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The benedictine life: Decline, growthand innovationOSB Timothy WrightPublished online: 23 May 2008.
To cite this article: OSB Timothy Wright (2007) The benedictine life: Decline, growth andinnovation, International journal for the Study of the Christian Church, 7:3, 179-193, DOI:10.1080/14742250701550217
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The Benedictine Life: Decline,Growth and InnovationTimothy Wright, OSB
Abstract
St Benedict never envisaged his Rule would become the standard for monastic life in theWest. Its acceptance, first in Europe then the Americas, is testimony to its relevance.
Recently it has spread energetically in parts of Africa and Asia. Benedictine history hasbeen marked by periods of expansion followed by persecution, suppression and/or near
collapse. Then came revival, with foundations in new forms and different places. Today,some abbeys, only a few decades ago hugely influential, find themselves slowly declining;elsewhere new communities are bursting with life. Alongside the traditional monasteries,
there is new enthusiasm for and innovation among the lay oblates. The Benedictine Ruleprovides a road to holiness that builds on baptism. This article contrasts decline, growth
and innovation in the Benedictine tradition and, using the example of the ManquehueMovement, a new lay movement of Benedictine oblates in Chile, it demonstrates that one
can be truly ‘Benedictine’ beyond the limits of ‘consecrated life’ and priesthood. TheBenedictine family – both men and women who live under the Rule in what are formally
recognised as Benedictine communities – guard its independence, and the advantagesand limitations of this in a fast changing world are also addressed in what is
written here.
There is an account in the ‘Dialogues’ of St Gregory the Great1 which describes the
annual visit of Benedict to his sister Scholastica. As evening came it was clear thatScholastica had not finished. She invited her brother to stay longer. Benedict, putting
his duty as monk before his obligation as brother, said to her: ‘What are you saying,sister? You know I cannot stay away from the monastery.’ For many women that
would have been that, but not Scholastica: she ‘folded her hands on the table andrested her head upon them in earnest prayer. When she looked up again, there was a
sudden burst of lightning and thunder accompanied by such a downpour thatBenedict and his companions were unable to set foot outside the door.’ TheDialogues go on: ‘Realizing that he could not continue, Benedict complained bitterly:
‘‘God forgive you, sister! . . . What have you done?’’’ Clearly she was not going to be
International Journal for the Study of the Christian ChurchVol. 7, No. 3, August 2007, 179 – 193
ISSN 1474-225X (print)/ISSN 1747-0324 (online) ª 2007 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/14742250701550217
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burdened with guilt for his absence from monastic duties: ‘When I appealed to you,you would not listen to me. I turned to my God and he heard my prayer. Leave now
if you can. Leave me here and go back to your monastery.’ She had won, and heknew it. To his credit he accepted the storm as a sign of ‘divine intervention’ and
spent the night with his sister, time not wasted as Gregory notes: ‘They spent theentire night together and both of them derived great profit from the holy thoughts
they exchanged about the interior life’. Gregory concludes: ‘We need not besurprised that in this instance she proved mightier than her brother: she had been
looking forward so long to this visit. Do we not read in St John that God is love?Surely it is no more than right that her influence was greater than his, since hers wasthe greater love.’2
Today some say monastic celibate life takes people away from normal social lifeand hides them from ‘worldly challenges’ and restricts their capacity to love.
Benedictines accept that monastic life has no relevance if it is an ‘escape’ or fails toenhance their ‘humanity’. Benedictine life exists to provide a way for men and
women to find their human fulfilment, the foundation of Christian holiness. Thatfulfilment means becoming ‘bigger’ through ‘loving’, ‘enlarging the heart’. This
happens when the individual embraces the Rule with honesty, recognises personalweakness, endures the disciplines with patience and gives wholeheartedly to God and
the neighbour.St Benedict makes this clear:
After ascending all these steps of humility, the monk will quickly arrive at thatperfect love of God which casts out fear (I John 4:14). Through this love, all that heonce performed with dread, he will now begin to observe without effort, as thoughnaturally, from habit, no longer out of fear of hell, but out of love for Christ, goodhabit and delight in virtue.3
‘Human formation’, as an integral part of Benedictine formation, is a new and
positive development of recent decades. While traditional teaching about the Ruleand monastic custom continue, through human formation each individual grows inself-knowledge and those responsible for this field assess the suitability, flexibility and
maturity of the candidate. The monastic ‘story’ of each Benedictine is in large part a‘human adventure’ in love. That story of Benedict and Scholastica illustrates the sort
of issue that often arises, human need versus monastic obligation. Not only is prayeressential at such moments, the Benedictine needs monastic maturity to take the right
decision in the context of love and monastic obedience. The harshness of themilitary-style obedience of former days does not contribute to that sort of maturity.
