Beginnings of Monasticism
   Monasticism began as a recognizable institution in the fourth century, but monastic values can be seen in many practices of the early church before this time. Since the church was subject to persecution from time to time under the Roman Emperors, many devoted Christians had the opportunity to offer their lives for Christ in a single act of martyrdom. Other earnest Christians who were not martyred in this way discovered that they also could offer their lives by practicing acts of self-denial, learning to die to themselves every day in order to live with Christ. When the Emperor Constantine established Christianity in the Roman Empire in 325, he made Christianity more socially acceptable. As a result, many joined the Church with less fervor than many earlier Christians had. In reaction to this trend, numerous Christians chose to embrace the values of a daily martyrdom for the sake of their own salvation. This quest for salvation became a witness to the whole church. The result was the early monastic movement.
   The first monks who moved out of the cities into the deserts of Egypt and Palestine are known as the Desert Fathers. They practiced a radical asceticism, often eating very little, sleeping very little, keeping silent, usually living alone, and reciting the Psalter, often from memory, every day. Such practices were extreme, but they represented an honest attempt to be generous in giving their lives completely to God. Also, the austerity of these monks caused other people to think about the lives they were leading and sometimes to question their own lifestyles.
   The monks of the fourth century concerned themselves only with living the Christian life as fully as possible. They did not want to change the world; they wanted only to change themselves with the power of God's grace. But as these monks were changed by God's grace, many other people came out into the desert to seek counsel from the Fathers and found that their example could help them change for the better too.
   The Desert Fathers had to learn to avoid the pitfalls in their ascetic way of life. For one thing, there was the danger of taking pride in their acts of self-denial. Another danger was self-absorption to the point of losing sight of the need to care for other people. To counteract such dangers, and to accommodate the many people who wanted to give their lives totally to God but who were unable to practice such austerities, monks began to live in groups under a superior who could guide the others in the Christian life. In these first monasteries, the ascetic life became less extreme and a greater emphasis was placed on the life of charity toward others which living in community requires.

St. Benedict
When St. Benedict began to form his first monastery in about A.D. 500, he was the inheritor of almost two centuries of monastic tradition. He respected the ascetic lives of the early Desert Fathers, but felt that the values of the communal life with a more moderate asceticism were much more realistic for most of the men who were presenting themselves for the monastic life. Benedict taught a middle way between radical asceticism and a life of indulgence: monks should eat adequate amounts of food, but not too much; they should have adequate amounts of sleep, but not too much. Benedict did not urge his monks to storm Heaven and win salvation in one day. Rather, Benedict showed himself to be realistic about human nature. He knew that even men who choose to devote themselves to a life of worship will have their foibles and that any change for the better will take many years of struggle. Benedict enjoined an asceticism more relaxed than that of the early monks, which stressed leading a gradual journey to God in which one never loses sight of the goal of Heaven. The practice may be moderate, but it is still uncompromising in its devotion to God.
   When St. Benedict organized a monastic community in the early sixth century and wrote a Rule for his followers, he was not trying to solve the social conflicts that were tearing the Italian peninsula apart at the time. Benedict's focus was in leading his community into living the Christian life centered on acts of worship. But when the Roman Empire collapsed in Europe, the church and its monasteries, in particular, were among the few institutions which could keep society together. Benedict's Rule was only one among many at the time, but its flexibility and practical common sense in living the Christian life from day to day eventually made it the normative monastic rule in Europe.

The Middle Ages
 The early Middle Ages is sometimes called the age of monasticism. True, monasteries were important and had a recognized place in society. They were supported for the most part by members of the nobility whose motives were sometimes mixed. One endowed monastery, for example, was located at a strategic bend of a river to help guard the benefactor's lands. However, it is also clear that for men and women in a violent time, both the ministry of prayer and the presence of a lifestyle different from their own was highly valued. Moreover, monasteries were the most important centers of learning and for keeping cultural values alive until the urban universities arose in the eleventh century.
   The history of monasticism is not, however, all light shining in the surrounding darkness. Ever since the earliest days of monasticism, there have been serious failures of observance. There have been times when monasticism has been strong in its witness to the church and the world, and times when it has been woefully weak. The late Middle Ages was one of these low periods for monasticism. It is worth noting, however, that this is also a period when monastic values were not strongly supported in the surrounding culture. Material support was lacking, but worse was the lack of respect for the ideals of monasticism. It is not impossible for there to be good monks in an indifferent society, but it is more difficult. A society gets the monks it deserves.

