Rule of St. Benedict

Introduction:

Think-pair-share

pair of in twos and threes. What do you think about when you think of Monks? What comes to your mind when you think about monks and monasteries.

Tonight we are going to be looking at St. Benedict and his rule, and how it can be helpful for us today. We are going to go over a little background information, then look at why his rule is so famous, look at the rule it self, and then we will end with how this rule can help us today.

Historical Background

St. Benedict of Nursia changed the face of western civilization. He is knows as the Father of Modern Monasticism, and is the patron Saint of Europe, you know know you are at the top of the sainthood game if you the patron saint of a continent. Just as a way of information, we refer to Benedict as Saint Benedict, this does not mean we think some Christians are saints and other are not, but it is a way we might honor him, I could just as much call any of you saint.

Saint Benedict was born around 480 AD, and not much is known about his life, we do know he was born in Nursia, what is today know as Norcia.

He was born in Nursia, what is today know as Norcia.

Nursia is in central Italy in the Sibylline mountain range.

This and other information come from Pope Gregory I in the second book of his dialogues.

The information that Gregory had was from four of Benedict disciples. In his dialouges he describes Benedict this way:

From his younger years, he always had the mind of an old man; for his age was inferior to his virtue

He was born to a devoutly Christian and wealthy family in Nursia, his father was the governor of Nursia, and when off to Rome to study, but when he arrived in Rome he found that the city was depraved and those who were studied in Rome live “lewd lives.”

So shocked and disgusted Benedict turned him away from Rome and the privilege it offered.

What was it about Rome that was so bad? Well Rome was not what it once was. Seventy years before Benedict was born Rome was sacked by the Visigoths. The city that had taken the world was not itself taken. Rome was a shadow of it former glory, in its hey day it is estimated to be about 1 million residents, by Benedictines time it was around 100,000. With the sack of Rom it did not mean it was now in anarchy, and everything was burning, really much would have been the same.

Rome was ruled by Theodoric the Visigoth king from Ravenna, in the northern part of Italy. And not too much is known about the moral decline that occurred during this time. But one way to think about the the great disruption that was taking place at this time was that with the lose of power of Rome, there ceased to be be people who maintained order and a common morality. Even if the morals were not too different, there would have been certain expectations of a moral ideal that people were held to, but with Rome no longer powerfully pushing its Roman morals, morality and civility disintegrated, and there was no over arching story dominating anymore.

Not much is known about his early life, what we do know is that he was born around 480 AD.

A crucial turning point in that earlier history occurred when men and women of good will turned aside from the task of shoring up the Roman imperium and ceased to identify the continuation of civility and moral community with the maintenance of that imperium

So Benedict, left Rome and became a hermit monk and literally holed up in a cave for three years, and was fed bread by a monk who would come to him and lower bread down to him on a Rope.

But one way to think about it is

The Philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre

While he was holed up in this cave a group of monks came by and found him, and asked him if he would be their leader, so he did, but things did not go so well with this crowed, because this same group of monks tried to poison him. Here is what Pope Gregory said

Taking counsel together, they agreed to poison his wine: which being done, and the glass wherein that wine was, according to the custom, offered to the Abbot to bless, he, putting forth his hand, made the sign of the cross, and straightway the glass, that was held far off, broke in pieces, as though the sign of the cross had been a stone thrown against it:

on which accident the man of God by and by perceived that the glass had in it the drink of death, which could not endure the sign of life.  Rising up, with a mild countenance and quiet mind, he called the monks together, and spoke thus to them:

"Almighty God have mercy on you, and forgive you: why have you used me in this manner? Did not I tell you before hand, that our manner of living could never agree together? Go your ways, and seek ye out some other father suitable to your own conditions, for I intend not now to stay any longer among you."

This was not the only attempt at his life, there was another attempted poisoning of his bread, but as the story goes, before he at it a Raven flew down and snatched it away.

Once he moved past these hooligans, he did eventually establish 12 monasteries, and in 529 he moved to Monte Cassino which is south east of Rome, and it is there that he wrote his famous Rule.

What makes St. Benedict's Rule significant?

A rule for the monastics was simply a guide for living in Christian community. A way to regulate life together, before the face of God.

Benedicts rule was accessible and not overly daunting, which compared to the monks further East, it was a cake walk. Although when we see it we may not think so.

