CHAPTER 2
The Rule, Chapter 2 21
CHAPTER 2
Qualities of the Abbot Chapter 2 of the Rule is clearly a guide to parenting. The very word ' 'abbot' ' means ' 'father/' We monks do not hesitate to describe Benedictine life as familial, but we do complain if we are treated paternalistically by an abbot. In our day we may prefer being brothers of the abbot rather than sons. The truth of the matter is that we are both.
An abbot's image has changed in recent years. Nowadays when the abbot is the celebrant of Mass, we no longer have to kiss his ring before receiving Communion. Newcomers to the monastery were always confused by this ritual in the old days. The abbot sometimes experienced the displeasure of having the stone in his ring licked by the new candidate whose tongue was ready to receive the host but who had forgotten to kiss the ring first. We no longer have to kneel and kiss the abbot's ring whenever we enter his office. Nor are we expected to stand whenever he enters or leaves a room. These examples are just a few of the courtesies or ceremonies that we rendered to the abbot in years past. They were signs of respect for the father of the monastery, but many of them were more medieval than modern. The abbot was treated more like a prince than a father. Nowadays it is easy to be more familiar with an abbot. He is not the awesome person he once was. I think abbots are happy to be relieved of many of the old trappings.
Nevertheless, the monk cannot regard the abbot as merely "one of the boys." The abbot is someone special in a community. He is the father of sons who are adults and who want to be treated like adults. Paternalism, not just in the monastery, is undesirable, but the fatherhood of the abbot is absolutely necessary to Benedictine life.
The qualities required of an abbot are no different from those required in other roles of parenting. No abbot, no fa-
22 The Rule, Chapter 2 ther or mother, should ever " teach or decree or command anything that would deviate from the Lord's instructions/ ' There is a twofold manner of teaching in both the monastic family and the natural family: words and good example. St. Benedict understands that some members of his family will have to be taught by good example more than by verbal instruction.
This is the only way some monks and some children will ever catch on. St. Benedict warns the abbot about hypocrisy. He tells the father to say and do what he means. "If he teaches his disciples that something is not to be done, then neither must he do it."
In dealing with his subjects, St. Benedict suggests that the abbot adapt himself to circumstances and characters. He may have to be "stern as a taskmaster" or "devoted and tender as only a father can be." Knowing how to live with his monks, the abbot "will not only keep the flock entrusted to his care from dwindling, but will rejoice in the increase of a good flock." A monastery will thrive if it is ruled by a reasonable abbot. Although many people belong to a monastery, it is the abbot "to whom more has been entrusted." Monastic history is recalled in terms of what happened or did not happen during the administration of abbots.
In disciplining extremely recalcitrant monks, it may surprise us that St. Benedict resorts to "blows or some other physical punishment." This seems highly unreasonable to us. It wasn't, though, in St. Benedict's day. In a latter chapter of the Rule, there is a more temperate reference to the correction of faults.
St. Benedict advises the abbot to use prudence and avoid extremes; otherwise, by rubbing too hard to remove the rust, he may break the vessel. He is to distrust his own frailty and remember not to crush the bruised reed (Isa 42:3). By this we do not mean that he should allow faults to flourish, but rather, as we have already said, he should prune them away with prudence and love as he sees
The Rule, Chapter 2 23 best for each individual. Let him strive to be loved rather than feared (RB 64:12-15).
I'm certain St. Benedict was an abbot who was loved.
He was an abbot who showed " equal love to everyone/ Some monks, he says, may be more lovable because of their ideal behavior, but even so, "the abbot should avoid all favoritism in the monastery." Favoritism in all families causes many serious problems. "Therefore, the abbot is to show equal love to everyone and apply the same discipline to all according to their merits." This is good advice for all parents.
The role of father in the community is only one of several roles that St. Benedict expects the abbot to perform. The abbot is also judge, master, servant, shepherd, steward, teacher, and wise physician. In all these functions, the abbot is encouraged to be Christ-like, "to hold the place of Christ in the monastery."
The abbot will be judged not only by what he has taught but by how well the monks have responded to his teaching.
"Let the abbot always remember that at the fearful judgment of God, not only his teaching but also his disciples' obedience will come under scrutiny." Near the end of this chapter, St.
Benedict again reminds the abbot of the accounting he must give on judgment day. Fortunately for the abbot, St. Benedict assures him of an acquittal if it has been proved that the monks paid no attention to him. St. Benedict knows that the father of a monastery can accomplish only so much. Although the abbot is responsible for his monks and must give an account of their behavior, he will not be condemned "if he has faithfully shepherded a restive and disobedient flock, always striving to cure their unhealthy ways." Sometimes parents blame themselves for the way their children turn out. St. Benedict says, don't do that. If you have really tried, you can't be blamed.
Chapter 2, while addressing the qualities an abbot should
24 The Rule, Chapter 2 have, also says something about the kinds of monks who live under the Rule. True enough, there are ' 'obedient and docile and patient" monks. There are "upright and perceptive men."
But there are monks who are "restive and disobedient,"
'negligent and disdainful," and "arrogant." The abbot "must know what a difficult and demanding burden he has undertaken: directing souls and serving a variety of temperaments, coaxing, reproving and encouraging them as appropriate. He must so accommodate and adapt himself to each one's character and intelligence ..."
One of my favorite abbots is St. Aelred of Rievaulx, a twelfth-century English Cistercian who embodies what St.
Benedict teaches in chapter 2 of the Rule. St. Aelred had this prayer for his community: "May they, Lord, thanks to your
Spirit's influence, live at peace, each and all, and with me; may they be well-behaved, kindly disposed; may they obey, help and bear with one another."1
St. Aelred spoke and wrote about friendship. As novice master and later as abbot, he was known as a friend. His biographer, Walter Daniel, reports that when he was declining in health and was bedridden, twenty or thirty monks could be found at one time in the abbot's cell. "There was nobody to say to them: 'Away with you. Don't touch the abbot's bed.' "2 Those who could find room sat on the abbot's bed.
Possibly this is the only time in monastic history that monks have dared to sit on an abbot's bed with the abbot in it.
A few years ago a young man came to join our monastery without having done any research on the Benedictines. After being introduced to the abbot, he turned to one of the monks and asked, "What's an abbot?" If anyone intends to live in a Benedictine monastery, it won't take him long to find out what an abbot is.
Oblates who are parents know the demands of their vocation, and they are successful in raising their families if the qual-