Benedictine Wisdom 
Instruction on the Rule by the great early thinkers of the Benedictine order.
Jesus Demands Solitude
Christ the Lord is a spirit before your face, and he demands solitude of the spirit more than of the body, although physical withdrawal can be of benefit when the opportunity offers, especially in time of prayer. To do this is to follow the advice and example of the bridegroom, shut the door and then… Read More ›
The desert will feed you
If you have fled away to remain in solitude, continue to stay there; wait there for the One who will save you ‘from pusillanimity of spirit and the storm’. However much the storm of battles may assail you, however much you may feel the lack even of sustenance in the desert, do not because of… Read More ›
Seek his face always
To seek God is a great good; in my opinion the soul knows no greater blessing. It is the first of her gifts and the final stage in her progress. It is inferior to none, and it yields place to none. What could be superior to it, when nothing has a higher place? What could claim a… Read More ›
Prayer is affection
Prayer is the affection of a person who clings to God, a certain familiar and devout conversation, a state in which the enlightened mind enjoys God as long as it is permitted. ‘Pray without interruption and give thanks at all times’. This prayer is a certain unchanging goodness of the mind and of the well-ordered… Read More ›
Christ your only teacher
Let this man Christ be your one teacher, this man who is, for your sake, a scroll written on the inside of the page and on the outside. Read of this man by reading him, learn from him by learning him. Copy from this pattern the pattern both on the inside and on the outside… Read More ›
Prayer to the Trinity
You, therefore, God the Father, by whom as Creator we live, You Wisdom of the Father, by whom we have been made anew and taught to live wisely, You, Holy Spirit, whom and in whom we love, and so live happily, and are to live yet more so, You, who are Three in one Substance,… Read More ›
God’s love is immense and immeasurable
The love of God with which he loved us before the foundation of the world and chose us in his beloved Son is itself the source and origin of all the good things which were bestowed upon us on the day of our creation, the day of our redemption, and the day of our justification… Read More ›
Sin conceals the soul’s simplicity
Unlikeness means, not that the likeness has been destroyed, but that it has been concealed by something else which has been laid over it. The soul has not in fact put off her original form but has put on one foreign to her. The latter is an addition; the former has not been lost. This… Read More ›
The Trinity: Goodness, Gentleness, Sweetness, and Love
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are names of goodness, names of gentleness, sweetness and love. Who is more gentle than the Father, who so great, kind and merciful? Who is dearer than Jesus Christ? Our savior is all healing, all goodness, gentleness, sweetness. Who is more loving, dear and holy than the Holy Spirit? He… Read More ›
Discover that which has no Beginning
What is God? The Beginning; this is the answer he gave of himself Many things in the world are spoken of as beginnings, and this is in respect to what comes after them. Yet if you look back and see something which precedes another, you will call that the beginning. Therefore, if you seek the… Read More ›