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.
Moving toward a low-impact environment
Large numbers of people are staying away from mainline church services precisely because they do not want to be put to sleep; much organized religion is seen as all too boring. The absence of religion does not necessarily make them more socially aware. An alternative source of desensitization has emerged. Our excitement-prone generation is looking… Read More ›
A point of pure truth
At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our live, which is inaccessable to the fantasies of our own mind or the… Read More ›
Compunction: the moment of awakening
In traditional monastic language the great means of ending our complacent slumbers was the sting of compunction. The Latin word compunctio means a piercing; it is like sticking a pin in somebody with the purpose of waking them up. Compunction, involves a moment of awakening, the first glimmer of enlightenment, the dawning of a new… Read More ›
God’s attitude to my sin is pity, not blame
Unfortunately we do not learn about sinfulness from a heavenly messenger. Nor is it like the result of a personality test. We learn of our sinfulness when we are tempted. Temptation is more than awareness of alternative options: I am not tempted to genocide if I lack the means; I am not tempted to computer… Read More ›
We must become more aware of the reality of sin in our life
Because one cannot understand sin, one may be tempted to doubt its reality. Or call it relatively harmless mischief – like violating a code of obligations intended for somebody much better than I am. Humiliated by my inability to will sin away, I may try to imagine it away, or to rationalize my situation. But… Read More ›
Recognize your dignity — you are precious
O image of God, recognize your dignity; let the effigy of your Creator shine forth in you. Purify yourself, train yourself in godliness, and you shall find the kingdom of God within you. To yourself you seem of little worth, but in reality you are precious. Be wholly present to yourself and employ yourself wholly… Read More ›
Live not for ourselves but for others
It is therefore of supreme importance that we consent to live not for ourselves but for others. When we so this we will be able first of all to face and accept our own limitations. As long as we secretly adore ourselves, our own deficiencies will remain to torture us with an apparent defilement. But… Read More ›
Finding God … in service of our brothers.
There is a stage in the spiritual life in which we find God in ourselves – this presence is a created effect of His love. It is a gift of His, to us. It remains in us. All the gifts of God are good. But if we rest in them, rather than in Him, they… Read More ›
Likeness to God
There is a likeness to God which is lost only with life itself, left to everyone by the Creator of all as evidence of a better and more sublime likeness. As far as merit is concerned, this likeness to God in us is of no importance with God, since it derives from nature, not from… Read More ›
Opening ourselves to the energy that comes from God
There is a profound harmony between the external demands of Christianity and the internal dynamism of the human heart. Christian discipleship asks no more and no less of us than that we become what God intends us to be, that we fulfill the potentiality inherent in our individual nature, that we cease acting a role… Read More ›