Each person has to discover the freedom to love without fear.At its best this makes a Benedictine community a beacon of infectious love. That is
what attracts. A monastery without people knocking at the door should reflect on itswitness to the God who is Love. A monastic community, of different personalities,cultures, ages and interests, united in mutual love, and faithful to monastic routine, is
a beacon of hope to those outside.
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The Origins of Monastic Life
If we look to the past, it was always thus. In the earliest centuries of the Christian eramen and women in Arabia, Cappadocia, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Syria
left their homes in the cities and moved to the desert. The ‘lesser love’ that dominatedurban culture was challenged by the ‘greater love’ reserved to those who gave
themselves to the search through prayer, asceticism and hospitality, living as hermitsor in small communities. Intoxicated by the harshness and loneliness some went
mad, their generosity cherished ultimately by God alone. Others became radiant,beacons of humanity purified through honesty, by stripping self to find the gift oftranscendent love which glowed in their hearts. That was the attraction and many
people visited them. Advice, offered with humility, readily practical, free of falsepiety, helped those searching for faith to strip the clothing that so often masks, which
is part of city life in every generation.Their help has been recorded and, even today, is valued and relevant.4 Here are two
examples of practical advice about how to deal with lust-filled fantasies and theunexpected visitor:
Once, the disciple of a great hermit was tempted by lust. When the hermit saw himstruggling, he said, ‘Shall I ask the Lord to release you from your trouble?’ But hesaid, ‘Abba, I see that although it is a painful struggle I am profiting from having tocarry this burden. But ask God in your prayers, that he will give enough patience toendure it.’ Then his Abba said to him, ‘Now I know that you are far advanced, myson, and beyond me.’
A brother came to a hermit: and as he was taking his leave, he said, ‘Forgive me,Abba, for preventing you from keeping your rule’. The hermit answered, ‘My rule isto welcome you with hospitality, and to send you on your way in peace’.5
Challenging words of honesty, clarity and common sense reveal a hermit well trainedin self-examination, aware of personal weakness and grappling with powerfultemptations, from within and without. No wonder they had an instinctive sympathy
with troubled visitors. The encouragement and hope offered were irresistible.‘Love’ lived and communicated in that way was, and is, the ‘engine’ driving
monastic life. It is, surely, only for the ‘few’. When it grows ‘popular’, it becomesvulnerable. For popularity attracts for the wrong reasons. ‘Few’ only are capable of
the ascetic way, which purges the deepest elements of self-love, filling the empty spacewith divine ‘love’. Those unsuited become ‘wild eccentrics’ and possibly an innocent
cause of dysfunctional communities.
The Benedictine Rule
Precisely this situation brought Benedict to write his Rule. He sought the ascetic life
in place of student studies, taking refuge in a cave at Subiaco. There he learnt to
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purge self-love and through prayer received the gift of transforming love whichradiated powerfully from his cave.
Invited to lead a reform of the small community on Monte Cassino, Benedictwrote his Rule around 500 AD. Many rules preceded it. Indeed his was, in large part,
taken from earlier rules, revised to reveal his distinctive insights.6 Here are hisopening words:
Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with theear of your heart. This is advice from a father who loves you: welcome it, andfaithfully put it into practice. The labour of obedience will bring you back to himfrom whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience. This message ofmine is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all,and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the trueKing, Christ the Lord.7
Two central themes appear here: monastic life is motivated by love of a Father
who loves and to become this love we live under obedience, the effective destroyer ofself-love.
For two centuries Benedict’s Rule existed alongside others, but grew in popularity.By the eighth century it was widely used across Europe. The Benedictine tradition
grew in power and wealth in ways Benedict never envisaged. But ‘popularity’ carriedthe seeds of its own decline. Falling numbers, accumulated wealth, and the abuse ofpower caused many communities to die a natural death, while others were killed by
dissolution; only a few survived. Reduced to a shadow of its former self, Benedictinemonasticism struggled into the 19th century, when it expanded again with renewed
vigour, first across Europe, then spreading to the Americas and, in the 20th century,to Asia and Africa.
The Organisation of Benedictines
Unlike other ‘religious orders’ in the Catholic Church, the Benedictine communityretains its independence. Each community is part of a family. In the male
communities this family is called a ‘Congregation’ of which there are 20. For womenthe families have various collective terms, for example, Congregation, Federation,
Association: there are 62 of them and about 70 communities independent of anyfamily. Within this structure each community is independent. The destiny of each
community is determined by itself, guided by the Superior. This is truer of malecommunities. For some matters female communities still have to seek the approval of
their local bishop or President. The Constitutions of all Benedictine families have tofall within the appropriate sections of Canon Law.
