The outlook of RB is different, therefore, and approaches the question from a more supernatural viewpoint. At first sight it may appear to be an exercise in parliamentary democracy, but the mentality is actually quite different. It is clear that the role of the community or council is purely consultative — the decision remains with the abbot. The purpose of the consultation is not to ascertain the majority view, but to try to discern the will of God. If the abbot ordinarily does this through the Scriptures and the Rule and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he is not the exclusive mediator of wisdom and must recognize that the Spirit may choose to speak to him through other channels. The monks, too, or perhaps only one of them — it may be the youngest of all — may receive an authentic inspiration. The abbot must be open to this possibility. His consultation, then, is not a matter of assembling human opinions, but of listening to all the sources through which the divine will may manifest itself, and then discerning which of these has made known an authentic communication of the Spirit. On the part of both monks and abbot, this process demands, not political techniques designed to ensure the acceptance of one’s own view, but a genuine humility and self-effacement, and an opening of one’s mind and heart to the mysterious action of God. It does not remove from the abbot the burden of decision, but assists him in discovering “the divine precepts” in regard to a particular decision.
On ch. 3, see de Vogüée, La communauté, pp. 187–206; “L’abbé et son conseil: cohérence du chapître second du Maître” RBS 3–4 (1974–75) 7–14; B. Steidle “Der Abt und der Rat der Brüder. Zu Kapitel 3 der Regel St. Benedikts” EA 52 (1976) 339–353; “Der Rat der Brüder nach der ältesten Regula Benedicti-Kornrnentaren des Abtes Smaragdus († um 826) und des Magisters Hildemar († um 850)” ibid. 53 (1977) 181–192.
See Thematic Index: COMMUNITY, corporate actions.
3.3 (English / Latin) “the younger” (iuniori): There may be an allusion here to Matt 11:25 (Luke 10:21). The junior in rank is often, but not necessarily, younger in age. Here the reference is probably to rank; so de Vogüé, La communauté, p. 202, n. 2.
3.6 (English / Latin) “proper...becoming” (convenit...condecet): The same pair of words is used in RB 6.6.
3.9 (English / Latin) “defiantly, or outside the monastery” (proterve aut foris monasterium): The Latin proterve aut foris is a curious phrase, and one that upset the copyists. As it stands, the sense seems to be that respectful disagreement is tolerable inside the monastery, but no sort of disagreement outside. However, the phrase aut foris monasterium seems to be better placed after in monasterio of v.8. It may have been a marginal note that came to be included in the text; so de Vogüé 1.454, nn.8-9.
3.10 (English / Latin) “discipline of the rule” (regulari disciplinae): This is the first occurrence of the full phrase. See Appendix 4, pp. 434–435.
3.12 (English / Latin) “seniors” (seniorum): The seniors in rank are probably intended here. See Thematic Index: MONASTIC LEADERS.
4.t “Tools” (Instrumenta): It seems likely that this list, which St. Benedict has, with modifications, taken over from RM, has two principal earlier sources: an originally non-monastic catalogue of maxims, which has not been identified, and the Passio Iuliani. See de Vogüé 4.131–180. The non-monastic character of the original catalogue is indicated, for example, in the change introduced in RB 4.8 from honoring father and mother (RM 3.8) to honoring everyone. See note on 53.2. Evidently the earlier version was thought less applicable to monks, who are supposed to be withdrawing from the ties of family.
4.2 (English / Latin) “your neighbor as yourself” (proximum tamquam seipsum): Although these and the following commands are to be found originally in the Pentateuch, it seems likely that the more immediate source of this portion of the list is the New Testament, where they are cited a number of times, especially since the list goes on to include a number of commands found only in the New Testament. See the Indexes of Scripture.
4.17 (English / Latin) “bury the dead” (mortuum sepelire): The commands of vv.17-28 are for the most part based on a very diverse set of spiritual loci. The same holds true for most of the items that are not direct quotations in the rest of this chapter. See the Indexes of Scripture.
4.21 (English / Latin) “the love of Christ” (amori Christi): See Thematic Index: CHRIST, love of.
4.32 (English / Latin) “but bless them instead” (sed magis benedicere): This whole verse, while not an exact quotation of any one, clearly echoes several New Testament loci: Luke 6:28; 1 Cor 4: 12; 1 Pet 3:9.
