The Rule Of Saint Benedict's The Rule Of Saint Benedict

Many monasteries still believed in Catholic ways and Henry didn’t want that, he wanted the Church to be Protestant. Source B tells us that even some Protestant people were convinced the monasteries still had Catholic ways, it says, “To convinced Protestants, the monasteries were a clear reminder of the survival of catholic ideals. One of their main functions was to pray for the souls of the dead- an act that was thought unnecessary by Protestants” This suggests that Protestants thought they were praying unnecessarily. Henry VIII also wanted to change the religion in the monasteries because some of the monks and nuns were behaving so badly it was embarrassing to henry VII. This is backed up by the evidence of Source G, an extract from the Act of the Dissolution of the Lesser [smaller] Monasteries, where it reports “Manifest sin, vicious, carnel and abominable living is daily used ad committed among the little and small abbeys, priories and other religious hoses of monks, canons and nuns, and causes great (embarrassment) to the King’s highness and the realm.”

The Catholic Church during the early 16th Century was rooted throughout Europe. The Church influenced every country and its respective monarchs through the Church’s wealth and power. The Catholic Church placed a tight hold on the general populace with individuals who went against the Church being branded as heretics and excommunicated. The wealth and power of the Church eventually caused the quality of the clergy to deteriorate. Priests became corrupt and subjected to their physical desires. They frequented taverns, gambled and kept mistresses. The reputation of the clergy were horrid as the general populace was relieved that “their priest [kept] a mistress” because it “[secured] their wives from seduction” The knowledge of the clergy degenerated as well as they were no longer required to learn and teach the Holy Scriptures because the Church dictated their actions. The pinnacle of the Church’s corruption was the sale of indulgences. An indulgence was the “extra-sacramental remission of the temporal punishment” sold by priests as a temporary relief from sins. The indulgences were then sold to the general populace for money as the monetization of a priest’s services. Johannes Tetzel was a prominent preacher of indulgences who relied on the money from the sales to subsidize the rebuilding of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. The corrupt sales did not go unnoticed as Martin Luther, in an effort to stop the corruption of the Church, posted the 95 Theses on the door of a Castle

Benedict. Both Benedict and Dhuoda are trying to set up a way for a person to grow spiritually. While Benedict focuses on creating a system for monasteries, Dhuoda is directly telling William how to be a good Christian man in his life. While she does not tell William exactly at what time of day to do something, she implores him to be respect others, grow stronger morally, and to be steadfast in his faith. Dhuoda’s intentions for writing her book are more personal and it is more of her imploring and encouraging her son. Therefore Dhuoda’s message lacks Benedict’s authority. Like Dhuoda, Benedict’s end goal is to help people get to heaven by trying to refrain from sinning and suffering for

1) The thief found himself in an imbroglio when he released he did not have any mask on to hide his identity as a thief.

Another criticism that Bernard brings up in his writing is the integration of the Cluniac monks into society. He mentions that the Cluniac monks are using luxury for the acquisition of more riches, as well as for the attraction of more wealthy benefactors. He asks the Cluniac monks what they are expecting to receive for their efforts, “Admiration from the foolish? Offering from the ignorant? Or scattered as we are among the gentiles, are we learning their tricks and serving their idols?”1 Bernard brings up a good point, which is that the Cluniac monks are becoming too worldly. They are becoming too focused on the contributions that they will receive from the world, in order to decorate their churches and monasteries. They are forgetting that they became monks to leave the world behind.

The five Benedictine Values are incorporated into every class as a way to better ourselves. Each is defined from the college website and includes topics that are important for continuing my education based upon what I have learned in class. The first one is community, which is creating an environment that promotes a sense of community by being responsible and supporting each other. To be a community we need to treat each other with love. Life chances is a part of being a community. Life Chances is where a person born into poverty stays in poverty. This is a phenomenon that refers to how families can never get out of poverty because it passes on to the next generation. Life chances are what each person is given to become something in life. Someone that has a lot of money has much better life chances than does someone born into poverty. A person born into poverty is more likely to remain in poverty. We can become a community by eliminating the lower, middle, and upper class in the United States. When we eliminate this monetary value we are just one big community that we are all open arms and willing to help anyone.

