CHAPTER 48
90 The Rule, Chapter 48
CHAPTER 48
The Daily Manual Labor Chapter 48 is entitled //rThe Daily Manual Labor/' but St. Benedict does not deal with that subject only. "The brothers should have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading." If work is necessary because "idleness is the enemy of the soul," so is reading necessary. Both are important, and St. Benedict wants the monks' day to be balanced by both.
In St. Benedict's monastery, manual labor was the lot of most monks. Not many laborsaving and timesaving devices had been invented by the sixth century. Not everyone, of course, was engaged in work that was strictly manual. Some monks were artisans, others copied texts in the scriptorium.
A guestmaster provided for the visitors' needs, someone had to teach the boy oblates, and someone had to tend for the sick and aged monks. Work, in whatever form it took, was important.
Practically every renewal of the Benedictine Order throughout history has restored manual labor to the significant place
St. Benedict gave it in monastic life. These days, however, some Benedictine monastics have to look upon manual labor as a welcome diversion from other duties.
"When they live by the labor of their hands, as our fathers and the apostles did, then they are really monks." This sentence from chapter 48 follows the one that states, "They must not become distressed if local conditions or their poverty should force them to do the harvesting themselves.' This seems to imply that monks did not always work on their own farms. Monastic leaders before St. Benedict had opposite views about farming. The monks of Egypt thought that work should be restricted to one's cell. St. Jerome was disgusted with monks like the Egyptians who sat in their cells and wove baskets all
The Rule, Chapter 48 91 day. He believed that if a monk were confined to his cell, his work should be scholarly. Otherwise, he should be out in the fields. The Rule of the Master prohibited farm work. St. Basil, who was greatly admired by St. Benedict, prescribed farming as the most suitable kind of work for monks. Without a doubt, farming was acceptable to St. Benedict too. Farming certainly became a Benedictine tradition.
Twice in this chapter St. Benedict takes into consideration monks who are not physically disposed to doing much manual labor. "All things are to be done with moderation on account of the fainthearted. " And "brothers who are sick or weak should be given a type of work or craft that will keep them busy without overwhelming them or driving them away.'
St. Benedict watches carefully to see that no one is overburdened by his work. He is concerned about both body and soul. That is why this chapter on work is also attentive to lectio divina. The English translation is "prayerful reading" but the more literal meaning of the Latin is "divine reading." St.
Benedict wants his monks to read the divine book, the Bible.
Reading the Bible is a spiritual exercise, and it should also be a spiritual experience. The monk reads not to research a subject. Reading is feeding his soul. Lectio is a kind of communion. It prepares the monk for prayer in common, and it is a private prayer as well. Prayerful reading is unhurried. It is meditative. The text is to be savored. Medieval monks used the term ruminatio (chewing the cud) to describe the action of lectio.
If someone wishes to read instead of taking his siesta, he must do so quietly. It was the custom to read aloud even in private. The monk was to hear the word spoken exteriorly as well as interiorly. But here again we see the considerateness of St. Benedict— read, but don't disturb your napping neighbor.
Lectio is so necessary for monks that St. Benedict wants two seniors to go around the monastery checking on them during