It may surprise you that if you read it is in many ways not very profound at all. It does not have deep mystical sayings, or lofty hard to understand philosophy, it is gritty, an earthy spirituality. The rule is significant not for its prose or concepts, it is famous for the kinds of communities it created, and over time more and more monks began to prefer using his rule to the other harsher contemporary rules.

The rule’s significance lies in what these communities did. So you have Europe, once held together by the Roman empire, not disintegrating, there are more tribal wars, there was increased poverty, the lack of the trade networks also meant that intellectual and technical sophistication was being lost.

As the things disintegrated, the monasteries began to become more important, because it was in the monasteries that the intellectual and cultural heritage of what we might call western civilization was maintained.

But that was more like a side effect of the rule. The rule was meant to be a way to faithfully live a life consecrated to God.

The communities who followed the rule provided stability in a an uncertain world. They also were places of hope for the poor, they kept learning alive, evangelized the lost, they taught people how to pray, how to read, how to plant crops, and build things, and they were places of hospitality for travelers.

Monasteries were counter-cultural communities, and this is what is significant really lies, these Christ-centered counter-cultural communities worked like a preservative for the society. So while he did not set out to be a stabilizing force for Europe, but rather to live a consecrated life to God’s glory, he ended up doing both of those.

In short the rule is significant because of the communities that formed around it.

So let’s look at his rule and it’s characteristics and along the way we’ll stop and see how it can be helpful for us today.

Rule of Life

So first his rule is a rule of life, A rule for the monastics was simply a guide for living in Christian community.

A rule for the monastics was simply a guide for living in Christian community.

Or another way:

A rule of life is a devotional discipline in which one is committed to grow in grace, resist sin and temptation, and committed to order ones worship, work, and leisure as a pleasing sacrifice to God.

Why would we need a rule, well as Benedict would say:

St. Benedict says of his rule:

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Prologue

45 Therefore we intend to establish a school for the Lord’s service.* 46 In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. 47 The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and to safeguard love.

He saw a need for a rule of life because our fallen nature is disordered, distracted, and self-centered.

Because bad habits are often the rule of life, he created a rule to help develop godly character.

Institutes of the Christian Religion 50. Prayer at Regular Times

But, although it has already been stated above93 that, lifting up our hearts, we should ever aspire to God and pray without ceasing, still, since our weakness is such that it has to be supported by many aids, and our sluggishness such that it needs to be goaded, it is fitting each one of us should set apart certain hours for this exercise. Those hours should not pass without prayer, and during them all the devotion of the heart should be completely engaged in it. These are: when we arise in the morning, before we begin daily work, when we sit down to a meal, when by God’s blessing we have eaten, when we are getting ready to retire.

So he created this rule to safeguard love.

But this must not be any superstitious observance of hours, whereby, as if paying our debt to God, we imagine ourselves paid up for the remaining hours. Rather, it must be a tutelage for our weakness, which should be thus exercised and repeatedly stimulated.1

What did his rule contain?

Well lets take a look at what

So he created this rule to safeguard love.

A Day in the Life of A Monk

would look like. The days and nights did not belong to the monks. Unlike us who have empty Google calender's that we must fill up, putting us at the center of each day, they began with the notion that each day belongs to the Lord, and the sought to fit their life into his day.

Hospitality

Work

A monk wakes up in his own bed, in a room with about 10-20 other monks, one of which is the senior monk who watches out for them, it was never completely dark because a lamp was burning all night long. You don’t have to get dressed. For

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 22. The Sleeping Arrangements of the Monks

5 They sleep clothed, and girded with belts or cords; but they should remove their knives, lest they accidentally cut themselves in their sleep. 6 Thus the monks will always be ready to arise without delay when the signal is given; each will hasten to arrive at the Work of God before the others, yet with all dignity and decorum.

On arising they

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 22. The Sleeping Arrangements of the Monks

5 They sleep clothed, and girded with belts or cords; but they should remove their knives, lest they accidentally cut themselves in their sleep. 6 Thus the monks will always be ready to arise without delay when the signal is given; each will hasten to arrive at the Work of God before the others, yet with all dignity and decorum. 7 The younger brothers should not have their beds next to each other, but interspersed among those of the seniors. 8 On arising for the Work of God, they will quietly encourage each other, for the sleepy like to make excuses.