Monasticism was a way of life for those who thought everyday life too sinful, and decided to devote themselves to God, either communally in the monastery or lavriote, a life of solitude. St Benedict around five hundred and forty AD set down rules which were to become the basis for monastic life in the Catholic church; poverty, obedience, chastity, and work. In these monasteries theology was preserved. A different form of monasticism developed in Ireland due to the fact it was isolated from the rest of Europe. Monks were more like the hermits of Egypt rather those of Roman Christianity. Scholarship developed in these monasteries, also a new form of art called Hiberno-Saxon. These monasteries kept literacy skills alive. Monks would transcribe and decorate sacred texts by hand. Such texts include the Book of Kells and the Lindisfaire

When thinking about a medieval monastery the first thing that comes to mind is the origin of the word monastery which comes from the Greek monos, meaning alone. Monasticism in itself is a way of life that is devoted to God in seclusion. A large part of monasticism is isolation, not only from the neighbors but from family. When taking the vows to be a monk one not only completely devotes ones life to God but all friends, family and earthly possessions are left behind. Taking the vows of monasticism takes brutal dedication and severe strength. What pushed Guibert of Nogent into monasticism is that his mother withdrew from the world after his father’s death. During that time he was left alone and

His rank is heavenly, he is “to hold the place of Christ in the monastery,” (pg. 21) and is even addressed as Christ by cenobites. The abbot has the enormous job of guiding all the monk’s souls to heaven, leaving their eternal salvation in his hands. Much responsibility has been entrusted in the abbot, who is expected to lead with dignity, compassion, and utmost control. The abbot controls daily life, from the serious punishment of an excommunicated monk, “Let him take his food alone in a time and amount the abbot considers is appropriate for him”, (Pg. 51) to the banal reception of gifts “[A monk] must not presume to accept gifts even by his parents without previously telling the abbot.” (Pg. 75). Of the 73 chapters of The Rule, 9 instruct the abbot and 10 refer to the care of the monastery. The monks entrust the abbot with their daily life and afterlife. There is no room in this equation for competition, individuality, and questioning

Monasticism or monarchism is literally the act of "dwelling alone". The Rule of St Benedict played an important role in Europe during the middle ages, monks were able to preserve many classical works from both the Romans and the Greeks while acting as copiers that produced books, they were the most pious of the church and acted as a model for the average person to strive for. It dignified manual labor, the rule acted as a written constitution and rule of law for most monasteries, policies could be seen as harsh by some but the overall message is built around a positive spirit of reconciliation. The Rule of St. Benedict most significant role for the development of European civilization was education.

Monasticism is a religious practice whose members attempt to live by specific laws, customs, and practices that require works that go beyond those of either the laypersons or the spiritual leaders of a religion. From the origins of Catholic monasticism, the works of monks, nuns, sisters, and friars have brought forth many important things. Spiritual development in the form of poverty, chastity, obedience and devoting oneself to sanctity and holiness is their main objective. The preservation of culture and ministering to the poor and ill of society are some of the most important things to have come out of monasticism.

Benedict, and in this emphasis the Franciscans are seen as their spiritual heirs. “The severity of their internal discipline, the discouragement of learning, the plainness of ritual, the absence of relics, were all calculated to discourage visitors and..gifts of benefactors” - and it is a description such as this, that I feel best describes the intentions of the early Cistercians. It was the aim of the Cistercians to run counter to the established habits and intellectual developments of western Christendom.

In general, which of these Benedictine values do you see as being helpful to the process of doing academic work in a small group? Why?

One of the most important contributors of this time was Saint Benedict of Nursia. To guide Christians pursuing such a life, St. Benedict wrote Regula Benedicti, The Rule of Saint Benedict. This book was composed of precepts for monks to follow as they lived in communal monasteries under an abbot. Ideally, poverty, chastity, and obedience were the most sought after traits that one should follow. Saint Benedict instructed monks to participate daily in written prayers, devotionals, manual labor, and commanded a pledge of poverty, chastity, and obedience (Benedict).

The Monastery played a role in supplying priests for the Churches since the monasteries were also theological seminaries for those who wanted to join the priesthood. The medieval monasteries thought priests how to live a holy Christian life and the necessity of purity and humility. The monks were the ones who used to save the church especially when problems arose between the priests and the congregation. . It was also an institution of scrutiny and correction of oneself. The main reason for this was because the monks were highly trusted by the people and people expected them to be like God. Confession of one’s wrongdoing was usually made on a daily basis during prayer time. Monasticism had a positive impact from the political, social, educational and religious point of