Community And Abbot In The Rule Of St Benedict

Fifteen centuries after it was written, the Rule of St. Benedict still provides a deep and practical spirituality that helps lay people cope with everyday problems and challenges.

Provides a textual analysis of the eighteen chapters of of the The Rule of Saint Benedict dealing with the authority of the abbot.

From the time it was first promulgated in the sixth century, The Rule of St. Benedict has been one of the most influential, enduring documents of Western civilization. Composed for the guidance of his own monks at Monte Cassino, St. Benedict's Rule has become the basis for the rules of practically every Christian monastic community in the West. In it are the guidelines for living the spiritual life -- through work, prayer, study, obedience, community, and moderate asceticism. This acclaimed edition of The Rule of St. Benedict is a highly accessible modern translation that conveys the spirit and logic of the original text. It contains an invaluable in-depth Introduction that explores the development and spread of Christian monasticism; a biographical sketch of St. Benedict; a discussion of the structure and implementation of his Rule; its value and impact on religious orders from the Middle Ages down through history; its tremendous influence on Western culture and civilization; and, finally, various texts of the Rule.

The abbot, the community, and obedience in the Rule of Saint Benedict as compared to its source, The Rule of the Master, to see Saint Benedict's originality.

For fifteen centuries Benedictine monasticism has been governed by a Rule that is at once strong enough to instill order and yet flexible enough to have relevance fifteen-hundred years later. This pocket-sized, English-only edition is perfect for individual or group study.

Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-543), born into a wealthy family, renounced his life of privilege to live an eremitic life of extreme asceticism. He founded and was the first abbot of the monastic community of Monte Cassino, where he wrote the Rule, acknowledged as a masterpiece. Modestly referring to the work that would chart the course of Western monasticism as "a little rule for beginners," in a prologue and seventy-three brief, intensely focused, and sympathetically written chapters, Benedict prescribed for his monks a monastic life in community that is essentially the Christian life of the gospel based upon mutual support, obedience, hospitality, tolerance, and moderation. Book jacket.

The Rule of Saint Benedict (Latin: Regula Benedicti) is a book of precepts written by Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480-550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of the Benedictine Confederation: pax ("peace") and the traditional ora et labora ("pray and work"). Compared to other precepts, the Rule provides a moderate path between individual zeal and formulaic institutionalism; because of this middle ground it has been widely popular. Benedict's concerns were the needs of monks in a community environment: namely, to establish due order, to foster an understanding of the relational nature of human beings, and to provide a spiritual father to support and strengthen the individual's ascetic effort and the spiritual growth that is required for the fulfillment of the human vocation, theosis. The Rule of Saint Benedict has been used by Benedictines for 15 centuries, and thus St. Benedict is sometimes regarded as the founder of Western monasticism due to reform that his rules had on the current Catholic hierarchy. There is, however, no evidence to suggest that Benedict intended to found a religious order in the modern sense and it was not until the later Middle Ages that mention was made of an "Order of Saint Benedict". His Rule was written as a guide for individual, autonomous communities, and all Benedictine Houses (and the Congregations in which they have grouped themselves) still remain self-governing. Advantages seen in retaining this unique Benedictine emphasis on autonomy include cultivating models of tightly bonded communities and contemplative lifestyles. Perceived disadvantages comprise geographical isolation from important activities in adjacent communities. Other perceived losses include inefficiency and lack of mobility in the service of others, and insufficient appeal to potential members. These different emphases emerged within the framework of the Rule in the course of history and are to some extent present within the Benedictine Confederation and the Cistercian Orders of the Common and the Strict Observance.