Emmaus Community of
St Benedict, Edinburgh
St Benedict & The Rule
In this section
Benedict’s absolute confidence is that following his Rule is a path which – through the challenges that enable us to grow – will lead to deeper Christian love and to the fullness of joy and life in the Risen Christ.
Listening with the Ear of the Heart
The first word of the Rule of St Benedict is “Listen”. “Listen, my child, to the words of a father who loves you and incline the ear of your heart.” It is this invitation to listen deeply to God in every circumstance and in all things that makes Benedict’s Rule, written over 1500 years ago, so timelessly relevant.
Benedict was born around the year 480 AD, just a few years after the fall of Rome, an event which could be described as the 9/11 of ancient Europe. Life was uncertain, chaotic and dangerous, and all the old certainties were gone. In this time of darkness and insecurity Benedict’s communities stood out as beacons of light.
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Tools of the Spiritual Life
Today, as we face the challenges of our own time, Benedict’s wisdom for living together, and for seeking God through the life we share with others, speaks to us with a directness and relevance which can be of real help to us in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.
For anyone open to this way of discipleship, Benedict offers a school of holiness, a “workshop” in which we can learn to use the “tools of the spiritual life.” That first word, “Listen", permeates every aspect of Benedict’s Rule and of the life shared by the Community.
So the abbot listens deeply to God, so that he can care for his brothers with the attentiveness of a father, respecting their individuality, challenging where necessary, ensuring that “the strong have something to strive for, but the weak nothing to intimidate them.”
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Stability
Benedict’s Rule is not “one size fits all” and Benedict shows the greatest care in ensuring that people receive what they need when they need it, with real attention to each person’s needs, gifts and abilities. The living of this life fruitfully, striving towards that new life in Christ, that flourishing in which Benedict trusts absolutely, is made possible by the three vows made by Benedictine monks and nuns to this day: Stability, Obedience, Conversion of Life.
Stability means digging deep right where we are, trusting that God is to be found not in some other place or in our daydreaming, but in this place, with this group of people, with whatever joys or challenges this situation might present. Again, stability means a deep listening for what God is saying through the people and circumstances in which one finds oneself. For Benedict, it is this digging deep, staying with, and paying attention that enables real growth in love.
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Obedience and Conversion of Life
Similarly, obedience is rooted in this same listening. It is an obedience modelled on the obedience and self-emptying of Christ himself, in whose humility we see a freedom that the Rule enables us to share. So here we’re offered the possibility of being set free from the tyranny of the ego, to taste the freedom that’s possible when the self is dethroned – not as an abject self-abnegation, but as a step towards the new life in Christ.​
In the Twelve Steps of Humility, Benedict outlines his Rule, and we see a model for recovery groups to this day. A new life is possible – this is Benedict’s message. And that third vow of conversion of life really sums up and is dependent on the other two. By stability, digging deep into my life as it is, listening deeply for God in every aspect, by a liberating experience of obedience and humility, we can confidently look for that conversion of life which is God’s work in us. So Benedict’s workshop becomes not just the place where we learn to use the “tools” of a good life, but where God, through our staying put and our obedience, is able to work on us and change us and lead us towards newness of life and freedom.
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Incline the Ear of Our Heart
It’s interesting to note that Benedict’s wisdom about living and working with people and enabling human flourishing is today so widely recognised that monasteries are now running “Benedict for business” courses for managers. But this is just one aspect of a growing realisation that here is a wisdom and a path of discipleship which can be shared by all Christians in any life situation.
This way of following Jesus, road-tested across 1500 years, can help any of us live out our discipleship in a more intentional way, as we think about what stability, obedience, and conversion of life mean for us. Whatever our “school of holiness” or our “workshop”, the same Lord is speaking to us and we also are invited to “incline the ear of our heart.”
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Find Out More
If you are reading the Rule for the first time, we recommend reading Benedict’s Way by Dan Homan and Lonni Pratt either alongside the Rule or before beginning the Rule itself. Commentaries are helpful in interpreting various aspects of the monastic rule for life outside the monastery.
The very first word of the Rule of St Benedict is ‘listen’. Our worlds are often full of sound, but how much do we really listen?
Lectio Divina is at the heart of Benedictine spirituality, writes The Revd Canon Dean Fostekew.
By The Revd Canon Dean Fostekew
Chaplain to The Bishop of Edinburgh
Rector of The Church of the Good Shepherd, Murrayfield, Edinburgh
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Lectio divina lies at the heart of Benedictine spirituality. The very first word of the Rule of St Benedict is ‘listen’. Our worlds are often full of sound, but how often do we really listen? And many of us read a great deal, but this is a very different way of reading.
The rule suggests that monks should spend three hours a day in sacred reading or lectio. It is an opportunity for awareness of God’s presence, it is a conversation with God about our lives – a way to leave behind our concerns and preoccupations and allow God to speak.
Traditionally there are four moments or stages.
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1. Lectio: Reading
Find a comfortable position where you can remain alert, yet relaxed. Allow a few moments to become centred, bringing your attention to your breathing. Settle and become fully present to the moment. Then read the passage slowly.
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2. Meditatio: Reflecting
Let the words flow around you. Listen to whatever stands out. Repeat it, dwell on it, savour it.
3. Oratio: Responding
Respond in prayer to the thoughts, ideas and connections that the words bring. Respond as you continue to ruminate on the words that have struck you.
4. Contemplatio: Resting
Slow your thoughts and reflections and simply “be‟ in the presence of God. If you find yourself distracted, return to the breath and the words of the passage.
Charles Cummings, in his book, Monastic Practices, says: ‘When I spend time in sacred reading I invite God’s word to penetrate my heart and to evoke from that deepest centre of my being a response of surrender, wonder, praise, regret, petition, love. In the words I read God speaks to me; in my prayerful pauses I respond to God verbally or wordlessly. The process is a gentle one.’
In group lectio, you may then choose to share your phrase or reflections in a spirit of prayer and listening to one another. This is not a discussion, but an opportunity to encourage one another by sharing our reflections prayerfully.
Columba Stewart OSB, in Prayer and Community, points out that ‘Lectio is sometimes presented as a method or technique of prayer, but it is really a kind of anti-technique, a disposition more than a method.’
It is this disposition which is key and we will all find that we engage differently. Some will scan large chunks of text and wait for a word or phrase to leap out. Others will choose a very short passage for lectio and just dwell on a word or phrase. We all pray differently.
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Always we begin again
You may have done the Enneagram – and been helped to understand your own preferences in prayer. Lectio is similar. Many find that using art or the natural world as a focus for lectio is particularly helpful. Other writers suggest that reflecting on our lives in this same spirit of attentive listening is helpful – lectio on life. The challenge is making time for regular practice, and not being discouraged when we feel we are getting nowhere. In the words of the rule – always we begin again.