About the Rule of Benedict

The Rule of Benedict (RB) constitutes the basic guide for thousands of Christians who are committed to the monastic movement. Many disciples of Jesus followed the Rule in the past and many still do so today. Written in the sixth century the Rule was followed in thousands of monasteries in Europe, so much so that the Church of the early Middle Ages, beginning especially in the ninth century, was characterized as monastic.

Benedict, the Author

Historians are relatively certain that RB was written by St. Benedict, the founder of the monastery of Monte Cassino, though the historical evidence does not allow a conclusive proof of authorship. St. Benedict's biographer, St. Gregory the Great (pope from 590 to 604), indicates that Benedict "wrote a Rule for monks that is remarkable for its discretion and its clarity of language" (Dialogues, Book 11, ch. 36). The autograph copy of RB has been lost but scholars believe that we have a faithful copy that is a few centuries and manuscripts away from the original. The best manuscript (Codex San Gallensis 914) stems from the early ninth century and is found today in St. Gall (Switzerland). Another manuscript (Hatton 48 found today in Oxford's Bodleian Library), though earlier by a century, is less faithful because copyists strove to correct the sixth-century Latin.

Spiritual Teaching

RB should not be viewed as an exclusively legal code though it includes prescriptions for living in a monastery. The Rule actually contains a treasure of spiritual wisdom concerning the monastic movement in the Church. Its Prologue and seventy-three chapters provide teaching about the basic monastic virtues of humility, silence, and obedience as well as directives for daily living. RB prescribes times for common prayer, meditative reading, and manual work; it legislates for the details of common living such as clothing, sleeping arrangements, food and drink, care of the sick, reception of guests, recruitment of new members, journeys away from the monastery, etc. While the Rule does not shun minute instructions, it allows the abbot to determine in great detail the particulars of common living.

Sources and Context

RB, written anywhere between 530 and 560, is not an entirely original document. It depends in great measure on the rules and traditions of Christian monasticism that existed from the fourth century to the time of its writing. Scholars note that rules and writings like those of St. Pachomius (fourth-century Egypt), St. Basil (fourth-century Asia Minor), St. Augustine (fourth- and fifth-century North Africa), Cassian (fifth-century southern Gaul) stand behind RB and at times are clearly evident in the text. The most important source for RB, however, is the Rule of the Master (RM), an anonymous rule written two or three decades before Benedict's Rule. Not infrequently, especially in RB's Prologue and first seven chapters, Benedict copied extensively from the Rule of the Master. Benedict picked up the monastic tradition and even copied from its documents (as was customary at the time); but he also corrected and altered the tradition in significant ways.

Sixth Century Latin

Benedict wrote his Rule in the spoken and ordinary Latin of the day. It is not the classical Latin of antiquity nor the scholarly Latin taught in the remaining schools of his time, though occasionally his language is elegant and polished. As the Rule drifts from the classical language it also gives evidence of the breakdown of Latin into more common forms of speech (what later became the Romance languages). Benedict writes with crispness and directness; seldom is he profuse or homiletic.

Via Media, The Middle Way of Measure and Discretion

Compared with the tradition and especially with the Rule of the Master, Benedict legislates for a monastic life that has rhythm, measure, and discretion. His monks are not overdriven by austerities in fasting and night vigils. They do not own anything personally, but they have enough to eat and to drink (even wine when it is available) and to clothe themselves. They work with their hands about six hours a day but they also have leisure for prayerful reading and common prayer. Their sleep is sufficient and they may even take a siesta in summer if needed. The young, the sick, and the elderly are cared for with compassion and attention. The abbot, while he directs all aspects of the common life, must seek counsel from the monks; and the Rule makes provision for his limitations and failings. In short, RB arranges for a monastic life in which the monks may seek God in prayer and reading, in silence and work, in service to guests and to one another.

The Monk and Community

Benedict's Rule stands tall in the great tradition of Christian monasticism. It is a Christian rule in the sense that its spiritual doctrine picks up on the values of the Bible (e.g., prayer, fasting, service of neighbor) and arranges for a life in which these values can be lived out in community. RB is not written for monastic hermits, though Benedict has high regard for them; it is written for ordinary Christians who wish to immerse themselves in a pattern of living in which the life of Christ can be lived out with understanding and zeal.

RB is still used today in many monasteries and convents around the world. The monastics of today do not follow it literally but still find in it much wisdom to live the common life. It still protects the individual and the community from arbitrariness on the part of the abbot or others; it still provides a way of living the Christian life. Monastic communities accept it as their basic inspiration even as they mitigate it, supplement it, or adapt it to the living conditions of today.

From The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia (A Michael Glazier Book), Liturgical Press (1995) 78-79.

Statistics

Ca. 8,400 men and 14,600 women are living in monastic communities; statistics on oblates (lay associates) living outside monasteries are not recorded (Catalogus Monasteriorum O.S.B., Rome, 2000).

 

Resources for Learners

Benedict's Rule: A Translation and Commentary by Terrence G. Kardong, OSB (Liturgical Press, $64.95). The first line-by-line exegesis of the entire Rule of Benedict written originally in English. This full commentary -- predominately a literary and historical criticism -- is based on and includes a new translation, and is accompanied by essays on Benedict's spiritual doctrine.

A Listening Community: A Commentary on the Prologue and Chapters 1-3 of Benedict's Rule (2015) by Sr. Aquinata Böckmann OSB. Translated by Matilda Handl and Marianne Burkhard OSB, ed. Print and e-book from Liturgical Press.

Dated but thorough is C. Cyprian Alston's article on "The Rule of Saint Benedict" in the venerable Catholic Encyclopedia (NY, 1913; New Advent online collaborative version).

Anselm Grün OSB, Benedict of Nursia: His Message for Today. Linda M. Maloney, tr., (Liturgical Press, 2006, $9.95). Each chapter concludes with a brief reflection on the state of contemporary society and how the aspect of the Rule of Benedict treated in the chapter applies to the needs of today.

Wisdom from the Monastery: The Rule of Benedict for Everyday Life by Patrick Barry OSB, Richard Yeo OSB, Kathleen Norris OblSB and others (Liturgical Press, 2006, $15.95). Wisdom from the Monastery contains a contemporary translation of the Rule of St. Benedict and short reflections on the seven basic elements of Benedictine spirituality that are a tried and true recipe for healthy, balanced and purposeful living.

"Rule of Benedict: Bibliographic Index and Web Resources" includes manuscripts, books, editions, translations, etc. arranged chronologically by publication through 2000. S. Aquinata Böckmann's "Bibliography for Students of the Rule of Benedict" is a comprehensive, classified list of books and articles that is updated with regularity.

The Rule of Benedict: An Invitation to the Christian Life by Georg Holzherr OSB; Translated by Mark Thamert OSB. Text and commentary. Liturgical Press, 2016.

The Rule of St. Benedict Library: CD-ROM Edition (PC) Primary and Secondary Sources. Scott Rains, editor. Liturgical Press.

Holy Rule Daily Meditation. A Yahoo! Group moderated by Bro. Jerome Leo OSB, St. Mary's Monastery, Petersham, MA.

Seventy-Four Tools for Good Living: Reflections on the Fourth Chapter of Benedict's Rule by Michael Casey OCSO (Liturgical Press, 2014).

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