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. |
Sept 21 63. To
love chastity. 64. To
hate no man. 65. To have
no jealousy or envy. 66. Not
to love strife. 67. To
fly from vainglory. 68. To
reverence one's seniors. 69. To
love one's juniors. 70. To
pray for one's enemies in the love of Christ. 71. To
make peace with those with whom one is at variance before the setting of the sun. 72. And
never to despair of God's mercy. Behold, these are the instruments of the spiritual
art, which, if they be constantly employed by day and by night, and delivered
up on the day of judgment, will gain for us from the Lord that reward which He
Himself has promised: "Eye has not see, nor ear heard, nor has it entered
into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love
Him." And the workshop in which we
are to labour diligently at all these things is the enclosure of the monastery
and stability in the community. To love
chastity. St Benedict says not merely to observe chastity or practise it, but to
love it. The first and essential mark of consecrated persons is that they have
embraced a life of dedicated chastity for the sake of the kingdom, for the sake
of Christ. To love chastity: St Benedict
indicates a positive approach that turns upside down all notions of repression
or mere obligation. It represents an
attitude of mind that is not denying, but affirming. Our chastity begins by belonging to Christ
and ends by belonging to everyone; its sets we free to love God and each one
with whom we come into contact with an undivided heart. It enables us to devote our whole lives to
the single-minded task of loving Christ, in whom we find all men. It is, as St
John Paul II put it, “a reflection of the infinite love which
links the three Divine Persons in the mysterious depths of the life of the Trinity,
the love to which the Incarnate Word bears witness even to the point of giving
his life, the love "poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Rom
5:5), which evokes a response of total love for God and the brethren.”
There must be more love in us because
we are chaste. |