Holy Rule Of Saint Benedict E-Book

Benedict Of Nursia

• Herausgeber: FV Éditions
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

The Rule of St. Benedict is a timeless document. Written in the 6th century, The Holy Rule is a book of precepts where St. Benedict highlights the importance of peace, prayer, work, humility and obedience. It was originally intended for use in monasteries. Although, many of the issues addressed in the book can be applied to life in the world outside the monastic community and constitute a basic guide for living the Christian life. 

Leseprobe

Holy Rule Of Saint Benedict

Benedict of Nursia

Translated byBoniface Verheyen

Contents

Prologue

1. Of the Kinds or the Life of Monks

2. What Kind of Man the Abbot Ought to Be

3. Of Calling the Brethren for Counsel

4. The Instruments of Good Works

5. Of Obedience

6. Of Silence

7. Of Humility

8. Of the Divine Office during the Night

9. How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office

10. How the Office Is to Be Said during the Summer Season

11. How the Night Office Is to Be Said on Sundays

12. How Lauds Are to Be Said

13. How Lauds Are to Be Said on Week Days

14. How the Night Office Is to Be Said on the Feasts of the Saints

15. At What Times the Alleluia Is to Be Said

16. How the Work of God Is to Be Performed during the Day

17. How Many Psalms Are to Be Sung at These Hours

18. In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said

19. Of the Manner of Reciting the Psalter

20. Of Reverence at Prayer

21. Of the Deans of the Monastery

22. How the Monks Are to Sleep

23. Of Excommunication for Faults

24. What the Manner of Excommunication Should Be

25. Of Graver Faults

26. Of Those Who without the Command of the Abbot Associate with the Excommunicated

27. How Concerned the Abbot Should Be about the Excommunicated

28. Of Those Who Having Often Been Corrected Do Not Amend

29. Whether Brethren Who Leave the Monastery Ought to Be Received Again

30. How Young Boys Are to Be Corrected

31. The Kind of Man the Cellarer of the Monastery Ought to Be

32. Of the Tools and Goods of the Monastery

33. Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own

34. Whether All Should Receive in Equal Measure What Is Necessary

35. Of the Weekly Servers in the Kitchen

36. Of the Sick Brethren

37. Of the Aged and Children

38. Of the Weekly Reader

39. Of the Quantity of Food

40. Of the Quantity of Drink

41. At What Times the Brethren Should Take Their Refection

42. That No One Speak after Complin

43. Of Those Who Are Tardy in Coming to the Work of God or to Table

44. Of Those Who Are Excommunicated—How They Make Satisfaction

45. Of Those Who Commit a Fault in the Oratory

46. Of Those Who Fail in Any Other Matters

47. Of Giving the Signal for the Time of the Work of God

48. Of the Daily Work

49. On the Keeping of Lent

50. Of Brethren Who Work a Long Distance from the Oratory or Are on a Journey

51. Of the Brethren Who Do Not Go Very Far Away

52. Of the Oratory of the Monastery

53. Of the Reception of Guests

54. Whether a Monk Should Receive Letters or Anything Else

55. Of the Clothing and the Footgear of the Brethren

56. Of the Abbot's Table

57. Of the Artists of the Monastery

58. Of the Manner of Admitting Brethren

59. Of the Children of the Noble and of the Poor Who Are Offered

60. Of Priests Who May Wish to Live in the Monastery

61. How Stranger Monks Are to Be Received

62. Of the Priests of the Monastery

63. Of the Order in the Monastery

64. Of the Election of the Abbot

65. Of the Prior of the Monastery

66. Of the Porter of the Monastery

67. Of the Brethren Who Are Sent on a Journey

68. If a Brother Is Commanded to Do Impossible Things

69. That in the Monastery No One Presume to Defend Another

70. That No One Presume to Strike Another

71. That the Brethren Be Obedient to One Another

72. Of the Virtuous Zeal Which the Monks Ought to Have

73. Of This, that Not the Whole Observance of Righteousness Is Laid Down in this Rule

Prologue

Listen, O my son, to the precepts of thy master, and incline the ear of thy heart, and cheerfully receive and faithfully execute the admonitions of thy loving Father, that by the toil of obedience thou mayest return to Him from whom by the sloth of disobedience thou hast gone away.

