Benedictine spirituality is a fresh alternative in an increasingly fast-paced world. The typical person takes little time for personal renewal in the daily round of activities. Benedict reminds us of our priorities: prayer, contemplation, balance and the importance of everything we do. The values lifted up by the Rule of St. Benedict make it a fruitful source of guidance for living the Christian life today.
By calling us back to prayer throughout the day, Benedict recognized that all time is holy and any time is a moment when we may encounter God. Benedictine spirituality attunes us to an awareness of the divine in the ordinary.
Benedict’s respect for all persons and valuing all persons equally can heal our enmity with one another. In a world torn by violence, Benedict’s emphasis on “right relationships” can put us a path toward justice and peace. Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; the love of Christ must come before all else RB 4:20.
The importance of community life is foundational to Benedict’s Rule. Prior to Benedict holiness was perceived as being separated from the world, whereas Benedict wrote for monks living together in community. Benedict’s gift was to understand that each person’s weaknesses are best confronted by living side by side with other human beings. St. Benedict taught that growth comes from accepting people as they are, not as we would like them to be.
Though Benedict was no idealist with respect to human nature, he understood that the key to spiritual growth lies in recognizing the inalienable human dignity of each and every person. That a rule written for monastic life more than 1,500 years ago has such currency and agency in 21st century living is testament to St. Benedict’s profound wisdom and insight into the human condition.
Let peace be your quest and your aim
RB Prol:17
St. Benedict was born in Norcia, Italy around the year 480. His father was a noble man and he had a twin sister who was named Scholastica. Benedict came to reject the licentiousness and moral depravity of the then Roman society and chose to live for three years in a cave in the wilderness at Subiaco.
There he sought to find God through prayer and a life of simplicity within a community. He later moved to Monte Cassino where after long meditation on the Scriptures, wrote the Rule of Benedict which continues to inspire people throughout the world to this day.
Central to the Rule are the themes of prayer, Christ and community. Filled with Scriptural texts and based on the values of humility and obedience, simple and prayerful life. Benedict called it ‘a little rule for the beginners’ and it survives as master piece of spiritual wisdom which is as meaningful today as it was when it was written in the fifth century.
St. Benedict’s motto was Ora et Labora (Prayer and Work). The Order founded by St. Benedict in the fifth century. Benedictine Order abbreviation OSB means the Order of St. Benedict.
The Benedictine Order is one of the world’s oldest religious orders and is found throughout the world.
Benedict’s approach to seeking God was both sensible and humane. It rests on being faithful to finding God in the ordinary circumstances of daily life within a community. Work was important, as was communal prayer (Opus Dei), as was leisure – which he saw in terms of ‘Lectio Divina’. Benedict envisioned a balance life of prayer and work as the ideal.