CHAPTER 1

The Various Kinds of Monks

VERSES 1-2

It is plain that there are four kinds of monks. The first are the cenobites:that is, those who do their service in monasteries under a rule and an abbot.

Comment

There is much misunderstanding and variation in opinion about who monks are andwhat they do, as well as what a Rule of Life is and how to use it. In these"Comment" sections, we look closely and prayerfully at the language of the Ruleitself to see what it tells us in its own terms about such questions. We ask:What is Benedict trying to say to us through his choice of language andemphasis?

Two items of note appear here. The parenthetical phrase at the beginning of thechapter may not have been in the earliest manuscripts, but it is a helpfulreminder about the linguistic roots of the word "rule." Regula literally means"straight edge," as in a plumb line or carpenter's edge that sets a measure orboundary that is "true," or properly aligned. The Rule serves that purpose forthe community of monks—in Benedict's case, by pointing consistently toward theGospel and its daily applicability.

The reference here to cenobitic monks is brief, chiefly because the balance ofthe Rule is addressed to them. There was in Benedict's time, and still is, atendency to think of a solitary individual engaged in heroic ascetical feats,works of charity, or spiritual heights, as the culmination of the religiouslife. However, taken overall, Benedict's Rule suggests something quitedifferent: that the optimum setting for the true Christian life is in community—inthe daily, committed, face-to-face interaction of very different people whoshare a love for God. Not only does Benedict express his preference by listingthe cenobites first (community monks, the sort for whom he writes), but in verse13 of this chapter, he calls them "the strong kind." For all practical purposes,Benedict defines the true monk this way: as one who lives in monastic community,serving under an abbot and a rule. He goes on (after this preliminary chapter)to provide a rule for the cenobitic monk that powerfully articulates the natureof the optimum communal setting for the consecrated Christian life.

Reflection

Both rule and community are severe and constant tests of my willingness to be apart of something bigger and more important than my ego. There are days when theidea that I really belong is so exhilarating that I give myself generously andwith joy, and days when I feel so grumpy that I would like to withdraw from theconstant pressure of otherness and incompleteness that is so exasperatinglymanifest in human interaction. I guess it is precisely that tension which makesthe Rule a sound and practical ascetical system, subtle as it sometimes seems.To let my ego be given away, daily and bit by bit, but intentionally: thatsurely is even harder work than regular fasting! Well, Benedict, I'll walk withyou a while to see what you want to teach my heart.

Prayer/Response

Chapter 1

VERSES 3-5

The second are the anchorites—hermits: that is, those who, not in the firstfervor of monastic life, but after long probation in the monastery, have learnedby the help and experience of others to fight against the devil They go forthwell-armed from the ranks of their brethren to the solitary combat of thedesert. They are now able to fight safely without the support of others, bytheir own strength and with God's assistance, against the vices of flesh andthoughts.

Comment

This short chapter sketches a brief history of the cumulative Christian wisdomabout the best ways to live the consecrated life. In the first centuries afterChrist, serious Christians often found themselves embracing martyrdom. AfterChristianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, many earnestChristians found faith lukewarm at best "in the world" and thus chose the way ofthe hermit. As generations of Christians experimented and observed carefully theresults of those experiments, the awareness grew that certain forms of monasticlife enhance spiritual progress, and certain forms hinder it. Consensusdeveloped that one who is serious about the Christian life "needs training, atraining that aims at absorbing the wisdom and profiting from the experience ofmany previous generations."

Benedict's Rule clarifies the emerging idea that the cenobitic or community lifeis at least equally as important as the eremitic, or solitary calling. Thelanguage in this paragraph reveals much of Benedict's thinking on this matter.

The real battle is the devil's war against God for human souls. This battle isfought in every setting on earth, but becomes particularly intense whenever ahuman spirit determines to turn to God. The methods of the devil are subtle andcarefully designed, so that one unacquainted with these tactics in general mayincorrectly interpret them as personal doubts, desires, or incapacities. In anycase, two things (in addition to prayer) are very helpful in combating thesetactics: 1) knowledge of them, shared by those who themselves have struggled;and 2) the continual support of those now engaged side by side in thestruggle.

Living in community itself is often a source of temptation, when irritation,comparisons, and conflicts invite ego isolation from one another. Yet Benedictconsistently treats such temptations as opportunities for self-giving in thecontext of the community of faith.

Reflection

I often wonder whether Christian community really exists in the contemporaryparish setting. Yet, I am compelled to admit that I am given opportunity toexperience the support of community far more than my pride lets me see orrespond to. It seems to me that true community grows only over a long period ofshared intimacy and explicit acknowledgement of Christ's empowering presence.Yet I feel that seldom either have I had or taken the opportunity to truly growin faith and love (and trials!) with other committed Christians. What might bethe reasons for this—both in me and in my environment? Even my present-daymonastic friends struggle with this issue. For me, community is indeed astrenuous discipline—and a gift of grace. I look forward to the hard interiorwork of exploring this discipline of community further with Benedict and in thecommunal contexts of my life.

