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Holy Rule for March 3
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St. Mary's Monastery
Mar 2, 2025, 4:58:07 PMMar 2
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Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 3, July 3, November 2
Chapter 26: On Those Who Without an Order Associate with the Excommunicated
If any sister presumes without an order from the Abbess to associate in any way with an excommunicated sister, or to speak with her, or to send her a message, let her incur a similar punishment of excommunication.
REFLECTION
When punishment is necessary, the community should support it, at least passively. This united front should be far different from the human tendency we often see to abandon those in trouble. Quite the reverse, like everything in the Holy Rule, this must be fueled by the concern born of love. Times of crisis like this should awaken us to the necessary depth of love and prayer for all.
Hard though it may sometimes be, we may not rejoice at the downfall of another. We must participate in common punishments because they are for the good of all, but also because they are primarily for the good of the offender, whom we must love. Admittedly, sometimes the only way one can express that concern is prayer, but we must pray!
Sometimes, both superiors and communities can have an inordinate fear of giving punishment. What if she leaves? Yeah, what if....? Maybe she is supposed to leave, maybe this is God's way of telling her something about herself that she cannot see. Some people who really, truly do not belong in monastic life cannot be convinced of this.
Some find the Rule harsh in this respect, but there is a great love and mercy here. The Holy Rule forbids what many people in groups will do: passive aggression. We cannot just wordlessly force the person out without a clue as to why.
Punishment must be named and specific, the offender must know and those around her must care. It may in fact force a monk out, but he will know why when he leaves. This is vastly different from the ordinary human means of exclusion and expulsion. It includes grace. It includes love. Lots of love! And its justice is always somehow wrapped in mercy.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 3, July 3, November 2
Chapter 26: On Those Who Without an Order Associate with the Excommunicated
If any sister presumes without an order from the Abbess to associate in any way with an excommunicated sister, or to speak with her, or to send her a message, let her incur a similar punishment of excommunication.
REFLECTION
When punishment is necessary, the community should support it, at least passively. This united front should be far different from the human tendency we often see to abandon those in trouble. Quite the reverse, like everything in the Holy Rule, this must be fueled by the concern born of love. Times of crisis like this should awaken us to the necessary depth of love and prayer for all.
Hard though it may sometimes be, we may not rejoice at the downfall of another. We must participate in common punishments because they are for the good of all, but also because they are primarily for the good of the offender, whom we must love. Admittedly, sometimes the only way one can express that concern is prayer, but we must pray!
Sometimes, both superiors and communities can have an inordinate fear of giving punishment. What if she leaves? Yeah, what if....? Maybe she is supposed to leave, maybe this is God's way of telling her something about herself that she cannot see. Some people who really, truly do not belong in monastic life cannot be convinced of this.
Some find the Rule harsh in this respect, but there is a great love and mercy here. The Holy Rule forbids what many people in groups will do: passive aggression. We cannot just wordlessly force the person out without a clue as to why.
Punishment must be named and specific, the offender must know and those around her must care. It may in fact force a monk out, but he will know why when he leaves. This is vastly different from the ordinary human means of exclusion and expulsion. It includes grace. It includes love. Lots of love! And its justice is always somehow wrapped in mercy.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
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