Benedictine Congregations are either based on particular countries or regions, withperhaps a small involvement outside that area, or they are ‘international’ withcommunities in different continents. Among the male congregations, the Cassinese in
Italy, the Brazilian, the Bavarian, the Austrian, the English Benedictines, Cono-Sur
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(Latin America), the Swiss American and American Cassinese are ‘national/regional’,while the ‘international’ congregations include the Solesmes Congregation, the
Olivetans, Vallambrosans, Sylvestrines and Camaldolese and the two largest,St Ottilien and Subiaco Congregations.
The 249 independent monastic communities of men vary in numbers: in thecensus of 2005 the seven largest had over a hundred monks, while the 28 smallest had
under 10. In that year there are nearly twice as many Benedictine women as men.Each community elects its Superior; the term of office, defined in the Constitutions,
varies from eight years to life. The Superior with the Council of Seniors is responsiblefor the financial viability of the community, earning and investing its money. Ideallyit should not rely on financial support from outside. The accounts of the community
are professionally audited, as required by the Constitutions and the government.Each is responsible for attracting and forming its candidates, and courses are available
for those responsible for formation either locally or in Rome.Benedictine vows are to the Superior and community. One of the vows, stability,
binds the Benedictine to a particular community defining the limit of work requiredunder obedience. Benedict is clear: ‘When they live by the labour of their hands, as
our fathers and the apostles did, then they are really monks’.8
Male Benedictine communities worldwide come under the umbrella of the
Benedictine ‘Confederation’ with its headquarters in Rome at the Abbey of SanAnselmo, where the Abbot Primate presides. He is the focal point of unity for theBenedictine families and his main responsibilities are to oversee San Anselmo,
represent Benedictines to the Holy See and encourage communities round the world.The history of the communities of Benedictine women is more complex. Many
religious orders of women, founded for apostolic work, typically in teaching andnursing, were encouraged to live by the Rule of St Benedict. They were classified as
‘sisters’, in ‘simple vows’, under the local bishop. They were clearly separated fromthe ‘enclosed Benedictine nuns’ in ‘solemn vows’. Only since Vatican II have the two
groups been able to come together and discuss issues of mutual interest. They formthe ‘International Communion of Benedictine Women’.9
Benedictines Today
It is ironic that as many lay people in Western Europe and North America discoveredthe Rule of St Benedict as relevant to their lives, so many of the communities, male
and female, living that Rule, ceased to attract the vocations of previous decades. Thattrend has continued for some decades and the consequences are becoming visible. In
Africa, Asia and Latin America there is growth, sometimes dramatic. Especiallysignificant is the Benedictine presence in Tanzania, Korea, the Philippines and
Vietnam.Why has this happened? Has the love that inspired men and women to seek
the ‘God who is Love’ dimmed in some places and shone more brightly in others? Is
the quality of monastic living more faithful in the growing communities and less so in
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the shrinking ones? Has Benedictine life become less relevant in those most highlydeveloped countries of Western Europe and North America? No definitive answers
are readily to hand. But renewal suggests a need to examine more thoroughly some ofthe presuppositions on which post-Vatican II Benedictine life is based.
In a world whose population has doubled during the pontificate of Pope John PaulII (1978–2005) the 2005 Benedictine census showed there were 13,650 Benedictine
women to 7,345 men. Comparing these figures with those of five years earlier revealsthat in those five years the number of men dropped by 6% and women by 7%.10
These figures hide the growing numbers in Latin America, Africa and Asia, andunderestimate the decline in Western Europe and North America. There has alsobeen a significant, if not numerically large, revival of Benedictine life since the end of
Communism in Eastern Europe. If we look in more detail at the communities ofmen, about half have less than 25% of the solemnly professed under 50 years old
(date: 1 January 2006). Some have few in their 30s, surely a threat to the successfulencouragement of younger men. Among the communities of Benedictine women,
54% have fewer than 25% below the age of 50 (date: 1 January 2006). Communitiesin Africa, Asia and Latin America recruit in significant numbers; elsewhere
recruitment is sparser than for the men.Of course European Benedictine communities have seen dramatic change before.
The critical question is how much of this decline is due to a failure to live the specialgift of ‘love’ mentioned above.
Mention should be made of the non-Roman Catholic Benedictines. Two
communities of Anglican Benedictines of men and several of women exist in Britain.They are more contemplative than apostolic, but have good relations with the wider
Benedictine family in these islands, especially through the Union of MonasticSuperiors, an informal body of monks and nuns who meet every other year including
all the monastic Superiors, male and female, in the British Isles, though not all attendevery meeting. The Anglican Benedictine tradition, though active, faces the same
problems that many of the Roman Catholic communities do, with of course their ownlocal challenges. Other communities have been established within the Lutherantradition, in Sweden and the USA, small and recent. These Benedictine foundations
beyond the denominational boundary are important because they show how the Rule,like that of St Francis, has an appeal to other communities in Western Christianity.
