Rule 
Articles and posts specifically teaching the Rule of St. Benedict. Articles divided into two categories: Benedictine Wisdom, the teaching of the Benedictine Fathers; and Instruction, teaching by more modern day Benedictine scholars.
Become the brother of God
I hear You saying to me: “I will give you what you desire. I will lead you into solitude. I will lead you by the way that you cannot possibly understand, because I want it to be the quickest way. “Therefore all the things around you will be armed against you, to deny you, to… Read More ›
The hearts true home
The hearts true home Let me learn Lord that the beauty I see in others, and yes the longings that go with it, point to your beauty and my hearts true home. Friendship, marriage and belonging are ways that draw us deeper into the mystery of our aloneness, and no matter how deep our relationships… Read More ›
We can drown
Truth seems to be owned by everyone, or so it is lived out. Something inward, subjective, ones own against all others. What is thought…. is truth, or what is perceived, is obvious. Ones religion, political party, or lack of, both are embraced tightly, A fortress against all others who dare to think or believe otherwise…. Read More ›
Work is healthy but Agitation destroys
Work occupies the body and the mind and is necessary for the health of the spirit. Work can help us to pray and be recollected if we work properly. Agitation, however, destroys the spiritual usefulness of work and even tends to frustrate its physical and social purpose. Agitation is the useless and ill‑directed action of… Read More ›
Our proper occupation
Our proper occupation is knowing and loving God, and, not least, delighting in such knowledge and love. We have been made in the image and likeness of God for the sake of this knowledge and love; and by means of them we are made new and formed again to God’s image and likeness: through understanding… Read More ›
The cost of mercy
What does it mean when someone accepts mercy, or asks for forgiveness and receives it? Many people seem to think that mercy is an affront to justice, when in fact it can go hand in hand with it. In human relationships, the showing of mercy can off set the power that an evil, or hurtful… Read More ›
The quality of Mercy
When speaking about mercy there can be turns in the road, or forks even, were different aspects can be pondered. Like many other topics on the spiritual life, different facets can be dwelt upon, to the exclusion of others. Sometimes the best way to try to understand mercy, both human and Divine (though the mystery… Read More ›
Looking upward or downward
(Mercy Sunday 2013) Trust is about looking upward and not downward. What do I mean by that? Perhaps the main struggle that is faced in the spiritual life is not in the many moral situations what we face, for we all fail, at times we fail in grievous ways, though they may not be thought… Read More ›
Pain and mercy
Pain and mercy I often wonder why it is so easy to write about pain, sorrow, struggle, and strife. I know that there is much of the above in the world, and I would suppose most of us, if perhaps not all, are often part of this drama, that makes up the pain of the… Read More ›
Havana Prelate Shares Notes From Cardinal Bergoglio’s Pre-Conclave Speech
Argentine Archbishop Warned Against a ‘Worldly Church’ The archbishop of Havana says that a speech given by Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) during the cardinals’ pre-conclave meetings was “masterful” and “clear.” Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino spoke of Cardinal Bergoglio’s speech at a Mass on Saturday in Cuba, having returned home from his… Read More ›