School (Prologue 7)
7 Jan. 8 May. 7 Sept.
We have, therefore, to establish a school of the Lord’s service, in the setting forth of which we hope to order nothing that is harsh or rigorous. But if anything be somewhat strictly laid down, according to the dictates of sound reason, for the amendment of vices or the preservation of charity, do not therefore fly in dismay from the way of salvation, whose beginning cannot but be strait and difficult. But as we go forward in our life and in faith, we shall with hearts enlarged and unspeakable sweetness of love run in the way of God’s commandments; so that never departing from His guidance, but persevering in His teaching in the monastery until death, we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ, that we may deserve to be partakers of His kingdom. Amen.
7 January 2026
Prologue vv. 45-50
As we have seen over the past few days, the Prologue seems to be artfully constructed so that the later sections recapitulate, in an inverse order, the opening sections. This seems to apply as well to the conclusion of the Prologue which we just heard. The opening lines of the Prologue introduced us to a Master or Teacher, who is also a loving Father, and invited us to renounce our own will and fight for Christ the true King. The conclusion speaks of the ‘school’ in which the Master operates, promising us with fatherly kindness that it will not be too harsh, even while insisting on a little strictness at first, and inviting us to share in Christ’s sufferings in order to share in His Kingdom. Thus the same concepts reappear: a Master, a loving Father, a King Whom we follow to glory through obedient suffering.
Furthermore, it is noteworthy that both the opening paragraph of the Prologue (modeled, it would seem, on an admonition of Saint Basil) and its closing paragraph are distinctive to the Rule of Saint Benedict, not being found in the Rule of the Master which is commonly thought to have been the source for much of the Prologue. Regarding the Rule of the Master, Blessed Cardinal Schuster, in his Historical Notes on St Benedict’s ‘Rule for Monasteries’, alludes to an earlier position, now generally abandoned, that regarded it as an expansion, by another hand, of an earlier version of Saint Benedict’s Rule which had circulated separately. On this view, the passages not found in the Rule of the Master—such as the beginning and end of the Prologue, as well as important sections such as Ch. 64 on the Abbot, and the entire concluding series of Chapters 68-73—would represent material that Saint Benedict added later in life. (On the other hand, in his own Commentary, written a few years later, Schuster alludes with apparent approval to the idea that the Rule of the Master was in fact a source for Saint Benedict.)
Whatever view one takes on the relation between these texts, it does seem clear the material distinctive to the Holy Rule and not found in the Rule of the Master was quite deliberately added by Saint Benedict, whether to the source from which he drew, or to his own earlier draft of the Rule. These sections thus seem to be particularly important in allowing us to get inside the mind and heart of Saint Benedict in his maturity, as he crafted the Prologue and the Holy Rule as a whole. This is the case, for instance, with today’s description of the school of the Lord’s service. The phrase itself is found in the Rule of the Master, yet Saint Benedict’s description of the nature of this school is entirely his own. Sister Aquinata Böckmann comments that in the Rule of the Master, ‘[t]he monastics are treated as in a school of the old style. The school is oriented to the future of each pupil-monk. The whole student body, governed by the abbot, does not aim at fostering brotherly community.’ (Aquinata Böckmann OSB, Perspectives on the Rule of Saint Benedict: Expanding Our Hearts in Christ, tr. Matilda Handl OSB and Marianne Burckhard OSB, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2005, pp. 33-34; hereafter ‘Böckmann’)
On the other hand, while Saint Benedict does consider the monastery to be a school, marked by learning doctrine and by the teaching of the Abbot,
Benedict differs essentially from the school concept of the RM. He does not want to impose harsh and difficult things. He is rather concerned about love Prol 47, 49; especially RB 72), about service done with love (35.6), about real fraternal relations. Also, joy does not come only after one is done with school. It shines out here and now in daily life (cf Prol 49). Benedict is not concerned about competing in virtue, in humility and asceticsim, but about outdoing one another in love, in mutual obedience (71; 72); all together we want to be guided and led by Christ (72.12). Discretio (discretion) requires consideration for the weak and good use of strengths.’ (Böckmann, p. 35)
Thus, in Saint Benedict’s school, discipline is always to be at the service of charity, love is to have precedence over fear. This school is presided over by Jesus, Who says, ‘learn of Me for I am meek and humble of heart.’ It is a school from which we have no desire to move on and graduate once we have ‘mastered’ the spiritual life, for we are always to be disciples subject to Christ’s teaching. We are to remain in this school until death, at which point we will be examined on one thing, namely love—the love of God and neighbour that leads us to forget self, the perfect love that casts out fear. As we look forward to that day of the final exam, let us examine ourselves each day on the love that Saint Benedict will present us in Chapter 4 as the most important instrument of the spiritual craft we have come here to learn.