The Benedictine woman, having once committed
herself to Christ in response to the baptismal call to holiness, strengthens
her commitment to discipleship by embracing the vowed life in a public act
of monastic consecration. Monastic profession according to the Rule of Benedict
gives a distinctive form to the Christian life. Followers of the Rule seek
God in a community of persons who vow stability, conversion through the
monastic way of life (conversatio morum) , and obedience (RB 58:17). This
three-fold expression of a single commitment brings into being a monastic
style of Gospel living which frees the members to listen to the Spirit in
their personal and communal search for God.
Continuing commitment to the cenobitic way
of life in a particular monastery is the purpose of vowed stability. Benedictine
stability provides the opportunity for sisters to live together over a lifetime,
growing in faith, in mutual love, and in reverence (RB 72). Stability affords
the monastic many opportunities to confront life's basic questions: Who
am I? What is the meaning of my life?
As sisters enter into the dialogue of salvation and experience the healing
ministry of reconciliation, they come to know themselves and one another
more intimately. Experiences in community contribute to the self-knowledge
that frees the monastic to make a total gift of herself to God and then
to turn to others in relationships that are redemptive.
Community members evidence their unity when they invite one another to develop
self-knowledge and personal gifts and when they encourage one another in
the face of personal weaknesses. In a stable community the Benedictine woman
is called to develop her gifts and give expression to them in her life and
ministry. Vowed stability in a monastic community whose members are united
by love and mutual reverence witnesses to that mystery of salvation which
bonds strangers together in the love of Christ.
With her public profession of a commitment
to the monastic way of life under the Rule of Benedict, the monastic transcends
a static concept of perfection, responding to the Word of God calling her
in the daily events of her life in community and in the unfolding historical
situation. The Rule proposes that disciplined life in a stable community
of persons, all committed to seeking God, provides a suitable setting for
pursuing this goal of radical conversion to the reign of God. The Rule also
proclaims that each person can receive the necessary support for evangelical
conversion in a vital community of believers and seekers who share faith,
pray unceasingly, accept the ascetical discipline of the Rule, show one
another loving concern, and bear one another's weaknesses (RB P:45-50).
Through fidelity to her vow of conversion through the monastic way of life,
the Benedictine woman acquires that sensitivity to God's presence in herself,
in others, and in the created world which helps her to grow in openness
(RB 19:1). This conversion becomes a reality in the life of a monastic through
her dedication to rebirth, growth, and final maturity in union with Christ.
In such a life the primary aim of the Benedictine vocation "to seek
god" (RB 58:7) is realized.
The monastic way presupposes commitment to consecrated celibacy and poverty.
By sharing deeply on human and spiritual levels, the members of the cenobitic
community sustain one another in celibate love. The Benedictine way provides
a form of community life in which members can maintain supportive and loving
relationships over a long period of time in an atmosphere of faith, affirmation
and healing.
Furthermore, through the daily experiences of life in monastic community,
the Benedictine woman finds many opportunities to be a life-giver and an
instrument of redemptive love. In her daily efforts to be faithful to the
Word of God, she will have to empty herself for others as Christ emptied
himself for all (RB 35). In lifelong covenant with her sisters, the monastic
woman nevertheless risks having her love unreturned even as she grows in
her sensitive concern for others. By her fidelity to the paradoxical emptiness
and fullness of celibacy, she is a sign of the dawning reign of God.
Her commitment to the monastic form of the Christian life also means that
the Benedictine woman holds all goods in common with her sisters (RB 33:6),
dresses simply (RB 55:7), and renounces the possession and accumulation
of material goods (RB:34). Her single-minded seeking of God under the guidance
of the Gospel, her openness and availability to others, her simplicity of
lifestyle, and her readiness to turn away from self-centeredness are further
expressions of evangelical poverty.
Lifelong Monastic conversion disposes the Benedictine
woman to a detached and reverent use of things and to a contemplative grasp
of the goodness of all creation. Through her wise and generous use of goods,
she testifies that whatever resources she has are a gift of God held in
stewardship (RB 31:10-12).
With her monastic community she will have many
opportunities to live simply and to help in alleviating oppression. She
will learn to share both spiritual and material resources not only with
her sisters but also with those in need (RB 31:9). By their awareness and
sensitive response to the needs of oppressed peoples, monastic communities
proclaim the Christian conviction that possession of property is not an
absolute right, and that amassing wealth by depriving others of the basic
necessities of life is immoral and unchristian.
Faithful to evangelical poverty in these ways, the Benedictine woman proclaims
that an abundance of life comes through generous service to the reign of
God on earth in the anticipation of its fulfillment when Christ shall come
again in glory.
The monastic commitment to obedience can best
be understood by a careful consideration of Christ's attentive listening
throughout his life to the revelation of the will of God (RB P:1-3; RB 5).
The cenobitic woman gives expression to her profession of monastic obedience
by listening and responding to God's daily self-revelation especially through
lectio divina, the opus Dei, and the Eucharist (RB 19:1-2); by her participation
in cenobitic authority as she joins the prioress and other members of the
community in prayerful reflection and decision-making (RB 3:1); and by her
acceptance of the authority vested in the prioress through the Holy Rule
(RB 3:5). When a decision has been reached or a policy established, the
cenobitic woman accepts it with a sincere effort to be open to its value
and truth (RB 5:14). By her fidelity in obedience she upholds the unity
through which the community manifests God's loving purpose among all peoples.
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© Federation of St. Scholatica, 1997