The Modern Period
   Since the late medieval period, there have been many revivals and declines in monasticism. Some declines were caused by external factors such as the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Napoleon, recent examples of how vulnerable monasticism can be when the surrounding culture chooses not to tolerate it. However, with each loss of the monastic witness, the need for that witness has made itself felt again, and the monastic vocation has been revived. Benedictines continue to make significant contributions to cultural advancement. They are producing scholarly editions of early Christian writings, important studies in liturgy, and many works on spirituality. Perhaps most important, Benedictinism preserves certain teachings on the spiritual life whose importance is gaining ever more recognition today.
   The Second Vatican Council urged reform of the monastic and religious orders under the two-fold concept of returning to the principles and charism of the order's origins and then discerning ways to apply these teachings in our time. As a result of this conciliar decree, great strides have been made in the understanding of the early monastic movement and of St. Benedict and his Rule. Not only have we been able to confirm many Benedictine teachings which have been consistently preserved over the centuries, but we have also rediscovered much which had been lost. This increase of information offers Benedictines today as well as all other Christians, a chance to participate in a revival which brings old teachings in contact with new questions in the Church.

Benedictinism and the Anglican Communion
   One of the more notorious examples of the destruction of monasticism as an institution is the dissolution of the monasteries in England by Henry VIII. There is reason to believe that Henry himself was motivated more by the need for the monasteries' economic resources more than by any religious or political reasons. However, with the monasteries gone, the anti-monastic bias of the reformers gained a foothold in the Anglican Church and they discouraged any revival of the institution.
   One of the ironies in this event is that at the very time that monasticism was wiped out in England, many of the Christian values that Benedictines had preserved over the centuries were incorporated into the Book of Common Prayer, especially in the daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer. Moreover, the temperament of moderate asceticism embodied in the Benedictine Rule set the tone for much of the best in Anglican spirituality.

During the nineteenth century, there was a revival of interest in the theology, practice, and institutions of early Christianity inspired by the Oxford Movement in the Anglican Church. Included in this revival was a growing interest in re-establishing religious orders in the Church of England. Initially, there was strong resistance to this revival, but it also gained strong supporters as the need for the witness of religious and monastic orders was felt. The first religious orders in the Church of England were devoted to active ministries, but by the turn of the century, the way had been paved for more contemplative styles of living the religious life. After two false starts, a Benedictine community was established at Pershore which later moved to Burnham, Buckinghamshire, and became Nashdom Abbey.

St. Gregory's Abbey
   In the United States, this same desire for reviving Benedictine monasticism was felt, and when a group of seminarians and a professor from Nashotah House Seminary decided they wanted to try a Benedictine vocation, their trip to Nashdom Abbey was sponsored by the American Benedictine Sponsoring Committee under the leadership of Canon Vivan Peterson from Cleveland.
   In 1939, when the international situation became unsettled, the American Benedictines returned to the U.S. to start a monastic house. Bishop Campbell Gray welcomed the monks into the Diocese of Northern Indiana and they opened St. Gregory's House in Valparaiso. Pope St. Gregory I was chosen as the new monastery's patron because the house was opened on March 12, the Feast of St. Gregory, and because St. Gregory sent the first Roman mission to the English people in 597.
   After the War, the community wished to move to a rural location. In 1946, they located a piece of property near Three Rivers, Michigan, and negotiated its purchase. St. Gregory's has been at Three Rivers ever since. In 1969, St. Gregory's Priory became an independent abbey and Fr. Benedict Reid was elected first abbot. After the resignation of Fr. Benedict on February 10, 1989, Fr. Andrew Marr was elected second abbot on March 2, 1989.

