The rule of Benedict : a spirituality for the 21st century / Joan Chittister.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Kinds of monastics -- Qualities of the abbot or prioress -- Summoning the community for counsel -- Tools for good works -- Obedience -- Restraint of speech -- Humility -- Divine office at night -- Number of Psalms at the night office -- Number of Psalms at the night office -- Arrangement of the night office in summer -- Celebration of vigils on Sunday -- Celebration of the solemnity of Lauds -- Celebration of Lauds on ordinary days -- Celebration of vigils on the anniversaries of Saints -- Times for saying Alleluia -- Celebration of the divine office during the day -- Number of Psalms to be sung at these hours -- Order of the psalmody -- Discipline of the psalmody -- Reverence in prayer -- Deans of the monastery -- Sleeping arrangements of monastics -- Excommunication for faults -- Degrees of excommunication -- Serious faults -- Unauthorized association with the excommunicated -- Concern about the abbot and prioress for the excommunicated -- Those who refuse to amend after frequent reproofs -- Readmission of members who leave the monastery -- Manner of reproving the young -- Qualifications of the monastery cellarer -- Tools and goods of the monastery -- Monastics and private ownership -- Distribution of goods according to need -- Kitchen servers of the week -- Sick -- Elderly and the young -- Reader for the week -- Proper amount of food -- Proper amount of drink -- Times for meals -- Silence after compline -- Tardiness at the Opus Dei or at table -- Satisfaction by the excommunicated -- Mistakes in the oratory -- Faults committed in other matters -- Announcing the hours for the Opus Dei -- Daily manual labor -- Observance of Lent -- Members working at a distance or traveling -- Members on a short journey -- Oratory of the monastery -- Reception of guests -- Letters or gifts -- Clothing or footwear -- Prioress's or abbot's table -- Artisans of the monastery -- Procedure for receiving members -- Offering of children by nobles or by the poor -- Admission of priests to the monastery -- Reception of visiting monastics -- Priests of the monastery -- Community rank -- Election of prioress or abbot -- Prioress and subprioress of the monastery -- Porter of the monastery -- Members sent on a journey -- Assignment of impossible tasks -- Presumption of defending another in the monastery -- Presumption of striking another monastic at will -- Mutual obedience -- Good zeal of monastics -- This rule only a beginning of perfection.

This new edition of a classic religious text combines the timeless wisdom of Benedict of Nursia's Rule with the perceptive commentary of a renowned Benedictine mystic and scholar. In her new introduction to the Rule, the author boldly claims that Benedict's sixth-century text is the only one of great traditions that directly touches the contemporary issues facing the human communitystewardship, conversion, communication, reflection, contemplation, humility, and equality. Tracing Benedict's original Rule paragraph by paragraph, it expands its principles into the larger context of spiritual living in a secular world and makes the seemingly archaic instructions relevant for a contemporary audience. A new foreword, updated content, an appendix, and a recommended calendar for reading the entries and commentaries make this an invaluable resource for solitary or communal contemplation.