Pray

Liturgy of the Hours

Bas

The work of God as they called it. It was the seven times during the day they would gather for what we might call a worship service.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 16. The Celebration of the Divine Office during the Day

1 The Prophet says: Seven times a day have I praised you (Ps 118[119]:164).* 2 We will fulfill this sacred number of seven if we satisfy our obligations of service at Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline,*

Lauds: At Dawn

They move first to the service of Lauds, which was at dawn. Think worship service. They read Scripture, they pray and they sing, in the rule there is a specific number of Psalm sung and each one assigned to different services during the day. A monk would sing all 150 psalms in one week.

Psalm 74:16 ESV

Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.

Prime: About 6AM

After Lauds you would read until the next service Prime, that is the first hour usually around 6am. After that you would then do your work whatever that was, as an artisan or in the kitchen, but mostly you would be in the field working. Unless it was winter, because if it was winter you would just read again.

Terce: About 9AM

You would come back in for the next worship service, then after that you would work your assigned tasks for the community, like working at the kitchen, helping a guest, and they would do this until about 10AM then they would read quietly until Sext.

Sext: Noon

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 16. The Celebration of the Divine Office during the Day

1 The Prophet says: Seven times a day have I praised you (Ps 118[119]:164).* 2 We will fulfill this sacred number of seven if we satisfy our obligations of service at Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline,*

So they followed the pattern of the sun and the changing of the seasons. The day we are following is a typical day in the winter.

Seven times a day and once at night.

So they followed the pattern of the sun and the changing of the seasons. The day we are following is a typical day in the winter.

You are awoken by bells, it was time for

Vigils: 2 AM

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 39. The Proper Amount of Food

3 Two kinds of cooked food, therefore, should suffice for all the brothers, and if fruit or fresh vegetables are available, a third dish may also be added. 4 A generous pound of bread is enough for a day whether for only one meal or for both dinner and supper.*

But after Sext and their meal, they may rest on their beds in complete silence

By candlelight, you chant in unison, sing psalms and pray. After the service, you would go back to bed.

Saint Benedict Abbot of Monte Cassino, The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes, ed. Timothy Fry, electronic edition. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1981), 239.

Saint Benedict Abbot of Monte Cassino, The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes, ed. Timothy Fry, electronic edition. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1981), 239.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 48. The Daily Manual Labor

But after Sext and their meal, they may rest on their beds in complete silence

A day in the life of an average monk following the Rule of St. Benedict.

Lauds: At Dawn

Saint Benedict Abbot of Monte Cassino, The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes, ed. Timothy Fry, electronic edition. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1981), 249.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 22. The Sleeping Arrangements of the Monks

5 They sleep clothed, and girded with belts or cords; but they should remove their knives, lest they accidentally cut themselves in their sleep. 6 Thus the monks will always be ready to arise without delay when the signal is given; each will hasten to arrive at the Work of God before the others, yet with all dignity and decorum. 7 The younger brothers should not have their beds next to each other, but interspersed among those of the seniors. 8 On arising for the Work of God, they will quietly encourage each other, for the sleepy like to make excuses.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 22. The Sleeping Arrangements of the Monks

5 They sleep clothed, and girded with belts or cords; but they should remove their knives, lest they accidentally cut themselves in their sleep. 6 Thus the monks will always be ready to arise without delay when the signal is given; each will hasten to arrive at the Work of God before the others, yet with all dignity and decorum.

Liturgy of the Hours

Lauds: At Dawn

The work of God as they called it. It was the seven times during the day they would gather for what we might call a worship service.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 16. The Celebration of the Divine Office during the Day

1 The Prophet says: Seven times a day have I praised you (Ps 118[119]:164).* 2 We will fulfill this sacred number of seven if we satisfy our obligations of service at Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline,*

The rising of the sun symbolized the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. So at dawn they rose to pray, read scripture, and many Psalms. In a given week A monk would sing all 150 psalms in one week.

And as you walk from place to place as a monk you do so in constant humility. In the Benedict lays out 12 steps of humility.

