The Rule's special genius is to teach that the road to perfect love and to eternal life begins right in the small stuff, at every moment and everywhere.
For Christians who aim to live a celibate life in common, the Rule of Saint Benedict has been, for 1500 years, a reliable guide for putting the Gospel into practice. Like all Benedictine communities, the monks of Saint Anselm Abbey aim at being faithful to the teaching of Saint Benedict by adapting his Rule to their own time, place and work.
The final goal of all Christians is to gain everlasting life, and the way there is to come to the perfect love of God that casts out fear. But how? In his Rule, Saint Benedict answers: by making God and others the aim of my choices and actions (obedience); by embracing time-tested practices of common prayer, silence, study and work (constant conversion); by living for the rest of my life in one community (stability).
The Rule's special genius is to teach that the road to perfect love and to eternal life begins right in the small stuff, at every moment and everywhere. The daily schedule of prayer, study, work, meals, recreation and sleep provides the monk with a reliable outline of God's will for him. He treats the mops and cell phones, computers and books, clothing and cars like the sacred vessels on the altar. He discovers that God is present in the church, refectory, meeting room, sleeping quarters, office and classroom. Most importantly, he believes that, when he interacts with his abbot and fellow monks, with guests and co-workers, he is encountering Christ.