Benedict of Nursia (480 - 542AD) grew up on a wealthy estate in Italy that was occupied by Ostrogoths. He studied the Roman classics and enrolled in a school of liberal sciences.[1] After several years of study, at the age of twenty, he realized he had little in common with his classmates who indulged in a cycle of study and drunken partying. Eventually, he left school and found his way to a cave 30 miles east of Rome, where he lived alone. He was determined to devote himself alone to the Lord. He desired no contact with anyone, having a monk deliver food to him by lowering a rope with a bell on it to the top of his cave. Over time, people heard about Benedict and sought him out for wise, godly counsel.
Ultimately, some monks visited him from a nearby monastery. Their abbot had recently died and they wanted Benedict to become their abbot. He refused but they continued to beg him, and eventually he relented. These young monks disliked his rules so much that eventually they tried to kill him by poisoning his wine. As the story goes, Benedict was praying over his cup of wine and when he made the sign of the cross over it, the cup shattered. At that moment he realized that his monks had attempted to kill him. Benedict turned to the monks who were filled with fear and said, “Almighty God of His mercy forgive you, Brethren, why have you dealt thus with me? Did not I foretell you that my manner of life and yours would not agree? Go, and seek a Superior to your liking; for you can have me no longer with you.”[2]
With that he left happy to live alone. Word quickly spread that he was again alone and many made their way to see him. Finally, Benedict realized that he must house and care for these spiritual seekers. This began his second attempt at a communal lifestyle at Monte Cassino, a place so remote that pagans still used a sacred grove of trees there as a location for worship. He destroyed the trees and pagan altars and built a monastery. He built twelve monasteries with twelve individuals in each and took on his own group of thirteen. From this he developed his Rule, now known as “The Rule of St. Benedict,” which became the standard rules for western monastic living.
His monasteries prevailed, in part, because his Rule provided stability and order. “The Rule strikes a balance between severity and moderation, structure and flexibility, general principles and specific rules, and it uses Scriptures throughout the entire document to support the guidelines it lays out.”[3] In addition, he added a vow to the traditional monastic vows. This vow of stability provided a long period called "novitiate" to determine if the person was serious about being in a monastery, and once an affirmative commitment was made, he gave them a lifelong placement. The stable monastic communities built on Benedict’s Rule contributed significantly to the spread and growth of Christianity during the Middle Ages. His Rule is a supremely helpful document to bridge New Testament discipleship to modern-day disciple making.
Listening
In the prologue of The Rule of St Benedict, he begins by positioning the monks (the learners) in the same place that a New Testament disciple would be in.
"Listen, my son, and with your heart hear the principles of your Master. Readily accept and fitfully follow the advice of a loving Father, so that through the labor of obedience you may return to him from who you have withdrawn because of the laziness of disobedience. My words are meant for you, whoever you are, who laying aside your own will, take up the fight under the true King, The Lord Jesus Christ."[4]
Without listening, there is no discipleship. At the heart of being a disciple is to fully submit your mind, heart and body to the one directing you toward God. To listen is central to the understanding and application of Scripture as it is to following our earthly rabbis (leaders), who in turn, as Paul wrote, are following The Rabbi, Jesus Christ. It is in listening that we can hear the voice of God, the voice of community and the voice in our self. This listening is closely associated to 2 Corinthians 3:18 and the question Francis of Assisi asked, “Who are you Lord, and who am I?”
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
The dynamics of formation as a disciple of Christ will only occur in the context of communal presence, intra/inter-personal presence and devotional presence (listening to community, listening to self, listening to God).[5] This trilateral of listening is woven into the Benedictine Rule fleshed out in communal monastic living. It is in listening that we become true disciples of Jesus Christ.
Jason Esposito
Lead Pastor
[1] Pope Gregory the Great, The Life of Our Most Holy Father Saint Benedict. Translated by Paul de Ferrariis. (Ignacio Hills Press, 1959), Kindle location 71-72.
[2] Pope Gregory the Great, The Life of Our Most Holy Father Saint Benedict. Translated by Paul de Ferrariis. (Ignacio Hills Press, 1959), Kindle location 137-146.
[3] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007),106-107.
[4] St. Benedict, The Rule of St. Benedict. Translated by Anthony Meisel and M.L. del Mastro. (New York: Image Book, 1943), Kindle location 593.
[5] Corne J Bekker Lecture SP 890 Bethel University, 2013.
