Sabbatical - On St. Benedict

Ah St. Benedict and his "little rule for beginners"!

So why are we talking about an Italian monastic who never set foot in England or the United States when we're discussing our particular faith context?

Because Benedict had a great impact on how the larger church began to think about organizing itself and worshiping.   And that mindset was drawn on very strongly when the center of the Anglican thread of Christianity was being compiled, the Book of Common Prayer (BCP).  His influence is felt even before that.

The Benedictine Rule is brought to England in the largest sense during the reign of  King Edgar the Peaceable in the mid to late 900's.  Edgar was faced with monasteries and convents that were completely out of control (Yes, Monks and Nuns Gone Wild!) and chose the Benedictine Rule to bring some order.  This disorderliness at monasteries was apparently quite a problem in many places.  Benedict spends some time in the first chapter talking about "The Kinds of Monks".  There are 4 according to him.  One group he refers to as "detestable" and another he says is even worse than that!

Beyond the very clear order that Benedict brings he also matched some of the better attributes of our ancestors.  English spirituality has always been about caring for the individual.  Thus a certain strain of personal liberty in spirituality has also been there.  It begins with an assumption that the spiritual life is designed to move people into a better way of life through an ongoing process.  Our spirituality has always been good at taking the best ideas and weaving them together. 

In many ways Benedict fits right in.  He allows people to find what works for them in their personal faith practice.  He felt that private prayer should be "...short and pure unless prolonged by divine inspiration". (Chap 20).  In the words of Edward Cuthbert Butler, the Benedictine abbot of Downside Abbey -

The primary principle to personal piety is that suits your spirit and brings you closer to God.

 Benedict and English spirituality look at the life of faith as a "three fold rule" meaning that the basic outline of how we live our faith has three aspects - communal Eucharist, the Daily Office and personal prayer.  That basic outline forms the backbone of the BCP.  And the Book of Common Prayer is the central identity of our tradition.  That three fold rule may strike us as obvious and universal but it isn't.

Benedict's Rule calls for a community  that in many ways functions as a family.  The community is held together by mutual affection and care rather than authoritarian writ. This would have been very familiar and comfortable for our ancestors.  In his day and in ours life was fragmented and stress filled.  There had been great social upheaval (the fall of Rome just 70 years prior to his birth was still very much being felt) and theological division (the subject of that day was Grace).  Amidst all that Benedict tries to help his people find a way to stay focused on the holy and bring all aspects of their lives together into a single weaving. Holy and routine, spiritual and material, prayer and life - all together. 

As for the rule itself there are (as I mentioned before) many sections that don't affect us directly in our modern context.  At the same time the book is very short and worth reading in its entirety.  Certainly the Prologue and the chapters on The Tools for Good Works, Obedience, Restraint of Speech, Humility, Reverence in Prayer, the Proper Amount of Food, the Proper Amount of Drink, the Daily Manual Labor, Community Rank, Assignment of Impossible Tasks to a Brother, Mutual Obedience and (this really is the name of the last chapter) This Rule is Only the Beginning of Perfection.

Admit it, some of those titles intrigue you.  Each of them has something to teach us in our time and place.  You will discover things that may trouble you.  Remember that Benedict wrote this for a specific time and place.  I certainly do not offer up his thoughts on disciplining children for modern use.

But as a guide for finding a rule of faith in the 21st Century, the old boy still has plenty to say.