Holy Rule for March 8

[St. Mary's Monastery]

+PAX
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule

March 8, July 8, November 7
Chapter 31: What Kind of Man the Cellarer of the Monastery Should Be (1-12)

As cellarer of the monastery let there be chosen from the community one who is wise, of mature character, sober, not a great eater, not haughty, not excitable, not offensive, not slow, not wasteful, but a God-fearing man who may be like a father to the whole community. Let him have charge of everything. He shall do nothing without the Abbot's orders, but keep to his instructions.

Let him not vex the brethren. If any brother happens to make some unreasonable demand of him, instead of vexing the brother with a contemptuous refusal he should humbly give the reason for denying the improper request. Let him keep guard over his own soul, mindful always of the Apostle's saying that "he who has ministered well will acquire for himself a good standing" (1 Tim. 3:13). Let him take the greatest care of the sick, of children, of guests and of the poor, knowing without doubt that he will have to render an account for all these on the Day of Judgment.

Let him regard all the utensils of the monastery and its whole property as if they were the sacred vessels of the altar. Let him not think that he may neglect anything. He should be neither a miser nor a prodigal and squanderer of the monastery's substance, but should do all things with measure and in accordance with the Abbot's instructions.

REFLECTION

The Abbot is father to the family, in all respects. Some of those, however, are delegated to others, so that no one, not even the Abbot, may be overburdened. In one sense, the Abbot may be said to be the father in things spiritual and the cellarer in things material. It is interesting that St. Benedict requires very similar qualities in both.

What lies beneath that requirement is the Benedictine view of property, of goods, of the earth itself. We scorn excess, in either direction, but we do not scorn the material world, we reverence it as if it were one of the vessels of the altar! We see creation for what it truly is: a stupendous and free gift of God to all.

While we always place people before things, we demand that both people and things be the objects of downright exquisite care. We love both because they are God's gifts, because they are both the means of sustaining our lives for God's ends. We must avoid erroneous ideas about the goods we administer: stinginess, hoarding, acquisitiveness.

All of these traits translate very easily into the family sphere. Parents need to achieve a sane balance in regards to material things. They need not to be career-driven workaholics, but they must also avoid being poor providers through lack of concern. The key to the middle way is love, as usual. Love the family members more than anything worldly and the rest falls more or less into place. If children know that they come before things, they have learned a lesson that they will pass on for the rest of their lives.

Face it, many a rich, spoiled child, immersed in privilege, feels unloved. Things are never an adequate substitute for our HEARTS, which are what God, St. Benedict and the Holy Rule ask us to give without reserve. It is the love, the genuine love, that a child (or anyone else, for that matter!) will remember. All the rest is nothing.

Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)