ABOUT
BEING BENEDICTINE
"Are you hastening toward your heavenly home? Then
with Christ's help, keep this little rule that we have written for
beginners." --St.
Benedict
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When the Order of the Holy Cross adopted the Rule of St. Benedict in 1984, it was following the example of several other Anglican communities. But why Benedict? What does it means to say that a community is Benedictine? Part of the answer lies in the life of St. Benedict himself. When Benedict
was born in the late 5th century Christian monasticism was already several
centuries old. Some monks lived as individuals, some in loosely organized
communities, and some in more intentionally organized communities under the
direction of a Prior or Abbot. The latter were called "coenobites"
because they lived in a coenobium or community. St. Benedict called
the coenobites "the strong kind" of monk and wrote a
"Rule" or guide for their way of life. That guide is now usually referred to as The Rule of St. Benedict, but Benedict thought of himself more as the transmitter of an inherited wisdom than as the author of anything new. Nevertheless, his own contributions were so wise and full of common sense that his Rule was adopted by almost all the monasteries of Europe. St. Benedict envisaged a balanced life of work, study, and prayer centered around the daily celebration of The Divine Office. It is a balance we seek to share. |
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Since almost all Anglican Communities
emphasized the recitation of the Divine Office in common right from the
beginning, it was natural that as they matured they would find St. Benedict's
vision attractive. Like Holy Cross, in some cases they have recognized this by
formally adopting the Rule of St. Benedict. In each case this has involved
picking up a strand out of the founding vision and giving it a new setting and
a new emphasis, so that, like the householder in the Gospels, we are able to
bring out of our "treasure what is new and what is old" (Mt. 13:52).
Both, we pray, are signs of God's continuing blessing.
SOME BENEDICTINE LINKS
Order of St. Benedict Home Page .
The Order of St. Benedict,
Anglican Benedictines
Alton Abbey Home Page
St. Gregory's Abbey, Three
Rivers, MI
The Abbey of
Montecassino
Ecumenical Links
OHC Links