Lauds: At Dawn

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 7. Humility

62 The twelfth step of humility is that a monk always manifests humility in his bearing no less than in his heart, so that it is evident 63 at the Work of God, in the oratory, the monastery or the garden, on a journey or in the field, or anywhere else. Whether he sits, walks or stands, his head must be bowed and his eyes cast down.*

Everywhere you go you are to be in a physical posture of humility. So with your head bowed you go to the next service called

Next there is a shorter service called

They move first to the service of Lauds, which was at dawn. Think worship service. They read Scripture, they pray and they sing, in the rule there is a specific number of Psalm sung and each one assigned to different services during the day. A monk would sing all 150 psalms in one week.

Prime: About 6 AM

After Prime you clean up and get ready.

You would wear a tunic, a cowl (a hood) and a belt. And you had two sets. After clean up you would then do your work whatever that was, as an artisan or in the kitchen, but mostly you would be in the field working. But since we are looking at a winter day, you would just read.

You read the classics and church fathers, and transcribe them to preserve knowledge for future generations.

Next is

You read theological and classical texts, and transcribe them to preserve knowledge for future generations. Three hours after sunrise you attend the service of Terce where you ask the Holy Spirit for strength in dealing with the conflicts of your day.

Terce: About 9 AM

It is another worship service. Afterward you may confess your sins, and then you go back to work.

You would come back in for the next worship service, then after that you would work your assigned tasks for the community, like working at the kitchen, helping a guest, and they would do this until about 10AM then they would read quietly until Sext.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 48. The Daily Manual Labor

5 But after Sext and their meal, they may rest on their beds in complete silence; should a brother wish to read privately, let him do so, but without disturbing the others.*

Work was very important to the monastic life.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 48. The Daily Manual Labor

1 Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore, the brothers should have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading.*

It is much like the saying my mother would say to me. Idle hands are the devils workshop.

All of their life was spiritual. it was not like they prayed and then did whatever they wanted, all of it was consecrated to God.

And if you were an older or sick you had different duties, so for example:

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 66. The Porter of the Monastery

1 At the door of the monastery, place a sensible old man who knows how to take a message and deliver a reply, and whose age keeps him from roaming about.*

Then you would go to

Then you would go to

Sext: Noon

At this service they would intentionally remember the Crucifixion of Jesus on the cross.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 48. The Daily Manual Labor

5 But after Sext and their meal, they may rest on their beds in complete silence; should a brother wish to read privately, let him do so, but without disturbing the others.*

At dinner they could choose from two cooked dishes made from cereal and vegetables, perhaps with a bit of added fish, egg or cheese and sometimes a third dish of fruit or vegetables.

He tried to write a rule that was accessible and not overly daunting.

You would eat in silence and listen to the reader while you eat.

None: 3:30 PM

They gather back together for worship service at 3 and then head back out to work.

The monastery also received guests.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 53. The Reception of Guests

1 All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matt 25:35). 2 Proper honor must be shown to all, especially to those who share our faith (Gal 6:10) and to pilgrims.*

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 53. The Reception of Guests

6 All humility should be shown in addressing a guest on arrival or departure. 7 By a bow of the head or by a complete prostration of the body, Christ is to be adored because he is indeed welcomed in them. 8 After the guests have been received, they should be invited to pray; then the superior or an appointed brother will sit with them. 9 The divine law is read to the guest for his instruction, and after that every kindness is shown to him.* 10 The superior may break his fast for the sake of a guest,

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 53. The Reception of Guests

6 All humility should be shown in addressing a guest on arrival or departure. 7 By a bow of the head or by a complete prostration of the body, Christ is to be adored because he is indeed welcomed in them. 8 After the guests have been received, they should be invited to pray; then the superior or an appointed brother will sit with them. 9 The divine law is read to the guest for his instruction, and after that every kindness is shown to him.*

Then the abbot, the head of the monastery

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 53. The Reception of Guests

12 The abbot shall pour water on the hands of the guests, 13 and the abbot with the entire community shall wash their feet. 14 After the washing they will recite this verse: God, we have received your mercy in the midst of your temple (Ps 47[48]:10).

15 Great care and concern are to be shown in receiving poor people and pilgrims, because in them more particularly Christ is received; our very awe of the rich guarantees them special respect.*

Hospitality was extremely important act of devotion to Christ.

After their work they would gather for

Vespers: Dusk

As the sun sets they have another worship service, again it is mostly prayer and Scripture reading, and chanting of the Psalms by candlelight.