To thee, therefore, my speech is now directed, who, giving up thine own will, takest up the strong and most excellent arms of obedience, to do battle for Christ the Lord, the true King.

In the first place, beg of Him by most earnest prayer, that He perfect whatever good thou dost begin, in order that He who hath been pleased to count us in the number of His children, need never be grieved at our evil deeds. For we ought at all times so to serve Him with the good things which He hath given us, that He may not, like an angry father, disinherit his children, nor, like a dread lord, enraged at our evil deeds, hand us over to everlasting punishment as most wicked servants, who would not follow Him to glory.

Let us then rise at length, since the Scripture arouseth us, saying: "It is now the hour for us to rise from sleep" (Rom 13:11); and having opened our eyes to the deifying light, let us hear with awestruck ears what the divine voice, crying out daily, doth admonish us, saying: "Today, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Ps 94[95]:8). And again: "He that hath ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches" (Rev 2:7). And what doth He say?--"Come, children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord" (Ps 33[34]:12). "Run whilst you have the light of life, that the darkness of death overtake you not" (Jn 12:35).

And the Lord seeking His workman in the multitude of the people, to whom He proclaimeth these words, saith again: "Who is the man that desireth life and loveth to see good days" (Ps 33[34]:13)? If hearing this thou answerest, "I am he," God saith to thee: "If thou wilt have true and everlasting life, keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile; turn away from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it" (Ps 33[34]:14-15). And when you shall have done these things, my eyes shall be upon you, and my ears unto your prayers. And before you shall call upon me I will say: "Behold, I am here" (Is 58:9).

What, dearest brethren, can be sweeter to us than this voice of the Lord inviting us? See, in His loving kindness, the Lord showeth us the way of life. Therefore, having our loins girt with faith and the performance of good works, let us walk His ways under the guidance of the Gospel, that we may be found worthy of seeing Him who hath called us to His kingdom (cf 1 Thes 2:12).

If we desire to dwell in the tabernacle of His kingdom, we cannot reach it in any way, unless we run thither by good works. But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet, saying to Him: "Lord, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle, or who shall rest in Thy holy hill" (Ps 14[15]:1)?

After this question, brethren, let us listen to the Lord answering and showing us the way to this tabernacle, saying: "He that walketh without blemish and worketh justice; he that speaketh truth in his heart; who hath not used deceit in his tongue, nor hath done evil to his neighbor, nor hath taken up a reproach against his neighbor" (Ps 14[15]:2-3), who hath brought to naught the foul demon tempting him, casting him out of his heart with his temptation, and hath taken his evil thoughts whilst they were yet weak and hath dashed them against Christ (cf Ps 14[15]:4; Ps 136[137]:9); who fearing the Lord are not puffed up by their goodness of life, but holding that the actual good which is in them cannot be done by themselves, but by the Lord, they praise the Lord working in them (cf Ps 14[15]:4), saying with the Prophet: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us; by to Thy name give glory" (Ps 113[115:1]:9). Thus also the Apostle Paul hath not taken to himself any credit for his preaching, saying: "By the grace of God, I am what I am" (1 Cor 15:10). And again he saith: "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (2 Cor 10:17).

Hence, the Lord also saith in the Gospel: "He that heareth these my words and doeth them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house upon a rock; the floods came, the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock" (Mt 7:24-25). The Lord fulfilling these words waiteth for us from day to day, that we respond to His holy admonitions by our works. Therefore, our days are lengthened to a truce for the amendment of the misdeeds of our present life; as the Apostle saith: "Knowest thou not that the patience of God leadeth thee to penance" (Rom 2:4)? For the good Lord saith: "I will not the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live" (Ezek 33:11).

Now, brethren, that we have asked the Lord who it is that shall dwell in His tabernacle, we have heard the conditions for dwelling there; and if we fulfil the duties of tenants, we shall be heirs of the kingdom of heaven. Our hearts and our bodies must, therefore, be ready to do battle under the biddings of holy obedience; and let us ask the Lord that He supply by the help of His grace what is impossible to us by nature. And if, flying from the pains of hell, we desire to reach life everlasting, then, while there is yet time, and we are still in the flesh, and are able during the present life to fulfil all these things, we must make haste to do now what will profit us forever.