Benedictine Oblates
Monastic communities have always attracted lay people, Christians from all
denominations. Some burning with love have tested a monastic vocation, but itwas not to be; many remained close to their community, a source of spiritual
support. Others are attracted by the peace and return regularly for prayer, silence andaffirmation. Some, from different religions or none, come in search of the ‘love’ thatis the presence of God. Talking in confidence they find inspiration, solutions to
problems or simply friendship.
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Some people seek a formal relationship with a Benedictine community and applyto become an oblate. After a period of formation, overseen by a member of the
community, testing commitment and discerning practicability, they make a promisewhich will involve frugality in lifestyle, daily prayer, lectio divina, and charitable work.
Applying the Rule to lay people has given rise to a library of books.11 Esther deWaal writes of her book Seeking God, the Way of St Benedict:
It comes from the lived-out experience of a wife and mother with manycommitments, and it springs from a conviction that the Rule speaks to those who,like myself, are seeking God in the midst of a busy, often confusing and exhaustingdaily life. I have one hope in writing this book and that is that it may serve as a firststep to an encounter with the Benedictine way, for reading about it is no substitutefor living it.12
The oblate is not making a promise to follow a ‘new life’ in the way men and womencommit themselves to a Benedictine community. Rather the oblate lives the gift of
Christ’s life within an adapted Benedictine framework. This is a response to the call toholiness, first enshrined in the promises made at baptism.
Those Benedictine communities that foster oblates appoint one of their membersto have special responsibility for them. Typically this involves the process of
formation, organising retreats and being available for support and guidance. By theircommitment oblates are formally attached to and participate in the prayer life of thecommunity, each praying for the other. Normally men and women can become
oblates of either male or female Benedictine communities.There is no central organisation for oblates, although a committee was established
for the World Congress for Oblates in 2005 and the planning for the next in 2009 isunder way. A central office will help coordinate the activities of oblates worldwide.13
A survey in 2005 showed there were 24,229 oblates, more than the combined total ofBenedictine monks and nuns. Their geographical spread showed that over 20,000 of
them were attached to the ‘shrinking’ monasteries of Western Europe (8,580) andNorth America (11,568). The remaining 4,000 oblates are linked to monasteries inAfrica, Asia, South America and Australia.
These trends open up the possibility that, as monastic communities decline,oblates will play a larger role in keeping the Benedictine spirit alive. To achieve that
they will need to become more independent and self-supporting. For this they cantake encouragement from new developments in spiritual direction. Many of the laity
have done courses precisely in order to become skilled as spiritual directors. Thisgrowing number is an alternative source for oblates and an encouragement to some
then to follow similar courses. Philip Sheldrake writes:
The work of spiritual guidance is no longer assumed to be dependent on ordinationor membership of a religious order. In Western spirituality, spiritual guides orretreat givers are as likely to be women as men, lay as ordained, and from a widerange of Christian traditions. The ability to act as a spiritual guide is seen as a gift ofGod, inspired by God’s Spirit (the true guide) even though there has been much
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professionalization with spiritual direction and retreat training courses, oftenIgnatian in inspiration, ecumenical and increasingly lay in their participants andtraining personnel.14
Increasingly oblates will make use of new communication technology. It will enableeasier contact with Benedictine communities far away. By means of the internet
oblates could take part in the public prayer of the monastery, access talks and receivehelp. What was once provided by a local monastery could now be provided from a
greater distance.
The Regular Oblate
This type of oblate allows an individual to live within the monastery. Such a person,
who may or may not have been an oblate previously, seeks, for good reasons, to livewithin a monastic community. The Regular Oblate follows the full rhythm of
the monastic day and works as directed by the Superior. After a period of formation,the candidate is formally accepted by the community and makes a commitment,
annually renewed. Regular Oblates are usually older people, without obligations offamily or work. Though they are few in number, they can bring blessings to a
community.
A New Movement of Benedictine Oblates
Quiet innovation and adaptation to changing circumstances is part of the
Benedictine charism. A striking example of this is the Manquehue Movement inChile. Over the last three decades this new type of lay Benedictine movement has
appeared, founded by a layman, Jose-Manuel Eguiguren, influenced by Benedictinemonastic living but not organically tied to any monastic community. Like other
oblate movements, it builds on the call to holiness entailed by baptism and developsthis within communities established according to the principles of the Rule of StBenedict.
In 1970s Chile, Jose-Manuel Eguiguren was invited to establish a Catholic school,having spent a year in the Benedictine community of Las Condes, Santiago. Prior to
that he had gathered a group of young people with whom he shared his spirituality,based on the Rule, the Divine Office and ‘Lectio Divina’. Listening to God speaking
through his Word, and sharing the insights with friends, encourages the process ofconversion. The Word truly ‘heard’ is effective in developing accurate self-knowledge
and building community. It is this ‘spirituality’ which makes the ManquehueMovement, as it came to be known, attractive. Not only has it enabled a deeper
relationship with the God-Who-Really-Speaks-Through-His-Word, but it draws themembers into deeper relationships with each other. People of all ages have joinedcommunities, infectiously alive with the friendship developed through sharing,
praying and celebrating together.
