Benedict was born around 480 into a noble family of Nursia. He was sent to Rome to study, but abandoned the city
because of the decadence he saw there. He went to live the hermit's life in the hills near Subiaco where he was
looked after by another solitary monk. Eventually he was invited to become the abbot of a nearby monastery, but
after almost being poisoned by the rebellious monks he left. He finally settled with some brothers at Monte Cassino,
where the reconstructed mother house of the Benedictine order still stands today. Some distance away his sister
Scholastica had established a convent of nuns, and Benedict met with her once a year. Before his death Benedict's
friend and confidant, Servandus, tells us how he was summoned to Benedict's cell one night. Benedict had got up
in the night to pray and he saw a bright light come down from heaven. Encapsulated in that light was the entire
created order 'as if gathered into a single ray of light'. This ultimate vision of the unity of all things is the
gift which is given through the life of contemplation. Benedict's Rule is a way to run on the path towards that
vision of unified love. So he calls us in his Prologue to 'run on the
path of God's commandments with an inexpressible delight of love'.
The life of St Benedict was written by Pope St Gregory the Great. In his Dialogues he records the death of St Benedict. He died on 21 March 547 in the oratory or chapel of
the monastery. After receiving communion he stood with his hands raised in prayer, and died supported by his brothers.
So in death he was surrounded by the community, making him a latter-day Moses whose arms were held up by Joshua
and Aaron so the battle could be won. After his death, the monastery was destroyed by the invading Lombards and
the traditions tell us that some monks took Benedict's remains, and those of his sister, to the Abbey of St Benoit-sur-Loire,
where his relics remain today.
The Way of Benedict
In his opening Prologue Benedict calls us to make an act of the will - to take a decision to follow the path of
God's commandments. After a section on different types of monks he turns to the traits of a good abbot. He goes
on with a fairly traditional outline of the steps of obedience and humility, then goes on to deal with the mundane
matters of running the monastery. He tells the monks how to conduct the services in chapel, how to be disciplined,
how to treat the physical goods of the monastery and how to live together in peace. But woven through the whole
Rule is an awareness that the rules are simply training exercises. They are designed to channel the monk's life
into an inner freedom and holiness. Throughout the Rule the three Benedictine vows of Stability, Obedience and
Conversion of Life provide a driving force.
Benedict sees spiritual maturity as something which is attained obliquely. Enlightenment cannot be attained on
its own like the reward for some sort of esoteric quest. Like happiness, enlightenment is the product of a certain
type of life. So enlightenment or spiritual wholeness is only accomplished through a lifetime of wholeness. The
are bored or restless or think things will be better somewhere else. The Christian husband and father is forced
into stability by his marriage vows and by the need to provide for his family. We can either rebel against these
enforced 'enclosures' or we can
see them as the crucible of monk's task is to develop the atmosphere and attitude of our own spiritual refinement.
The constraints of family life spiritual wholeness. The monastery becomes a 'workshop' where spiritual accomplishment happens, and every rule is simply a contribution to the
necessary atmosphere of wholeness. This wholeness consists of finding our proper place in the world and giving
glory to God by living fully we also give up the constant search for new religious expewithin his order, or finding,
as Dante said, 'Our peace in His will'.
One of the ways to find this place of simplicity and wholeness is by pursuing stability of life.
On the physical level stability simply means the monk may not go travelling around. He is enclosed and bound to
his particular community for life. But inner stability means we also give up the constant search for new religious
experience and spiritual fulfilment on our own terms. Stability can best be described as that state of mind which
is content in the present moment. Stability accepts what is given and finds God not 'out
there' but 'in here'. Many of the rules Benedict established are to help the monk stay put happily. Benedict
realizes that if a person cannot find God where he is then he will not find him anywhere, and the vow of stability
forces the monk to face the reality that escape is not one of the options.
