Holy Rule for September 16
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St. Mary's Monastery
Sep 15, 2026, 5:05:09 PMSep 15
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Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
January 16, May 17, September 16
Chapter 3: On Calling the Brethren for Counsel (1-6)
Whenever any important business has to be done in the monastery, let the Abbot call together the whole community and state the matter to be acted upon. Then, having heard the brethren's advice, let him turn the matter over in his own mind and do what he shall judge to be most expedient. The reason we have said that all should be called for counsel is that the Lord often reveals to the younger what is best.
Let the brethren give their advice with all the deference required by humility, and not presume stubbornly to defend their opinions; but let the decision rather depend on the Abbot's judgment, and all submit to whatever he shall decide for their welfare.
However, just as it is proper for the disciples to obey their master, so also it is his function to dispose all things with prudence and justice.
REFLECTION
Over 15 centuries of Benedictine history, constitutions have divided the powers of abbot and community more specifically. There are times - not many, to be sure - when a chapter CAN thwart an abbot. There are times the abbot cannot act alone. But, by and large, our superiors have been left with a lot more power than the US President or the Queen of the United Kingdom, but less power than the average bishop.
The way of St. Benedict is hardly mob rule, but it does ensure a voice to those governed, a voice that must be listened to, even when it is not definitive. He gives a voice to monastics, at a time when many in the world had no voice at all.
There is a perennial wealth and freshness to be found in St. Benedict's Holy Rule. Its wisdom is as germane today as it was 1,500 years ago. It bears the proud hallmark of both truth and wisdom: it is ageless.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
Br. Jerome Leo’s Daily Reflection on the Holy Rule
January 16, May 17, September 16
Chapter 3: On Calling the Brethren for Counsel (1-6)
Whenever any important business has to be done in the monastery, let the Abbot call together the whole community and state the matter to be acted upon. Then, having heard the brethren's advice, let him turn the matter over in his own mind and do what he shall judge to be most expedient. The reason we have said that all should be called for counsel is that the Lord often reveals to the younger what is best.
Let the brethren give their advice with all the deference required by humility, and not presume stubbornly to defend their opinions; but let the decision rather depend on the Abbot's judgment, and all submit to whatever he shall decide for their welfare.
However, just as it is proper for the disciples to obey their master, so also it is his function to dispose all things with prudence and justice.
REFLECTION
Over 15 centuries of Benedictine history, constitutions have divided the powers of abbot and community more specifically. There are times - not many, to be sure - when a chapter CAN thwart an abbot. There are times the abbot cannot act alone. But, by and large, our superiors have been left with a lot more power than the US President or the Queen of the United Kingdom, but less power than the average bishop.
The way of St. Benedict is hardly mob rule, but it does ensure a voice to those governed, a voice that must be listened to, even when it is not definitive. He gives a voice to monastics, at a time when many in the world had no voice at all.
There is a perennial wealth and freshness to be found in St. Benedict's Holy Rule. Its wisdom is as germane today as it was 1,500 years ago. It bears the proud hallmark of both truth and wisdom: it is ageless.
Br. Jerome Leo Hughes, OSB (RIP)
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