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Today, some 30 years after it started, the Manquehue Movement has somethousand members divided into more than 80 communities, a number which needs
effective planning. Each community has a weekly meeting for prayer, lectio andrelaxation together. For this texts are carefully prepared. In addition, regular retreats
are organised to encourage members to continue their spiritual formation. TheMovement has a close relationship with the monks of Las Condes, but it has never
tried to imitate them. They have sought new ways of living the Rule, ‘beyond theCloister’, as lay people, committed to their specific vocation.
The Manquehue Movement is ‘Benedictine’ in the same way as other oblates areBenedictine, even though independent of a monastery. They are not part of theConfederation or the Communio. The fact that they are not part of ‘consecrated life’
as defined by the Canon Law of the Church does not remove anything from theintensity of their commitment. They differ from Benedictine communities in not
having a central house, or a cloister, but they live the Rule conscientiously, whether asold or young, male or female, celibate or married. They differ, too, from the
traditional oblate, being more independent, responsible for their own formation andonly distantly related to Benedictine communities. This is why they are taken so
seriously in the Benedictine monastic world, especially by those communities who areinvolved in education.
There is no doubt that this Movement is inspired by the ‘love’ that St Benedictarticulates in the Rule. They keep in their hearts these words of Chapter 72 ofthe Rule:
The pure love of one another as of one family should be their ideal. As for God theyshould have a profound and loving reverence for him. They should love their abbotor abbess with sincere and unassuming affection. They should value nothingwhatever above Christ himself and may he bring us all together to eternal life.15
The overwhelming majority of members are Chilean with their communities in and
around Santiago. The Manquehue way of life and work is approved by the localbishop and its influence in the Benedictine world continues to grow, especially withinthe Benedictine communities of Latin America and Abbeys of the English Benedictine
Congregation. Their story has been written up in 500 pages of testimony andreflection.16 It is not with the remit of this article to rehearse the whole history, but it
will be useful to indicate a few things.Jose-Manuel has drawn up the ‘Little Way’, not derived from a ‘parent’ monastery
or any other group of oblates, but created out of his own experience of living theRule. The Movement has two levels: the ordinary members of a community, meeting
each week, and those committed by ‘promise’ who are called ‘Oblates’ or ‘TheManquehue Oblates’. The latter form the core of the Movement and live under a
specific promise of obedience to the Superior and work at his direction. Likeprofessed Benedictines their promise of ‘stabilitate sua et conversatione morumsuorum et oboedientia’17 means they are provided with all their material and spiritual
needs. The celibates live in a male or female community. Married oblates, of course,
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live at home. After a period of discernment, every bit as serious as in a monastery,and with the approval of the other ‘oblates’, they make a commitment for a year at a
time. The members of the Movement do not wear distinctive dress. They areindistinguishable from the lay people with whom they work. But they often carry
around with them their Bible, no mere pocket edition, but the Spanish version of thefull Jerusalem Bible. At any moment they can turn to the text, look up the echoes and
seek explanation from the notes. This shows their intimacy with the Word of God.On festal occasions the oblates wear a simple choir robe.
Most of the oblates meet daily for lectio. In groups they follow the readingsprescribed, reading them slowly once or twice, then, each works on the texts, lookingup the echoes, reflecting on the words. The meeting will end with the sharing of
insights and prayer. Lectio groups number 12–15 people and they form studentcommunities from the age of 14.
By working carefully on the Rule, oblates have sought to find ways of applying it todaily life. The oblates will have silent meals, celebrate the Divine Office at appropriate
times, keep the stages of formation and use daily one or other of the tools of GoodWorks. They have produced their own edition of the Rule, expanding the cross
references and including echoes from Scripture. It, too, is used as a text for lectio.The two foundation documents of the Movement are ‘The Way of the Movement’
(22 A4 pages outlining the status of the Movement, its prayer, work andorganisation) and ‘The Little Rule for Oblates’ (16 A4 pages divided into 24sections, applying the Rule to the Movement, including topics like the position of the
Movement in the local Church, leadership and authority, prayer and formation, thepromises and daily life). Three quotations serve to illustrate the documents:
1. ‘On Oblation’: ‘The promise is not a vow, either public or private. It is not a
religious profession because all the oblates are lay and the promise does notchange this essential condition, but only the way in which he lives his life as a
layman.’2. ‘The Cloister of the Oblates’: ‘The community of the Manquehue oblates does not
enjoy a physical cloister in the traditional sense. Nevertheless they have two ways
of bringing this principle home to themselves in their lives. They can achieve it inthe first place by means of a certain degree of separation from the world and
secondly by identifying the space in their lives which they need to carry out theiractivities, this space will for them be equivalent to a cloister.’
