In a secularized world and an epoch marked by a disturbing culture of emptiness and meaninglessness, you are called to proclaim the primacy of God without compromise and to advance proposals for possible new forms of evangelization. The commitment to personal and communitarian sanctification that you pursue and the liturgical prayer that you encourage equip you for a particularly effective witness. In your monasteries, you are the first to renew and to deepen daily the encounter with the Person of Christ, whom you always have with you as guest, companion and friend. For this reason your convents are places where in our time too men and women hasten to seek God and learn to recognize the signs of Christ's presence, charity and mercy. With humble trust, you never tire of sharing with those who turn to your spiritual care the riches of the Gospel message, which are summed up in the proclamation of the love of the merciful Father who is ready to embrace every person in Christ. Thus you will continue to make your precious contribution to the vitality and sanctification of the People of God, in accordance with the special charism of Benedict of Norcia.

Benedict XVI Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo Saturday, 20 September 2008

The life of a monk therefore becomes a fruitful symbiosis of action and contemplation, ??so that God is glorified in everything?? (Rule 57,9). In contrast to an egocentric and easy self-fulfillment, often extolled today, the first and irrefutable duty of a disciple of St. Benedict is a sincere search for God (Rule 58,7) on the road traced by a humble and obedient Christ (Rule 5,13), the love of whom nothing should be allowed to stand in the way. (Rule 4,21; 72,11).

It is in this way, in serving others, that Benedict becomes a man of service and peace. By showing obedience through his actions with a faith driven by love (Rule 5,2), the monk acquires humility (Rule 5,1), to which the Rule dedicates a whole chapter (Rule 7). In this way man becomes more like Christ and attains true self-fulfillment as a creature in God's own image.

??monastic life of isolation has it's place, but a monastery also has a public aim in the life of the Church and society as a whole. It must serve to make faith visible as a force of life.

Benedict XVI, Vatican City, April 9, 2008

Benedict did not found a monastic institution oriented primarily to the evangelization of barbarian peoples, as other great missionary monks of the time, but indicated to his followers that the fundamental, and even more, the sole objective of existence is the search for God: "Quaerere Deum."

Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican City, July 10, 2005

Common life, fashioned on the model of the early Church where the body of believers was united in heart and soul (cf. Acts 4:32), and given new force by the teaching of the Gospel, the sacred liturgy and especially the Eucharist, should continue to be lived in prayer and the communion of the same spirit. As members of Christ living together as brothers, religious should give pride of place in esteem to each other (cf. Rom. 12:10) and bear each other's burdens (cf. Gal. 6:2). For the community, a true family gathered together in the name of the Lord by God's love which has flooded the hearts of its members through the Holy Spirit (cf.Rom. 5:5), rejoices because He is present among them (cf. Matt. 18:20). Moreover love sums up the whole law (cf. Rom. 13:10), binds all together in perfect unity (cf. Col. 3:14) and by it we know that we have crossed over from death to life (cf. 1 John 3:14). Furthermore, the unity of the brethren is a visible pledge that Christ will return (cf. John 13:35; 17:21) and a source of great apostolic energy.

Pope Paul VI, Perfectae Caritatis, 15; October 28, 1965

Benedict describes the Rule as ??minimal, just an initial outline?? (Rule 73,8); in reality, however, it offers useful advice not only to monks, but to anyone looking for guidance on the path to God. Through his capacity, his humanity, and his sober ability to discern between what is essential and what is secondary in the spiritual life, he is still a guiding light today.

Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican City, April 9, 2008

But when faith is living, strong, ardent, when we live by faith, that is to say when in everything we are actuated by the principles of faith, when faith is the root of all our actions, the inward principle of all our activity, then we become strong and steadfast in spite of difficulties within and without, in spite of obscurities, contradictions and temptation. Why so? Because, by faith, we judge, we estimate all things as God sees and estimates them: we participate in the Divine immutability and stability.

Fidelity is the most precious and delicate flower of love here below. Up above, in heaven, love will blossom out into thanksgiving, in delight and enjoyment, in the full and entire possession of the beloved object; here, upon earth, it is manifested by a generous and constant fidelity to God, despite the obscurity of faith, despite trials, difficulties, oppositions.

Bl. Abbot Columba Marmion OSB, Christ The Ideal Of the Monk, pp. 101, 139

We ought to love our monastery with an ardent indefectible love, never allowing ourselves, especially when with outsiders, to throw the least shadow upon it by mentioning the imperfections which human weakness ever bears in its train; such indiscretion and evil speaking moreover shocks the ears upon which they fall, as we are all hurt by hearing anyone speak unkindly or to the disadvantage of our own family. We ought especially, within the monastery, to labour with all our might, each for his own part, to render the monastic Community less unworthy of God's loving kindness, more skilled in serving Christ's interests in the Church; - we ought to avoid all that, even remotely, can diminish the fervor of the Community, impair its spiritual health, lessen its supernatural radiation:...

Let us be strict on these points, let us beware of infringing the least of our observances, however insignificant they may appear. Let us jealously and lovingly safeguard the traditions, the customs, which form the very physiognomy of the monastery. This is the best form of zeal that we can exert in our community; it is also the principle of our perfection.

The first effect of love is to make us admire what we love, to make us always regard it with complacency, to bring it before our eyes, not to lose sight of it.

Bl. Abbot Columba Marmion OSB, Christ The Ideal Of the Monk, pp. 414,415,425.