Benedict of Nursia, Monastic, c. 543

The Collect:

Rite I:
Gracious God, whose service is perfect freedom and in whose commandments there is nothing harsh nor burdensome, grant that we with thy servant Benedict, may listen with attentive minds, pray with fervent hearts, and serve thee with willing hands so that we live at peace with one another and in obedience to thy Word, Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Rite II:
Gracious God, whose service is perfect freedom and in whose commandments there is nothing harsh nor burdensome, grant that we with your servant Benedict, may listen with attentive minds, pray with fervent hearts, and serve you with willing hands so that we live at peace with one another and in obedience to thy Word, Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Proverbs 2:1-9

¹My child, if you accept my words
   and treasure up my commandments within you,
² making your ear attentive to wisdom
   and inclining your heart to understanding;
³ if you indeed cry out for insight,
   and raise your voice for understanding;
⁴ if you seek it like silver,
   and search for it as for hidden treasures—
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
   and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
   from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
⁷ he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
   he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,
⁸ guarding the paths of justice
   and preserving the way of his faithful ones.
⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice
   and equity, every good path;

Psalm: Psalm 1

¹ Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of
                            the wicked, *
       nor lingered in the way of sinners,
       nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
² Their delight is in the law of the Lord, *
       and they meditate on his law day and night.
³ They are like trees planted by streams of water,
  bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; *
       everything they do shall prosper.
⁴ It is not so with the wicked; *
       they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when
                            judgment comes, *
       nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
⁶ For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, *
       but the way of the wicked is doomed.

Gospel: Luke 14:27-33

²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” ³¹Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. ³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

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Benedict of Nursia

(c. 480-c. 547). The “Patriarch of Western Monasticism.” He was born in Nursia in Umbria, Italy, and then educated at Rome. He did not like the degenerate life of the city, and withdrew to the country, where he lived as a hermit in a cave at Subiaco. Gradually a community grew up around him. Sometime between 525 and 530 he moved south with some of his disciples to Monte Cassino, where he composed his Rule about 540. The Rule of St. Benedict shaped monasticism in western Christianity.

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