Benedicts Rule

A monastery, or Abbey as commonly known, is a place of worship and habitation for monks. A monk is a male individual who practices monasticism while keeping a strict regime for religion in his daily life. Monks are led by an individual known as the Abbot, a leader selected because of reasons of holiness or devotion towards religion. Throughout this essay life in the monastic community will be reflected on between the Abbot and the monks while recognizing essential qualities and holy responsibilities of each type of religious figure.

An abbot, as mentioned previously, is the head of all the monks that live within the monastic community. An abbot is believed to hold the place of Christ in the monastery while teaching material that permeates the minds of those being taught. Those being taught are the monks, also known as cenobites. The Abbot leads his monks by all that is holy and more by example than just words. Additionally, an Abbot should not only teach his disciples, but lead by implementing what he teaches. An essential quality of an Abbot is responsibility. An Abbot is responsible for implementing the beliefs of the monks in the monastery. This responsibility can be demanding which is why only one selected individual becomes an Abbot. An Abbot is to teach towards the apostles' recommendation which states "use argument, appeal, and reproof", this means that he must vary with circumstances, threatening and coaxing by turns, devoted and tender as only a father can be. This quote reminds me of how I live my own life in the sense that I take its meaning as one should look at every situation different and form a different opinion towards every situation. Those in disagreement may have strong opinions; however, by the end of the argument one should still respect those people. Both, monks and Abbots are similar when they take into consideration that "your way of acting should be different than the world's way; the love of Christ must come before all else".

When understanding the responsibilities of the Abbot, some may have ideas of the Abbot as a king who possesses the uttermost control of people. It is possible that the Abbot has this way of leading because of the strong discipline that must be implemented towards the monks. This is not necessarily physical discipline but spiritual and psychological discipline. The abbot is responsible for directing souls a variety of temperaments and must keep in mind that anyone undertaking the charge of souls must be ready to account for them. The Abbot possesses a large amount of responsibility in the monastery. All are to follow the teaching of the Abbot, no one is to follow his own hearts desire nor shall anyone contend the rule of the Abbot. Speaking and teaching are the Abbot/ masters tasks; the disciples are to be silent and merely listen. This may be difficult for most average individuals but when dedicating your life to Christ and religion many things must be accepted in order to remain in the society.

The teachings of the Abbot involve spiritual teachings that direct the monks' way of thinking and living their lives. He teaches them how to communicate with one another and deal with their problems together. He preaches if people curse you, do not curse them back but bless them instead. Never give a hollow greeting of peace or turn away when someone needs your love. From this, the Abbot is teaching the monks to not hold grudges over one another. There are times when each member of the community may need a shoulder to cry on or help through their hardships, and the monks should be there for one another as a family. Monks become more patient and kind hearted.

This form of discipline is exemplified in a few of the steps of humility found in The Rule of St Benedict. The third step of humility states that a man submits to his superior all obedience for the love of god. The fifth step states that a man does not conceal from his Abbot any sinful thoughts entering his heart or any wrongs committed in secret, but rather confesses them humbly. The sixth and most disturbing step of humility is that a monk is content with the lowest and most menial treatment and regards himself as a poor worthless workman in whatever task he is given. If a monk breaks his silence, severe punishments are the consequences. This may involve a monk being forced to lay face down at the feet of everyone until the Abbot determines that the monk has learned his lesson. In my opinion, this is an extreme measure of devotion towards religion. As someone who is not very religious I personally could not see myself being able to contain my thoughts and opinions towards a life of control by another human. However, in a monk's mind this type of treatment is expected and is necessary to keep the community in order. Without this type of discipline, religious figures such as monks and Abbots would have disagreements in opinion and eventually the idea of devoting their lives to abide by a monastery's rule would become extinct.

The Abbot is also responsible for appointing both Cellarers and brothers of communities that are large. Brothers follow the commandments of god and orders of their Abbot. They are responsible for taking care of groups of about 10 monks. Monks sleep in separate beds and receive bedding provided by what the Abbot decides is necessary and suitable to monastic life. While the monks sleep, the brothers are responsible for looking after them and a lamp must be kept burning in the room until morning. When arising for work the monks encourage each other to arise for the sleepy like to make excuses for not waking