This chapter, “Loving Service,” is a
particularly touching one. It speaks of the special care which Benedict
required monastics to give to the elderly, infirm, and young. We have already
seen in past chapters that the Benedictine model is different from many
medieval monasteries in its decision to seek the middle ways rather than
demanding extreme asceticism, self-punishment, and so on, such as Martin Luther
experienced in his Augustinian order.
Chittister writes:
There is in Benedictine spirituality
a deeply compassionate heart
that neither glorifies the suppression
of human feelings
nor denies the reality of human needs.
Nowhere is that clearer than in
the attention the Rule gives
to the needs of the elderly, the sick,
and the children of the monastery.
Already we see a difference—how many monasteries would
have had any children in them? Benedictines, then and now, are required to
offer hospitality to all who come to them, believing that is what God, in Hebrews
13:2, had in mind.
She goes on:
We are here to enable one another
to go further.
We are here to learn from the insights
of the other.
We are here to bring all of humanity
to fullness of life.
The Rule is clear about the lengths
to which a Benedictine goes
to sustain the elderly,
to heal the sick,
to support the young in the community. . . .
Suffering is not glorified in this Rule;
Loving care is its norm. . . .
No amount of special asceticism
can equal the amount
of spiritual growth
and human maturity
that comes with care for others.
I believe that “we” in the first
line of this passage means me. Means you. Means all of us who claim to follow
the Way of the Christ.