4.42 (English / Latin) “give credit to God” (Deo applicet): This verse and the following one may be taken as additional evidence of the orthodox position of the RB in comparison with the semi-Pelagian doctrine that attributed some good to man unaided by grace. See note on Prol.4 above.
4.50 (English / Latin) “dash them against Christ” (ad Christum allidere): See note on Prol.28 above.
4.54 (English / Latin) “immoderate or boisterous laughter” (risum multum aut excussum): That St. Benedict does not forbid all laughter is clear from this verse and from 49.7, where he recommends giving up some talking and joking during Lent. He seems to forbid laughter that is out of control and over subjects inappropriate in monastic life.
4.56 (English / Latin) “prayer” (orationi): Actually the ritual action of prostration is suggested by the phrase. See A. de Vogüé “Orationi frequenter incumbere. Une invitation à la prière continuelle” RAM 41 (1965) 467–472.
4.58 (English / Latin) “change” (emendare): On the usage of this word in RB, see note on 43.7 and Appendix 4, p. 435.
4.65 (English / Latin) “harbor neither hatred . . . of anyone” (nullum odire): See A. de Vogüé “‘Ne haír personne.’ Jalons pour l’histoire d’une maxime” RAM 44 (1968) 3–9.
4.76 (English / Latin) “returned” (reconsignata): The metaphor of “tools” is being continued here by analogy with the kitchen utensils. See 35.10, where the same word is used in reference to the latter.
4.78 (English / Latin) “enclosure” (claustra): See note on 67.7
“stability” (stabilitas): For the meaning of this term, see Appendix 5, pp. 463–465. See also Thematic Index: STABILITY.
5.0 “obedience” (oboedientia): See Appendix 5, pp. 458–459, and Thematic Index: OBEDIENCE.
5.1 (English / Latin) “The first step” (Primus...gradus): How to reconcile this statement with 7.10, which states that the first step of humility is fear of God, has proved to be a classic difficulty in Benedictine exegesis, as is noted by de Vogüé, La communauté, p. 214. The solution suggested by the latter is a redactional one: the Master, when he wrote this chapter (RM 7), had the intention of writing the later chapter (RM 10) on humility, using the image of a ladder suggested by Cassian’s use of the word gradus, but not developed by him (Cassian. inst. 4,38-39). The first several of Cassian’s indices of humility involve obedience. When he composed ch. 7 ( = RB 5), the Master was thinking of this. However, when he composed ch. 10 ( = RB 7) on the basis of ladder imagery, he decided to expand the number of“steps” to twelve (from Cassian’s ten indices) in order to include “fear of the Lord,” which Cassian had mentioned before the indices as a “principle of our salvation.” This the Master did in order to have a certain correspondence between the first step of the ladder and the top step, which is the love that casts out fear. For an otherwise blatant contradiction, this is the most plausible explanation.
5.2 (English / Latin) “Christ above all” (a Christo carius): This is a curious sentence in Latin, containing as it does the use of a with an ablative of comparison (cf. Prol.19; 2.21; 10.3; 18.24; 55.14 and some Indo-Germanic languages such as Urdu), and a pleonastic aliquid.
5.3 (English / Latin) “holy service” (servitium sanctum): Obedience is service of Christ in the school that is the monastery. See note to Prol.45 above. But “service” may implicitly refer to the image of military service as well. See note to Prol.3 above.
5.4 (English / Latin) “from God himsel
f” (divinitus): The idea that the superior’s orders represent a divine command is based on the notion that the abbot holds the place of Christ (Christi enim agere vices, RB 2.2). In the following two verses and v.15, which are meant to support this idea, one may observe the tendency of this period to regard Christ simply as “God.” See note on Prol.16 above.
5.7 (English / Latin) “immediately” (statim): Vv. 7-8 clearly suggest the model of the disciples who put aside their nets immediately in order to follow Christ when he called them (Matt 4:22).
“own will” (voluntatem propriam): Monastic tradition extols the renunciation of one’s own will as a fundamental ascetic practice based on the example of Christ himself (cf. RB 4.10) and as a way of heeding the voice of God through the superior’s command. However, there are significant variations in the understanding of this practice. The passage in RM 2.36-37, which allows subjects, at the last judgment, to impute all actions done under obedience to their superior, is omitted in RB. See note on Prol.3 and Thematic Index: WILL.