Prayer/Response

Chapter 1

VERSES 6-9

A third and detestable kind of monks are the sarabaites, who have been triedneither by rule nor by experience as gold by the furnace (Prov 27:21); but,being as soft as lead, still keep faith with the world in their behavior, lyingto God with their tonsure. Living in twos or threes, or even singly without ashepherd, they enclose themselves not in the Lord's sheepfolds but in their own.Their law consists in their own pleasures and desires: whatever they think fitor choose to do, that they call holy; and what they do not like, that theyconsider unlawful.

Comment

Strong language here! In Benedict's day the Roman world as it was known wasfalling apart. Many persons were intensely seeking roots, something that wouldgive security and stability in a time of great change. Yet Benedict suggeststhat there are those who try to fool themselves—or others—into believing thatthey have found something worthwhile, but it is really a vast illusion, and acynical one at that. When someone pretends to believe in God and is quitewithout inspiration, he or she either doesn't believe there is a God or believesthat God has no power.

True commitment to God demands submission both to tradition and to authority.Both tradition and authority have their limits, but we are only qualified tospeak to those limits after being tested. At first and for a long time we mustsubmit to the wisdom contained in tradition and in the elders. We must find agood school and undergo strenuous training—training that will often demandsomething different than what we would "freely" choose. Even our wills must betaught to recognize the good, and to choose it in daily situations.

Make no mistake: there is real and awesome power here! It is a fearful thing tofall into the hands of the living God, and while we may do so gladly, itbehooves us to do it with the utmost respect and obedience.

Reflection

Again I hear the phrase: "still keep faith with the world in their behavior"—andI am indicted and humbled by it! I keep forgetting how deeply my most "personal"desires have been formed by the crass, egoistic, and consumptive culture inwhich we live. What are most damning are those moments I realize how utterlyincapable I am of choosing for myself that which (even) is my own good. I don'tyet know enough to make such choices; more profoundly, I don't yet love enough.I am often aware of what a puny thing my loving is!

There is great comfort in the possibility that I can rest in and be formed bysomething I can trust which is "bigger" and wiser than I am. Somethingincarnated, something that belongs to the human community as God's gift. Thereis also great risk in the vulnerability entailed in giving myself to suchtradition and authority. But perhaps the power of my need and my longing is nowgreat enough to allow me to take that risk.

Prayer/Response

Chapter 1

VERSES 10-13 (END)

The fourth kind of monks are those called gyrovagues, who spend their wholelives seeking hospitality in province after province; monastery after monastery,staying three or four days at a time; always wandering and never stable, theyare slaves to self-will and the snares of appetite: they are in all things worsethan the sarabaites.

Of the most wretched life of all these it is better to remain silent than tospeak. Leaving these behind us, therefore, let us proceed, with the help of God,to make provision for the cenobites—the strong kind of monks.

Comment

Benedict has told us that he proposes a school for the service of the Lord, andin this chapter he makes clear that the school does call for some definitetraining. In this section, he gives a clue about the training—it is a trainingof the will; it is designed to liberate us from slavery to the will. One whocalls himself a monk dares not be a slave to appetite/willfulness.

"Will" is a word very narrowly conceived in our culture: we think of it as kindof an executive, decisive and controlling; it almost has the features of an"iron fist." In contrast to this concept, however, the mainstream of Christiantradition has generally conceived will as a matter of the heart—not in asentimental, flaccid way, but as a passionate harmony of one's entire being.What Benedict is opposed to is allowing ourselves to be moved by the superficialforces of appetite, which prevent our deep discovery of authentic innernecessity.

Here Benedict spells out that monks in community are the strong kind. He writesto those of us willing to explore our own experience for the ways in whichcommunity brings us into fuller life. One commentator has suggested thatBenedict understands cenobites to be the "strong kind" because they are willingto recognize and to act on their needs, their weaknesses, and their longings.In some essential way, Christians in community belong to and supplement oneanother. Thus, in community it is as important to offer our needs as it is tooffer our gifts. Strength is found in the combination.

Reflection

Many times I have thought about what will is (especially when I start a newdiet), and I cannot say that I know, in the sense of knowledge that wells up outof me from within.

But I believe Benedict is right, that in order to discover (and train) my will,I must be stable; that is, "stay put." I need to stay quiet for a time,undistracted by multiple stimuli and competitions for my attention, undistractedby the noisy inner cravings that would mentally draw me here and there. I needto stay put until I enter quiet, and know the greatness of God and the terribleinadequacy of myself. I need to stay put until I have passed beyond even that,and know the enduring power of love. And there, finally, I discover a depth andpassion that must flow over and spend itself in compassion, charity, andadoration.

Prayer/Response

CHAPTER 2

Chapter 2, What Kind of Person the Abbot Ought to Be

VERSES 1-5

An abbot who is worthy to govern a monastery must always remember what he iscalled, and fulfill his title through his deeds. For he is believed to hold theplace of Christ in the monastery, since he is addressed by a title of His(Christ's), as the Apostle has said: You have received the spirit of adoption ofsons by which we cry, "abba, father" (Rom 8:15).

Therefore, the abbot should never teach or enact or command anything contrary tothe teaching of the Lord; rather let his commands and his teaching, like theleaven of divine justice, suffuse the minds of his disciples.