Vocations

A Call to Cenobitic Life: Encountering Christ in Community

The Benedictine life begins with a response to the deep and eternal call of God, who is always in search of the heart of man, a heart “thirsting for life and happiness” (cf. RB* Prol. 14-15; Ps 33:13). You carry the dignity of being made in God’s image, and your journey is a unique path toward the fulfillment of that divine image, which shines most brightly in Christ.

The monastic vocation is fundamentally an encounter where your thirst for life and happiness meets the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. For Saint Benedict, the entire purpose of the monastic path is found in one essential command: “Prefer absolutely nothing whatever to Christ” (RB 72.11; cf. 4.21).

* RB refers to the Rule of Saint Benedict.

I. Foundational Principles of the Vocation

The path of the cenobite (a monk who lives in community – “the strongest kind of monks”) is guided by the necessity of conversion through discipleship and prayer, leading to life lived wholly in community (RB 1.13).

1. Filial Discipleship and Conversion

The journey into monastic life requires an overturning of our instinctive conception of freedom, which tempts us to seek life without fathers and without teachers.

Trust in the Father and Master
The path begins by choosing to become a disciple – a spiritual son – deciding to follow a father and master, the Abbot, to return to the Lord. While the ultimate purpose is to return to Christ, this return passes through the guidance of the Abbot (RB 2.2)  and of those who have experienced goodness and truth before us (RB 2.24–32). This return is attracted and welcomed by the mercy of a loving father, who must offer both goodness and charity alongside the truth, correction, and teaching of wisdom that allow us to mature in genuine decision-making and freedom. This return is not lived only at the beginning, but also must be constantly renewed (RB Prol. 21).

The Impossible Work of Conversion
Our journey of conversion, or return from our brokenness to life as God’s children, is an “impossible work” for us to achieve alone. It surpasses our human capacity to make the profound leap from “simply being a man” to “being a son of God”. The whole journey laid out by the Rule of Saint Benedict is designed to help the monk live the mystery of his baptism to the full (RB Prol. 2, 19, 41).

Insistent Prayer
This work requires two conditions: that we want it and that we leave it to God. These are fulfilled by insistently asking God in prayer (instantissima oratione) that he himself bring this impossible work to completion (RB Prol. 4; 4.41–42). Our commitment, therefore, is the commitment of the poor, of the miserable, or better still, of children, who beg God to bring to fullness and perfection whatever good he has begun in us – the good that ultimately is our very life in him. We ask God to fulfill the grace of being his children, allowing it to gradually transform every part of our lives.

2. Abiding in the House of the Lord

The Prologue’s call to live in the house of the Lord frames everything that the Rule will teach and ask us (RB Prol. 13, 45). This dwelling is the house of God into which the Lord brings us to abide with him.

The House as a Path to Progress
This call echoes the essential dialogue: “Master, where do you live?” – “Come and see” (Jn 1:38-39). Saint Benedict moves back and forth between the image of the path and the image of the house. The dwelling place (the community) is for him a path, akin to the biblical image of the tent of God, a dwelling that allows one to live while continuing the pilgrimage. The residence of the monastery is a sine qua non of progress, of conversion. Whoever does not abide does not walk, and whoever does not live in the house of God does not progress. The stability of body and heart is the condition that favours the progress of the person in his conversion (RB 58.17).

The Task of the Dweller
Abiding is not passive rest; it is an ascetic work, a daily task. We must fulfill the office, the task, the work of the one who dwells in the monastery. This work is simultaneously theological (a work of faith, charity, and hope) and very concrete, human work, passing through all aspects of our human nature lived in community (RB 48.1; Prol. 50).

Building Community and Self
The monk who works on his ‘abiding in the community’ builds himself in the very act of building the house of the monastery. This work must be undertaken when the monastery is like a well-built house with strong foundations, in the quiet seasons of routine when the house needs only care and upkeep, and equally when (God-forbid) the community is a disaster, a construction site, a ruin, because the monk’s task is to collaborate in the building of the house. This patient, daily effort makes us grow in love and unites us eternally to Christ (RB Prol. 50).

3. The Asceticism of Fraternal Charity

The Rule’s practices (silence, Divine Office, fasting) have no other purpose than to lead the monk to fraternal charity (RB 6; 8–20; 39–40; 5). Salvation, attaining eternal life, cannot be dissociated from this love, making it the standard by which the truth and authenticity of the vocation are judged. This charity is achieved by living the “good zeal” of the brothers, which leads us to God and eternal life. This zeal for Christ and community is measured by eight specific attitudes –  Benedictine “Beatitudes” – which Saint Benedict presents in Chapter 72 of the Rule:

I

Outdo One Another
in Showing Honour

This “beatitude” recognizes the deep and eternal value of each person and the mystery of the other. This honour, derived from the adoration of the Trinity, must be accorded above all to the poor and pilgrims, because Christ is more fully received in them.

II

Endure One Another’s Weaknesses, Physical and Moral, with Great Patience

Enduring weaknesses, both physical and moral, requires great patience, which alludes to the Passion and the Cross. This practice enters the maternal dimension of divine mercy. The community is thus called to be the mother’s womb that generates and regenerates members by patiently bearing their frailties.

III

Outdo One Another
in Mutual Obedience

Saint Benedict frames mutual obedience as a paradoxical competition to lose. This reverses the worldly ambition for power, requiring imitation of Christ, the servant. This reciprocal obedience is mutual service that anticipates others’ needs. It frees the monk from domination and the most insidious idolatry of ambition.

IV

Do Not Seek Your Own Interest,
but That of Others

This “beatitude” requires a purification of judgement. The monk must stop pursuing what he deems useful to himself to imitate Christ, who never sought his own interest. Created in the image of the Trinity, man only finds himself “through a sincere gift of himself”. This work of truth is asked so that the monk can truly live.

V

Cherish Fraternal Charity
with Chaste Love

This “fraternal bliss” is the most explicit reflection of the Trinity in the world. Chastity is achieved by recognizing the sacred divine mystery God has placed in our relationships. This love is the truth of all relationships, requiring sacred respect for the gift Christ gives to the community.

VI

Fear God
with Love

This “beatitude” describes the conversion from servile fear (fear of punishment) to filial fear (a child’s reverence for a loving Father). This journey culminates in the love of God which, having reached its fullness, dispels all fear. This progress is essentially a conversion of the heart and a progress of our freedom, achieved by saying “yes” to God’s love.

VII

Love Your Abbot with Sincere
and Humble Affection

Monks must love their abbot with sincere and humble charity. Authority in the monastery is primarily a question of love, not just rights and duties. This love must be sincere (not hiding immaturity or imperfection) and humble (conscious of needing help to grow and advance).

VIII

Prefer Absolutely Nothing
Whatever to Christ

This preference is linked to the desire that Christ “lead us all together to eternal life”. By preferring Christ above all, we choose his guidance, the unity of his flock, and the path to communion he provides. This preference means following him together toward eternal life for everyone, while acknowledging our imperfection, unfaithfulness, and complete dependence on his leadership, support, and forgiveness to reach salvation.

Readiness for Cenobitic Asceticism

• are open to seeking God through community living, obedience, service to others, and manual labor, embracing the necessary ascetic work of the one who dwells in the monastery, and understanding that fraternal charity must be the first priority;
• have experienced living in freedom from addictions for 2–3 years, understanding that enslavement to self-interest or whims (what Benedict calls “Sarabites and Gyrovagues” – monks who lack commitment and discipline) lacks the freedom necessary to serve Christ the King, and that true joy fights against the interior noise of complaining and negativity.