If you think that all this reading and praying you would just not show up or sleep in or just check out mentally, well your not alone, and Benedict knew that this was a temptation. All throughout the rule there are many disciplinary reminders in place to encourage conformity to the rule.

So that if you were to come late to Vigils for example you would have to stand apart from all the other monks, and then you would have to do penance to make it up to them.

Think like a sports team, if everyone else is making the effort to get their on time to practice, you don’t want let the guy who shows up late to “get away with it” because then others will start to slack off too.

There are all sorts of measures for discipline in the community, from small infractions all the way to getting kicked out. But even if you are kicked out or excommunicated, you could always come back, up to three times you could still come back, after that he would not be allowed back in.

But not only were they discipline one another they were to discipline their mind so that it would not wander during the services.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 19. The Discipline of Psalmody

7 and let us stand to sing the psalms in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices.

So after Vespers they would read, or have a cup of ale and supper and listen to readings until

Compline: Around 7PM

This is the service at the end of the day and they would then remain silent until it was time to sleep.

Now this is maybe a typical day, but depending on the day of the week, the season of year, whether or not there is a guest at the monastery, things would change. But that was generally what they did.

You sleep in a large dormitory of about 10-20 monks.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 22. The Sleeping Arrangements of the Monks

5 They sleep clothed, and girded with belts or cords; but they should remove their knives, lest they accidentally cut themselves in their sleep. 6 Thus the monks will always be ready to arise without delay when the signal is given; each will hasten to arrive at the Work of God before the others, yet with all dignity and decorum.

None: 3:30 PM

Their life was ordered and conformed around God. They were constantly reminded that they were not their own, but that they belonged to God.

Their life was ordered and conformed around God. Every three hours about they gathered among many things this reminded them their life is not their own.

Their life was ordered and conformed around God. They were constantlyy reminded that they were not their own, but that they belonged to God.

Questions?

How can St. Benedict's Rule Help us Today?

There has been a lot of buzz recently because of a book that came out a couple of years ago called The Benedict Option.

What inspired Rod Dreher to write the Benedict Option, was something he had read in Philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre’s famous work called “After Virtue.” First published in 1981 it presented a pretty bleak picture of where our society was headed morally, with the onset of relativism and with the move away from reason and and faith he said we are now ruled by nothing more than what feels right to us. He called it emotivism.

Even if the morals were not too different, there would have been certain expectations of a moral ideal that people were held to, but with Rome no longer powerfully pushing its Roman morals, morality and civility disintegrated, and there was no over arching story dominating anymore.

But at the end of his book he likened the reality that we face today with the fall of Rome. Just as when Rome fell from power and there was a loss of an over arching story and a common morality to aspire to even if you did not live it, you knew what it was, what it should be. He says today, Western civilization is disintegrating like Rome, and ends his book by offering something of a solution

He says what we need at this stage in the game is

What matters at this stage is the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained through the new dark ages which are already upon us.

another—doubtless very different—St. Benedict.

of and there was no over arching story that held people together and called them to a higher morality.

What matters at this stage is the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained through the new dark ages which are already upon us.

And if the tradition of the virtues was able to survive the horrors of the last dark ages, we are not entirely without grounds for hope. This time however the barbarians are not waiting beyond the frontiers; they have already been governing us for quite some time.

And it is our lack of consciousness of this that constitutes part of our predicament. We are waiting not for a Godot, but for another—doubtless very different—St. Benedict.”

And today

This written 40 years ago, and other things inspired Rod Dreher to write The Benedict Option. Just like Benedict was turned away by the lewdness of Rome, he would say so Christians today should intentionally form counter-cultural communities so they can survive the dark ages that are upon us.

While The Benedict Option lacks much in the way of emphasizing Christian hope, and tends toward being somewhat alarmist, it has a lot of good points.

At the very least, Christians need to be prepared to be seen as increasingly different from the world around us.

S

So while Benedict was not motivated to preserve civilization, but to live a life consecrated to God,

What might this look like? How can the counter-culturalness of St. Benedict’s rule help us today?

One way is by creating a

Rule of Life

As John Hall told me, a rule of life is not for us to figure out how to squeeze God into our day, but how to squeeze our life into God’s day.

The days and nights did not belong to the benedictine monks. We often ask what will we do with my day, my time. Our society places the human at the center of each day. Google just gives you a blank calender and waits for you to fill it up.

