Benedictine Rule

Monasticism did not spread as rapidly on the continent as in the British Isles, perhaps because monastic practice still had not developed a character that struck a responsive chord in the people of the West or a form that met the needs of their society. This development was reserved for Benedict of Nursia (480- 543), who founded the great monastery of Monte Cassino, where he wrote his Holy Rule

Benedict had studied law before adopting a monastic life, and he defined his monastery as a corporation. More to the point, however, he emphasized obedience and discipline, regular and congregate meals, a moderate life divided equally between work, sleep and prayer, standard dress to be drawn from a common store, a series of special offices to regulate the communal life and a number of other, similar, things. His monastery was to be much like an army unit, and he freely used military terminology in writing his Rule. He referred to his monastic community as a schola, a word from which we derived "school," but which originally referred to an elite army unit. The features of regularity, moderation and, above all, discipline particularly appealed to the people of the West, and the military ideal was one that attracted them. Benedict's form of monastery slowly began to spread and eventually became the standard form for almost all western monasteries. Moreover, the Benedictine monks became known, not as "athletes of Christ" as were their eastern counterparts, but militi Christi, "soldiers of Christ," and military imagery became a permanent aspect of western Christianity.

But the Benedictine Rule had an even greater importance for western attitudes and values. It stated that the abbot was in complete control of the monastery, but that he had to consult with the entire body of monks on all important matters, take responsibility for his decisions, and observe the regulations set forth in the Rule. In addition, it required the congregation to read and discuss the Rule, chapter by chapter, each day, beginning over again once they had completed it. This may not seem very important, but consider that the abbot's powers were limited and that the principle of limited sovereignty was a new concept in the West. Moreover, the abbot's authority was limited by the Rule, which everyone was to know and which governed all of the monastery's affairs. The Rule was, therefore, a written constitution, something that the founders of the United States felt was a great step forward for individual liberty and which the subjects of Great Britain even now do not possess.

Then, too, all of the monks were equal in status. Although their offices might give some a certain authority over the others, this was a result of the office and did not belong to the man himself. There were neither nobles nor commoners in a Benedictine monastery. When they passed through the door of the monastery and were "born again" into the monastic life, they were born equal. This was a revolutionary idea for secular society when, in 1776, when it was written into the American Declaration of Independence.

Finally, all members of a community living under the Benedictine Rule were expected to work. In almost all previous societies, people tried to gain a position of wealth and power that would allow them to avoid labor. Benedict stated that work joyously performed was itself a praise of God. People sometimes speak of "the Protestant Work Ethic." Although it is true that the value placed upon labor as somehow ennobling is almost unique to western society, the idea was developed and practiced long before the Protestant Reformation.

In any event, the Benedictine form of monasticism proved congenial to the inhabitants of western Europe, and the monk came to symbolize for many the ideal form of Christian life.