BENEDICTINE LIVING
   Although St. Benedict wrote his Rule for a monastic community which would not be living the same kind of life as other Christians, the fact that he was applying fundamental Christian values to his community means that many of his teachings will have applications for all Christians. In the historical survey, emphasis was placed on Benedict's middle path between harsh asceticism and self- indulgence. There are also many other ways in which Benedict shows his sense of balance. For example, he stresses the need for his monks to be deeply involved in the interpersonal relationships of community, but also to reserve generous amounts of time for solitude in order to relate to God as responsible individuals. He also demonstrates an uncanny balance between a realistic appraisal of human behavior and an idealistic hope for what people can become with the grace of God. Most significantly, the basic rhythm of the monastic life of worship, study, and work, as outlined in the Rule, is a particularly strong instance of St. Benedict's sense of balance. St. Benedict also has challenging teachings to offer us on such difficult matters as humility and obedience. Each of these teachings can help us question the attitudes and practices of our time.

The Rhythm of work, study, and prayer
   Benedict makes it clear that living the Christian life means giving worship pride of place when he says: "Let nothing be preferred to the Work of God." When Benedict outlines the daily timetable, it is the times of worship which provide the structure of the day. Everything else is scheduled around the acts of corporate prayer. Moreover, the sacred time, given over to God alone, is woven into the threads of everything else a monk does to sanctify the whole day, so that each day becomes a single tightly woven garment. Here we have a reversal of the way time is usually structured -- in fact, has to be structured -- in non-monastic settings. Most of the time, no matter how much we may prefer prayer to everything else, our work controls our day, and prayer is worked around our commitments. The monastic schedule reminds all Christians of the true priorities, even when their daily timetables simply cannot (and ought not) embody them.
   The sense of balance in relation to worship, however, can only be seen by noting the importance of work in the monastic life. To live a life of worship alone is not Benedict's ideal at all. Rather, the ideal is to worship and to work in such a way that the two form a unified life devoted to God and one's neighbor. Work is not a distraction from prayer. On the contrary, prayer must be grounded in concrete acts of work which keep us in touch with the reality of the material world. We need this grounding in material reality in order to keep in touch with the reality of God who created the world. Moreover, putting work in the context of a life of worship changes one's perspective on work. One works for the sake of doing the job itself rather than primarily for ulterior motives such as making money, necessary as that is for living in the world, or making a name for oneself. Taking care in one's work, in the way one handles tools can have a salutary effect on one's interiority which opens the way to deeper prayer. Benedict demonstrates his vision of prayer grounded in work most succinctly when he says that the cellarer, the monk responsible for distributing the goods of the monastery, "will regard all utensils and goods of the monastery as sacred vessels of the altar."
   Worship and work do not provide sufficient balance, however. Study is also important. However, here the perspective on study is quite different from what we normally experience in school. Benedict envisions study as a means of growing close to God, not merely as something one does just to get a diploma. This means that reading and meditating on scripture and studying the classic texts on Christian spirituality are fundamental to monastic study. More will be said about prayerful reading of scripture below in the section on Benedictine teaching on prayer. The important thing to note here is that the more one can get a feel for the love of God revealed in scripture, the more one can judge how much of this love has been captured by other writers. Given this foundation, there is a wide variety of reading from insightful novels to historical studies to books on nuclear physics, which can also draw one closer to God.
   If we think of study as engaging the mind and work as engaging the body in the spiritual life, then it is worship which engages the heart. This is not to say that Benedict means to chop life up into three compartments. Rather, Benedict would have us make these three activities a unity forming a single life lived for the Lord. Our acts of worship become a guide for living the rest of our lives, and we work and study in such a way as to prepare ourselves for our acts of worship.

