Instruction 
Instruction on the Rule by noteworthy modern day monastics or oblates
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
And justice looked down from heaven
And justice looked down from heaven. That the Saviour should have mercy on his people was indeed an act of justice. See what the Scripture says: O how just are God’s judgments and how unsearchable his ways! On the one hand truth, that is, a saviour, has grown up from the earth, and on the… Read More ›
We were created to enjoy union with God
And with eyes wide open to the divinizing light, and with astonished ears, let us hear God’s voice crying out to us every day and admonishing us. (RB Prologue) The voice of God speaks to us every day, if we have ears to listen. What we hear, if we hear anything, can be a source… Read More ›
Pope to canonize and name Benedictine nun Hildegard of Bingen as Doctor of the Church
December 16, 2011. (Romereports.com) Benedict XVI is set to appoint Hildegard of Bingen as a Doctor of the Church in October of 2012. She was a German Benedictine nun and was known for her visions and prophecies. Hildegard of Bingen lived in the twelfth century. In addition to being a nun, she was a composer,… Read More ›