5.12 (English / Latin) “their whims” (desideriis suis): An allusion here to Jude 16 seems likely.
5.14 (English / Latin) “free from any grumbling” (aut cum murmurio): Apart from 4.39 in the list of “tools,” this is the first occurrence of this key idea in the Rule. It is to be avoided “above all else” (40.9). St. Benedict sees grumbling as a grave danger to order in the community, and as a special threat to obedience and the ideal of mutual service. See Thematic Index: GRUMBLING.
5.16 (English / Latin) “gladly” (cum bono animo): The words bono animo can be found in Sir 35:10 in a similar context. Indeed, the idea of 2 Cor 9:7 may be built on Sir 35:10. Hilarem (cheerful) occurs in both.
5.19 (English / Latin) “punishment for grumbling” (poenam murmurantium): The punishment referred to here is that suffered by the Israelites in the desert. The immediate reference, however, seems to be 1 Cor 10:10, which in tum refers to Num 14:2,36 and 21:5.
6.2 (English / Latin) “out of esteem for silence” (propter taciturnitatem): There seems to be no significant difference in meaning between taciturnitas and silentium. St. Benedict urges actual silence and quiet, not just a spirit of silence. For a comprehensive treatment of the role of silence in the monastic tradition, including RB, see A. Wathen, Silence: The Meaning of Silence in the Rule of St. Benedict (Washington, D.C.: Cistercian Publications, Inc. 1973).
6.3 (English / Latin) “mature disciples” (perfectis discipulis): The term perfectus as used in monastic circles and applied to a “disciple” probably derives from the New Testament (e.g., 1 Cor 2:6; 14:20), where it denotes maturity in faith, understanding and behavior. The Pauline usage reflects the terminology of moralists and popular profane use in which perfectus means ‘adult,’ in contrast to the infans or parvulus (cf. 1 Cor 14:20). This holds true also of the Greek teleios, of which perfectus is the Vulgate rendering. See J. Dupont, Gnosis (Bruges: Desclée de Brouwer 1949) p. 151, n. 1.
The restrictions placed on speech even for the mature monk must be understood in reference to his role as disciple (v.6). This is somewhat clearer in the longer version of RM, where the monks are allowed to converse quietly if the abbot is absent but not if he is present or only with his permission, and then only to ask questions of him (RM 9.41-50). See Wathen, Silence, pp. 200–201.
6.7 (English / Latin) “a superior” (priore): The word prior is used twelve times in RB to refer to the abbot. It is never used to designate the monastic official later known as the prior, who in RB is called praepositus. See note on 65.1.
6.8 (English / Latin) “absolutely” (aeterna clausura): The image in Latin is that of enclosure. The mouth is like the door of an inner cloister. St. Benedict wants the door closed to certain kinds of speech. The Master (RM 9.41-51) develops the image more elaborately, allowing for degrees of enclosure.
7.0 See Thematic Index: HUMILITY.
7.2 (English / Latin) “exaltation” (exaltationem): Throughout this chapter St. Benedict uses images of height and depth. The monk strives for the heights of heaven, but paradoxically they are reached by the opposite of exaltation, the lowliness of humility. See Thematic Index: PRIDE.
7.4 (English / Latin) “a weaned child” (ablactatum): Ps 130(131) is interpreted by modern scholars as a picture of comfort and security, whereas in RB the picture is of God threatening the monk who fails to be humble. Our question is what the psalm meant to St. Benedict. The phrase ablactatum super matrem suam cannot mean “weaned from its mother.” It is rendered “sur sa mère” by de Vogüé, which must be correct. Steidle has “das man [gewaltsam] von der Mutterbrust wegnimmt”; the insertion of “forcibly” is a tacit admission that something has gone wrong.
Perhaps the picture is this: if the weaned child were humble, it would accept without fuss the substitute for its mother’s breast. If it does not have a humble spirit, it will reach for the now forbidden breast, and so incur retribution.
7.6 (English / Latin) “ladder” (scala): Christian authors frequently used the image of a ladder to depict the return to God. The ladder image indicates that monks must work to climb, that monastic life is an effort, though always pursued with the help of God. See Thematic Index: PASCHAL MYSTERY, Images.