The emphasis on stability is vital in our personal lives and in our Christian homes. In a fast-changing world where
mobility is taken for granted it is all too easy to
move house, move church or move job simply because we can either be the chains that bind us or the force of stability
which gives us true freedom. Stability reminds us that we may run away from others, but we cannot run away from
ourselves
Obedience is the second of the monk's vows. If the monk stays at home in his desire for stability, then he also
does so within a local society based on obedience to a rightfully recognized authority. The monk commits himself
to a relationship of obedience to his abbot. This is never obedience for its own sake. Instead, Benedict expects
the monk to take a vow of obedience, because through constant obedience his self-will is broken and humility may
begin to flower. Benedicts spends much time expounding the virtue of obedience because obedience counters the root
sin of wilful pride and cuts to the base of that egotism which fosters all other sin. Once again, the humility
which comes from obedience is not holiness itself, but it is the condition for holiness. The vow of stability and
the vow of obedience both nurture humil- I ity, and with humility the ground is prepared for spiritual wholeness
to grow.
If we take our marriage vows seriously then we too have the basis for a life of obedience. In our case obedience
means being in a constant attitude of self-sacrificial service towards our wives and children. St Paul commands
us: 'Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loves the Church and gave himself
for her.' The demands of family life demand a regular sacrifice of our
will and our desire for the good of others. Benedict never pretends that obedience is easy. Of the three vows this
is perhaps the most difficult one to attain on our own. But Benedict always reminds us to 'put our trust completely in the Lord'. Everything we do
must be fuelled by his grace - but especially the desire to learn true obedience.
Finally, the Benedictine monk makes a vow of conversion of life. This does not mean he seeks some sort of 'conversion experience'. Instead the monk lives
with the aim that his whole life, body, soul and spirit, will be converted into the likeness of Christ. Thomas
Merton relates a story from the Desert Fathers which points to this total transformation: Abbot Lot came to Abbot
Joseph and said he was doing the best he could to observe his holy rule of life, and what more should he do? 'The elder rose up in reply and stretched out his hands to heaven and his fingers became
like ten lamps of fire. He said, "Why not be totally changed into fire?"'
Conversion of life means the Christian is brought to the point where he naturally says with Benedict that he 'prefers nothing to the love of Christ'. Every
detail in the monk's life is subjugated to this one aim. However, this does not mean the monk is straining to convert
himself. Instead, by following the Rule he simply aims to prepare the ground for this conversion, and to prepare
himself to co-operate with that conversion
which can only be accomplished by the grace of God.
One of the ways to prepare for and co-operate with this conversion is to develop a constant awareness of God's
presence. Throughout the Rule Benedict reminds the monks to 'be awake', to 'be alert'
and watchful for the Lord's presence. This watchful awareness of God is a humble state of dependence on the heavenly
Father. To nurture this awareness of God is also to nurture humility because an awareness of God reveals our own
frail condition. Awareness also leads to an attentiveness to our daily lives as 'sacraments
of the present moment'. Awareness of God's presence becomes an awareness
of his loving Spirit in all things and all people. Then as G.M. Hopkins has written, the whole 'world is charged with the glory of God'.
This is possible within our daily lives as it is within the ordinary existence in the monastery. As laymen we are
called by virtue of our baptism to 'prefer nothing to the love of Christ'. We may not achieve our own conversion of life, but we can co-operate with God's grace
and prepare the ground for that work which he is pleased to do within us. The demands of our marriage and family
life are more than enough to lead us to that total conversion which God provides through Jesus Christ.
