Teacher of life

For a religious person, living under a rule does not mean delegating the life choices that must be made to a writing or ancient wisdom. Every adult woman and man must not renounce the profound freedom that Christ came to bring to humanity and delegate to others, even if he were the wisest person he knows, his own choices, betraying his own responsibility. But not even total autonomy and independence lead to wisdom of life. The rule therefore has the role, generally recognized by a tradition, of indicating the various paths for living a wise, just and honest life and, in the case of a religious rule, for living one's relationship with God according to the way of life that he has chosen himself and following the interior impulse that the Holy Spirit gives to anyone who seeks him. The rule of Saint Benedict, in particular, is neither a civil nor penal code, but a guide that leads along paths of life, not always easy and obvious, but whose goal is "to enjoy happy days", and this means living in a single communion with God the Trinity and with men, brothers and sisters with whom one lives regularly or with others who occasionally intervene in the lives of those who become disciples of a master. Almost all aspects of human and community life are touched upon in this rule, which is intended to be a way of drawing on the divine wisdom of the Gospel. Even very modern problems, but already present in antiquity, such as the reception of the pilgrim, the refugee, the poor, are not left to the spontaneity of those who find themselves having to welcome and therefore to the variation of political struggles, of moods, but receive a strong evangelical light.

In fact, what must dominate in the Monastery is fraternal charity, which must permeate everything, because God is Love and is not encountered in fear, but in charity.

One of the chapters in which this becomes more visible is Benedict's speech on how to welcome those who knock at the door of the monastery. The light is given by a lapidary sentence: «All guests who come to the monastery are welcomed like Christ, since one day he will tell us: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”». We are not talking about categories of guests, but the first thing the monk must take into account is the presence of Christ in all those who show up and knock on the door.

The guest welcomed like Christ immediately enters a new climate. Even if affection and friendship can already predispose to a welcoming meeting, in the one who knocks on the door we recognize and welcome Christ himself, in the guest we recognize the God who welcomes us all.

We can therefore understand how the first word that is noticed is: "charity". We are in a divine climate; only if the presence of God is alive in the monastery can this happen. Worldliness risks manifesting itself greatly in hospitality and falling into the trap is easy. We therefore already have two important things here: the continuous recognition of the presence of God in others and a thoughtful attention in rushing to demonstrate every possible charity, which Benedict expresses with this phrase: «As soon as the arrival of a guest is announced, the superior and the monks go out to meet him, showing him their love in every way" and then "show him all the attention that a fraternal and respectful sense of humanity can inspire". This word "humanity" is light for all human relationships and leads us to be attentive and reject any exclusion and partiality, because the quality of the relationship indicates the quality of the person.


Cesare Falletti
NP May 2024