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Rule Of Saint Benedict
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| Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions,
and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from a
father who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice.
The labor of obedience will bring you back to him from whom you had
drifted through the sloth of disobedience. This message of mine 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 true King, Christ the Lord. First of all, every time you begin
a good work, you must pray to him most earnestly to bring it to
perfection. In this goodness, he has already counted us as his sons,
and therefore we should never grieve him by our evil actions. With his
good gifts which are in us, we must obey him at all times that he may
never become the angry father who disinherits his sons, nor the dread
lord, enraged by our sins, who punishes us forever as worthless
servants for refusing to follow him to glory Let us get up then, at
long last, for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: It is high
time for us to arise from sleep (Rom 13:11). Let us open our eyes
to the light that comes from God, and our ears to the voice from heaven
that every day calls out this charge: If you hear his voice today,
do not harden your hearts (Ps 94 [95]:8). And again, You that
have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches
(Rev 2:7). And what does he say? Come and listen to me, sons; I will
teach you the fear of the Lord (Ps 33 [34]:12). Run while you
have the light of life, that the darkness of death may not overtake you
(John 12:35). Seeking his workman in a multitude of people, the Lord
calls out to him and lifts his voice again: Is there anyone here who
yearns for life and desires to see good days? (Ps 33 [34]:13) If
you hear this and your answer is "I do," God then directs
these words to you: If you desire true and eternal life, keep your
tongue free from vicious talk and your lips from all deceit; turn away
from evil and do good; let peace be your guest and aim (Ps 33
[34]:14-15). Once you have done this, my eyes will be upon you and
my ears will listen for your prayers; and even before you ask me, I
will say to you: Here I am (Isa 58:9). What, dear brothers , is
more delightful than this voice of the Lord calling to us? See how the
Lord in his love shows us the way of life. Clothed then with faith and
the performance of good works, let us set out on this way, with the
Gospel for our guide, that we may deserve to see him who has called
us to his kingdom (1 Thess 2:12). If we wish to dwell in the tent
of this kingdom, we will never arrive unless we run there by doing good
deeds. But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet: Who will dwell in
your tent, Lord; who will find rest upon your holy mountain? (Ps 14
[15]:1) After this question, brothers, let us listen well to what the
Lord says in reply, for he shows us the way to his tent. One who
walks without blemish, he says, and is just in all his dealings;
who speaks the truth from his heart and has not practiced deceit with
his tongue; who has not wronged a fellowman in any way, nor listened to
slanders against his neighbor (Ps 14 [15]:3). He has foiled the
evil one, the devil, at every turn, flinging both him and his
promptings far from the sight of his heart. While these temptations
were still young, he caught hold of them and dashed them against Christ
(Ps 14 [15]:4 & 136 [137]:9). These people fear the Lord,
and do not become elated over their good deeds; they judge it is the
Lord's power, not their own, that brings about the good in them. They
praise (Ps 14 [15]:4) the Lord working in them, and say with the
Prophet: Not to us, Lord, not to us give the glory, but to your name
alone (Ps 113 [115:1]:9). In just this way Paul the Apostle refused
to take credit for the power of his preaching. He declared: By God's
grace I am what I am (1 Cor 15:10). And again he said: He who
boasts should make his boast in the Lord (2 Cor 10:17). That is why
the Lord says in the Gospel: Whoever hears these words of mine and
does them is like a wise man who built his house upon rock; the floods
came and the winds blew and beat against the house, but it did not
fall; it was founded on rock (Matt 7:24-25). With this conclusion,
the Lord waits for us daily to translate into action, as we should, his
holy teachings. Therefore our life span has been lengthened by way of a
truce, that we may amend our misdeeds. As the Apostle says: Do you
not know that the patience of God is leading you to repent (Rom
2:4)? And indeed the Lord assures us in his love: I do not wish the
death of the sinner, but that he turn back to me and live (Ezek
33:11). Brothers, now that we have asked the Lord who will dwell in his
tent, we have heard the instruction for dwelling in it, but only if we
fulfill the obligations of those who live there. We must, then, prepare
our hearts and bodies for the battle of holy obedience to is
instructions. What is not possible to us by nature, let us ask the Lord
to supply by the help of his grace. If we wish to reach eternal life,
even as we avoid the torments of hell, then - while there is still
time, while we are in this body and have time to accomplish all these
things by the light of life -we must run and do now what will profit us
forever. Therefore we intend to establish a school for the Lord's
service. In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing
harsh, nothing burdensome. The good of all concerned, however, may
prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and to
safeguard love. Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from
the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the
outset. But as we progress in his way of life and in faith, we shall
run on the path of God's commandments, our hearts overflowing with the
inexpressible delight of love. Never swerving from his instructions,
then, but faithfully observing his teaching in the monastery until
death, we shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that
we may deserve also to share in his kingdom. Amen
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