The secret of the spiritual life, and the whole secret of the heights of mysticism, is in humility. Saint Benedict knew it. There was no need for him to write a treatise on the mystical life. Rather, he wrote his rule to regulate the life of the monastery in order to lead monks to humility. You might say that the one spiritual chapter he gives us is the chapter on humility.
Saint Benedict’s fourth degree of humility is significant:
“… to keep patience in the exercise of obedience, and not to lose it or depart from it, either because of the difficulty of the thing commanded or the injuries to which one may be subjected, agreeabl y to what is said in Scripture: He that shall persevere to the end shall be saved (Mt 24:13); and again, Let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord (Ps 26[27]:14).”
Eugene Boylan, OCSO
Partnership with Christ, p. 32.
