The Rule of St Benedict Chapter 48

Of the daily manual labour

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Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore the brothers should be occupied at set times in manual labour, and at other set times in sacred reading.

Otiositas inimica est animæ. Et ideo certis temporibus occupari debent fratres in labore manuum, certis iterum horis in lectione divina.

Therefore we believe that this arrangement should be put in place for each season: from Easter to the Calends of October let them go out to work in the morning from the first until about the fourth hour, to do what is necessary.

Ideoque hac dispositione credimus utraque tempora ordinari: id est, ut a Pascha usque ad Kalendas Octobris mane exeuntes, a prima usque ad horam pene quartam laborent, quod necessarium fuerit.

From the fourth hour to the sixth let them devote themselves to reading.

Ab hora autem quarta usque ad horam quasi sextam lectioni vacent.

After the sixth hour, when they rise from table, let them rest on their beds in silence; if it happen that someone wishes to read to himself, let him read so as not to anyone else.

Post sextam autem surgentes a mensa, pausent in lectis suis cum omni silentio; aut forte qui voluerit sibi legere, sic legat, ut alium non inquietet.

Let the time for None be brought forward to the middle of the eight hour, and again let them work at whatever needs to be done until Vespers.

Agatur Nona temperius, mediante octava hora; et iterum, quod faciendum est, operentur usque ad vesperam.

If however the needs of the place, or poverty demands that they gather the fruits of the earth themselves, let them not be saddened; for they are then truly monks, if they live off the works of their hands, as did the Fathers and the Apostles. However all should be done in moderation because of the weak.

Si autem necessitas loci, aut paupertas exegerit, ut ad fruges colligendas per se occupentur, non contristentur; quia tunc vere monachi sunt, si de labore manuum suarum vivunt, sicut et Patres nostri et Apostoli. Omnia tamen mensurate fiant propter pusillanimes.

From the Calends of October until the beginning of Lent, let them devote themselves to reading until the end of the second hour: let Terce be brought forward to the second hour; and until None let all labour at their given work.

Kalendis autem Octobris usque ad caput Quadragesimæ, usque ad horam secundam plenam lectioni vacent: hora secunda agatur Tertia; et usque ad Nonam omnes in opus suum laborent, quod eis iniungitur.

At the first signal for the hour of None, let them all stop their work and be ready, when the second signal is sounded.

Facto autem primo signo nonæ horæ, disiungant se ab opere suo singuli, et sint parati, dum secundum signum pulsaverit.

After the meal let them devote themselves to reading or the Psalms.

Post refectionem autem vacent  lectionibus suis, aut Psalmis.

During Lent let them devote themselves to reading in the morning to the end of the third hour, and let them work at their given tasks until the end of the tenth hour.

In Quadragesımæ vero diebus a mane usque ad tertiam plenam, lectioni vacent,  et usque ad decimam plenam operentur quod eis iniungitur.

In these days of Lent, let all receive a book from the library, which they read through in order to the end: these books are to be given at the beginning of Lent.

In quibus diebus Quadragesimæ, accipiant omnes singulos codices de bibliotheca, quos per ordinem ex integro legant: qui codices in capite Quadragesimae dandi sunt.

Above all, let one or two seniors be appointed to go around the monastery at the hours when the brothers are engaged in reading and see there is no lazy brother, who spends his time in leisure or story telling, and is not intent on reading: not only is he useless to himself, but he also distracts others.

Ante omnia sane deputentur unus aut duo seniores, qui circumeant monasterium horis quibus vacant fratres lectioni, et videant, ne forte inveniatur frater acediosus, qui vacet otio aut fabulis, et non sit intentus lectioni: et non solum sibi inutilis sit, sed etiam alios extollat.

If any such (God forbid) is to be found, let him be corrected once and a second time: if he does not amend, let him undergo the correction of the Rule, in such a way that the rest may be afraid.

Hic talis, si (quod absit) repertus fuerit, corripiatur semel et secundo: si non emendaverit, correc- tioni regulari subiaceat, taliter ut ceteri metum habeant.

Let no brother associate with another brother at unsuitable hours.

Neque frater ad fratrem iungatur horis incompetentibus.

On Sunday let them devote themselves to reading, apart from those who are in charge of various offices.

Dominico die lectioni vacent, exceptis iis qui variis officiis deputati se sunt.

If anyone be so negligent or lazy that they do not wish to or cannot meditate or read, let them be given some work they can do, so that they are not idle.

Si quis vero ita negligens et desidiosus fuerit, ut non velit aut non possit meditari aut legere, iniungatur ei opus quod faciat, ut non vacet.

To the sick or delicate brothers, work or craft should be given so that they are not idle, nor oppressed by heavy work, so that they flee. The Abbot is to consider their weakness.

Fratribus infirmis vel delicatis talis opera aut ars iniungatur ut nec otiosi sint, nec violentia laboris opprimantur, ut effugentur. Quorum imbecillitas ab Abbate consideranda est.

This picture is of nuns at Ste Cécile de Solesmes working in the fields

Comment

The chapter titles in the Rule of St Benedict are not original but a later addition, and this one is rather inaccurate. This chapter doesn’t only deal with manual labour but lectio divina and the general arrangement of the day.

