‘St Benedict’s Rule’
Good afternoon,
This evening a group for University staff called Turning Pages will meet – I was going to say remotely but that has all sorts of poor resonances for me. We may be in different places but I hope we are not remote from each other, distant in feeling or long past in time, but rather, engaged, caring, close at least in thought and spirit. How about saying instead that we will meet remarkably!?
So, this evening, the staff group that meets monthly to discuss readings in faith and spirituality will meet remarkably. Over the years, we have discussed writing, among others, by Marilynne Robinson, Jonathan Sacks, Martin Luther King, Barbara Brown Taylor, St Augustine, C. S. Lewis, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Richard Bauckham, Kathleen Norris and Colin Kidd. Tonight it is the turn of St Benedict, c. 480-547, who founded a monastery at Monte Cassino, south of Rome, for which he wrote a Rule which became the most significant guidance and instruction for monastic life for men and women over the next 1500 years. We’re reading part of the Rule. If you are a staff member of the University, not already part of Turning Pages, and would like to join – or at least find out more – just let me know.
The reading was chosen before social distancing and our spending so much time at home, which may involve sharing a domestic space and community more than we are accustomed to. But Benedict’s wisdom may well be helpful for our own communities today. Here are a few lines from the Rule we’ll be mulling over this evening.
The abbot must always remember what he is and remember what he is called, aware that more will be expected of a man to whom more has been entrusted. (Ch. 2)
The Lord often reveals what is better to the younger. (Ch. 3)
Never lose hope in God’s mercy. (Ch. 4)
So important is silence that permission to speak should seldom be granted even to mature disciples, no matter how good or holy or constructive their talk. (Ch. 6)
The tenth step of humility is that he is not given to ready laughter, for it is written, Only a fool raises his voice in laughter. (Ch. 7)
For the daily meals, whether at noon or in mid-afternoon, it is enough, we believe, to provide all tables with two kinds of cooked food because of individual weaknesses. In this way, the person who may not be able to eat one kind of food may partake of the other. (Ch. 39)
It is… with some uneasiness that we specify the amount of food or drink for others. However, with due regard for the infirmities of the sick, we believe that half a bottle of wine a day is sufficient for each. (Ch. 40)
With Christ’s help, keep this little rule that we have written for beginners. (Ch. 73)
St Benedict delivering his Rule to St Maurus and other monks of his order.
Monastery of St Gilles, Nimes, France, 1129
I think I could live with the prescriptions for food and drink, but not upon laughter.
Yours,
Donald.