Listen My Son. Dwight Longenecker
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is only accomplished through a lifetime of wholeness. The monk's task is to develop the atmosphere and attitude of 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 within 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 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 our own spiritual refinement. The constraints of family life 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 humility, 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 feel 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 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* 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 three 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