In this excellent little book, beautifully translated from the French by Dom Luke Bell and Sister Laetitia Payne, Abbot Xavier Perrin of Quarr shows that the sixth-century Rule of St Benedict has a great deal to offer to Christians living outside monasteries – and indeed also to non-Christians – as a way to true human growth and happiness. As Bishop Erik Varden (the former Abbot of Mount St Bernard) remarks in his preface, St Benedict was profoundly human. His sympathetic understanding of human nature and the balance and moderation that characterise his teaching explain the Rule’s enormous influence on Western civilisation.
Perrin begins with a short biography of St Benedict. As St Gregory noted in his Life of St Benedict the Rule gives the best portrait of him as “the man of God did not teach other than he lived”. There follows a brief but probing treatment of the main themes of the Rule, offering illuminating insights into qualities very often misunderstood nowadays; especially obedience, which is shown to be essentially love in action, and humility, which is the downward movement away from the inflated ego and so “the only path to glory”. A helpful treatment of the fourth degree of humility likens this sharp trial, when one experiences injustice and everything seems to be falling apart, to the passage of a ship through a storm; it is “a chance too good to be missed” of the “grace of growth”, which is the way to maturity. Balance and boundless trust in the mercy of God are everywhere apparent.
A second section singles out ten notable individuals or groups who have lived by the Rule of St Benedict. They range from Saint Bede, born in 672, to the Cistercians of Tibhirine who were martyred in 1996. I was delighted at the inclusion of Dame Gertrude More, one of the founders of my own community in the 17th century. All are painted with a few brush strokes and illuminated by a well-chosen quotation. A final section focuses on the relevance of the 1500-year-old Rule to today’s world, and includes an especially interesting passage on Integral Ecology, influenced by Pope Francis.
This is a book that responds to the cry in our own times “for another St Benedict”, artic-ulated by Alistair MacIntyre in After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theology (1981) and by Rod Dreher in The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation (2017). Perrin shows that though outwardly those who have taken monastic vows live very differently (often in a privileged setting of great natural and architectural beauty) from those who have not, it is possible for all to live by the same life-enhancing values, and to move from self-centredness to self-giving love.
The many hours devoted to liturgical and private prayer will clearly not be possible for people caught up in the demands of family life and earning a living, but all can learn to live with an awareness of the presence of God, to love the Psalms, to cultivate an attitude of gratitude and praise and to intercede for the world. Much of the Rule is practical, concerned with mundane details of everyday life, yet a truly mystical dimension runs through it all, especially the Prologue with its enticing promise of a heart that overflows with the inexpressible delight of love. The paschal mystery into which all Christians are plunged through the sacrament of Baptism pervades the entire Rule, influencing even the times of meals.
Perrin writes beautifully about hospitality, which is “a fundamental attitude for Benedictines” and “the most visible expression of their service of humanity [as] monks serve Christ in their guests… Hospitality mobilises what is best in man, which consists in recognising in each person, known or unknown, someone loved by Christ, saved by his blood… The community integrates [the guest] into the temporary communion, which is like a sacrament of the eternal communion of the divine life, to which we are all called. The monk and his guest thus meet in the light of the One who welcomes them both, Christ who calls them into the full communion of his filial life with the Father.”
May many be inspired by this little book to follow St Benedict’s way in so far as their circumstances permit and so come to live in peace and joy, in communion with other people and in harmony with the natural world.
