The Benedictine Rule

The vocation of the monk is nothing else than the vocation of a Christian. A vocation, that is, a call of God to give up certain legitimate goods, to follow it more closely in order to facilitate the way to holiness; renunciations that lead to true perfection. In the Benedictine Rule, there is the triple promise, or the three monastic vows: obedience, silence and humility, parallel to those of poverty, chastity and obedience that are made in other religious families such as the Franciscans.

Saint Benedict gives essential importance to the matter of poverty. In fact, chapter 33 of the Rule begins, asking whether the monks should have something in common, referring to the private ownership of the monks he states that, "Above all, this evil practice

Prayer was supposed to be a vocational work for the monk, without prayer the monastic life was not sustained. “After the Work of God, all should leave in complete silence and with reverence for God, so that a brother who may wish to pray alone will not be disturbed by the insensitivity of another.” Monks were required to perform physical labor of some sort. “Idleness is the enemy of the soul.” In other words, work as a means of sustenance in the monastery was necessary and was a sign of praise to God. Therefore, “St. Benedict stressed the importance of the person and the relationship of living together.” Also, the Rule gave authority to the Abbot of the monastery whom at the same time had an obligation to consult with the rest of the community the most important issues. Therefore, the whole life of the Benedictine monks was organized from this Rule: duties, obedience, silence, prayer, singing, mealtimes, sleep time, dress and footwear, and so

Benedict is the distribution of goods within the community. St. Benedict based the practice of poverty on the ideal of a community of goods. Monks, “without an order from the abbot, no one may presume to give, receive or retain anything as his own” , because “since monks may not have the free disposal even of their own bodies and wills.” The monks were very much limited to having a lot of possessions, their lifestyle did not require much, and they had what was needed and not more. Excessive possessions were a distraction for the monks; they needed to be free in order to live a healthy life in the community focused on prayer and work. Monastic poverty was conversions to a life were the most important task was to seek God. The monks were expected to have a positive attitude and value of material things as well as a wise administration of the house of God. According to this, the community or monastery had the necessary assets to develop its life. In summary, the monks had to completely renounce their property and try to live in such a way that eliminated from them the tendency towards