January 8

Chapter 1

Rule of Benedict January 8

Benedict's harsh condemnation of sarabaites and gyrovagues stems from his strong beliefs about spiritual formation.  We are formed in community, Benedict insists, and not just any community, but a community gathered around the instructions of the Lord put into practice under a rule and an abbot or abbess.  I hear from this chapter a clear call for us, as members of the Benedictine Sisters and Brothers of St. Brigid, to prayerfully inquire within ourselves which vices of the sarabaites and/or gyrovagues we tend toward in our fledgling neo-monastic practice.  And in response to that inquiry, let us each resolve to expel those vices from our hearts.