How to Use This Book
The Rule of St Benedict has been followed by monks and nuns for the last fifteen hundred years. Increasingly the
Rule is also being used by laypeople. As a guide for Christian fathers it is indispensable. The Rule is intended
for abbots in the monastery, and the word 'abbot' is based on the Aramaic abba
which Christ himself uses for God the, Father. As such the Rule instructs
abbots how to run the monastery, and the wisdom of the Rule is easily applied to the abba - or father within the Christian home. Benedict's
tender compassion for his charges reflects the love we fee1 for our children. His shrewd understanding of human
nature resonates with our own experience, both as children and fathers. So Benedict offers some wise advice:
about discipline, but he is also forever warm-hearted and I compassionate. Benedict helps weak fathers to be stronger
and challenges strict fathers to be more gentle. Benedict never compromises the high ideals, but he also never
forces anyone to assume a burden which may be too heavy.
This commentary is specially designed for busy Christian fathers. But while the focus is on the father's role,
the emphasis is on the whole family. As Benedict's Rule is a guide both for abbots and for the whole community,
so this is a book to be shared: indeed nothing would be better than for husbands and wives to read it together.
While it seeks to support fathers, and doesn't mention the mother's role very much, this is not to pretend that
her role is negligible - only that this book discusses the work of both parents by focusing on the father. It assumes
an underlying unity between husband and wife and that both father and mother are working together as 'one body' for the welfare and proper training
of the children. In that respect most of what is written here applies to both parents.
Benedict's Rule (The Rule of St Benedict, translated by Abbot Parry OSB
published by Gracewing, Leominster, 1997) is broken down into daily readings
which spread the whole Rule over four months. This is the breakdown which is used in most monasteries and convents,
so as the reader goes through the Rule times in one year he reads in solidarity with the monks and nuns. Along
with each daily reading is a short meditation which applies the Rule to Christian family life. Part of the Benedictine
monk's life consists of lectio divina,
or inspirational reading. The Christian father, if he is to take his vocation seriously, needs to have some regular
spiritual input as well. A short portion of the Benedictine Rule combined with a practical meditation helps to
draw out the spiritual significance of the Rule and apply Benedict's wisdom to the needs of modern family life.
Benedict's Rule is also imbued with Scripture, especially the Psalms. Benedict doesn't use Scripture to provide
proof texts for his argument. Instead Benedict worships with Scripture, meditates on Scripture and prays with Scripture.
The words of the Scriptures are written on Benedict's heart, and so within the Rule he quotes Scripture in bits
and pieces, making passing reference to passages which his hearers would know well. We are not as familiar with
Scripture as they were, so Scripture references are provided within the text of the commentary for further reference
and meditation. The reader who wishes to push further into Benedict's wisdom will do well to read this commentary
with the Scriptures close at hand. It may do to simply pick out one Scripture reference for the day and read it
along with its whole context. This will weave Scripture reading into Benedict's Rule in a way which will not only
improve the reader's Bible knowledge, but will also help him apply the living Scriptures to his daily life in a
dynamic way.
Finally, this book is not meant to be an easy or a quick read. The tradition of lectio
divina is that of prayerful, slow and meditative reading. So each day's
text from the Rule, the meditation and the Scripture references are meant to key a somewhat longer time of meditation
and contemplation. In a busy life it may not be possible to take more than a few lines. There is nothing wrong
with that as long as those few thoughts are taken with the reader through the day. Since a slow and meditative
reading is recommended it should also follow that one read through is not enough. It should be read through at
least three times in one full year. The monks read the Rule over and over again. It wouldn't hurt us to do the
same.
This book may also be the start for more laymen and women to follow the Benedictine way in their own homes To follow
the way most fully it is a good idea to establish contact with a monastery or convent close to home. Most religious
houses are pleased to welcome men and women for retreats and will guide newcomers to this tradition. In addition
there is the opportunity to become an oblate of a Benedictine convent or monastery. An oblate is similar to a third
order Franciscan: they maintain a close link witi the religious house, supporting the monks or nuns in their vocation
and drawing strength from the friendship and support which the monastery has to offer. Thus together the religious
celibate and the married layman complement one another's calling as they run together on the 'path a God's commandments with an inexpressible delight of love'.
