The Rule of St Benedict Chapter 72
Of the Good Zeal which monks ought to have
Text
Just as there is an evil zeal of bitterness, which separates from God and leads to hell, so there is a good zeal, which separates from vices and leads to God and eternal life.
Sicut est zelus amaritudinis malus, qui separat a Deo, et ducit ad infernum: ita est zelus bonus, qui separat a vitiis, et ducit ad Deum et ad vitam æternam.
Let the monks therefore practise this zeal with most fervent love, that is, so that they may give way to each other in honour.
Hunc ergo zelum ferventissimo amore exerceant monachi, id est, ut honore se invicem præveniant.
Let them endure each other’s weaknesses, whether of body or character, with utmost patience; let them devote themselves to outdoing each other in obedience.
Infirmitates suas sive corporum sive morum patientissime tolerent; obedientiam sibi certatim impendant.
Let no one follow what he judges good for himself, but what is good for another.
Nullus quod sibi utile judicat sequatur, sed quod magis alii.
Let them devote themselves to fraternal charity with a chaste love.
Caritatem fraternitatis casto impendant amore.
Let them fear God; let them love their Abbot in sincere and humble charity; let them prefer nothing at all to Christ, and may He lead us all alike to eternal life. Amen.
Deum timeant; Abbatem suum sincera et humili caritate diligant; Christo omnino nihil præponant, qui nos pariter ad vitam æternam perducat. Amen.
In these posts I take a chapter of St Benedict’s Rule for monks, translate it and add some comments from monastic writers or from my own experience.
Comment
This is the last instructional chapter of the Rule of St Benedict (there is an Afterword) and contains some of the key maxims of monastic (and Christian) life.
Zeal – I love this word and it is too little used these days. It can be defined as “great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.” It is used in the Old Testament to describe the actions of kings and prophets in putting God first, establishing His worship and sweeping away idolatry.
Perhaps the most famous reference is in Psalm 68: “Zeal for your house consumes me.”
The psalm is a lament in suffering:
Since for your sake I bear insult, and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers, a stranger to my mother’s sons,
Because zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
This psalm is quoted in St John’s Gospel (2:170, after Jesus cleanses the Temple of the money changers, etc. As a result the whole psalm is seen as referring to Christ
In Romans 10:2 St Paul refers to zeal:
For I bear them witness that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; for, ignorant of the justice of God and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the justice of God.
It is perhaps this train of thought that St Benedict is following. Zeal; drive, determination to push through all obstacles, is a good thing when directed in the proper way (towards God), but when misdirected towards man, it leads to evil, bitterness, envy of others, and ultimately hell.
Fervent love, imitating Christ, is the antidote to this bad zeal. So being obedient to others, putting them first, leads to eternal life.
What are works of zeal? Dom Guéranger, in his guide for novices, devotes a whole chapter to the zeal which monks should have towards their neighbour. This is based on Love of God (which includes the zealous carrying out of the liturgy) but finds its embodiment in love of neighbour. In this context, “neighbour” includes those not just physically present to them, but the whole Church and he mentions the souls in purgatory especially, reminding us that it was at Cluny Abbey that the feast of All Souls began. But he puts particular emphasis on love of their fellow monks.
The Brothers will understand that they must not enter into the monastic life to occupy themselves exclusively with their perfection, without occupying themselves with the sanctification of their neighbour.
Dom Xavier Perrin says:1
Chapter 72 on "good zeal" offers a concise synthesis of Saint Benedict's ideal. In it, he paints a portrait of the monk for whom charity, the good zeal of love, is the guiding principle of his whole life and of his dealings with his brothers, with the abbot and with God. Love of the brethren begins with giving them honour: paying attention to their dignity as children of God, created for His glory and redeemed by the Blood of Christ. It is then expressed in limitless patience with their weaknesses, whatever they may be. It goes on to blossom into an ever more perfect mutual obedience and emulation in the pursuit of virtue. Forgetfulness of self, encouraging us to give first place to others, is one of its important manifestations. A chaste affection, which does not strive to attract or possess, renders this purified fraternal charity truly human.
St Benedict goes on: “Let them endure each other’s weaknesses, whether of body or character, with utmost patience.”
Bishop Erik Varden reminds of the meaning of the word patience, being derived from the word patior, I suffer, the root of the word passion, and he goes on:2
To be members of Christ, and so, as Paul would say, to be members of one another, is to form a patient fellowship in every sense of the term. It is to shoulder Christ's yoke and to assume the weight of it. Though it may, from afar, seem likely to crush us, the reality is different. For if Christ charges us to bear one another, he himself bears us. And so we find, astonishingly, that a load that at first appeared to be beyond our strength is in fact bearable; that, through Christ's grace, it is not only light, but joyful, graced.
The end of this chapter may seem a bit familiar if you have been with me from the beginning on this project! In chapter 4, St Benedict list the Instruments of Good Works. These include “To prefer nothing to the love of Christ”, but you may notice that in this chapter the words “at all” are added for emphasis. Dom Delatte tells us that this phrase is taken from St Cyprian and St Antony, so it is a maxim of the desert fathers.
Dom Xavier Perrin sums up this chapter:
Finally, Christ stands at the centre of loving relations as the One who, loved above all, liberates true love, ever more intense, for each brother, for the abbot and for God.
May He lead us all alike to eternal life. Amen.
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