A Benedictine’s Rights
According to the Rule of Saint Benedict:
Seek God: “The concern must be whether the novice truly seeks God….” (RB 58:7a);
Love young and old: “Respect the elders and love the young” (RB 4:68-69);
Be silent: “The ninth step of humility is that a monk controls the tongue and remains silent, not speaking until asked a question” (RB 7:56);
Listen: “Listen carefully to the master’s instructions, and attend to these with the ear of your heart” (RB Prolog:1);
Pray: “4. First of all, every time you begin a good work, you must pray to God most earnestly to bring it to perfection” (RB Prolog:4);
Obey: “The third step of humility is to submit to the superior in all obedience for the love of God imitating the Lord of whom the Apostle says ‘He became obedient even to death’” (Phil.2:8; RB 7:34);
Work: “When they live by the labor of their hands, as our fathers did, then they are really monks” (RB 48:8);
Share: “Whoever needs less should thank God and not be distressed, but whoever needs more should feel humble because of weakness, not self-important because of the kindness shown” (RB 34:3-4);
Sing: “Let us consider, then, how we should behave in the presence of God and his angels, and let us stand to sing the psalms in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices” (RB 19:6-7);
Be: “Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; the love of Christ must come before all else” (RB 4:20-21).
The above is reformatted from the original. © Copyright 1995-2000 by Richard Oliver, OSB; MN 56321-2015 / http://archive.osb.org/obl/rights.html