7.9 (English / Latin) “as we ascend” (ascendendo): Some MSS read ascendendos, “rungs to be climbed,” which is certainly easier and is what de Vogüé (“pour qu’on les gravisse”) and Steidle (“die wir ersteigen sollen”) seem to translate. McCann translates and prints ascendendos. On the other hand, the principle of text criticism lectio difficilior potior (the more difficult reading is preferable) supports ascendendo.
Although Latin does use a so-called dative of purpose and although this does occur with the gerund, none of the examples given by R. Kühner, Ausführliche Grammatik der Lateinischen Sprache (Hannover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung 1887–89) II.I, pp. 557–559, is really parallel to what we have here. It seems better to take ascendendo as ablative and translate it “as we ascend,” even though the Latin is then a little muddled.
Ascendendos has reasonable MSS support and may after all be the true reading.
7.10 (English / Latin) “first step” (Primus...gradus): Gradus means both ‘step’ and ‘degree,’ but the image of the ladder determines the question here. RM lists twelve steps of humility, while Cassian lists ten indices or signs of humility (Cassian. inst. 4,39), to some of which he also refers by the term gradus. Although Thomas Aquinas reversed the order (Summa Theol. II-IIae, 161,6), the original order in the monastic tradition seems to have been intended to indicate a progression from the internal cultivation of humility to its external manifestations. See note on 5.1.
“before his eyes” (ante oculos): The image of keeping the fear of God before one’s eyes may be found in Ps 35(36):2.
7.13 (English / Latin) “by God in heaven” (de caelis a Deo): This image seems to be taken from Ps 13(14):2 (Dominus de caelo prospexit).
7.18 (English / Latin) “virtuous” (utilis): In RM and RB, this is a rather colorless word of approval.
7.21 (English / Latin) “ways” (viae): This is a somewhat free citation of Prov 16:25, which actually speaks of “a way.” The plural here may be due to attraction of the plural in the second half of Prov 14:12, which is the same saying.
7.33 (English / Latin) “we read” (scriptura): The quotation is not from Scripture but from the Acta Anastasiae 17, in reference to the martyr Irene († A.D. 304). In RM, from which this comes (10.44), scriptura is used for sources other than the Bible, e.g., RM 9.31; 11.31. In the latter, the Master, speaking of St. Eugenia, has dicente scribtura ipsius, “as her biography says.”
“Consent” (Voluntas): Although Hanslik with Codex Sangallensis 914 reads voluptas, the principle lectio difficilior supports voluntas, as do many MSS. In the Acta, Irene, threatened with forcible prostitution, replies that, as with those forced to eat me at sacrificed to idols, this would be no guilt to her if done under necessitas, but rather would win her a crown. In RM and RB, the meaning of
the quotation is changed; the statement is cited to express the idea that there is punishment for self-will but a crown for the pursuit of obligation or necessity. See H. Delehaye, Étude sur le Légendier Romain (Brussels: Société des Bollandistes 1936) p. 234.
7.38 (English / Latin) “Another passage shows” (Et ostendens): Although this refers to the quotation from Ps 43(44):22, the latter has been taken from Rom 8:36, where it is quoted, as the following verse of RB clearly demonstrates.
7.42 (English / Latin) “pressed into service” (angariati): This verse is a free citation of Matt 5:39-41. The word angariati has been taken over from Greek but is, in fact, a Persian loan word and perhaps originally Babylonian. It refers to the practice of requisitioning people for civil or military service and is used in Matt 27:32 of Simon of Cyrene, who is pressed into service to carry Jesus’ cross.
7.44 (English / Latin) “confesses” (confessionem): The manifestation of sins and evil thoughts to the spiritual father of the monastery is not synonymous with the sacrament of reconciliation. In the Patristic period the monk who acted as spiritual father was generally not a priest. However, it was commonly thought that such people had the power to forgive sins. For example, see Vita sa5 148 and P. Brown “The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity” journal of Roman Studies 61 (1971) 80–101. On the development of the sacrament of reconciliation, see Appendix 4, pp. 416–419. See Thematic Index: ABBOT, Images.
RB 1980- The Rule Of St Benedict Page 38