Benedict's Rule orders a community's daily life
About this date: The Rule's exact composition year is uncertain. 530 is a conventional reading-map placement, not a securely documented publication date.
The Rule arranges prayer, work, leadership, discipline, and shared possessions within a monastery. Its chapters on sickness and hospitality connect order with attention to vulnerability.
Historical context
The text sets an ideal for a particular kind of common life. Its later broad influence in western monasticism develops over centuries rather than beginning everywhere at once.
Key points
- Care of sick members receives special priority.
- Daily work and reading are given a rhythm.
- Guests are to be received with religious seriousness and practical care.
People
- Benedict of Nursia
Sources and further reading
- Rule of Benedict
Selections on possessions, food, work, and hospitality; some chapter headings have no body text in this edition. - Rule of Benedict: care of the sick
Full text of the sick-care chapter omitted from the Fordham selection.