Instruction 
Instruction on the Rule by noteworthy modern day monastics or oblates
Heresy of Individualism
The heresy of individualism: thinking oneself a completely self-sufficient unit and asserting this imaginary ‘unity’ against all others. The affirmation of the self as simply ‘not the other.’ But when you seek to affirm your unity by denying that you have anything to do with anyone else, by negating everyone else in the universe until… Read More ›
Patience
First of all, we honor one another. Then, he goes on (and he is very realistic): infirmitates suas sive corporum sive morum patientissime tolerent. We tolerate, with the greatest possible patience, the infirmities of body and of the way of morum—the way of acting, functioning, the way we present ourselves, the way we live. We… Read More ›
How Deep are Our Convictions?
Faced by the supercilious contempt of friends as well as the hatred of our avowed enemies, and wondering what there is in us to hate, we have considered ourselves and found ourselves quite decent, harmless and easygoing people who only ask to be left alone to make money and have a good time. The keystone… Read More ›
Reality is to be Sought in Unity
They can only conceive one way of becoming real: cutting themselves off from other people and building a barrier of contrast and distinction between themselves and other men. They do not know that reality is to be sought not in division but in unity, for we are ‘members one of another.’ Thomas Merton New Seeds… Read More ›
A Burning Love
Benedict goes on to describe this. It is really a description of what he sees as a way of spirituality, a way of growth into the fullness, a way of going into God. Hunc ergo zelum ferventissimo amore exerceant monachi. The monk is to make this zeal his own with a most fervent, burning love…. Read More ›
Our Culture is Geared to Avoid Silence
Now let us frankly face the fact that our culture is one which is geared in many ways to help us evade any need to face this inner, silent self. We live in a state of constant semiattention to the sound of voices, music, traffic, or the generalized noise of what goes on around us… Read More ›
Zeal of Monks
In this crowning chapter, chapter seventy-two, Benedict speaks of the good zeal of monks. He liked that word zeal. It is a powerful word that is used in the scriptures [3]. There is something about Benedict that is zealous. There is a certain energy to him, a certain vibrancy and vitality. He uses hasten (curritur,… Read More ›
Podcasts on the Prologue
A few weeks ago, Tarrawarra Abbey, Australia, launched a new podcast series on the Prologue of the Rule of St Benedict. It is a weekly reflection on the Prologue, and the speaker is Fr. Michael Casey OCSO. The podcast can be found at <www.cistercian.org.au/iMonk>. The audio can be downloaded from the above website, heard online,… Read More ›
Patriarch, Pontiff and Prophet
Christ is the good Samaritan who rescues us as well as the physician who binds up our wounds: With what oil abounding was Christ anointed! From his bounty he poured oil into all our wounds! Yes, we are the wounded man who went down to Jericho, fell among brigands, was robbed, and wounded and left… Read More ›
Wrestle with One’s Demons
When they spend time in solitude and in silence, people inevitably have to wrestle with their own demons. Indeed, that very phrase to “wrestle with one’s demons” is derived from the fathers and mothers of the desert tradition. They speak quite literally of the forces of evil that will tempt the solitary monk or nun… Read More ›