St. Benedict

I'll try to keep it fairly short and sweet tonight as it's late and I need to drag myself out of bed early tomorrow... but since it's the feast of St. Benedict, I wanted to at least write something about this great saint...

St. Benedict, of course, wrote the rule of monastic life we know today as the Rule of St. Benedict - a set of guidelines for monastic communities that have formed the basis of many other such "rules" since -  leading to his title as the "founder of western monasticism." Here in NM, there are at least three monasteries following St. Benedict's Rule (I say "at least" because there could be more than those of which I am aware). Earlier this year, I was blessed to spend a week at one of those monasteries - Christ in the Desert, near Abiquiu - I blogged about that awesome week, and you can check out their website, if you're interested.

St. Benedict recognized that people aren't perfect, though we may try to be - and wrote his Rule with that in mind, as well as considering the need to offer guidance to those just starting out in the spiritual life. His rule thus became broadly applicable to different people in different spiritual places - and also applicable across time - relevant today, even to those of us living outside monastic communities. As I read earlier today, the Rule of St. Benedict "drags our eyes up to the stars but keeps our feet firmly on the ground; it calls us to perfection but keeps us sane."