Holy Rule for March 29
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St. Mary's Monastery
Mar 28, 2026, 5:54:58 PM (7 days ago) Mar 28
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Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 29, July 29, November 28
Chapter 48: On the Daily Manual Labor (10-21)
From the Calends of October until the beginning of Lent, let them apply themselves to reading up to the end of the second hour. At the second hour let Terce be said, and then let all labor at the work assigned them until None. At the first signal for the Hour of None let everyone break off from her work and hold herself ready for the sounding of the second signal. After the meal let them apply themselves to their reading or to the Psalms.
On the days of Lent, from morning until the end of the third hour let them apply themselves to their reading, and from then until the end of the tenth hour let them do the work assigned them. And in these days of Lent they shall each receive a book from the library, which they shall read straight through from the beginning. These books are to be given out at the beginning of Lent. But certainly one or two of the seniors should be deputed to go about the monastery at the hours when the sisters are occupied in reading and see that there be no lazy sister who spends her time in idleness or gossip and does not apply herself to the reading, so that she is not only unprofitable to herself but also distracts others.
If such a one be found (which God forbid), let her be corrected once and a second time; if she does not amend, let her undergo the punishment of the Rule in such a way that the rest may take warning. Moreover, one sister shall not associate with another at inappropriate times.
REFLECTION
Lectio divina, sacred reading, is the Benedictine form of contemplation, more ancient than many later forms. Being so ancient, it comes with very few directions. Much of its method has been developed and handed down by monastics over the centuries since St. Benedict. Even in that embellished form, it remains a very, very simple and efficient means to contemplative prayer. One simply reads Scripture or the Fathers (or Mothers!) slowly, reflectively, ruminating (like a cow chewing its cud!) on each word and verse. As St. Romuald later observed, one waits like a chick for whatever its mother gives it. One does not read to get through the book. One reads to see if and when the Holy Spirit calls us to higher prayer with a word or phrase that strikes the heart. At that point, one should follow one's heart and not worry about finishing the page! Cleared for takeoff!
It is interesting that St. Benedict weaves all these schedules of contemplative reading and prayer together with his manual labor concerns, without any ado. There's another example of the dignity and holiness of work in a Benedictine theology. Our work, too, is prayer. It must be. We must, somehow, learn to be all prayer. That same ruminative attentiveness that colors our lectio must color our labor as well. It is a different form of attention, a different form of prayer, but it is prayer nonetheless! Just ask any gardener or cook with a mystical heart or, for that matter, any toilet cleaner or diaper changer of the same ilk!
The Carmelites prescribe mental prayer, which should, with recollection, spread throughout one's day. The hesychasts of Mount Athos, Romania and Russia stress the Jesus Prayer, said vocally until it becomes automatic in the heart at all times. Both of these are more explicit methodologies, but the Benedictine aim is the same: prayer without ceasing, prayer in choir and garden and cell, prayer at reading and prayer at work. Mindfulness of God at all times is the contemplative goal of all these systems.
This is just my own opinion, but I am inclined to think that the Dominican concept of contemplation comes closest to our own, largely because of their love of study. Study, for the Dominican, is often very similar to lectio in the Benedictine scheme of things. Why? Because the Dominican seeks Truth, and Jesus said: "I am the Truth." A Dominican could be reading just about anything and still know that every bit of real, objective truth garnered from that reading would be yet another shard, no matter how small, in the infinite mosaic of the face of Christ. That is a mosaic none of us shall ever complete in this life, but oh, how much more familiar He shall seem to us when we meet Him because of it!
Maybe I'm just prejudiced, but I think that a Dominican education, such as I had, is a wonderful preparation for Benedictine life. Prayers, please, for all the Dominicans, especially those who taught me.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 29, July 29, November 28
Chapter 48: On the Daily Manual Labor (10-21)
From the Calends of October until the beginning of Lent, let them apply themselves to reading up to the end of the second hour. At the second hour let Terce be said, and then let all labor at the work assigned them until None. At the first signal for the Hour of None let everyone break off from her work and hold herself ready for the sounding of the second signal. After the meal let them apply themselves to their reading or to the Psalms.
On the days of Lent, from morning until the end of the third hour let them apply themselves to their reading, and from then until the end of the tenth hour let them do the work assigned them. And in these days of Lent they shall each receive a book from the library, which they shall read straight through from the beginning. These books are to be given out at the beginning of Lent. But certainly one or two of the seniors should be deputed to go about the monastery at the hours when the sisters are occupied in reading and see that there be no lazy sister who spends her time in idleness or gossip and does not apply herself to the reading, so that she is not only unprofitable to herself but also distracts others.
If such a one be found (which God forbid), let her be corrected once and a second time; if she does not amend, let her undergo the punishment of the Rule in such a way that the rest may take warning. Moreover, one sister shall not associate with another at inappropriate times.
REFLECTION
Lectio divina, sacred reading, is the Benedictine form of contemplation, more ancient than many later forms. Being so ancient, it comes with very few directions. Much of its method has been developed and handed down by monastics over the centuries since St. Benedict. Even in that embellished form, it remains a very, very simple and efficient means to contemplative prayer. One simply reads Scripture or the Fathers (or Mothers!) slowly, reflectively, ruminating (like a cow chewing its cud!) on each word and verse. As St. Romuald later observed, one waits like a chick for whatever its mother gives it. One does not read to get through the book. One reads to see if and when the Holy Spirit calls us to higher prayer with a word or phrase that strikes the heart. At that point, one should follow one's heart and not worry about finishing the page! Cleared for takeoff!
It is interesting that St. Benedict weaves all these schedules of contemplative reading and prayer together with his manual labor concerns, without any ado. There's another example of the dignity and holiness of work in a Benedictine theology. Our work, too, is prayer. It must be. We must, somehow, learn to be all prayer. That same ruminative attentiveness that colors our lectio must color our labor as well. It is a different form of attention, a different form of prayer, but it is prayer nonetheless! Just ask any gardener or cook with a mystical heart or, for that matter, any toilet cleaner or diaper changer of the same ilk!
The Carmelites prescribe mental prayer, which should, with recollection, spread throughout one's day. The hesychasts of Mount Athos, Romania and Russia stress the Jesus Prayer, said vocally until it becomes automatic in the heart at all times. Both of these are more explicit methodologies, but the Benedictine aim is the same: prayer without ceasing, prayer in choir and garden and cell, prayer at reading and prayer at work. Mindfulness of God at all times is the contemplative goal of all these systems.
This is just my own opinion, but I am inclined to think that the Dominican concept of contemplation comes closest to our own, largely because of their love of study. Study, for the Dominican, is often very similar to lectio in the Benedictine scheme of things. Why? Because the Dominican seeks Truth, and Jesus said: "I am the Truth." A Dominican could be reading just about anything and still know that every bit of real, objective truth garnered from that reading would be yet another shard, no matter how small, in the infinite mosaic of the face of Christ. That is a mosaic none of us shall ever complete in this life, but oh, how much more familiar He shall seem to us when we meet Him because of it!
Maybe I'm just prejudiced, but I think that a Dominican education, such as I had, is a wonderful preparation for Benedictine life. Prayers, please, for all the Dominicans, especially those who taught me.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
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