Notes of a Talk at the Chaplaincy of the University of Aberdeen, 2 March 2026.

Throughout history, the Lord raises up figures who become luminaries for others, guides to the following of Christ. St Benedict is one of them. In her Liturgy, the Church calls him “a master in the school of the Lord’s service”, and this he has been not just for monks and nuns but also for the lay faithful. His Rule is, after the New Testament, the Christian writing most copied and printed. He called it “a little rule for beginners”. It has a Prologue and 73 chapters, mainly short.

St Benedict (c.480-547) came from central Italy. The epoch became turbulent, with its share of war, famine and ecclesial confusion. He turned to the monastic life after studies in Rome, founded a few monasteries near Subiaco and later at Monte Cassino, and wrote a Rule. Some 50 or so years later, Pope Gregory devoted part of his Dialogues to recounting his life. From 8^th c his story and his Rule caught on and Benedictine monasticism spread through Western Europe, lived by both women and men. He is regarded as the father of Western monasticism and is a Patron of Europe. Benedictine monasticism became one of the formative elements of the Catholic Church in the West and of Western civilisation. From the late 12^th / early 13^th centuries, other forms of religious life appeared, and events like the Protestant Reformation and the Napoleonic wars would weaken its presence. But Benedictine monasticism has proved resilient and since the 19^th c, the Benedictine life has spread to the Americas, Africa and Asia, and St Benedict’s teaching has found a home among the laity.

His spirituality echoes the wisdom of Scripture, the Church of the Fathers and early monasticism. It pre-dates the schism with the East. It is more than merely “modern”. Benedictine monasticism may be compared to a deeply rooted tree which has grown high and broad, to this day providing nourishment and shelter to many.

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          St Benedict’s spirituality – his way of conceiving and living the following of Christ – is one, strong form of monastic spirituality. It offers three things:

1. An overall “take” or vision of the Christian life, one “simply Christian”.

Life is seen as

1. a) a journey, a way, a return to God, a search for heaven, life being a time for forming a relationship which will flower in eternal life;
2. b) a journey made in the wake of Christ, a sequela Christi, guided by his word. For St Benedict, the relationship with Christ is central. Three times he calls the monk “to prefer nothing to Christ”. His spirituality is emphatically Christocentric.
3. c) a journey requiring vigorous human doing and the practice of good works, sustained by divine grace (the action of the Holy Spirit).

One can see how life here is lived within a Trinitarian framework, echoing that of the Liturgy: to the Father, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit.

A key element is that this journey is made with others, within a structured community, guided by a a Rule and an Abbot. Benedictine spirituality is strongly cenobitic, communitarian; it involves brothers and sisters.

2. A privileging of certain specific behavioural values i.e. attitudes and virtues.

Primacy belongs to the two great commandments, the love of God and love of neighbour. The other virtues flow from serve these.

The qualities or virtues highlighted fall into several clusters:

reverence, the fear of God, the honouring of human beings, respect for authority, a sensitivity to the value of material things;

stability, rootedness, consistency, perseverance;

silence, listening, attentiveness;

obedience, patience, humility (paschal virtues);

prayer, personal and public, the constant praise and supplication of God;

practical care of others, the poor, the sick, the “weak” in general, and the welcoming of guests.

These qualities can be regarded as reflections in us of the qualities of Christ, as what happens to a person in love, to someone who encounters Christ.

3. Certain practices.

Historically, Benedictine monasteries have engages in a great variety of activities: the celebration of the liturgy always has a primacy, but with that can go the ordinary domestic work of a community, not least in the kitchen; hospitality; the care of the sick, education, study, scholarship and writing, agriculture and horticulture, arts and crafts, missionary work.

Three daily practices, however, stand out:

the praying of the Divine Office, at the heart of which is psalmody;

reading, lectio divina, the reading, study and praying of Scripture;

work, including manual work.

The first engages the spirit, the second the mind, the third the body. Thus, the whole person journeys towards God.

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          What would be the fruit, the harvest or issue of a life lived according to Benedictine spirituality?

There is no single, simple answer, perhaps though some may be suggested:

Peace, internal, but also external – the Benedictine “thing” tending to create small worlds, microcosms, houses or islands of tranquillity and order, embracing God, others and the world of nature. “In this place I will give peace” (Haggai 2:9).

Enlargement of the heart, a biblical phrase St Benedict uses towards the end of the Prologue to his Rule

Humble Love

Benedictine spirituality, well lived, tends to root us in the heart of Christ, of the Church, of a community, of life and the world.

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          It should be clear that even without vows of chastity, poverty, obedience and without belonging to a “religious” community, this vision, these virtues and practices can be incorporated into the lay life of Christians and prove formative and life-giving, rooting us in Christ and bringing forth fruit in patience.