Holy Rule for July 11
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St. Mary's Monastery
Jul 10, 2024, 5:30:20 PMJul 10
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Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 11, July 11, November 10
Chapter 33: Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own
This vice especially is to be cut out of the monastery by the roots. Let no one presume to give or receive anything without the Abbot's leave, or to have anything as his own -- anything whatever, whether book or tablets or pen or whatever it may be -- since they are not permitted to have even their bodies or wills at their own disposal; but for all their necessities let them look to the Father of the monastery. And let it be unlawful to have anything which the Abbot has not given or allowed. Let all things be common to all, as it is written (Acts 4:32), and let no one say or assume that anything is his own. But if anyone is caught indulging in this most wicked vice, let him be admonished once and a second time. If he fails to amend, let him undergo punishment.
REFLECTION
Benedictine poverty is easily translatable for the lay monastic, married or single, into terms of simplicity and detachment, a holy indifference to non-essentials. As such, it offers a powerful opportunity for a witness against some of the real falsehoods of modern consumerist society.
Benedictine teaching on material goods is based on needs, not desires. We ought to have all that is necessary and if, as sometimes happens, that is not possible, we ought not to grumble. Benedictine simplicity insists that we live in the moment of now with gratitude.
Does your family have all that you really need today? If so, then don't put your heart on hold till you can swing a below-ground swimming pool. That's exactly why inordinate desires can be so harmful: they DO put our hearts on hold, they take us out of the contented present and force us to live in an uncertain future of "when" and "if".
I get annoyed by discussions of simplicity that are so general that they leave people thinking: "Well, great, but how do I DO that?" Hence a few suggestions, not at all as norms, but just as ideas. With them comes a huge warning for Oblates who are spouses and parents. You can make choices like this for yourself, in some cases, even for the household, but you must never force such things on children or spouses. That can be disastrous and can produce the very same loss of serenity that simplicity is designed to protect us from.
Clothes. Almost everyone can make do with less, male or female. Before I became a monk, I generally had two pairs of slacks- one khaki and one navy blue. They looked preppy. They went with everything. Yes, after a while, people did notice I was always in one or the other, but so what? The shirts were different and I was clean. The shirts came from thrift shops: years of wear in good clothes for less than $5 a pop, less than $2 a pop if one waited till sale day.
Recycle in your own home. Towels go down from the bath, to the kitchen, to rags. With all the rags you will soon accumulate living this way, you can say goodbye to paper towels, unless there is some reason you really need them. Cloth napkins? Wow! They even seem a bit upscale and you can stop buying one-use paper. Trust me, ordinarily washing them once a week is fine.
This is not stinge, folks. Insofar as possible, consume stuff that is really good for you, avoid stuff that is wasteful or harmful. We become immune to the very high levels that our society actually encourages waste, almost demands it.
How many people over fifty recall their first reactions to disposable lighters, ballpoint pens and razors when they first came out? It was like: "Huh??? You throw them away???" When was the last time you bought a refill for a ballpoint pen? Now one hardly sees any pens BUT disposable ones. Big, big money and profits were made by the companies teaching us to throw away and waste the WHOLE item, not just the used part. We got used to that, sadly.
I went back to non-disposable razors some time ago, but they cost more than the throw away kind, which have filled who knows how many garbage dumps in 30 or 40 years. When I smoked, I had a Zippo lighter. It was a bit of a hassle to keep it in flints and fluid, but it meant that I spared the planet from at least a little plastic.
By the way, you don't do this because it will end over-consumption. It won't. The world has not moved to Schick razors and Zippos, nor are they likely to do so any time soon. What it does, and this is important, is limit your complicity in the nonsense. That, so long as one does not become self-righteous, can be an immensely freeing thing.
There is a certain truth to a Zen saying: the only thing that is lacking is the feeling that nothing is lacking. Modern consumerism thrives on and insists that we ALWAYS feel something is lacking. Not so, we can be free of that. Why be lied to anymore?
