Heck Yeah Benedictines

Let each one take into account that he is constantly observed by God from heaven and our deeds everywhere lie open to the divine gaze and are reported by the angels at every hour.

Thus the first step of humility is to utterly flee forgetfulness by keeping the fear of God always before one's eyes. We must constantly recall the commandments of God, continually mulling over how hell burns the sinners who despise God, and eternal life is prepared for those who fear God. We should guard ourselves at all times from sins and vices, that is, of thoughts, tongue, hands, feet or self-will, but also desires of the flesh.

Do not wish to be called holy before you really are; first be holy, and then the term will be truer in your case.

Listen intently to holy readings. Give yourself frequently to prayer. Confess your past sins to God with tears and groaning at daily prayer. Correct these sins for the future.

You should become a stranger to the world's ways. Prefer nothing to the love of Christ. Do not act under the impulse of anger. Do not wait for vengeance. Do not plot deceit. Do not give a false peace. Do not abandon charity. Do not swear oaths for fear of swearing falsely. Speak the truth both in your heart and with your mouth.

[O]nly one Benedictine heart beats at the bottom of our universal diversity ... there is no doubt that we are going through a historical moment of darkness and we need a light, precisely like St. Benedict, which shines on high and gives us clarity in the midst of darkness.

The Benedictine way leads to a process of integration that embraces the different dimensions of the human conscience: cognitive (the mind), affective (the heart), ethics and morals (the will and all its capacities), religious (the soul). This integration enables us to love in a unified way and it is the condition to advance on the path of conversion. “However, the workshop where we must practice all these things diligently is the enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community” (Rule of Benedict, 4.78). The monastic dynamic animates the processes of integration in those who live in the “monastery,” which is the place where we ask God with the most insistent prayers to bring to completion the divine work of our lives: that they all may be one. If we persevere, trying to live in the “conversatio,” the experience of God’s unconditional love gradually integrates all the dimensions of our being, and thus we become unified inourselves and in the diversity and plurality that characterizes us. The result of all this is that we live with transparency and consistency, that we do not separate our judgments from our feelings, or our conduct from our belief. In this way, our integrity and social and personal responsibility will not allow us “to say one thing and do another,” or to establish ourselves in a life of contradictions and inconsistencies.

The Benedictine monk should have three notable traits in his character. He should be genuine and authentic in his search for God. He should have a love of the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours. And he should be obedient and able to fit into the daily round of community life.