In the Second of our Lenten Addresses on What’s Benedict got to do with me? Fr.Jonathon Wright looks at the place of Scripture in the Rule of St Benedict.
Last night, David Attenborough’s ‘Natural Curiosities’ looked at how racing pigeons navigate and how the humble dung beetle manages to manoeuvre its precious ball when its head is firmly facing the ground. It was fascinating to discover the different senses that are used, and the rather “Heath Robinson” ways that scientists have used to discover them. Usually, this involved finding what put them off: what blinded them or distracted them. What grabbed my attention most was learning that most of the really important discoveries have been made in only the last 5 years. All sorts of complicated hypotheses were suggested, but in the end it came down to some relatively straight forward observations. Scientists just needed to start with the simple possibilities and find ways to test them.
The best part of fifteen hundred years ago, a man called Benedict set down a Rule for the communities of monks he founded. He knew the way that people were called to seek out: the way of Christ. And he had spent long years learning, through his own experience and observing others, what would put them off that way: what blinded them or distracted them. And so, with a simple and direct elegance he wrote what has become known as The Rule of St Benedict, a set of directions for following the way.
It is no exaggeration to say that his rule has shaped the course of Western civilisation. At the heart of Benedict’s life and Rule is the understanding that “every page and every word of divine authority in the Old and New Testaments [is] a most reliable guide to human life” (chapter 73). He recognised that people needed help making a start on “living virtuously” and “the religious life”. They needed, as he called it, a “school for the Lord’s service” (Prologue), where they could be immersed in Scripture and be trained to recognise and avoid what deafens or distracts them from Scripture’s life-giving guidance. In another place, Benedict describes the place where they can live this life as a “workshop” (chapter 4) where they could work diligently at inhabiting the Lord’s commandments. Benedict’s Rule provided the charter for that school, the blueprint for the workshop.
Considering Benedict’s influence we know surprisingly little about him. The only writing we know of him is his Rule, and the only source for his life is Pope Gregory the Great’s Life of Benedict, which makes up the second book of his Dialogues. The Life was probably written within 50 years of Benedict’s death and Gregory claims access to four figures who knew Benedict and could report information second-hand from early colleagues.
A brief canter through Benedict’s life tells that he was born to noble parents, received a good upper-class education in Rome before abandoning his position and inheritance and setting out for the hermit’s life. His first stint as an abbot ended when he realised he could make no progress with the monks gathered there. The community that then gathered around him bore fruit, but he was forced to move to Cassino. High on the mountain, after removing a shrine to Apollo, he set up a community there from scratch. Many flocked to him and soon he was founding abbeys over a wide area. The bare details show us that Benedict could draw on a wealth of experience.
When we turn to Benedict’s Rule, we are immediately struck by the presence of Scripture. In any modern English translation, the quotations are conveniently identified for the reader, almost to the point of distraction in the opening chapters. Benedict was certainly not the first to write a rule, and he edited large sections of a shadowy document called The Rule of the Master into his own work. However, Benedict certainly organised and crafted his Rule. We can safely assume that he was very conscious of what Scripture he included in it.
Scripture is explicitly quoted as the basis for several rules. For example, in chapter 53, on the reception of guests, Benedict writes: “All guests who arrive should be received as if they were Christ, for he will say, ‘I was a stranger and you took me in'” which cites Matthew 25.35. Scripture provides the reasoning for the pattern of liturgical life. For example, in chapter 16, on the arrangements for the divine office during the day, Benedict quotes Ps 119.164: “Seven times a day have I praised you”, then notes: “We will fulfil this sacred number seven…” giving seven offices plus the night office- whose necessity is also appealed to using Ps 119.
When we consider the life of the monk living under the Rule, what stands out is the continual proximity of the monk to Scripture. The liturgy is based on the singing of psalms and recitation of Scripture. And we see that much of this is expected to be from memory. What the monk is not at liturgy, monastic work involves a period of spiritual reading. Interestingly, Benedict specifies that some biblical books are not suitable before bed time for impressionable minds! (chapter 42) The monk is being moulded by continual spiritual encounter with Scripture. Through encounter, it is expected he will grow in holy living, like a jagged stone washed smooth by a stream.
But Benedict knew that he needed much more than to point to Scripture and to keep the monk in the presence of Scripture for the desire for God in a monk’s life to overcome the will of the flesh. The Rule is a sustained effort to tend the soil of the person heart for the seeds scattered by the Lord to take root and flourish. For Scripture to be heard in the heart of monk, Benedict set about removing the distractions. Or as he prosaically put it: “we hope to demand nothing that is harsh, nothing oppressive. Even if, in order to maintain balance, there are some slight restrictions aimed at the correction of errors and the preservation of love…” (Prologue). There was the prescription of a stable, bounded community. Monks were to envisioned as staying in one monastic enclosure. Indeed, those who wanted to move around receive some of Benedict’s sharpest scorn (chapter 1)! The basis of life was obedience to the rule and to the Abbot with the aim of instilling humility, and to avoid jealousy or pride. And commitment to the way was lifelong.
We can see Benedict acting like the gardener in the parable of the fig tree in Luke 13, seeking to save souls from destruction. By his Rule he is calls people to accept what is needed: a little digging around, a little manure, some careful pruning. And this points to Benedict’s driving motive that is returned to again and again through his Rule: the warning that we will all have to give an account of our conduct on the day of Judgement.
The way that Benedict approaches Scripture suggests some insights for ourselves, in our own context here. We are not monks, but we too are to be, as the Letter to the Hebrews puts it, people who confess that they are strangers, seeking a homeland (Hebrews 11.13-14). And Benedict has much profound wisdom for us on that path.
First, Benedict expects his monks to immerse themselves in Scripture, for Scripture is the best guide and teacher. The Lord speaks to us in Scripture through the Holy Spirit so we need to be reading and hearing it. If we are not hearing Scripture we deny the Lord an opportunity to training us. There is still plenty of time left this Lent to read a Gospel at a chapter a day and it will give great reward. Through familiarity we will find a resource for prayer, for moral decisions, but most importantly contact with Our Lord.
Secondly, Benedict’s monks probably spent about 4 hours a day engaging with Scripture in the liturgy, let alone outside it. They were expected to memorise the Psalter and probably a large quantity of the Bible. We read that they were expected to recite the verses from memory. And Benedict indicates that they read widely: Benedict regularly cites Tobit and cites other works from what we as Anglicans refer to as works of the Apocrypha as authoritative. As Cyril of Alexandria put it, the whole Bible is one saving testament, a statement Benedict would undoubtedly have agreed with.
Thirdly, Benedict placed a great emphasis on the community being gathered together for their worship. That meant that Scripture was recited and heard in community. We not only need to make sure we are listening to Scripture, but also doing so together. The parish community is a school, a workshop for the Lord, that is here to provide the same nurture and commitment to mutual flourishing as the monastery. A commitment to hearing Scripture together, allied with a commitment to holy conversation will help all to grow.
Fourthly, Benedict reminds us of the importance of time. In his communities, life was and is carefully regulated, a gift to be used for God. This reminds us that in our lives we need to be considering how we are using our time. If we keep a diary for a week of how we use all the blocks of our day, we will quickly discover where our priorities lie. To grow in the faith of Christ takes time, as Benedict realised. What priority do we give to those things that keep us close to the Lord: prayer, worship, reading Scripture?