Order of Celtic Benedictines Rule of Life

The Order of Celtic Benedictines

Prayer is the Test of Everything. If Prayer is Right, Everything is Right - St. Theophan the Recluse

St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of western monasticism.

480 - 547 A.D.

St. Benedict: A patron of the Order of Celtic Benedictines

Our Rule of Life

It has been said that Zion represents Heaven and this is our goal. “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope based on Him makes himself pure, as He is pure. [1 John 3:2-3]

Purity of heart and devotion needs to begin in this life in order to be better prepared for the Eternal Life with Our Savior Jesus, Who said, “The kingdom of heaven is within you.” Therefore our journey begins here.

CENOBITIC, EREMITIC, OUTREACH

Monasticism, both in ages past and in the world today, has many expressions. The Cenobitic type, meaning those who live in a monastery community, is probably the most well known and easily identifiable. The Eremitic type is most commonly known as hermits. History shows us that these two types of monasticism very often converge - the Cenobitic developing from the Eremitic. We see an example of this from the life of St. Benedict himself.

He did not start out with the intention of founding twelve monastery communities. Rather, while attending school in Rome, he became disgusted with all the paganism and decided to renounce the world and live in solitude in a cave! It was only after a period of time that a group of monks asked him to become their abbot. And the rest is history.

The basic premise for both these types of monasticism is the ideal of making a life apart from the crowd, in a style at odds with the norm.

The Celtic Saint Brigid was definitely outside the norm for her time by being the abbess of a monastery community of both men and women!

The Order of Celtic Benedictines embraces these examples and cultivates both styles of monasticism. We add to these one other important aspect - outreach ministry - and we can find no greater example for this than that of Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

He sought solitude apart from the crowds and went alone to pray but then He was among the people - teaching, preaching, healing, serving. And He makes it clear in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25 that what we do for others we do for Him.

The outreach ministry of the Order has various expressions as we cultivate the particular talents and spiritual inclinations of each individual member. One may be led to nursing home visitation; another to establishing a home-church or community mission; another to craft-making and still another to music ministry.

Ordained priests and deacons as well as lay-religious reaching out and living Jesus in their own locality and within their own means, yet still being members of one another, connected and sharing in a vital network of love.