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.
Thank God I am like other men
In Louisville, at the corner of 4th and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the realization that I loved these people, that they were mine and I was theirs, that we could not be alien to one another . . . . It was like waking from a… Read More ›
Fallacy of worldly logic
The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy-the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men. A weird life it is to be living always in somebody else’s imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could become real. Thomas Merton
Make the Lord your joy
My advice to you is to turn aside occasionally from troubled and anxious pondering on the paths you may be treading, and to travel on smoother ways where the gifts of God are serenely savored, so that the thought of him may give breathing space to you whose consciences are perplexed. I should like you… Read More ›
Attainment of peace of heart
Aelred of Rievaulx lists six stages to be passed through in the attainment of peace of heart and tranquility of mind. The rejection of worldly standards, particularly the search for pleasure or possessions and the ambition for honors. The setting aside of self-love, vanity, pride, and the comparison of self with others. Reflection on the… Read More ›
Growth in faith
For every gain in deep certitude there is a corresponding growth of superficial “doubt.” This doubt is by no means opposed to genuine faith, but it mercilessly examines and questions the spurious “faith” of everyday life, the human faith which is nothing but the passive acceptance of conventional opinion. Thomas Merton
God is always present
Expect a twofold help from God in the course of your spiritual life: correction and consolation. One controls the exterior, the other works within; the first curbs arrogance, the latter inspires trust; the first begets humility, the latter strengthens the faint-hearted; the first makes one discreet, the latter devout. The first imbues us with fear… Read More ›
Violence will not really change anything
I am against war, against violence, against violent revolution, for peaceful settlement of differences, for nonviolent but nevertheless radical changes. Change is needed, and violence will not really change anything: at most it will only transfer power from one set of bull-headed authorities to another. Thomas Merton
The simplicity of the soul
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 ›
Our skill may end us
I believe we are going to have to prepare ourselves for the difficult and patient task of outgrowing rigid and intransigent nationalism, and work slowly towards a world federation of peaceful nations. How will this be possible? Don’t ask me. I don’t know. But unless we develop a moral, spiritual, and political wisdom that is… Read More ›
If I am true to God’s Word
God utters me like a word containing a partial thought of him. A word will never be able to comprehend the voice that utters it. But if I am true to the concept that God utters in me, if I am true to the thought of Him that I was meant to embody, I shall… Read More ›