January 1 May2
September 1
THE PROLOGUE (A)
Listen my son to the instructions of your Master, turn the ear of your heart to the advice of a loving fat her;
accept it willingly and carry it out vigorously; so that through the toil of obedience you may return to him from
whom you have separated by the sloth of disobedience.
To you, then, whoever you may be, are my words addressed, who, by the renunciation of your own will, are taking
up the strong and glorious weapons of obedience in order to do battle in the service of the Lord Christ, the true
King.
First of all, whenever you begin any good work, you must ask of God with the most urgent prayer that it may be
brought to completion by him, so that he, who has now deigned to reckon us in the number of his sons, may not later
on be made sad by our wicked actions. For we must at all times use the good gifts he has placed in us, so that
he will not later on disinherit us as an angry father disinherits his sons; nor like a feared lord, who has been
roused to anger by our sins, hand over to eternal punishment us wicked slaves for refusing to follow him to glory.
From the first words of the Rule, Benedict speaks to us as a loving father and calls us into a relationship with
our heavenly Father. The theme of fatherhood runs through Benedict's whole Rule, for the abbot is the father of
the monastic community. As such he stands in the place of Christ, and in Benedict's day theologians spoke much
of Christ as the 'father' of the new humanity. Like the abbot,
the cellarer too is called to be 'a father to the whol1 community'. So Benedict sees the monastic community a a
loving Christian family, and his Rule can be read as ai invaluable guide for the Christian family even today.
As our loving father in God Benedict calls us first of a.1 to engage our will, so we may set off on the path of
hoU ness. The main obstacle to our spiritual progress is inerti~ or sloth. Sloth is not just slovenly laziness.
Instead it is state of mind which is unable to take spiritual action. It ~ a spiritual torpor, disinterestedness
and complacency Benedict makes clear that this spiritual condition is
deadly downward spiral. Such inertia is caused by diso dience and causes further disobedience.
If disobedience is the cause of spiritual torpor, th obedience is the remedy (cf. Bar. 4.28). So Benedict rou us
with a new call to take up 'the strong and glorio weapons of obedience in order to do battle in the servi of the
Lord Christ'. It is unfashionable in an age of re tivistic individualism to call for obedience, but the gos has
always called individuals to submit their will to God. (Matt. 6.10). Benedict calls us to engage our will, but
also encourages us because it is God who is at work in bringing his will to completion in us (Phil. 2.12-13).
This call to obedience is one of the three foundati stones of the Benedictine life. The Rule opens by calling to
attention with the word 'listen' and it is no coinciden that the root of the word 'obey' is 'to hear or listen'.
So t kind of obedience called for is not the childish, mmdl obedience of the military drone, but an obedience whi
first attentively seeks to understand. So we are to 'turn t ear of [our] heart to the advice of a loving father'.
As Christian fathers we rightly expect obedience fr our children (Eph. 6.1). The fool expects mindless obe ence
by virtue of force. But the loving father - like Be dict himself - nurtures an open-hearted, attentive a intelligent
obedience in which the will is fully engag. and attracted by love.
THE PROLOGUE (B)
January 2
May 3
September 2
Let us then at last arouse ourselves, even as Scripture incites us in the words, 'Now is the hour for us to rise
from sleep.' Let us, then, open our eyes to the divine light, and hear with our ears the divine voice as it cries
out to us daily. 'Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts,' and again, 'He who has ears to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.' And what does the Spirit say? 'Come, my sons, listen to me;
I shall teach you the fear of the Lord.' 'Run while you have the light of life lest the darkness of death overwhelm
you.'
Benedict calls us from spiritual inertia to spiritual initiative; from complacency to action. But there is more
here than the summons to a life of faithful good works. Benedict's call to holiness is an alarm - a wake-up call.
Like St Paul, Benedict is calling us to rise out of sleep (Rom.
13.11).