“Idleness is the enemy of the soul”

This is one of the famous phrases of the Rule. Monks and nuns are always busy for this reason. That doesn’t mean there is no “leisure” time at all, but there is always a fixed timetable of activity for each day. It’s a form of asceticism, putting God’s will, as expressed by the communal life, above individual wants and desires. We recognise this in our lives; we may want to spend our days doing whatever we like but we put that desire aside to do work in order to earn a living.

Dom Guéranger says, in his guide for novices:

Through work we meritoriously spend hours which the weakness of our spirit does not allow us to give to contemplation. Monastic work is therefore a homage to God. And it’s for that reason that it should begin with prayer and be undertaken in the spirit of prayer.

Monks and nuns routinely begin work on their knees with a prayer and there are several we can use, this is a common one:

Actiones nostras, quaesumus, Domine, aspirando praeveni et adiuvando prosequere, ut cuncta nostra operatio a te semper incipiat, et per te coepta finiatur.

Direct, we beg you, O Lord, our actions by your holy inspirations, and grant that we may carry them out with your gracious assistance; that every work of ours may begin always with you, and through you be happily ended.

Dom Guéranger also reminds us that our need to labour at work is a consequence of original sin and can be viewed as a penance, though at the same time we should remember that Jesus also gave us an example in his work at Nazareth.

Dom Delatte points out that the occupations of a monk are three: the Work of God (always first), sacred reading (lectio divina) and manual work. On manual work, he says:

It would seem that its first purpose is to reduce the body to subjection, to shake off its inertia, to destroy those desires and instincts which find in it their source and their fuel. So manual labour is process of mortification. It allows us at the same time to consecrate to God our physical strength itself. Is there need to allude to its eminently hygienic character, especially in the young, for monks who devote long hours to the Office and to study? Accidentally, too, it may be a means of humility, and its servile character may be repugnant to certain natures; though it is hard to see what humiliation there is in digging the ground or breaking stones on a road. Finally manual labour sometimes becomes for monks the regular means of earning their bread and, in every monastery, it is required at least by the daily necessities of life.

Those daily necessities would of course relate to cooking, cleaning and washing.

On lectio divina, Dom Delatte says this:

It is not merely intellectual activity and culture of the mind… It is the work of the intelligence, if you will, but of the intelligence applying itself to divine mysteries and divine learning; It Is the work of the supernatural intelligence--that is to say, of faith. It is the organized totality of those progressive intellectual methods by which we make the things of God familiar to us and accustom ourselves to the contemplation of the invisible. Not abstract, cold speculation, nor mere human curiosity, nor shallow study; but solid, profound, and persevering investigation of Truth itself. We may say that God alone is the object of this study, its inspiration and its chief cause; for it is not only pursued under His gaze, but in His light and in very intimate contact with Him. It is a study pursued in prayer and in love.

In terms of the organisation of the day, this changes according to the time of year and fasting rules. And, as a reminder, the length of an hour would vary according to the season. St Benedict prescribes a siesta in the summer, which I believe the Cistercians still do, but which has been dropped by most Benedictines. Most monasteries today do not vary their timetable by season, but in St Benedict’s day, as we have seen earlier, they did, so a nap would be necessary in midsummer, when the days are very long.

In terms of reading during the siesta, you may recall the story of St Augustine happening to come upon St Ambrose reading silently, which surprised him. His lips moved, but no sound emerged, which was contrary to standard practice at the time. In that context, St Benedict’s instruction to read quietly makes sense. We may imagine the monastery being alive with the sound of texts being read aloud during the lectio divina period – not a silent time at all. But then that makes sense of St Benedict’s other injunction to send a couple of senior monks around the monastery to check that everyone is reading. One can imagine a couple of monks pretending to read but actually conversing with each other instead.

What monks should not be doing during reading time - 19th century painting by R S Zimmerman, entitled “Monastic Library.” Held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Reading aloud, slowly, is something I think we should do more often. When I was younger I learned to speed read whatever I was studying and that is a hard habit to break. I find myself doing it on Substack too, and not absorbing what I read. Reading aloud forces you to think about the words. It’s the same with the Rosary – praying it out loud is very different to praying it in your head. So one thing I resolve to do more of is this – pray or read aloud, and if that is not possible, at least mouth the words to myself.

Each monk is to be given a book in Lent each year, to be read through. This is, to my knowledge, still a practice of traditional Benedictine monasteries, with the books given out by the Abbot in Chapter at the start of Lent. I like this practice and pick a book for myself each Advent and Lent as a focus for my devotions. But they don’t have to finish the book in Lent – a relief if, like me, you never get through your book during the Lenten season.

As always, St Benedict closes this section with words of moderation on those who may not be able to read or work. We often forget that before the invention of reading glasses, monks could become functionally blind for close-up work as they aged, which is one reason why memorizing scripture was so important.

In terms of work, age or illness could also be a factor and monasteries often have jobs which are given to elderly monks or nuns so they can contribute to the upkeep of the monastery without taxing their strength. If you’ve ever looked at the headgear traditional nuns wear, give a thought to who irons all those white wimples and veils given to each nun every week. It is likely an elderly nun who irons them sitting down in the laundry…

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