Benedictine Spirituality

The monks are models of Catholic culture as they have formed a complete way of life centered on the faith. Benedictines, following their founder St. Benedict (d. 547), dedicate their lives to prayer and work and seek economic self-sufficiency, practicing and perfecting the servile arts.

The community also embodies Christian community, following Acts 4:32: “Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common.” Although this principle seems otherworldly, the monastery provides inspiration for the Christian home, also under an abbot (or father) responsible for the salvation of those under his care. The father prays with his children and creates a home environment that cares for all of their needs.

At Solesmes

As a Benedictine oblate, I have found inspiration in two great Benedictines of the last two centuries. Ven. Dom Prosper Guéranger (1805-1875), who refounded the Abbey of Solesmes. He and his monks helped to reestablished Benedictine monasticism throughout Europe after the Napoleonic wars had closed almost all monasteries and invigorated the entire Church’s practice of Gregorian chant. Bl. Columba Marmion (1858-1923) was a spiritual master who influenced the interior life of St. John Paul II and St. Mother Teresa. He combined a liturgical spirituality with profound theology, while maintaining a simple practicality that makes him a tremendous guide of souls. See excerpts of his letters of Spiritual Direction in Union with God. (Here is a list of other modern Benedictine saints and those in the process.)

Although these great Benedictines offer spiritual wisdom, Benedictines have been in the news and at the center of a debate through Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option. I’m an oblate at Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey, which has inspired many lay people to live according to the inspiration of Benedict’s Rule in the world. One does not have to leave the world to follow the wisdom of St. Benedict by practicing lectio divina, praying the liturgy of the hours, embracing simplicity and hospitality, and infusing work with one’s prayer. St. Benedict can inspire us to begin rebuilding Western civilization as his monks did in the early Middle Ages.

See here for my overview of the spirituality and mission of a Benedictine oblate.

One of the many ways the Benedictine tradition can help us to shape culture is through education by modeling a contemplative and holistic approach. The monks emphasize careful attention to the word, particularly in Scripture, which requires the use of grammar to receive it faithfully and clearly. It also requires clear and beautiful expression, which we see in the chanting of the Divine Office and the illumination of the biblical text. Jean Leclerq showed how the Benedictines received and developed the classical traditional, embodying the close relationship of faith and reason, in his study, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God, a text quoted a few times by Pope Benedict XVI. Bl. John Henry Newman also demonstrated how the monks taught the West, laying the foundation for the rise of the universities through their child-like and poetic spirit, attentive both to nature and the Word of God. Newman’s essay, The Mission of St. Benedict, demonstrates how the contemplative spirit of the monastery laid the foundations for Western education. Pope Benedict XVI also made this connection in his important Paris lecture to UNESCO, showing how the monk’s fundamental vocation of seeking God leads naturally to a reception of the truth of the world and of word, but also to an expression of culture through a life and work dedicated to God.

I address another application in my book, The Beer Option, which brings the Benedictine vision into contemporary culture, using beer as an entry point. Beer, in fact, demonstrates Benedictine culture as the monks invented many modern brewing practices and were the first to use hops in beer in their attempts to be self-sufficient and to care for the poor and pilgrims. They needed a reliable source not only of calories, but also of clean drinking water. St. Columban, an Irish missionary monk, actually performed three beer miracles, and the abbess St. Hildegard wrote of beer’s medicinal qualities. Many Benedictines today are returning to the practice, such as the monks of Mt. Angel Abbey in Oregon, St. Joseph’s Trappist Monastery in Massachusetts, and the American monks in Norcia, Italy. Once again, the monks can inspire us to engage in a more self-sufficient and local economy, to order our work and profits to God, to drink in moderation and in conjunction with fasting, and to order all we do within a Catholic culture.

Resources on Benedictine Spirituality

Other Recommended Spiritual Classics

  • St. Augustine’s Confessions
  • Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ
  • St. Teresa of Avila, Autobiography
  • St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life
  • St. Therese, Story of a Soul
  • St. Faustina, Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul
  • Servant of God Walter Ciszek, He Leadeth Me