The days and nights did not belong to the monks. Unlike us who have empty Google calender's that we must fill up, putting us at the center of each day, they began with the notion that each day belongs to the Lord, and the sought to fit their life into his day.

So what might it look like for us not to try and squeeze God in to our life, but to squeezes our life into God’s day?

As John Hall told me, a rule of life is not for us to figure out how to squeeze God into our day, but how to squeeze our life into God’s day.

Well this is what a Rule of life is for, and we can write personal rules of life.

And a rule of life is not something that only Catholic monks do. John Calvin, talked some about having a rule of life. On one occasion he wrote

Institutes of the Christian Religion 50. Prayer at Regular Times

But, although it has already been stated above93 that, lifting up our hearts, we should ever aspire to God and pray without ceasing, still, since our weakness is such that it has to be supported by many aids, and our sluggishness such that it needs to be goaded, it is fitting each one of us should set apart certain hours for this exercise. Those hours should not pass without prayer, and during them all the devotion of the heart should be completely engaged in it. These are: when we arise in the morning, before we begin daily work, when we sit down to a meal, when by God’s blessing we have eaten, when we are getting ready to retire.

We can write personal rules of life. Rather than just going with the flow of culture we might aspire to live counter-cultural lives.

So I have a document for you to look at in developing your own personal rule of life. Or maybe as we form Community Groups, you write a simplified one together. it would be helpful if you do decide to write one to not do it alone, but in relationship with one another.

It is important to have a rule of life or something like it, because in many ways it is just being intentional. If we are not intentional with time, it will be filled with something.

If we are not intentional with the day, weeks, and seasons, what happens is that we just go with the flow, but our societal flow is often not the direction we want to be going, it is dictated by the consumerist market, or political tribalism, or by the quazi religion, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.

The common religion in our culture, while it is not an offical religion, is Morali

A term coined by Sociologist Christian Smith when he described the general religion of Americans. No matter if you were protestant, catholic, Mormon, or Jew.

That is

The key is intentionality. If we are not intentional with the day, weeks, and seasons, what happens is that we just go with the flow, but our societal flow is dictated by the consumerist market, or political tribalism, or whatever it may be. And if Alisdair MacIntier is right about the trajectory then it may be more important than ever for us to be intentional about being counter cultural.

Moralistic: Don’t be a jerk

Therapeutic: God wants you to feel good about yourself

Deism: There is a God and he is not involved in the day to day affairs of life,

but he can help sometimes on really big matters.

That is America’s quazi religion. This is the kind of religion we would have if we went with the flow of our society.

But as GK Chesterton says about going with the flow and being a Christian counter culture.

A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it

A rule of life will help be intentional to move upstream from our culture, to orient our lives around God and his plan.

So what are some ways St. Benedict’s rule can be a guide for creating a rule of life today

Well it might change the way we think and engage our work

Culture of discipline

They gather back together for worship service at 3 and then head back out to work until

Hospitality

Counter-Cultural Work

These Monks worked hard, they were not the kind of people who were too heavenly minded for any earthly good. Their days were full of hard work as well as intentional rest.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 57. The Artisans of the Monastery

1 If there are artisans in the monastery, they are to practice their craft with all humility

Vespers: Around 6PM

He goes on to say

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 57. The Artisans of the Monastery

2 If one of them becomes puffed up by his skillfulness in his craft, and feels that he is conferring something on the monastery, 3 he is to be removed from practicing his craft and not allowed to resume it unless, after manifesting his humility, he is so ordered by the abbot.

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 57. The Artisans of the Monastery

7 The evil of avarice must have no part in establishing prices, 8 which should, therefore, always be a little lower than people outside the monastery are able to set, 9 so that in all things God may be glorified (1 Pet 4:11).

When we think about our work we should not think that we are doing something that is less than, or only concerned with physical things.

For Today

When we work we should remember that God cares about our work. And what we do with our hands, behind a keyboard, or around a conference table, should be done in service to God, not seeking our own glory, but God’s.

A friend of mine’s father in law was a farmer, and he tells this story of one day he was out one morning walking in the field, and he came upon his father in law kneeling on the ground with fruit in both hands outstretched to heaven, and saying: all of this is your, this fruit belongs to you, I belong to you, everything I have, I own belongs to you.

