St Benedict and the Rule

When I have the privilege of leading Intercessions at Divine Service I frequently cite a prayer written by St Benedict, enjoining us to achieve personal grace through our Saviour:

“O gracious and Holy Father, give us wisdom to perceive thee, intelligence to understand thee, diligence to seek thee, patience to wait for thee, eyes to behold thee, a heart to meditate upon thee and a life to proclaim thee...”

... and muse on the profundity of its author, and his immense contribution to the development of the Christian Church.

Benedict (Latin ‘bene’ and ‘dicere’) - whose name may variously be translated as ‘well-spoken’ or ‘blessed’, lived between AD480-547 although these dates are uncertain. Born in Tuscany, he studied at Rome, founded a monastery near Subiaco, lived in the ruins of Nero’s villa and established his Rule on Monte Cassino. What we know of his life was recorded in a biography by Pope Gregory (AD590-604).

A charismatic figure, disciples flocked to him for guidance. Whilst still a young man he was invited to become an abbot. In one monastery however it is believed that rebellious monks tried to poison him! Much of what he found both within the monastic life and outside distressed him and he retired on occasions to live as a hermit. It is on Monte Cassino that he established a firm rule of monastic doctrine which has endured for over fifteen hundred years. Secondly he laid down a structure of a House of God with the father - Abbot and the brethren - the monks as a community of equals with their temporal care being allocated to specific officers. Thirdly there are the observances - prayer and praise in the form of seven daily offices.

Monte Cassino itself is a monument to human persistence. Built initially on a Temple of Apollo it was devastated in 720 by the Lombards, in 884 by the Saracens, in 1030 by the Normans and in 1349 by an earthquake. Those who today are of riper years will not forget that during the Second World War the fortress monastery formed part of the Gustav defensive line of the Nazis and despite assaults by Polish, New Zealand and British troops, bombing and shelling, it took months in 1944 to be taken. It has since been beautifully rebuilt.

The abbot of an order should, according to Benedict, be appointed ‘on account of his virtuous life and wise teaching...’ Would that this stricture be applied to our present ‘princes and governors’!

The substances of the Rule of St Benedict can be summarised as Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, achievable through prayer, manual labour, abstinence and for the monks within - claustration (confinement). His celebrated dictum ‘laborare est orare’ (to work is to pray) is offered for reflective analysis for us all as we go about our daily lives. We would do well to follow aspects of the Rule today, as necessarily modified for our complex and frenetic lives, to the greater glory of God.

Rod Dawson