Rule of St Benedict

The Rule of St Benedict by Benedict of Nursia (fl. 6th century) is a book of precepts written for monks living in a monastic community under the authority of an abbot. Since about the 7th century, it has been adopted with equal success by communities of women as well. During the 1500 years of its existence, it has become the leading guide for monastic living in community in Western Christianity, both in Roman Catholicism and (since the time of the Reformation) in the Anglican and Protestant traditions.

Related Topics:
Benedict of Nursia - Precept - Monk - Monastic - Abbot - Roman Catholicism - Anglican - Protestant

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The spirit of St Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of the Benedictine Confederation: pax ("peace") and the traditional ora et labora ("pray and work").

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The Rule owes much of its success to its moderate path between individual zeal and formulaic institutionalism. Benedict's concern was the need of monks in community: namely, to establish due order; to foster an understanding of the relational nature of human beings; and to provide them with a spiritual father to support and strengthen the individual's ascetic effort and the spiritual growth that is required for the fulfillment of the human vocation, Divinization.

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The balance in St Benedict's Rule of prayer and work has been successfully guiding Benedictines now for fifteen centuries; and he is therefore rightfully regarded as the founder of Western monasticism. There is, however, no evidence to suggest that Benedict intended to found a religious order. Not until the Middle Ages is there mention of an "Order of St Benedict". His Rule is written as a guide for individual, autonomous communities; and to this day all Benedictine Houses (and the Congregations in which they have associated themselves) remain self-governing.

Related Topics:
Order - Autonomous

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