Holy Rule for March 18
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St. Mary's Monastery
Mar 17, 2026, 5:43:11 PMMar 17
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Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 18, July 18, November 17
Chapter 39: On the Measure of Food
We think it sufficient for the daily dinner, whether at the sixth or the ninth hour, that every table have two cooked dishes on account of individual infirmities, so that he who for some reason cannot eat of the one may make his meal of the other. Therefore let two cooked dishes suffice for all the brethren; and if any fruit or fresh vegetables are available, let a third dish be added.
Let a good pound weight of bread suffice for the day, whether there be only one meal or both dinner and supper. If they are to have supper, the cellarer shall reserve a third of that pound, to be given them at supper.
But if it happens that the work was heavier, it shall lie within the Abbot's discretion and power, should it be expedient, to add something to the fare. Above all things, however, over-indulgence must be avoided and a monk must never be overtaken by indigestion; for there is nothing so opposed to the Christian character as over-indulgence according to Our Lord's words, "See to it that your hearts be not burdened with over-indulgence" (Luke 21:34).
Young boys shall not receive the same amount of food as their elders, but less; and frugality shall be observed in all circumstances.
Except the sick who are very weak, let all abstain entirely from eating the flesh of four-footed animals.
REFLECTION
The Benedictine golden mean is that of the Lord Himself: we avoid over-indulgence because it burdens our hearts. This is true of any over-indulgence: food, drink, property. Our hearts are truly burdened by our excess, weighed down, kept from flight. Our hearts lag and fall with the awful results of having ourselves in charge of them!
For those in the developed countries, this chapter on food can be a very good starting point of surrender. The Western nations in general and the U.S. in particular are spoiled rotten with food. Our notoriously poor diet choices are to blame for many health risks and I confess that I am just as guilty as anyone, even if I am trying to do a little better. Might not food be one of the healthiest and most logical places for ascetic striving to begin?
The questions of diet raised here were looked at in purely monastic terms, as self-denial and penitential living. No one knew about cholesterol or fiber or many of the illnesses associated today with eating habits. Wasn't in their vocabulary.
Fast forward to the present. Red meat tastes great. I love it. NOTHING like a medium rare prime rib! Sadly, that is true in more than one sense, especially if you eat all the fat! Today we know that the eating habits encouraged here are worth a lot more than simple asceticism, they are healthy. Given that, something a lot more binding than the Holy Rule bids us look more closely: the 5th commandment, which insists that we not kill ourselves, either, that we must guard our health.
Granted, the times of meals stated here do not fit very well into a 40 hour week of work and school. Not to worry. Our call here is to adapt. The content of monastic meals can be a big boon to health. Less meat, more beans, less beef, more chicken, buy decent bread and eat more of it. Or make your own! (Remember that bread machine that hardly got used after Christmas?) These are things one can gradually introduce to a family, too, provided one is a good cook. An extra meatless day or two a week is hardly noticed if you serve really good fare. Try dishes from the peasant cuisines of the world that stretch a very little meat a very long way.
This Benedictine-inspired diet will not only be better for you and your family, it will benefit the planet, too. Grain-fed beef makes a horrible dent in the ecology and economy of the world, to say nothing of throwing effort and harvests into cattle that could feed starving human beings.
Remember that earlier injunction about treating the goods of the monastery as sacred vessels of the altar? Well, the greatest goods any monastery or family has are its members and the planet that supports them. To own that fact is the beginning of a Benedictine ecology. Our diets are excellent places to make choices healthy for us and all the planet. We need to find the balance- and that is often hard. But, with God's help and Divine Mercy, we can do all!
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 18, July 18, November 17
Chapter 39: On the Measure of Food
We think it sufficient for the daily dinner, whether at the sixth or the ninth hour, that every table have two cooked dishes on account of individual infirmities, so that he who for some reason cannot eat of the one may make his meal of the other. Therefore let two cooked dishes suffice for all the brethren; and if any fruit or fresh vegetables are available, let a third dish be added.
Let a good pound weight of bread suffice for the day, whether there be only one meal or both dinner and supper. If they are to have supper, the cellarer shall reserve a third of that pound, to be given them at supper.
But if it happens that the work was heavier, it shall lie within the Abbot's discretion and power, should it be expedient, to add something to the fare. Above all things, however, over-indulgence must be avoided and a monk must never be overtaken by indigestion; for there is nothing so opposed to the Christian character as over-indulgence according to Our Lord's words, "See to it that your hearts be not burdened with over-indulgence" (Luke 21:34).
Young boys shall not receive the same amount of food as their elders, but less; and frugality shall be observed in all circumstances.
Except the sick who are very weak, let all abstain entirely from eating the flesh of four-footed animals.
REFLECTION
The Benedictine golden mean is that of the Lord Himself: we avoid over-indulgence because it burdens our hearts. This is true of any over-indulgence: food, drink, property. Our hearts are truly burdened by our excess, weighed down, kept from flight. Our hearts lag and fall with the awful results of having ourselves in charge of them!
For those in the developed countries, this chapter on food can be a very good starting point of surrender. The Western nations in general and the U.S. in particular are spoiled rotten with food. Our notoriously poor diet choices are to blame for many health risks and I confess that I am just as guilty as anyone, even if I am trying to do a little better. Might not food be one of the healthiest and most logical places for ascetic striving to begin?
The questions of diet raised here were looked at in purely monastic terms, as self-denial and penitential living. No one knew about cholesterol or fiber or many of the illnesses associated today with eating habits. Wasn't in their vocabulary.
Fast forward to the present. Red meat tastes great. I love it. NOTHING like a medium rare prime rib! Sadly, that is true in more than one sense, especially if you eat all the fat! Today we know that the eating habits encouraged here are worth a lot more than simple asceticism, they are healthy. Given that, something a lot more binding than the Holy Rule bids us look more closely: the 5th commandment, which insists that we not kill ourselves, either, that we must guard our health.
Granted, the times of meals stated here do not fit very well into a 40 hour week of work and school. Not to worry. Our call here is to adapt. The content of monastic meals can be a big boon to health. Less meat, more beans, less beef, more chicken, buy decent bread and eat more of it. Or make your own! (Remember that bread machine that hardly got used after Christmas?) These are things one can gradually introduce to a family, too, provided one is a good cook. An extra meatless day or two a week is hardly noticed if you serve really good fare. Try dishes from the peasant cuisines of the world that stretch a very little meat a very long way.
This Benedictine-inspired diet will not only be better for you and your family, it will benefit the planet, too. Grain-fed beef makes a horrible dent in the ecology and economy of the world, to say nothing of throwing effort and harvests into cattle that could feed starving human beings.
Remember that earlier injunction about treating the goods of the monastery as sacred vessels of the altar? Well, the greatest goods any monastery or family has are its members and the planet that supports them. To own that fact is the beginning of a Benedictine ecology. Our diets are excellent places to make choices healthy for us and all the planet. We need to find the balance- and that is often hard. But, with God's help and Divine Mercy, we can do all!
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
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