ENLARGING THE HEART UPDATE: 1ST January 2015 We now begin a new series of commentaries on the Rule of our Holy Father Saint Benedict (Series 3). We hope this will continue to be a source of spiritual nourishment for you. Daily readings from the Rule of Saint Benedict By a Benedictine of Saint Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde "... as we progress in our monastic life and in faith, our hearts shall be enlarged, and we shall run with unspeakable sweetness of love in the way of God's commandments." (From the Prologue of the Rule of Saint Benedict) |
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St
Benedict wrote his Rule for monks some fifteen centuries ago. Driven by his love of Christ, he wanted to
establish his monastery as a “school of the Lord’s service”: a place where
people who truly seek God could find him; places where “authentic Gospel values
prevail”[1];
where nothing whatever would be preferred to Christ. The Rule of St Benedict
spread all over Europe, and had an enormous influence on the life and spirituality
of the Latin Church. It continues to
inspire monks, nuns, and countless lay people throughout the world today. Like
many monasteries we divide the Rule into sections so that the whole Rule is
covered over a period of three months. The commentaries will follow the
sequence of the sections. |
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Whether a monk is
to receive letters or presents 6 August On no account shall it be lawful for a monk either
to give or to receive, without the permission of his Abbot, letters, presents,
or any little gifts whatsoever, whether from his parents or anyone else, or
from his brethren. And if anything is
sent to him even by his parents, let him not presume to receive it unless it
shall have first been shown to the Abbot.
If the Abbot orders it to be received, it shall be in his power to
command to whom it shall be given; and let not the brother to whom it has been
sent be saddened, lest occasion be given to the devil. Should anyone, however, presume to act
otherwise, let him be subjected to the regular punishment. Let not the brother to whom it has been
sent be saddened… Sadness appeared in ch 34 which also discussed the
distribution of goods. In both cases,
sadness will appear if the monk does not have a solid grasp of the priorities
of his vocation, not only with regard to poverty and separation from the world
but also the common life. If attachment to family and goods are still
strong, one’s peace and joy are vulnerable to sadness. But of course, in spite of the desire to live
for the Lord, we may at times feel the loss of certain things. We cannot force these feelings to go away and
we shouldn’t. On the other hand, one
shouldn’t deliberately indulge or foster them.
These feelings can become an occasion for renewing our decision to belong
to the Lord alone. Despite my feelings
of attachment, I am ready to grow gradually in detachment. That is the important thing. |