All the spiritual traditions teach that the unenlightened state is like being asleep. It has never been more true
than Ill Contemporary Western society. Sometimes it seems that the whole modern world is conspiring to weave a
magical spell over us. Television, advertising, and all the tools of Popular culture continually bombard us with
seductive and hypnotic false images. If we are not careful, this false Culture can dull our senses and lull us
into a kind of ~nce, and we begin to exist in a nether world of attractive ~.s and half-truths.
2
the cellarer too is called to be 'a father to the whole community'. So Benedict sees the monastic community as
a loving Christian family, and his Rule can be read as an invaluable guide for the Christian family even today.
As our loving father in God Benedict calls us first of all to engage our will, so we may set off on the path of
holiness. The main obstacle to our spiritual progress is inertia, or sloth. Sloth is not just slovenly laziness.
Instead it is a state of mind which is unable to take spiritual action. It is a spiritual torpor, disinterestedness
and complacency. Benedict makes clear that this spiritual condition is a deadly downward spiral. Such inertia is
caused by disobedience and causes further disobedience.
If disobedience is the cause of spiritual torpor, then obedience is the remedy (cf. Ban. 4.28). So Benedict rouses
us with a new call to take up 'the strong and glorious weapons of obedience in order to do battle in the service
of the Lord Christ'. It is unfashionable in an age of relativistic individualism to call for obedience, but the
gospel has always called individuals to submit their will to God's (Matt. 6.10). Benedict calls us to engage our
will, but he also encourages us because it is God who is at work in us bringing his will to completion in us (Phil.
2.12-13).
This call to obedience is one of the three foundation stones of the Benedictine life. The Rule opens by calling
us to attention with the word 'listen' and it is no coincidence that the root of the word 'obey' is 'to hear or
listen'. So the kind of obedience called for is not the childish, mindless obedience of the military drone, but
an obedience which first attentively seeks to understand. So we are to 'turn the ear of [ourl heart to the advice
of a loving father'.
As Christian fathers we rightly expect obedience from our children (Eph. 6.1). The fool expects mindless obedience
by virtue of force. But the loving father - like Benedict himself - nurtures an open-hearted, attentive and intelligent
obedience in which the will is fully engaged and attracted by love.
January 2 May 3
September 2
THE PROLOGUE (B)
Let us then at last arouse ourselves, even as Scripture incites us in the words, 'Now is the hour for us to rise
from sleep.' Let us, then, open our eyes to the divine light, and hear with our ears the divine voice as it cries
out to us daily. 'Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts,' and again, 'He who has ears to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.' And what does the Spirit say? 'Come, my sons, listen to me;
I shall teach you the fear of the Lord.' 'Run while you have the light of life lest the darkness of death overwhelm
you.'
Benedict calls us from spiritual inertia to spiritual initiative; from complacency to action. But there is more
here than the summons to a life of faithful good works. Benedict's call to holiness is an alarm - a wake-up call.
Like St Paul, Benedict is calling us to rise out of sleep (Rom.
13.11).
All the spiritual traditions teach that the unenlightened state is like being asleep. It has never been more true
than in contemporary Western society. Sometimes it seems that the whole modern world is conspiring to weave a magical
spell over us. Television, advertising, and all the tools of popular culture continually bombard us with seductive
and hypnotic false images. If we are not careful, this false culture can dull our senses and lull us into a kind
of trance, and we begin to exist in a nether world of attractive lies and half-truths.
of hell, but here he uses a carrot, not a stick, to encourage his child in faith. If he perseveres he will 'run
in the way of God's commandments with a sweetness of love that is beyond expression'.
So God's primary way of working is to draw us with the infinite delight of his love. Instead of the fear of hell,
Benedict calls us to run in the way of God's commandments because that is what is best for us. Some discipline
will be required, but that is because we are being summoned to grow up and become all that God intended, and to
share in the highest and best gifts of his creation (Eph. 4.13). To quote Julian of Norwich: 'He loves us and enjoys
us, and so he wills that we love him and enjoy him and firmly trust him; and all shall be well.'
