The merciful patience of God (PROLOGUE (V)
Prologue of Our Most Holy Father Benedict to His Rule 5 Jan. 6 May. 5 Sept. Hence also the Lord saith in the Gospel: “He...
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord (Prologue IV)
Prologue of Our Most Holy Father Benedict to His Rule 4 Jan. 5 May. 4 Sept. Having our loins, therefore, girded with faith and the...
PROLOGUE (IV) To See Christ
Why did I choose this painting of Saint Antony of Egypt and Saint Paul the Hermit to illustrate today’s entry? Saint Antony’s face reflects the...
Christ Seeking His Workman
Prologue of Our Most Holy Father Benedict to His Rule 3 Jan. 4 May. 3 Sept. And the Lord, seeking His own workman in the...
The Indwelling Word
Prologue of Our Most Holy Father Benedict to His Rule 2 Jan. 3 May. 2 Sept. Let us then at length arise, since the Scripture...
The Charge of Weakly Souls
When a Monk Needs Time Out At Chapter today we read the appointed passage from the Holy Rule. It was Chapter XXVII, on the care...
The Rule of Saint Benedict: A School for Bishops
Are There Any Bishops Among My Readers? Saint Anselm’s pastoral qualities as a bishop surely originated in his experience as abbot of Bec. On 21...
Take me unto Thyself, O Lord
The Offering Nowhere is the Eucharistic subtext of the Rule of Saint Benedict more apparent than in Chapters 58 and 59. The entire rite of...
When anyone newly cometh to be a monk
The Reception of Brethren I am often struck at how appropriate to the circumstances and events of daily life the appointed passage of the Holy...
Of Controllers, Correctors, and Castigators
Notice the instrument of penance in Saint Benedict’s hand. It rather contrasts with the gentleness of his expression. Every occasion of presumption should be avoided...
Kinship in the Cloister
Here is the talk I gave this morning in Chapter. Ties That Bind The presence of members of the same family in a monastery has...
Impossible Things
Benedictine Wisdom I have been studying the Rule of Saint Benedict and trying to live it (however badly) for nearly forty years. This, however, is...
Benedictine Oblates
Oratory of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle Our First Meeting On Sunday afternoon a group of four men and three women participated...
Ut sanentur
End of the Penal Code This morning at Chapter we concluded the eight chapters of the Holy Rule (XXII-XXX) that comprise Saint Benedict’s so-called “penal...