Every year before harvest, his father in law offered his first fruits to God just like that.

And while you may not have an agrarian job, your job probably might have seasons that you might mark off before you begin, the next semester, or sales pushes that you could give to God before you go.

Not only seasonally you may do something daily, before you begin your work day, before you look at your email, the first thing you do before you begin your day at the office, you could set apart your work day in devotion to God.

Also, in a counter-cultural move it could be good to be intentional about Sabbath rest:

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 48. The Daily Manual Labor

22 On Sunday all are to be engaged in reading except those who have been assigned various duties.

One day in seven is the pattern God set up for us to rest. Not idleness, but a refreshment in God. if you are thinking about writing a rule, remember that it would need to be personalized to you and your situation in life.

But a good way to think about resting might be one hour a day, one day a week and one week a year. And it would be important to think about rest as different from entertainment.

How will you do it? Maybe you come up with some general work rest rhythms within your community group so you are not alone in doing it, but together.

Saint Benedict Abbot of Monte Cassino, The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes, ed. Timothy Fry, electronic edition. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1981), 251–253.One day in seven is the pattern God set up,

And a rule of life is not something that only Catholic monks do. John Calvin, talked some about having a rule of life. On one occasion he wrote

Institutes of the Christian Religion 50. Prayer at Regular Times

But, although it has already been stated above93 that, lifting up our hearts, we should ever aspire to God and pray without ceasing, still, since our weakness is such that it has to be supported by many aids, and our sluggishness such that it needs to be goaded, it is fitting each one of us should set apart certain hours for this exercise. Those hours should not pass without prayer, and during them all the devotion of the heart should be completely engaged in it. These are: when we arise in the morning, before we begin daily work, when we sit down to a meal, when by God’s blessing we have eaten, when we are getting ready to retire.

We can write personal rules of life. Rather than just going with the flow of culture we might aspire to live counter-cultural lives.

Counter-Cultural Hospitality

When thinking about a rule of life, one thing you might do is think about how you will extend the hospitality of Jesus. The monasteries were places of hospitality

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 53. The Reception of Guests

1 All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matt 25:35).

So

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Chapter 53. The Reception of Guests

6 All humility should be shown in addressing a guest on arrival or departure. 7 By a bow of the head or by a complete prostration of the body, Christ is to be adored because he is indeed welcomed in them.

So

So by nature people are usually leery of strangers, but what would it look like to think about strangers as Jesus himself.

So in thinking about how would you, or your family or community group welcome new people in? It might not be that you wash their feet, but how might we serve those who are new or strangers?

Work

A Benedict inspired rule of life might also have us eating

Counter-Cultural Meals

There were a lot of rules around meal time for the monks. And while Benedict does not go into a theology of eating, there is a lived theology in his rule.

There is so much more to eating than simply fueling our body. Wendell Berry said it this way:

To eat is still something more than to maintain bodily function. People may not understand what that “something more” is, but they nonetheless desire to celebrate it. They are still hungry and thirsty for sacramental life.

God made us to eat, he could have made us not simply to eat and just go, but he chose to make food a necessary part of our existence. Eating requires other people. Someone had to plant and grow, someone had to prepare the dish, when we eat we enter into a relationship with someone else. At the low end of relationship it might be a monetized or contractual relationship, I pay you, you give me food. At the high end of relationship it is a meal made in love for one another and received as a gift and enjoined with one another.

Eating is communion, but eating also requires sacrifice. For us to eat, for our life to be nourished something had to die. An animal, or plant had to die in order for us to eat and life. Life requires some kind of death.

So to eat with one another is to receive communion

Eating together is a sacramental act. For us to eat, for our life to be nourished something had to die. An animal, or plant, eating requires sacrifice.

Eating is communion, it requires sacrifice.

This is one reason Wendell Berry calls it sacramental life. God made us for communion with himself, and this intimate communion comes to us through sacrifice, the sacrifice of Jesus, the bread of life.

Ashley Widner made our meals for Alpha, she made delicious meals week after week. Her gift of food, was sacramental, it was a grace from God. I was talking just yesterday morning with two people who were at Alpha, and the first thing they mentioned about Alpha was the meals.

As Christians we should expect to be different when it comes to our meals.

We

We may need some rule like St. Benedict, at its very simplest we may say grace before we eat. And remember the provision of God.

