Solemnity of the Transitus of our holy father St. Benedict

By Abbot James Albers, O.S.B.

What does the Rule of our holy father St. Benedict, written 1,500 years ago, have to say to us today? Even the most mundane directive – making sure you remove your knife before going to bed – has value in reflection; what is the knife in my heart that cuts most at Christian Charity? What is burning in my heart that needs to be set aside – anger, lust, greed, envy? 

A hint to the Rule of St. Benedict, is that it is bookended. The Prologue, the first seven chapters, and then the final three chapters lay out St. Benedict’s philosophy and vision for a monastic community. The 63 chapters in between is how to live well St. Benedict’s vision: we must understand why we live a certain way (the philosophy), and then we must understand how we live this way (the practical) – both hinge on each other. In the monastery, in your residence halls, your classrooms, your work environment, your families – what is the desired culture, and what practical guidelines will support that desired culture? – this is your Rule. We need guideposts, obvious paths, and rules that show us how to live the culture we desire.

In Chapter 4 of the Rule, St. Benedict lays out The Tools for Good Works. In the early verses of that chapter, St. Benedict writes, “Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ, discipline your body, do not pamper yourself, but love fasting… Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; the love of Christ must come before all else.” From the outset, St. Benedict offers that in our union with Christ and with each other, our way of living must look different than what is proposed by our culture – do not pamper yourself, discipline your body, and love fasting. If we want to form a culture in the monastery, in your residence halls, your classrooms, your work environment, and your family, it begins with unity in Christ. By this, I don’t mean a vision of unity that allows us to feel good, trumpeting accomplishments, patting ourselves on the back – that is unity in perception – we desire unity in Christ. Look simply to the home: parents set the example of culture in the home. What they say and do, what they expect, generally, their children will emulate. Culture is formed – for good or for bad – wherever people come together and speak and act in a consistent manner. This is St. Benedict’s vision – coming together in a community in union with Christ. We will have an impact on society by living well our Rule that it becomes desirous for others – it is nothing short of the gospel commission.

Lest we believe this relies solely on us, it would be good for us to remember that our faith as well as our lives in action are to be incarnational – this is where those mundane 63 chapters of the Rule come to life – the person of Christ present and lived in the practical. We are of earthly matter, dust from dust, created with an immortal soul – soul and body form our unique human nature. So it is with a culture based in our world of matter – it can be infused with the divine, or it is not – the difference is palpable. A Catholic culture, and may I say, our Catholic, Benedictine culture, is no less than the incarnation of these ideals lived in Christ in concrete circumstances within our social reality. From the high to the low – from our worship to our leisure, from the most solemn to the most mundane – this must be the case for our way of life to be transformational. Our leisure, our interests, our relationships, our apostolate, and our common life must be permeated by this presence of Christ no less than our worship.

What culture are we working to transform? What ideals do we want to share, and what practices do we want to instill? It begins here, the heart, in each of our hearts, flowing then into relationships with my brothers and sisters, and from there the impact will be seen. From the final two verses of the Rule of St. Benedict: “Then with Christ’s help, keep this little rule that we have written for beginners. After that, you can set out for the loftier summits of the teaching and virtues we mentioned above, and under God’s protection, you will reach them. Amen.”