The Monastic Rule

The Way of Life for Western Orthodox Monks

Saint Benedict’s Rule directing myriads of monastics in the Orthodox West is a mirror to the soul for the ordering of our spiritual lives.

Saint Benedict of Nursia wrote his Monastic Rule as a spiritual and practical guide for the holy monks of the twelve monasteries that he founded in sixth-century Italy. For Saint Benedict, the monastery is an image of the Church, and “a school for the Lord’s service” by means of holy obedience to the evangelical commandments. It is there, in great patience and dedication to the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, that monks are able to progress from virtue to virtue in order to attain His eternal Kingdom.