It will probably mean we make time to cook and eat together, as a family, in community group, with friends, or in neighborly hospitality.

It might look like lighting candles for every dinner even when its left overs and everyone is in pajama’s and the kids are crying for who knows what reason. Because even then you remember the grace and provision of God.

God made us creatures that de

It may look like God made us creatures that de

Or it might look like the yearly rule the Zelasko’s have they call the Zelasko feast. Where they make all their favorite foods, and celebrate together.

Food is more than just fuel, it is communion and sacrifice, and a participation in the sacramental life.

And lastly a Benedict inspired rule might look

Counter-Cultural with Technology

So I am not sure where or how I might link the digital revolution and smart devices to the Rule of St. Benedict, but I cannot help but think if St. Benedict were here today he would probably have some rules around the easy everywhere technology we see today.

Counter-Culture of humility

Maybe his rule on silence might be where we find the closest parallel. But if you do end up developing a rule of life, how you regulate technology needs to be there.

Culture of discipline

The new digital technology is a gift for sure, but there are drawbacks to it as well, and I would highly recommend everyone, especially every parent read Tech Wise Family by Andy Crouch. It is basically a rule of life, with a special emphasis on keeping technology in its proper place.

So one rule “rule” is

We want to create more than they consume. So we fill the center of our home with things that reward skill and active engagement.

So devices and entertainment stay out of the way, and the focus of the room acts as a nudge in a direction toward relationship, and participation.

Or another rule is that

Car time is conversation time

Some of the best conversations you will have with a teenager is in the car. Both of you looking forward and trapped.

Or another rule is

We learn to sing together, rather than letting recorded and amplified music take over our lives and worship

The monks sang the offices of the day, singing is the most commanded thing in the bible.

As the sun sets they have another worship service, again it is mostly prayer and Scripture reading.

Those are just a couple of the rules in this little book, and the thing that I love about this book is that he is not just saying no. He is saying yes to other things, things that make life more full and more meaningful.

Which is what a rule of life is meant to do. To live more full lives, lives that are more pleasing to God.

St. Benedict’s rule changed the world, it is simple and small, but worked like leaven, over time the kinds of communities it created helped create the world as we know it today.

After this they would read until

Compline: Around 9PM

They would then remain silent until it was time to sleep.

Now this is maybe a typical day, but depending on the day of the week, the season of year, whether or not there is a guest at the monastery, things would change. But that was generally what they did.

First it was purposeful

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Prologue

45 Therefore we intend to establish a school for the Lord’s service.* 46 In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. 47 The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and to safeguard love.

He saw a need for a rule of life because fallen nature is disordered, distracted, and self-centered. Because bad habits are often the rule of life, and there is a need to establish godly habits that form Christ-like character.

So he created this rule to safeguard love.

Their life was ordered and conformed around God. Every three hours about they gathered among many things this reminded them their life is not their own.

While we may not be monks, it does not mean we cannot learn from them on how to order our life around God.

As John Hall told me, a rule of life is not for us to figure out how to squeeze God into our day, but how to squeeze our life into God’s day.

Institutes of the Christian Religion 50. Prayer at Regular Times

But, although it has already been stated above93 that, lifting up our hearts, we should ever aspire to God and pray without ceasing, still, since our weakness is such that it has to be supported by many aids, and our sluggishness such that it needs to be goaded, it is fitting each one of us should set apart certain hours for this exercise. Those hours should not pass without prayer, and during them all the devotion of the heart should be completely engaged in it. These are: when we arise in the morning, before we begin daily work, when we sit down to a meal, when by God’s blessing we have eaten, when we are getting ready to retire.

We can write personal rules of life. Rather than just going with the flow of culture we might aspire to live counter-cultural lives.

Prayer

The Rule of St. Benedict in English with Notes Prologue

45 Therefore we intend to establish a school for the Lord’s service.* 46 In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. 47 The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and to safeguard love.

One of the first things that made his rule significant was that it was short and simple. It was easy for the monks to use.

Overview of the Rule

So why is his rule significant? Well if you have read the Rule, you will notice that in many ways it is not really that earth shattering. Much of it is simply ordinary rules. Rules you might expect for a monastery.

How his rule can help us today

Develop our own rule of life

Hospitality

Food

Work

Simplicity

Community

Technology