Instruction 
Instruction on the Rule by noteworthy modern day monastics or oblates
Creating the Truth of Our Identity
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny… This means to say that we should not passively exist, but actively participate in His creative freedom, in our own lives, and in the lives of others, by choosing… Read More ›
St. Benedict’s Mission
St. Benedict has a distinct mission for the sanctification of monks [and Oblates]. He intervenes personally and directly in the lives of all his sons [and daughters]. He teaches them not only through the written word of the Rule, but also through a charismatic intervention in the lives of his monks, which continues and will… Read More ›
Let us finally arise
Now, therefore, let us finally arise. Scripture stirs us up saying, “Now is the hour to rise from sleep.” (RB Prologue) No call is resisted and resented so fully as the call to wake up. So we need not be surprised if we do not want to be stirred into action, especially when we do… Read More ›
Contemplation No Escape from Conflict
Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude of the contemplative experience awakens a tragic anguish and opens many questions in the depths of the heart like wounds that cannot stop bleeding. For every gain in deep certitude there… Read More ›
Individuality and Community
Benedict wants a community where people can express individuality rather than individualism. Individualism is simply doing your own thing in your own way and blanking out other people. Individuality involves bringing your particular contribution to bear on the life of the community, even if that is a difficult contribution for others to accept; for example,… Read More ›
Man finds himself with nothing to say…
In technological society, in which the means of communication and signification have become fabulously versatile, and are at the point of an even more prolific development, thanks to the computer with its inexhaustible memory and its capacity for immediate absorption and organization of facts, the very nature and use of communication itself becomes unconsciously symbolic…. Read More ›
Our Civilization is Strictly Servile
The basic inner moral contradiction of our age is that, though we talk and ream about freedom (or say we dream of it, though I sometimes question that!), though we fight wars over it, our civilization is strictly servile. I do not use this term contemptuously, but in its original sense of “pragmatic,” oriented exclusively… Read More ›
Contemplation cannot be taught
The only way to get rid of misconceptions about contemplation is to experience it. One who does not actually know, in his own life, the nature of this breakthrough and this awakening to a new level of reality cannot help being misled by most of the things that are said about it. For contemplation cannot… Read More ›
The Joy of Advent
There is no mention of Advent in the Rule of St. Benedict, but I believe St. Benedict did take into account Advent. There is a sense of continual Advent woven into our lives. Our Rule is meant to keep us in Advent throughout the year. Our life is like the early Church, working, praying, serving,… Read More ›
Seek Peace within Yourself First
All men seek peace first of all with themselves. That is necessary, because we do not naturally find rest even in our own being. We have to learn to commune with ourselves before we can communicate with other men and with God. A man who is not at peace with himself necessarily projects his interior… Read More ›