3. ‘Silent Prayer to God alone’: ‘In order to encourage this prayer in the community,the oblates ought to reflect on the teaching of St Benedict about silence and
discretion in the use of words and about joking and laughter so that no one is ahindrance to another’s prayer.’18
The Manquehue links to Britain arose when Jose-Manuel determined that the schoolhe had been asked to establish should be Benedictine. He was advised to visit
Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and he describes his arrival there as a sort of Pauline
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conversion. That was 1981 and the occasion when the author first met him.19 Jose-Manuel, who to this day walks with some difficulty, was guided to the nearest
boarding house. From that first meeting a friendship with Ampleforth developedwhich has continued to the present. Jose-Manuel came each year to help run the
annual ‘House retreat’ – a 48 hour experience for the 60 boys aged 13–18, which tookplace immediately before the October half term. He continued to do this, with only
one interruption, for 15 years. That commitment gave Jose-Manuel that rare insightinto how boys develop through five years at a Benedictine boarding school.20
Today the Movement runs three day schools (for boys and girls, taught in separateclasses) in Santiago, educating some 3,000 students. San Benito, the first, is in awealthy inner suburban area; San Lorenzo is in the deprived area of Conchallı; and
San Anselmo is on the outer fringe of the city. Parents and students of the wealthierschools do much to support the work of the Movement in San Lorenzo, where the
school acts as a social and religious centre and offers evening classes for families. Ithas established a reputation for building community in the local area.
One of the distinctive characteristics of these schools is the system of ‘tutoria’,where a senior student, old girl or boy or a younger member of the Movement is
assigned to a specific group of children with whom he or she over the course of timebuilds up a strong, personal relationship. These young leaders concern themselves
with the children’s wellbeing, how they are getting on in school and at home, andthrough love ensuring that no child feels lost in the crowd. In a word they reveal aliving God to the younger ones. This is not done only in the weekly session or
‘tutoria’, but also through activities for students outside school hours, organised andrun by the Movement. The school ‘lectio’ groups flow out of ‘tutoria’ and are found,
too, among parents and former students of all three schools. San Lorenzo isdistinctive in that it offers support to families in the area and acts also as a place for
courses for adults in the evenings.In addition the Movement runs ‘work camps’ and ‘missions’ for students during
the first part of the summer holidays. Typically these are in poor rural communitiesto the south of Santiago, and involve simple house building for families without theirown accommodation and door to door visiting to invite families to attend events.
These works are done with the enthusiastic approval and cooperation of the localclergy and community.
There are three other works of the Movement that are worth a mention: a homefor vulnerable women in central Santiago, a centre for formation in Patagonian Chile
and a centre for research, which does much in drawing new insights from the Rule.Two important ‘research’ documents have been produced. The first, on ‘The
Benedictine Character of the School’, was originally given by Jose-Manuel to aninternational meeting of Benedictine Heads at Worth Abbey, in England, provoking
much interest. Subsequently the Movement was invited to join the newly formed‘International Commission on Benedictine Education’. The second is ‘TheApplication of the Rule to the System of Discipline in a Benedictine School’, which
was also presented to the same Commission.
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The Movement’s experience in ‘lectio’ has led to many invitations from Benedictineschools, notably Ampleforth, Downside and Worth in England and St Louis in the
USA; these contacts continue.The Movement inherited land in Chilean Patagonia, southern Chile, beyond
tarmac roads, beyond electricity, in an area of outstanding natural beauty. There theyfounded a centre for formation, building two houses accommodating up to eight
people each. Students come for three months at a time to pray, ponder, share lectio,and undertake manual labour, all the time looking after themselves. It is a kind of
‘noviciate’. A small resident community maintains the farm and hosts theseformation courses. The flexibility built into the Chilean university education systemmakes this possible.
The Movement has already made a significant contribution to the way theBenedictine spirit can enrich lay life. How it will develop among people living in
deeply secularised societies is not yet clear but it offers a way of living the Benedictineway in schools with fewer monks. They have succeeded because the community life
they create is inspired by the selfless love which impresses all who meet it andenlightens the lives of those involved. As long as the rays of love continue to shine,
the Movement will continue to grow.
Concluding Reflections
1. A brief overview such as this can do little more than point to areas of growth and
decline, underline possible reasons and affirm the new things that emerged.2. The widespread interest in the Rule of St Benedict as a guide for lay people is
shown by the Pope’s deliberate choice of the name Benedict and the recentlecture by Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury at San Anselmo, on the
relevance of the Rule in the contemporary European world. There can be nobetter sign of its relevance across Christian denominations.
