The Rule of St Benedict touches me deeply though it's harsh

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Bebekoualy

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I can’t help being touched by the Rule of St Benedict. :o I receive it daily in my mailbox thanks to Sancta Regula (a French website)

I can’t help thinking both:
Such a harsh Rule!
And :
I’m so attached to it, and I can’t help meditating it!

I just don’t know…😊 I converted to Catholicism in a Cistercian monastery, following the Rule of St Benedict, and I can’t… 🤷 cut the cord. It was less than 3 years ago.

e.g. Presently, I saw a nun making a mistake during Divine Office, and then she **bowed down **with a contrite heart.
  • It really touched me because it’s in the Rule and she obeyed to it!
There’s another nun, who always **bowed **when she met me, and I wondered why.
  • One day, I read in the Rule, in the Chapter about the Guests of the Monastery, and it’s in the Rule also.
Just let me know if you’ve got the same feeling. Why being touched by petty things like that? What shall I do with that? Go on reading the Rule?..
 
I love the Rule of St. Benedict and I also know how you feel. These points you bring up are not petty. They show how much small gestures can mean to both ourselves and those we meet.

The Rule, when strictly observed, can seem out of touch in this day and age. But, that is what makes the Rule so timeless. It demands that we abandon our selfishness and pride and give ourselves to God in obedience, charity and love. This is a stark contrast to the modern idea of instant gratification.

But, yes, read the rule. Discuss it with Benedictines. Explore a possible vocation (which doesn’t mean you have to become a nun). And, most of all, explore where you can incorporate the Rule into your life.
 
you may have a vocation. if the rule inspires you, you may try following them. i think nothing is wrong with that!
 
Thanks for your advice! 😊

I’m tryin’ to live according to the Rule. I love deprivation, bareness. I’m working on poverty, obedience, and **humiliation **first.
I try to be obedient before the Abbess when I go to the Cistercian Monastery. But I fear one might say it’s pretension to follow the Rule whereas I’m not a nun (and I’m thinking about becoming one, of course! But I wouldn’t say it.)

I tried to join Lay Cistercians to share the Rule with them, but they refused me 'cause of my youth and I’ve no work experience. 😦

I would need to discuss the Rule, but there’s barely someone who doesn’t find the rule harsh and wouldn’t live according to it.

I wear the St Benedict’s Medal and I wouldn’t leave it because it **protected me in very big struggles **against the enemy. St Benedict is my beloved, my protector (after God, of course!) and I feel close to him when I have spiritual struggles.
 
it is good. You will enter when God wills it- not until and not unless. Little Therese entered Carmel at 15 because that is what God and she wanted. the rule is good to follow according to your circumstances which will change in time. pray for me.🙂
 
This is a cool thread…😊 I have nothing to add.But I am going to ‘lurk’.

(I’m watching!)😛
 
Bebekoualy said:
I can’t help being touched by the Rule of St Benedict. :o I receive it daily in my mailbox thanks to Sancta Regula (a French website)

I can’t help thinking both:
Such a harsh Rule!
And :
I’m so attached to it, and I can’t help meditating it!

I just don’t know…😊 I converted to Catholicism in a Cistercian monastery, following the Rule of St Benedict, and I can’t… 🤷 cut the cord. It was less than 3 years ago.

e.g. Presently, I saw a nun making a mistake during Divine Office, and then she **bowed down **with a contrite heart.
  • It really touched me because it’s in the Rule and she obeyed to it!
There’s another nun, who always **bowed **when she met me, and I wondered why.
  • One day, I read in the Rule, in the Chapter about the Guests of the Monastery, and it’s in the Rule also.
Just let me know if you’ve got the same feeling. Why being touched by petty things like that? What shall I do with that? Go on reading the Rule?..
Click to expand...
Je peux tricher. Mais, ceux-là qui ne savent pas seront impressionnés jusqu’à ce qu’ils cliquent sur le lien. Il pourrait aider à communiquer. Je ne sais pas s’il aidera avec la prononciation. Mais, comme vous pouvez voir… cela travaille. Cliquez sur le lien…

freetranslation.paralink.com/
 
I love the Holy Rule, it seems to me the perfect guide for Christian living. That is why I became a Benedictine Oblate because this spirituality seems to me the most congenial and beneficial for me.
 
Amazing Bebekoualy, you’re french and don’t speak it! how does that rule go?

Peace,

Gail
 
Bebekoualy said:
Thanks for your advice! 😊

I’m tryin’ to live according to the Rule. I love deprivation, bareness. I’m working on poverty, obedience, and **humiliation **first.
I try to be obedient before the Abbess when I go to the Cistercian Monastery. But I fear one might say it’s pretension to follow the Rule whereas I’m not a nun (and I’m thinking about becoming one, of course! But I wouldn’t say it.)