We are, therefore, about to found a school of the Lord's service, in which we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome. But even if, to correct vices or to preserve charity, sound reason dictateth anything that turneth out somewhat stringent, do not at once fly in dismay from the way of salvation, the beginning of which cannot but be narrow. But as we advance in the religious life and faith, we shall run the way of God's commandments with expanded hearts and unspeakable sweetness of love; so that never departing from His guidance and persevering in the monastery in His doctrine till death, we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ, and be found worthy to be coheirs with Him of His kingdom.

1

Of the Kinds or the Life of Monks

It is well known that there are four kinds of monks. The first kind is that of Cenobites, that is, the monastic, who live under a rule and an Abbot.

The second kind is that of Anchorites, or Hermits, that is, of those who, no longer in the first fervor of their conversion, but taught by long monastic practice and the help of many brethren, have already learned to fight against the devil; and going forth from the rank of their brethren well trained for single combat in the desert, they are able, with the help of God, to cope single-handed without the help of others, against the vices of the flesh and evil thoughts.

But a third and most vile class of monks is that of Sarabaites, who have been tried by no rule under the hand of a master, as gold is tried in the fire (cf Prov 27:21); but, soft as lead, and still keeping faith with the world by their works, they are known to belie God by their tonsure. Living in two's and three's, or even singly, without a shepherd, enclosed, not in the Lord's sheepfold, but in their own, the gratification of their desires is law unto them; because what they choose to do they call holy, but what they dislike they hold to be unlawful.

But the fourth class of monks is that called Landlopers, who keep going their whole life long from one province to another, staying three or four days at a time in different cells as guests. Always roving and never settled, they indulge their passions and the cravings of their appetite, and are in every way worse than the Sarabaites. It is better to pass all these over in silence than to speak of their most wretched life.

Therefore, passing these over, let us go on with the help of God to lay down a rule for that most valiant kind of monks, the Cenobites.

2

What Kind of Man the Abbot Ought to Be

The Abbot who is worthy to be over a monastery, ought always to be mindful of what he is called, and make his works square with his name of Superior. For he is believed to hold the place of Christ in the monastery, when he is called by his name, according to the saying of the Apostle: "You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry Abba (Father)" (Rom 8:15). Therefore, the Abbot should never teach, prescribe, or command (which God forbid) anything contrary to the laws of the Lord; but his commands and teaching should be instilled like a leaven of divine justice into the minds of his disciples.

Let the Abbot always bear in mind that he must give an account in the dread judgment of God of both his own teaching and of the obedience of his disciples. And let the Abbot know that whatever lack of profit the master of the house shall find in the sheep, will be laid to the blame of the shepherd. On the other hand he will be blameless, if he gave all a shepherd's care to his restless and unruly flock, and took all pains to correct their corrupt manners; so that their shepherd, acquitted at the Lord's judgment seat, may say to the Lord with the Prophet: "I have not hid Thy justice within my heart. I have declared Thy truth and Thy salvation" (Ps 39[40]:11). "But they contemning have despised me" (Is 1:2; Ezek 20:27). Then at length eternal death will be the crushing doom of the rebellious sheep under his charge.

When, therefore, anyone taketh the name of Abbot he should govern his disciples by a twofold teaching; namely, he should show them all that is good and holy by his deeds more than by his words; explain the commandments of God to intelligent disciples by words, but show the divine precepts to the dull and simple by his works. And let him show by his actions, that whatever he teacheth his disciples as being contrary to the law of God must not be done, "lest perhaps when he hath preached to others, he himself should become a castaway" (1 Cor 9:27), and he himself committing sin, God one day say to him: "Why dost thou declare My justices, and take My covenant in thy mouth? But thou hast hated discipline, and hast cast My words behind thee" (Ps 49[50]:16-17). And: "Thou who sawest the mote in thy brother's eye, hast not seen the beam in thine own" (Mt 7:3).