Holy Rule for July 26
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St. Mary's Monastery
Jul 25, 2025, 5:53:23 PM7/25/25
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Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 26, July 26, November 25
Chapter 46: On Those Who Fail in Any Other Matters
When anyone is engaged in any sort of work, whether in the kitchen, in the cellar, in a shop, in the bakery, in the garden, while working at some craft, or in any other place, and she commits some fault, or breaks something, or loses something, or transgresses in any other way whatsoever, if she does not come immediately before the Abbess and the community of her own accord to make satisfaction and confess her fault, then when it becomes known through another, let her be subjected to a more severe correction. But if the sin-sickness of the soul is a hidden one, let her reveal it only to the Abbess or to a spiritual mother, who knows how to cure her own and others' wounds without exposing them and making them public.
REFLECTION
The Chapter of Faults, wherein monastics confessed public, external faults, had become rather routine the way it was practiced before Vatican II. I remember, years ago, seeing a glossary list of Latin phrases used to describe different faults. As practiced, I'm not sure it was the most useful thing in the world at all.
However, look at the kernel here, important for both monasteries and families: communication. What St. Benedict wrote about was not the formalized and largely empty ritual that the late 20th century had come to know, it was an airing session of sorts. These can be very useful. People in any life are often reluctant to open up about what bothers them, monastics are often even more so! To provide a structured way and time to do so might have given some just the extra distance and protection they needed.
Slights and wrongs and hurts that lie hidden and unexpressed can fester into a spreading, malignant growth. Note that the Holy Rule bids us never let the sun set on our anger. We have to get the things that REALLY bother us out. This hardly means a free-for-all; that would be very contrary to the whole spirit of the Rule, but it does mean that genuine differences must be solved in an open and respectful and humble way.
The way for today's community or family may not be to do this all together - but then again that might not be all bad, occasionally. At any rate and however we do it, St. Benedict asks us to own up to our failures and those of others because he knows it is terribly damaging not to do so. An important item here is that the all the members must feel safe to express themselves. How many kids who were afraid to open their mouths to a parent about really serious troubles in their relationship are still in therapy years later?
Whether alone or in a group, when we confess our fault to others, we lighten our load, when we honestly and gently tell others that they have hurt us or wronged us, we are often surprised to find that they were unaware of having done so - no wonder they "kept right on doing it!" We can also be wonderfully surprised at the depth of feeling with which apologies may be made. Very often the gentle and loving exposure of a problem between people gives us remarkable opportunities to show our nobler side and to see that side of our brothers and sisters.
The goal of this is peace, so it must never be done for any other motive, for anything less than loving. There is the danger that we lose track of the important "difference between the virtue of honesty and the vice of brutal frankness" as my late friend, Fr. Roger used to say (Please say a prayer for his eternal rest.). This must never become an accepted arena for getting back at one another. The whole purpose here is to end strife, not perpetuate it.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
March 26, July 26, November 25
Chapter 46: On Those Who Fail in Any Other Matters
When anyone is engaged in any sort of work, whether in the kitchen, in the cellar, in a shop, in the bakery, in the garden, while working at some craft, or in any other place, and she commits some fault, or breaks something, or loses something, or transgresses in any other way whatsoever, if she does not come immediately before the Abbess and the community of her own accord to make satisfaction and confess her fault, then when it becomes known through another, let her be subjected to a more severe correction. But if the sin-sickness of the soul is a hidden one, let her reveal it only to the Abbess or to a spiritual mother, who knows how to cure her own and others' wounds without exposing them and making them public.
REFLECTION
The Chapter of Faults, wherein monastics confessed public, external faults, had become rather routine the way it was practiced before Vatican II. I remember, years ago, seeing a glossary list of Latin phrases used to describe different faults. As practiced, I'm not sure it was the most useful thing in the world at all.
However, look at the kernel here, important for both monasteries and families: communication. What St. Benedict wrote about was not the formalized and largely empty ritual that the late 20th century had come to know, it was an airing session of sorts. These can be very useful. People in any life are often reluctant to open up about what bothers them, monastics are often even more so! To provide a structured way and time to do so might have given some just the extra distance and protection they needed.
Slights and wrongs and hurts that lie hidden and unexpressed can fester into a spreading, malignant growth. Note that the Holy Rule bids us never let the sun set on our anger. We have to get the things that REALLY bother us out. This hardly means a free-for-all; that would be very contrary to the whole spirit of the Rule, but it does mean that genuine differences must be solved in an open and respectful and humble way.
The way for today's community or family may not be to do this all together - but then again that might not be all bad, occasionally. At any rate and however we do it, St. Benedict asks us to own up to our failures and those of others because he knows it is terribly damaging not to do so. An important item here is that the all the members must feel safe to express themselves. How many kids who were afraid to open their mouths to a parent about really serious troubles in their relationship are still in therapy years later?
Whether alone or in a group, when we confess our fault to others, we lighten our load, when we honestly and gently tell others that they have hurt us or wronged us, we are often surprised to find that they were unaware of having done so - no wonder they "kept right on doing it!" We can also be wonderfully surprised at the depth of feeling with which apologies may be made. Very often the gentle and loving exposure of a problem between people gives us remarkable opportunities to show our nobler side and to see that side of our brothers and sisters.
The goal of this is peace, so it must never be done for any other motive, for anything less than loving. There is the danger that we lose track of the important "difference between the virtue of honesty and the vice of brutal frankness" as my late friend, Fr. Roger used to say (Please say a prayer for his eternal rest.). This must never become an accepted arena for getting back at one another. The whole purpose here is to end strife, not perpetuate it.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
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