I tried to join Lay Cistercians to share the Rule with them, but they refused me 'cause of my youth and I’ve no work experience. 😦

I would need to discuss the Rule, but there’s barely someone who doesn’t find the rule harsh and wouldn’t live according to it.

I wear the St Benedict’s Medal and I wouldn’t leave it because it **protected me in very big struggles **against the enemy. St Benedict is my beloved, my protector (after God, of course!) and I feel close to him when I have spiritual struggles.
Click to expand...
I am looking to be a Cistercian as well and I too carry a St Benedict medal around with me. It is supposed to be very powerful against the Devil and I am sure it has helped me while discerning my vocation. In fact, I was already carrying the medal when I recieved my call.

I have always liked the idea of following Christ in poverty and giving it my all. I don’t know too much about the Rule though, except I read a book about how to interpret St Benedict’s teaching on humility and it seemed to twist it a bit and water it down. Still, let anyone accept it who can…
 
Dear Bebekoualy,

First thing I would recommend that you do is take a deep breath.
Second as the Prologue states in the first sentence, LISTEN !!!;
for that reason I recommend that you get a spiritual director.

Through the process of reading the RSB and having a spiritual director you will find that the RSB should not be viewed as an exclusively legal code. And that living the rule depends a great deal on the individual abbey / monastery that one resides, i.e. each house has it’s own Customary and it’s own Consitution, which spells out how the rule is lived.

You will also read in the Prolougue of the RSB, “In drawing up it’s regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.”

One last thing the followers of St Benedict are to strive for humility; not humiliation.

Pax,

Br Mark, OSB
 
Interesting that you would call the Rule of St. Benedict “harsh”.

St. Benedict himself called it a “little rule for beginners.”

When you compare it with the original Rule of the Master, or the practices of anchorites or even the cenobia of Egypt, it’s remarkable for its mildness.
 
BTW, Bebe…

I see you read the book about Abbess Thaisia.

Did you find it helpful?
 
Br_Mark said:
Dear Bebekoualy,

First thing I would recommend that you do is take a deep breath.
Second as the Prologue states in the first sentence, LISTEN !!!;
for that reason I recommend that you get a spiritual director.

Through the process of reading the RSB and having a spiritual director you will find that the RSB should not be viewed as an exclusively legal code. And that living the rule depends a great deal on the individual abbey / monastery that one resides, i.e. each house has it’s own Customary and it’s own Consitution, which spells out how the rule is lived.

You will also read in the Prolougue of the RSB, “In drawing up it’s regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.”

One last thing the followers of St Benedict are to strive for humility; not humiliation.

Pax,

Br Mark, OSB
Click to expand...
Good show, Br. Mark!

It is my impression that OSB emphasizes balance and the achievable and possible, also a strong emphasis on humility rather than on austerities.
 
It is my impression that OSB emphasizes balance and the achievable and possible, also a strong emphasis on humility rather than on austerities.

This is basically what Abbess Thaisia’s spiritual father told her just before she began her monastic journey!
 
SuscipeMeDomine, I suscribed on the this daily Holy Rule meditation.Thanks for the tip! 🙂
That one guy, your French is amazing!
Nick9, do read the Rule, it’s so nice, so sweet (even if strict) :yup: You’ll love St Benedict even more!
Br Mark, thanks so much for your advice full of wisdom. I’ll do my best to have a new Spiritual Director and talk about my relationship with St Benedict and his Rule. :o

bpbasilphx, I felt so humble and so inexperienced when I read at the end of the Rule the fact that it was one for beginners. Good reason why I should choose that one! :nun2:
The book of Abbess Thaisia helped me really much, and I thank you so much for that suggestion. :heaven: Such holiness, such sweetness! I really loved these 2 months I spent with Abbess Thaisia, I was sad to leave her sweet presence when I finished the book. 😦 She had an amazing life, I want to embrace Monastic Life much more! But I’m too young to decide, I must study 3 more years before… :bighanky:

1234, you’re completely right.
For New Year’s eve, I went to a cistercian monastery (my dearest in the World) and I inquired the Abbess of remaining in the Church until midnight for people who get drunk, who do nonsense on New Year’s Eve. She said she’d think about my proposal and have a word with the Prioress. The latter went strait to me and said (around 10 p.m. when I was remaining at the back of the Church) : "You shall go to bed. You are still drowsy these days. Mother told me you wanted to remain until midnight. That’s too late. Obedience is better than sacrifice."
And you know what, brothers? I obeyed, but it was so hard! Harder than to keep awake… And I went to bed at 10.30 pm and I was so sad to go to bed so early on New Year’s Eve but I did so. and the **BEST THING **is that the day after, I awoke in great shape! Thank Gods!! :amen:

I still love that Rule!
 
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