Under a Rule
Under a Rule and an Abbot
By Fr Michael Casey
Monastic life in the Western Church, under the guidance of the Rule of St Benedict, is the result of a permanent engagement by the monk to continue in the monastery. It is the voluntary renunciation of the freedom to abandon the monastic way, to change career, to move from one monastery to another or to come and go as he wishes.
The Cistercian monk is committed to a disciplined life by the three overlapping vows prescribed by the Rule of St Benedict: stability, fidelity to monastic life and obedience.
By the vow of stability, the monk promises to remain actively involved in the community of his profession throughout his entire life. This is a commitment to maintaining his enthusiasm for the spiritual journey which has brought him to the monastery, persevering through the various changes and challenges that are part of every human life. Stability is a matter of firm faith in the vocation which God has given, accepting trustfully all that divine providence designs to bring to perfection the good work that has been begun.
By the vow of fidelity, to monastic life (conversatio morum) the monk embraces all the traditional observances that contribute to the building up of the monastic spirit: participation in the Liturgy of the Hours, personal prayer, lectio divina, work, poverty, chastity, solitude and silence, and the whole range of communal activities.
By the vow of obedience, the monk submits himself to the Rule and Constitutions of the Order and to the Abbot of the monastery who has the responsibility of applying these to the local situation. He renounces self-will in order to align himself with the will of God and to put his whole life at the disposition of the community.
