July 11, 2013 Thursday: St Benedict
The Rule of St. Benedict and the Twelve Steps of Humility
July 11th is the feast day of St. Benedict the great founder of monastic communities all across Italy. St. Benedict was born around 480 AD and died around 543 AD. After much difficulty in settling monastic communities and maintaining them, St. Benedict set out to write his thoughts regarding the right schedule and life style proper to a monk in a monastic community. St. Benedict in his Rule considers the twelve steps of humility which each monk is to consider and undertake if he is ever to increase in love as an adopted son of God. Below will be a somewhat brief listing and discussion of his steps of humility. The discussion is taken from Chapter 7 of St. Benedict’s Rule.
The Fourth Step of Humility: Embrace Suffering Patiently and Obediently
“The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, his heart quietly embrace suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape.” To which St. Benedict adds from Scripture, Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved (Matt 10:22) and to which we might add “24 Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25) that is to say that to take up your cross and follow Christ is to save your life by choosing to give it away in servility and difficulty, but to spare ourselves from humility is to miss the entire point of our creatureliness which is the glorification of God and the honor to which we enjoy by being part of His Creation and of His holy image. Those who do not understand their place and the great benefit to have and keep a righteous and just place in God’s Creation is to throw their lives away and to lose it. Those who lose and give their life for His sake shall find it, eternally present in Him. This is the great blessing of the monastic life or those who get up and follow Him, for they have Him present in their hearts and maintain Him there by His great love in life everlasting. The saints then say, St. Benedict writes, “But in all this we overcome because of Him who so greatly loved us” (Romans 8:37) and “O God, you have tested us , you have tried us as silver is tried by fire; you have led us into a snare, you have placed afflictions on our backs” (Psalm 66:10-11) and this is greatly praised just as those who when stricken turn the other cheek to be stricken again, or when deprived of their coat offer their cloak as well, or when required to go one mile, offer to go two miles. To undergo these humiliations or sufferings patiently is to understand the depth of love of Christ’s love for us and to willingly embrace and reciprocate this love for His sake.
http://corinquietam.blogspot.com/2012/07/rule-of-st-benedict-and-twelve-steps-of.html
July 11th is the feast day of St. Benedict the great founder of monastic communities all across Italy. St. Benedict was born around 480 AD and died around 543 AD. After much difficulty in settling monastic communities and maintaining them, St. Benedict set out to write his thoughts regarding the right schedule and life style proper to a monk in a monastic community. St. Benedict in his Rule considers the twelve steps of humility which each monk is to consider and undertake if he is ever to increase in love as an adopted son of God. Below will be a somewhat brief listing and discussion of his steps of humility. The discussion is taken from Chapter 7 of St. Benedict’s Rule.
The Fourth Step of Humility: Embrace Suffering Patiently and Obediently
“The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, his heart quietly embrace suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape.” To which St. Benedict adds from Scripture, Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved (Matt 10:22) and to which we might add “24 Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25) that is to say that to take up your cross and follow Christ is to save your life by choosing to give it away in servility and difficulty, but to spare ourselves from humility is to miss the entire point of our creatureliness which is the glorification of God and the honor to which we enjoy by being part of His Creation and of His holy image. Those who do not understand their place and the great benefit to have and keep a righteous and just place in God’s Creation is to throw their lives away and to lose it. Those who lose and give their life for His sake shall find it, eternally present in Him. This is the great blessing of the monastic life or those who get up and follow Him, for they have Him present in their hearts and maintain Him there by His great love in life everlasting. The saints then say, St. Benedict writes, “But in all this we overcome because of Him who so greatly loved us” (Romans 8:37) and “O God, you have tested us , you have tried us as silver is tried by fire; you have led us into a snare, you have placed afflictions on our backs” (Psalm 66:10-11) and this is greatly praised just as those who when stricken turn the other cheek to be stricken again, or when deprived of their coat offer their cloak as well, or when required to go one mile, offer to go two miles. To undergo these humiliations or sufferings patiently is to understand the depth of love of Christ’s love for us and to willingly embrace and reciprocate this love for His sake.
http://corinquietam.blogspot.com/2012/07/rule-of-st-benedict-and-twelve-steps-of.html
