Lecture 26: Benedictine Monasticism and Its Influence
and to mental work (including the production of manuscripts
and study), while the “lay brothers” did the manual work, as
serfs would do in a manor.• The link between work and prayer is indicated by the term opus Dei
(“the work of God”) that Benedict applies to the common prayer of
the community.
o Much of the Rule is taken up with the careful disposition of the
reciting (chanting) of the Psalms in the divine office every day,
so that the entire Psalter is recited each week. Benedict chided
monks of his day who took a whole week to do what the desert
fathers did in a single day!o The monks pray in choir at regular intervals throughout the
day: when they rise (Lauds); at the first, third, sixth, and ninth
hours (Prime, Terce, Sext, and None); in the early evening
(Vespers); and before bed (Compline). They rise in the early
morning for the longest period of common prayer (Matins).o Over the course of time, when the majority of choir monks
become ordained priests, the celebration of the Eucharist is
also a daily part of the round of prayer.o The contemplative dimension of Benedictine life tends to be
connected to the practice of individual reading of Scripture
or of the fathers called lectio divina (“holy reading”). Such
reading is ruminative and reflective, rather than actual study, a
form of meditation.• The Rule lays out all these practices in considerable detail and
provides sanctions for their observance: mutual correction,
temporary excommunication from choir and meals, and in worst
cases, even expulsion from the community.• The spirituality of the Benedictine life is not elaborate. It
emphasizes obedience as the expression of faith, humility, and
silence, which is necessary not only for “hearing” God’s Word but