Benedict's Realism
   One of the constant dangers in monasticism is falling into the trap of becoming over-achievers. Benedict was sufficiently aware of this problem to temper his idealism with a realistic view of human nature. In a time when so much idealism has broken down under the weight of the harsh realities of today, we can take heart from the sober realism of Benedict which never loses sight of high ideals. Benedict knew that neither personal nor communal problems could be solved with the wave of a magic wand. When we become frustrated from trying "instant solutions" that don't work, we can take encouragement from Benedict's conviction that we can become better people in the long run if only we be patient with ourselves and with others.
   There are many statements in his Rule where Benedict makes it clear that he does not expect his monks to become automatically perfect when they are given the monastic habit. On the contrary, he often gives the impression that he expects things to go wrong. For example, when it is time to get up in the morning for prayers, the monks are asked to encourage one another "on account of the excuses of the sleepy." Benedict goes on the say that a monk is late for the morning office if he comes in after the recitation of Psalm 94, "for which reason it should be recited as slowly as possible." Even so, St. Benedict prescribes penalties for tardiness at the Divine Office which makes it clear that he does not mean to be complacent about human failings. Again, we have a combination of accepting human limitations while goading his monks on to doing better.
   That St. Benedict expects one's growth as a Christian to take time is the point of the third vow a Benedictine takes: conversatio morum. This Latin phrase is difficult to translate, but the basic thrust of it is that the monk promises to commit himself to the monastic life as an ongoing process. He is not making an unrealistic promise that he will become instantly perfect; he is making the realistic promise that he will struggle to embody the monastic ideal throughout his life.
   Just as monastic history has its ups and downs, so the most conscientious monks experience the same rhythm of fervor and lassitude in observance. A monastic vocation is not a fantasy life of serene prayer which overlooks our common humanity. That would hardly be a strong witness to the faith. Rather, it is a monk's struggle to live rightly and to become ever more open to God's grace which gives the monk something to share with others in the church and the world.

Obedience
   The second vow a Benedictine takes is obedience to the Abbot and the community. (The first vow is stability of place: the promise to live out the monastic life in the monastery of his profession.) The virtue of obedience is severely questioned today. The evils which have been perpetrated by totalitarian governments, especially under Hitler and Stalin, have made it clear that obedience can be used as a cloak for the surrender of personal responsibility. Nonetheless, obedience is a fundamental value enjoined by scripture. St. Benedict cites the word of Jesus, "I have come not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me", (Jn. 6:38) to show that obedience is a central part of the imitation of Christ. The fundamental value of obedience, though is that it offers us freedom from the tyranny of our own will. As St. Paul pointed out so often in his epistles, our own will is free only when it is yoked to God.
   Nevertheless, Benedict teaches that only through obedience to others can we learn to be obedient to God. However, this obedience is not a matter of blindly doing what one is told. Rather, it is grounded in a concern for the needs of others. Benedict's concept of obedience is inseparable from his teaching on the kind of man an abbot should be. Far from being a dictator, the abbot should be a good father who tries to provide for his monks materially and spiritually in the spirit of Christ. The abbot's obedience to the realities of a community's life is essential to his claim to obedience from his monks.

Humility
   The fundamental virtue for living the Christian life as Benedict envisions it is humility. This virtue not a popular one today, but it was so important to Benedict that we must reflect on it. To begin with, humility is essential for the imitation of Christ. Benedict quotes Phil. 2:6-11 where St. Paul celebrates the humility of Christ as the example for all Christians to follow in their lives. Humility is the disposition which opens the way to the act of repentance, so central to progress in the Christian life. Humility is, in essence, a turning away from the many fantasies we entertain concerning ourselves, the world around us, and God; and a turning towards reality as God sees it.
   The first step toward humility is the awareness of God's constant presence. We must remember that we "are always seen by God in heaven, that [our] actions everywhere are in God's sight and are reported by the angels." Through humility, the monk is of the disposition to receive truth, not only through the Word of God revealed in Scripture, but also through God's revelations in daily community life. Thus, when Benedict discusses matters of deportment, such as avoiding boisterous laughter and keeping the eyes downcast, these are not simply rigid commands for external behavior. Rather, Benedict is saying that when one is humble, one does not have to "put on an act" to draw attention to oneself. The virtue of humility is the virtue of acting naturally.
   In an era when we have become sensitive to the destructive result of growing up with a negative self- image, it may seem that humility can do more harm than good. After all, we have discovered that it is hard to function well in life and to relate to God when we don't feel reasonably good about ourselves. However, if humility is primarily the way to truth, then humility not only guards us against a swollen ego, but a shrunken one as well. In humility we may learn that we are not always as good as we think we are, but we also learn that we are also not as bad as we think.

BENEDICTINE TEACHING ON PRAYER
   Benedictines have, more often than not, maintained a basic tendency to prefer simplicity to complexity in the approach to prayer. This simpler approach is turning out to be helpful to more and more people in our time. Benedictine teaching also stresses the pursuit of balance between liturgical prayer and inner prayer, with both being important elements. There is not the space here to give adequate instruction for the practice of prayer, but at least I can show something of the contributions the Benedictine tradition can make in this important area.