Holy Rule for April 2
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St. Mary's Monastery
Apr 1, 2026, 6:24:21 PM (3 days ago) Apr 1
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Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
April 2, August 2, December 2
Chapter 51: On Brethren Who Go Not Very Far Away
A Brother who is sent out on some business and is expected to return to the monastery that same day shall not presume to eat while he is out, even if he is urgently requested to do so by any person whomsoever, unless he has permission from his Abbot. And if he acts otherwise, let him be excommunicated.
REFLECTION
Coming right on the heels of the prescription to say the Office while away, it is easy to see that these two chapters are not just about eating and praying. The principle involved here is that one's monastic commitment does not switch off when one leaves the property. It is there all the time.
Parents can identify with this readily. Children are not told to avoid drugs only at home. The moral values that parents try to instill are a way of life that (hopefully!) will be carried with the child in every situation. My high school promised that students who failed our standards AFTER school hours, on the way home, would be punished. If they were wearing our uniform, they were expected to reflect a certain standard of behavior.
What St. Benedict is doing is pointing out that monasticism is not merely a job, a burden one doffs and dons. Monastic life is a becoming, not a set of standards one only follows when one is closely watched. The goal of monastic discipline is to make the disciple a monk more or less by nature. In this respect, it closely resembles any training: nursing school is designed to make people nurses, law school to make attorneys, and so forth. The difference is that monasticism is not a set number of hours per week, it's all the week, all the life. Just as any nurse in a disaster can instantly shift into nursing mode, whether on duty or not, the spiritually trained monastic is operative everywhere, not just in the cloister.
This is a fine and consoling point for Oblates who must live abroad. Lovely though our monasteries may be, they are not what makes monastics. That is something deep within, a cloister of our hearts that we must learn to carry with us everywhere. Lots of people who must live in crowded and noisy cities actually do a better job of this than many monastics who live in rural peace. Take heart! It is not all about place. It is about heart, always heart. Train and fix your heart!
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
April 2, August 2, December 2
Chapter 51: On Brethren Who Go Not Very Far Away
A Brother who is sent out on some business and is expected to return to the monastery that same day shall not presume to eat while he is out, even if he is urgently requested to do so by any person whomsoever, unless he has permission from his Abbot. And if he acts otherwise, let him be excommunicated.
REFLECTION
Coming right on the heels of the prescription to say the Office while away, it is easy to see that these two chapters are not just about eating and praying. The principle involved here is that one's monastic commitment does not switch off when one leaves the property. It is there all the time.
Parents can identify with this readily. Children are not told to avoid drugs only at home. The moral values that parents try to instill are a way of life that (hopefully!) will be carried with the child in every situation. My high school promised that students who failed our standards AFTER school hours, on the way home, would be punished. If they were wearing our uniform, they were expected to reflect a certain standard of behavior.
What St. Benedict is doing is pointing out that monasticism is not merely a job, a burden one doffs and dons. Monastic life is a becoming, not a set of standards one only follows when one is closely watched. The goal of monastic discipline is to make the disciple a monk more or less by nature. In this respect, it closely resembles any training: nursing school is designed to make people nurses, law school to make attorneys, and so forth. The difference is that monasticism is not a set number of hours per week, it's all the week, all the life. Just as any nurse in a disaster can instantly shift into nursing mode, whether on duty or not, the spiritually trained monastic is operative everywhere, not just in the cloister.
This is a fine and consoling point for Oblates who must live abroad. Lovely though our monasteries may be, they are not what makes monastics. That is something deep within, a cloister of our hearts that we must learn to carry with us everywhere. Lots of people who must live in crowded and noisy cities actually do a better job of this than many monastics who live in rural peace. Take heart! It is not all about place. It is about heart, always heart. Train and fix your heart!
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
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