The Rule Of St. Benedict: A Note On The Translation
THE RULE OF ST. BENEDICT: A NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION
THE translation that follows is a revision and in many place new translation of that made by Boniface Verheyen, O.S.B. (1843–1923). Fr. Boniface was a Benedictine of St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kansas. He held the office of Prior under the dynamic Abbot, Innocent Wolf, O.S.B.. Fr. Verheyen’s translation was created for the novices in Atchinson.
While benefitting from Fr. Verheyen’s version, the present translation takes advantage of the last century of textual scholarship on the Rule, avoids elevation of tone when the Latin does not suggest it, and—it is hoped—restores some sense of the personality evident in Benedict’s prose style. The following examples should allow readers to gauge the degree of revision:
To thee, therefore, my speech is now directed, who, giving up thine own will, takest up the strong and most excellent arms of obedience, to do battle for Christ the Lord, the true King. (
It is to you that I direct my words, whoever you may be. My hope is that you will renounce your own will, and then take up the strong and most excellent arms of obedience, and so do battle for Christ the Lord, the true King. (
If we do not venture to approach men who are in power, except with humility and reverence, when we wish to ask a favor, how much must we beseech the Lord God of all things with all humility and purity of devotion? (, Verheyen original).
When we wish to ask a favor of men who are in power, we do not dare to approach them, except with humility and reverence. How much more, then, should we beseech the Lord God of the universe with all humility and purity of devotion? (, Fahey version).