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 11, July 11, November 10
Chapter 33: Whether Monks Ought to Have Anything of Their Own
This vice especially is to be cut out of the monastery by the roots. Let no one presume to give or receive anything without the Abbot's leave, or to have anything as his own -- anything whatever, whether book or tablets or pen or whatever it may be -- since they are not permitted to have even their bodies or wills at their own disposal; but for all their necessities let them look to the Father of the monastery. And let it be unlawful to have anything which the Abbot has not given or allowed. Let all things be common to all, as it is written (Acts 4:32), and let no one say or assume that anything is his own. But if anyone is caught indulging in this most wicked vice, let him be admonished once and a second time. If he fails to amend, let him undergo punishment.
REFLECTION
Benedictine poverty is easily translatable for the lay monastic, married or single, into terms of simplicity and detachment, a holy indifference to non-essentials. As such, it offers a powerful opportunity for a witness against some of the real falsehoods of modern consumerist society.
Benedictine teaching on material goods is based on needs, not desires. We ought to have all that is necessary and if, as sometimes happens, that is not possible, we ought not to grumble. Benedictine simplicity insists that we live in the moment of now with gratitude.
Does your family have all that you really need today? If so, then don't put your heart on hold till you can swing a below-ground swimming pool. That's exactly why inordinate desires can be so harmful: they DO put our hearts on hold, they take us out of the contented present and force us to live in an uncertain future of "when" and "if".
I get annoyed by discussions of simplicity that are so general that they leave people thinking: "Well, great, but how do I DO that?" Hence a few suggestions, not at all as norms, but just as ideas. With them comes a huge warning for Oblates who are spouses and parents. You can make choices like this for yourself, in some cases, even for the household, but you must never force such things on children or spouses. That can be disastrous and can produce the very same loss of serenity that simplicity is designed to protect us from.
Clothes. Almost everyone can make do with less, male or female. Before I became a monk, I generally had two pairs of slacks- one khaki and one navy blue. They looked preppy. They went with everything. Yes, after a while, people did notice I was always in one or the other, but so what? The shirts were different and I was clean. The shirts came from thrift shops: years of wear in good clothes for less than $5 a pop, less than $2 a pop if one waited till sale day.
Recycle in your own home. Towels go down from the bath, to the kitchen, to rags. With all the rags you will soon accumulate living this way, you can say goodbye to paper towels, unless there is some reason you really need them. Cloth napkins? Wow! They even seem a bit upscale and you can stop buying one-use paper. Trust me, ordinarily washing them once a week is fine.
This is not stinge, folks. Insofar as possible, consume stuff that is really good for you, avoid stuff that is wasteful or harmful. We become immune to the very high levels that our society actually encourages waste, almost demands it.
How many people over fifty recall their first reactions to disposable lighters, ballpoint pens and razors when they first came out? It was like: "Huh??? You throw them away???" When was the last time you bought a refill for a ballpoint pen? Now one hardly sees any pens BUT disposable ones. Big, big money and profits were made by the companies teaching us to throw away and waste the WHOLE item, not just the used part. We got used to that, sadly.
I went back to non-disposable razors some time ago, but they cost more than the throw away kind, which have filled who knows how many garbage dumps in 30 or 40 years. When I smoked, I had a Zippo lighter. It was a bit of a hassle to keep it in flints and fluid, but it meant that I spared the planet from at least a little plastic.
By the way, you don't do this because it will end over-consumption. It won't. The world has not moved to Schick razors and Zippos, nor are they likely to do so any time soon. What it does, and this is important, is limit your complicity in the nonsense. That, so long as one does not become self-righteous, can be an immensely freeing thing.
There is a certain truth to a Zen saying: the only thing that is lacking is the feeling that nothing is lacking. Modern consumerism thrives on and insists that we ALWAYS feel something is lacking. Not so, we can be free of that. Why be lied to anymore?
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
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