The role of the Christian father is to reflect this kind of divine love to his children, so that in growing to
love him they will be learning to love their heavenly Father as well. This will require discipline, but that discipline
is always a servant to the higher law of love. Great wisdom is also required if we are to reflect God's love to
our family. To do this Benedict will show us in his own gentle and humble way the wisdom necessary to fulfil this
vocation. But he will also always remind us that 'we must ask God to send forth the help of his grace to our aid'.
Then as the love of Christ is poured into our hearts (Rom. 5.5) we will be empowered to minister that love to those
whom God has
January 8 May 9
September 8
CHAPTER I
THE KINDS OF MONK (A)
It is clear that there are four kinds of monk.
The first kind are the Cenobites, that is the 'monastery' kind, who do battle under a Rule and an Abbot.
Then the second kind are the Anchorites or Hermits; these are they who are no longer in the first fervour of their
religious life but have been tested for a long time in the monastery and have learnt, with the assistance of many
brothers, how to do battle against the devil, and now, well equipped to leave the fraternal battle-line for the
solitary combat of the desert, they are strong enough to do battle against the vices of the body and the mind on
their own, with their own resources, relying on God's aid, but now without the support of anyone else.
In outlining four types of monks, Benedict is also pointing out four basic types of Christian. His aim is to encourage
cenobitic monks, those who live in an established community in obedience to an abbot. As such he addresses all
who live in an established community, whether it is the nuclear family, or some wider community.
He gives pride of place to the solitary monks who fight the spiritual battle single-handed. But he wisely observes
that no one should adopt this life until they have proved themselves through a long life in a religious community.
While Benedict recognizes the high calling of the true solitary he also understands that 'it is not good for man
to be alone' (Gen. 2.18). Benedict recognizes that being part
of a 'body' is integral to the Christian commitment (1 Cor. 12.27). In a society where more and more people are
living alone, Benedict's call to community life encourages us to I be 'joiners' and to get involved in our local
communities.
The root of the word 'commitment' and the word 'community' is the same. It means 'with'. Benedict recognizes that
the spiritual way is not easy and so calls us to run the path of perfection with others. In this way there is mutual
support, faithfulness and loyalty. So the mature Christian will see the need to commit to others: first to his
immediate family, then to his extended family, his local church, his workplace and his wider community. It is through
his commitment to the monastic community that the monk grows spiritually, and it is through our commitment to our
various communities that we learn the lessons of self-sacrificial love and construct stability in our lives.
It is important that children learn the value of commitment at an early age. This means a sense of duty should
be taught from the beginning. The obnoxious wail, 'But that's boring!' ought to be checked at its first appearance.
At that point even a young child should begin to accept that certain duties may not always be entertaining, and
that commitment means being faithful in small things (Matt. 25.21). This is especially true of worship. Nothing
has eroded the dignity of Christian worship more than the expectation that it must be entertaining. Regular attendance
at church may not be entertaining, but that unfailing commitment establishes priorities and sets inner values that
help build character and equip each child to face life's challenges with confidence.
January 9 May 10
September 9
CHAPTER I
THE KINDS OF MONK (B)
The third kind of monk is the abominable one of Sarabaites, who have not been tested by a rule, as gold is tested
in a furnace, nor been taught by experience, but are like soft lead. They keep faith with this world by their actions,
but manifestly lie to God by their tonsure. These people live in twos and threes, or even alone; they have no shepherd,
they shut themselves up in their own sheepfolds, not those of the Lord; and their law consists in yielding to their
desires: what they like or choose they call holy, and they reckon illicit whatever displeases them.
The fourth kind of monk are those called Wanderers. These are never stable throughout their whole lives but wanderers
through diverse regions, receiving hospitality in the monastic cells of others for three or four days at a time.
