Holy Rule for January 28
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St. Mary's Monastery
Jan 27, 2026, 6:52:17 PMJan 27
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Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
January 28, May 29, September 28
Chapter 7: On Humility (19-23)
As for self-will, we are forbidden to do our own will by the Scripture, which says to us, "Turn away from your own will" (Eccles.18:30), and likewise by the prayer in which we ask God that His will be done in us. And rightly are we taught not to do our own will when we take heed to the warning of Scripture: "There are ways which seem right, but the ends of them plunge into the depths of hell" (Prov.16:25); and also when we tremble at what is said of the careless: "They are corrupt and have become abominable in their will." And as for the desires of the flesh, let us believe with the Prophet that God is ever present to us, when he says to the Lord, "Every desire of mine is before You" (Ps.37:10).
REFLECTION
Revolutions usually have several things in common: they go too far in some areas, not far enough in others and they tend to brand those not agreeing with them as criminal or psychotic. Look at Soviet Russia for most of the 20th century and you will see all of these. Look further back at the French Revolution and you will find that 1917 in Petrograd was hardly very new, perhaps new names for certain aspects, but little else.
The last decades of the 20th century saw a tremendous psychological revolution in the West. Its effects were perhaps greatest in some religious circles, where those once wary of psychology now embraced it more or less wholesale, and not always with the best of tool kits in either theology or psychology.
Parts of our psycho-spiritual world view definitely needed change and correction. Unfortunately, however, like the Bolsheviks and the French before them, some ardent revolutionaries shot the Imperial family and guillotined a lot of otherwise very fine people. Their zeal went a bit too far and they were often followed unquestioningly.
In those years, a close and scathing look was taken at religious obedience and the personal will. It seemed like a good idea. Sadly, but predictably, the pendulum swung in a very un-Benedictine fashion to the opposite extreme: question everything and accept nothing. Personal will, formerly maligned as a foolish, worthless and even dangerous entity was now elevated to lofty, noble, nearly infallible heights that it frankly did not deserve.
Not astoundingly, both extremes missed the middle road of truth. ("Virtue stands in the middle way." Thanks very much, Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.) Going too far in either direction is perilous. Extremes become vices.
Human will unaided by God is at once potentially noble, yet dreadfully flawed. Without God and grace assisting, the prognosis is not good. For Christians, however, God's grace and aid are available, but they come at the price of cooperation, which demands a certain sacrifice of our own wills.
Our wills can be good and wonderful. It is, after all, with our wills that we answer God's call. But part of God's call is to forget the false self and its willful tantrums. Our wills are the natural habitat and environment of the false self- it thrives there!
It is harmful to spiritual growth and to community to infer too great a maturity or too little. Monastics are not children, but many adults have not totally arrived, either! It is foolish to trust those under our care with nothing, but equally so to empower them to virtually anything.
That's just not how monastic life works. St. Benedict bluntly says that his followers DESIRE to live under an abbot. We want and need that compass for true North. We affirm that when we embrace the Holy Rule, whether as newest Oblate novice or as Abbot Primate. Obedience is central to our spiritual path.
A good superior will keep one from being too easy on oneself, but will also protect one from being too hard on oneself. I cannot tell you the number of times submitting a matter to my superior has resulted in something far less gruesome than what I had obsessively planned for myself!
Many of the wonderful things said about personal will are true, to a point, but the revolution failed to emphasize the fact that our wills do NOT come with gyroscopes. As such, their trustworthiness as compasses is far from absolute.
The Gospel, the Rule, the superior: these are the gyroscopes that enable us to will true North! Without these helps, our journey could very easily make the first and last voyage of the Titanic look like a Sunday afternoon swan boat ride in Boston's Public Garden.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
January 28, May 29, September 28
Chapter 7: On Humility (19-23)
As for self-will, we are forbidden to do our own will by the Scripture, which says to us, "Turn away from your own will" (Eccles.18:30), and likewise by the prayer in which we ask God that His will be done in us. And rightly are we taught not to do our own will when we take heed to the warning of Scripture: "There are ways which seem right, but the ends of them plunge into the depths of hell" (Prov.16:25); and also when we tremble at what is said of the careless: "They are corrupt and have become abominable in their will." And as for the desires of the flesh, let us believe with the Prophet that God is ever present to us, when he says to the Lord, "Every desire of mine is before You" (Ps.37:10).
REFLECTION
Revolutions usually have several things in common: they go too far in some areas, not far enough in others and they tend to brand those not agreeing with them as criminal or psychotic. Look at Soviet Russia for most of the 20th century and you will see all of these. Look further back at the French Revolution and you will find that 1917 in Petrograd was hardly very new, perhaps new names for certain aspects, but little else.
The last decades of the 20th century saw a tremendous psychological revolution in the West. Its effects were perhaps greatest in some religious circles, where those once wary of psychology now embraced it more or less wholesale, and not always with the best of tool kits in either theology or psychology.
Parts of our psycho-spiritual world view definitely needed change and correction. Unfortunately, however, like the Bolsheviks and the French before them, some ardent revolutionaries shot the Imperial family and guillotined a lot of otherwise very fine people. Their zeal went a bit too far and they were often followed unquestioningly.
In those years, a close and scathing look was taken at religious obedience and the personal will. It seemed like a good idea. Sadly, but predictably, the pendulum swung in a very un-Benedictine fashion to the opposite extreme: question everything and accept nothing. Personal will, formerly maligned as a foolish, worthless and even dangerous entity was now elevated to lofty, noble, nearly infallible heights that it frankly did not deserve.
Not astoundingly, both extremes missed the middle road of truth. ("Virtue stands in the middle way." Thanks very much, Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas.) Going too far in either direction is perilous. Extremes become vices.
Human will unaided by God is at once potentially noble, yet dreadfully flawed. Without God and grace assisting, the prognosis is not good. For Christians, however, God's grace and aid are available, but they come at the price of cooperation, which demands a certain sacrifice of our own wills.
Our wills can be good and wonderful. It is, after all, with our wills that we answer God's call. But part of God's call is to forget the false self and its willful tantrums. Our wills are the natural habitat and environment of the false self- it thrives there!
It is harmful to spiritual growth and to community to infer too great a maturity or too little. Monastics are not children, but many adults have not totally arrived, either! It is foolish to trust those under our care with nothing, but equally so to empower them to virtually anything.
That's just not how monastic life works. St. Benedict bluntly says that his followers DESIRE to live under an abbot. We want and need that compass for true North. We affirm that when we embrace the Holy Rule, whether as newest Oblate novice or as Abbot Primate. Obedience is central to our spiritual path.
A good superior will keep one from being too easy on oneself, but will also protect one from being too hard on oneself. I cannot tell you the number of times submitting a matter to my superior has resulted in something far less gruesome than what I had obsessively planned for myself!
Many of the wonderful things said about personal will are true, to a point, but the revolution failed to emphasize the fact that our wills do NOT come with gyroscopes. As such, their trustworthiness as compasses is far from absolute.
The Gospel, the Rule, the superior: these are the gyroscopes that enable us to will true North! Without these helps, our journey could very easily make the first and last voyage of the Titanic look like a Sunday afternoon swan boat ride in Boston's Public Garden.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
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