Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Holy Rule 5 - of obedience

The fifth chapter of the Rule of St. Benedict instructs in immediate and joyful obedience. It guides the monk to follow the instruction of the abbot, under whose authority he has willingly placed himself, without delay. Then, the command goes even further to instruct the monks to obey without complaining, for this is what the Lord is seeking.

It is interesting to think of voluntarily giving yourself to the command of another. The trust of an abbot would have to be very high in order to do this with a fully pure heart.

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