Always roving and never settling, they follow their own wills, enslaved by the attractions of gluttony. They are
in all respects worse than the Sara baites.
It is better to pass over in silence than to speak further of the unhappy way of life of all these people, so let
us pass them by, and with God's help set about organising the strongest kind of monks - the Cenobites.
Benedict discusses the four types of monk in order to highlight the beauty and wisdom of the cenobitic life - the
religious life lived within the confines of a monastic community. In doing so he also exposes some problems with
two other approaches to religion and life generally.
To be a good Catholic is to be cenobitic. The cenobite
January 10 May 11
September 10
CHAPTER II
WHAT KIND OF MAN THE
ABBOT SHOULD BE (A)
An Abbot who is worthy to be in charge of a monastery must always bear in mind what he is called and fulfil in
his actions the name of one who is called greater. For he is believed to act in the place of Christ in the monastery,
since he is called by his title, as the Apostle says, 'You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, through
whom we cry, Abba! Father!' Therefore the Abbot should not teach or ordain or command anything that lies outside
the Lord's commands,far from it; but his commands and his teaching should mingle like the leaven of divine justice
in the mind of his disciples. The Abbot must always remember that at the fearful judgement of God two things will
be discussed: his own teaching and the obedience of his disciples. The Abbot must also realise that whatever lack
of fruitfulness the Father of the family may find in his sheep will be blamed on the shepherd. And likewise if
the shepherd has labou red with complete diligence over a troublesome and disobedient flock, and has expended every
care over their diseased behaviour, he will be acquitted in the Lord's judgement and will say with the prophet,
'I have not hidden your justice in my heart, but I have spoken of your truth and saving help'; 'but they have contemptuously
despised me.' And then finally the penalty of death will swallow up the sheep who were disobedient to his care.
root as the Aramaic word abba - an especially intimate term like 'Papa' which Jesus himself uses for the Father
(Mark 14.36), and which St Paul says we should use for God (Rom. 8.15). In his consideration of the traits of a
good abbot or father this basic word abba, with all its implications of both intimacy and respect, comes into play.
In the monastery the abbot holds the rank of a bishop and, as the bishop holds apostolic authority, so Benedict
is clear that the abbot's authority comes from Christ himself. In this he echoes the first-century writer, Ignatius
of Antioch, who said, 'Clearly then we should regard the bishop as the Lord himself ...' Likewise the Christian
father exercises authority in the family as from the Lord. St Paul commands children to 'obey their parents in
the Lord' (Eph. 6.1-2), and thus keep the fourth commandment.
Anyone who glories in their position of power is a fool. Benedict recognizes that holding such authority over others
is an awesome responsibility. The responsibility to speak and act as Christ in our families is a high calling which
both lifts us up and casts us down at the same time. It lifts us up because we share in Christ's own ministry of
reconciliation within our families (2 Cor. 5.18). It casts us down because we cannot 'speak Christ' if we don't
'live Christ'; and how can we hope to live Christ when we are aware that nothing good lives in us? (Rom. 7.18).
Benedict then casts us down further when he says that we will be held responsible for the failure of our children.
How can any father hope to fulfil such a high calling? Benedict hints at the answer in today's passage. 'The abbot
should not teach or ordain or command anything that lies outside the Lord's commands ...' In other words, the Christian
father must clothe himself in Christ (Gal. 3.27) if he wishes to speak and live Christ in the home. This calls
for a mysterious transaction in which we die to ourselves and live to Christ (Gal. 2.20). St Paul says this death
to self is a daily requirement, and he grounds his own authority in this same identification with Christ (1 Cor.
15.31). Likewise a daily death to self is the only basis for a Christian father's authority in the home because
it is through taking up our cross daily that we identify most fully with the Christ we hope to represent (Luke
9.23).
Copyright © Dwight Longenecker 1999
Published by Gracewing
ISBN 0 85244 463 X
This version: 8th December 2001
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