St. Benedict for the Laity

Rating:
Summary: A rule for everyone...
Review: Eric Dean, a professor, Presbyterian minister, and ecumenical oblate of Benedict for several decades, has put together an interesting and useful guide for following the Rule of St. Benedict, a guide for persons not formally trained in spiritual disciplines or theology, but rather those who seek personal fulfillment and structure to their spiritual quest. The Rule of Benedict is best served in connection with a community, but there are parts that are useful for instruction and inspiration in private practice, too.

Benedict's Rule for life includes worship, work, study, prayer, and relaxation. Benedict's Rule requires community -- even for those who become hermits or solitaries, there is a link to the community through worship and through the Rule. No one is alone. This is an important part of the relationship of God to the world, so it is an integral part of the Rule.

Benedict's Rule was set out first in a world that was torn with warfare, economic and political upheaval, and a generally harsh physical environment. This Rule was set out to bring order to a general chaos in which people lived. This is still true today, and men and women all over the world use Benedict's 'little rule for beginners' as a basic structure for their lives.

The first word of the rule is Listen. This is perhaps the best advice for anyone looking for any guidance or rule of life. While Benedict's Rule is decidedly Christocentric and hierarchical (though not as hierarchical as much popular ideas about monastic practice would have one think), it nonetheless can give value to any reader who is looking to construct a practice for oneself.

Benedict's establishment of a monastery was in fact the establishment of a school for spirituality. In his prologue to the Rule, Benedict even states this as his intention. In drawing up its regulations, he intends to set down 'nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.' He sets forth in this brief rule a guide to individual life within community that will bring one ever closer to the divine.

Benedict explores the issues of charity, personality, integrity, and spirituality in all of his rules. From the clothing to the prayer cycle to the reception of guests, all have a purpose that fits into a larger whole, and all have positive charges and negative warnings. Benedict is especially mindful of the sin of pride, be it pride of possession, pride of person, pride of place -- he strives for equality in the community (as a recognition that all are equal before God).

Dean's book is not a handbook on Benedictine spirituality per se, but rather an introduction to those parts of the Benedictine practice that can be useful and adapted to life outside the monastery. Dean is himself an oblate member of a Benedictine order - oblates are those who live outside the monastic community, but have ties to the community materially and spiritually, and adapt the Rule of Benedict to fit a secular life, with due reverence and concern for God.

Dean recounts personal experiences in his own growth toward oblature, as well as lessons learned from key aspects of the Rule. The Rule is restructured according to different, more modern topics. While it is not absolutely required, it is helpful to have a copy of the actual Rule of Benedict (available in any number of translations) to accompany this text.

This is a book of only 100 pages, but it can take a long time to read if one does so properly - Dean's book should be read slowly and intently, letting the spirit form: this is reading for formation, not information.