3. The widespread shrinking of traditional monastic communities provokes thequestion: does it really matter? If communities no longer radiate that divine lovewhich is the underlying motive for Benedictine life, then shrinking may
stimulate questions which lead to a renewal of the Benedictine spirit. Only such aspirit will attract vocations. Without vocations there is no future.
4. Renewal is possible in a community prepared to change. For this, leadership isneeded. Some communities have formed monks who are resistant to change and
suspicious of new asceticism. Such resistance paralyses communities.5. Only enthusiasm for the fundamentals of Benedictine life can change this
attitude, creating a spirit of silence, following a daily routine defined by theDivine Office, obliging personal renewal through ‘lectio divina’, offering
spontaneous, mutual affirmation and ready service to each by the other in thecourse of a day underpinned by extended periods of contemplative prayer.
6. Some communities have to deal with that most destructive ‘sin’, clearly
articulated in the Rule, referred to as ‘murmuring’ or the slow drip of gossip
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undermining a Superior’s authority, the effectiveness of an appointed official orthe confidence of the most vulnerable in community.
7. The majority of young people considering a vocation to priestly or religious lifeface opposition from within the family and from friends. Many feel they cannot
give the proper encouragement to those who sense that call.8. When a candidate appears at the monastic door the period of discernment takes
longer. An interest in prayer, a temperament that can live in community andenergy for a regular life with unpredictable demands are no longer enough.
Those involved with discernment and formation are better trained and haveeasier access to professional help from outside the community than ever before.
9. Paedophile scandals often relating to events long past have affected many
communities. They have highlighted the importance of addressing issues aroundsexuality. Counselling, acceptance of sexual orientation, commitment to
appropriate boundaries in relationships, and testing for the HIV virus are issuesall Superiors now face.
10. Some communities live in buildings too large or inappropriate for theircommunity life. Some live with a large ‘work’ on site, once under monastic
control, but no longer so. As a number of communities have come to realise, alarge ‘work’ can dominate life in community and raise that most difficult
question: should the community move in order to survive? Communities haverecovered their infectious enthusiasm for the Benedictine life in smallerbuildings, appropriate to their needs.
11. The Benedictine Rule can be lived in any culture as its geographical spread intoLatin America, Africa and Asia shows. Many individual Benedictine commu-
nities are increasingly multicultural. Some people feel threatened by this,suggesting that communities should be ‘single culture’. Few who live in
international communities will be convinced. Indeed Benedictine communitiesare at their best when open to all, from whatever culture or race, for the mix of
culture enriches the quality of Benedictine living.12. Inter-religious Monastic Dialogue in which Benedictines play a prominent role
encourages communities to become involved in dialogue with other religions in
their area. Specifically, the ‘Dialogue of Spirituality’ encouraged in NostraAetate21 and subsequent Vatican pronouncements could have a higher priority
in Benedictine communities. Many cities have communities of other faiths; themonastery is a place where much can be shared and within a praying community
each can learn much from the spiritual traditions of the other.13. The enthusiasm among Benedictine oblates will continue to attract Christians
from all denominations to use the Rule as a framework for daily living. Theexample of the Manquehue Movement in Chile will encourage some groups to
become more independent of their parent monastic community.14. This overview of the Benedictine world is one of contrasts; dying and rising,
opportunities for change and renewal. None of this is new. Benedictines will
rightly continue to defend their independence, perhaps finding ways to
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encourage shrinking communities to take radical decisions in good time. Withchanging expectations from the Church, Benedictine monasteries will have to
become more flexible in the nature of their community life, more aware of thepositive contribution to the local community that is made by Benedictines living
together in joy and love.
I began this article with reference to the final meeting between St Benedict and hissister as recorded in the Dialogues of St Gregory. At the heart of that meeting was the
clash between love and observance, the need of the sister and the obligations of thebrother. A similar tension exists between the monk and the world, between the desertand the marketplace so well articulated by the late Cardinal Hume. One aspect of the
Benedictine vocation is to bring the inspiration of the desert to the lives of those whohave never been there. It is the duty of the monks to listen to those in the market place
and thus be able to respond accurately to their needs. The remarkable innovations inBenedictine life in recent decades have shown how effective this relationship can be
when generous self-giving love radiates from followers of the Rule whether living in amonastic enclosure or within ‘a cloister in the world’. However, the process of decline
is a reminder that the monastic life only has a right to exist if the Benedictines within itshow they have reached, even momentarily, ‘that perfect love of God which casts out
fear’.22 The experienced observer of Benedictine history would say it was ever thus.
Notes
1 Gregory the Great, The Life and Miracles of St Benedict (Book Two of the Dialogues).2 Gregory, Life and Miracles, 33: 68–69.3 The Rule of St Benedict (hereafter RSB) 7: 67–69.4 See the contribution of Sr Benedicta Ward SLG over the last few decades, beginning in 1975
with Sayings of the Desert Fathers and ending in 2003 with The Desert Fathers.5 The Desert Fathers (2003), 39, note 21, and 136, note 7.6 One of the best of these critical studies of the text is RB 1980 and the interactive CD produced
by the same monastery.7 RSB Prologue 1–3.8 RSB 48, 8.9 For the history of this development see Sr Agatha Rohtert (‘A Vision Will Come True’), former
Abbess of Dinklage Abbey, Germany. The ‘International Communion’ includes all the familiesand those communities outside a ‘family’, but recognised as Benedictine.
10 Catalogus Monasteriorum, OSB, Monachorum Editio XX, 2005 and Catalogus Monasteriorum,OSB Sororum et Monialium, Editio II, 2006.
11 Cary-Elwes, Work and Prayer, a chapter by chapter commentary on the Rule, specifically foroblates and lay people.
12 de Waal, Seeking God, 12.13 The words ‘Benedictine Oblate’ put into Google threw up some 60,000 sites on the internet for
the author (1 March 2007). In reality many repeat, but it is probably the best source of findingout quickly the communities that encourage oblates. On one of the sites considerableinformation was provided about the 2005 World Congress of Benedictine Oblates, from whichthe statistical information was gathered.
14 Sheldrake, A Brief History of Spirituality, 201–202.
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15 RSB 72:8–12, trans. Barry.16 Barry, A Cloister in the World.17 The Latin text RB 1980: 268, with the footnote: ‘‘‘Stability, fidelity to monastic life and
obedience’’ are not understood in RB to be three distinct vows, as the vows of religious life latercame to be understood. Rather, the phrase describes the content of the monk’s promise.’
18 The Little Rule for Oblates 14:10, 19:12 and 23:15, English version, for private use only.19 At this time Ampleforth was still a single sex boarding school run on traditional English
independent school lines, the boys divided into ‘Houses’ of about 60, in which they remained fortheir five years of education, and the Housemasters traditionally monks, though it was changing atthis time. Senior boys were given responsibilities to help the running of the ‘House’, which enabledthem to experience, at first hand, the values communicated through Benedictine education.
20 The author was subsequently elected Abbot of Ampleforth, whence he continued to keep intouch, and now visits Santiago three times a year at their invitation to support the growingMovement in any ways that he can.
21 Nostra Aetate opened up the possibilities for dialogue. The Secretariat which was set up after theSecond Vatican Council later became, and remains today, the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.
22 RB 1980, 7:67.
References
Barry, Patrick, OSB (Abbot of Ampleforth, 1984–1997). A Cloister in the World. St Louis, MO:published for private use by the Abbey of St Mary and St Louis.
St Benedict. The Rule of St Benedict in English. Translated by Timothy Fry. Collegeville, MN: TheLiturgical Press, 1982.
———. The Rule of St Benedict. Translated by Patrick Barry, OSB. Ampleforth Abbey Press.Distributed by Leominster: Gracewing, 1997.
Cary-Elwes, Columba, OSB. Work and Prayer: The Rule of St Benedict for Lay People. Using thetranslation of the Rule by Sr Catherine Wybourne, OSB. London: Burns & Oates, 1992.
Fry, Timothy, ed. Rule of St Benedict in Latin and English with Notes (RB 1980). Collegeville, MN:The Liturgical Press, 1981.
Gregory the Great. The Life and Miracles of St Benedict. Translated by Odo J. Zimmermann, OSBand Benedict R. Avery, OSB. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1980.
Nostra Aetate. ‘Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions,Promulgated on 28 October 1965.’ In Nostra Aetate. edited by Austin Flannery, OP, VaticanCouncil II, the Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, Vatican Collection Vol. 1, rev. ed.Leominster: Fowler Wright, 1988: 738–742.
Rains, Scott, ed. The Rule of St Benedict Library, Primary and Secondary Sources. Collegeville, MN:The Liturgical Press, 1999.
Rohtert, Sister Agatha. ‘A Vision Will Come True: Benedictine Women and Men.’ Translatedfrom German ‘Benediktinerinnen und Beneditktiner, Werdendes Gleichgewicht’, 2001,available from Abtei St. Scholastika, Burgallee 3. D-49413, Dinklage, Germany, or [email protected]
Sheldrake, Philip. A Brief History of Spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.de Waal, Esther. Seeking God, the Way of St Benedict. London: Collins, Fount Paperbacks in
association with Faith Press, 1984.Ward, Sister Benedicta, SLG (trans.). The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. London and Oxford:
Mowbray, 1975.——— (trans. and intro). The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks. Harmondsworth:
Penguin Books, 2003.
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