
"...The workshop
where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the enclosure
of the monastery and stability in the community." Rule of St.
Benedict 7.12
The Benedictine vow
called stability is likely not familiar to you,
unless you've either attended a monastic profession ceremony at
some point, or you are a Benedictine oblate! The vow of stability
is, first of all, just what the word implies: a commitment
to this placeand this
community.
Stability is much more than a commitment to "place"
as a geographical location, however. By the vow of stability, the
monk daily strives to be present, yes, but also available; stable
in the sense of emotionally even-keeled and approachable to others,
rooted in and reliant upon this community for one's basic needs -
physical (food/clothing/housing), relational (comradery/social
connection), psychological (sense of purpose/well-being), and
spiritual (meaning/sense of destiny).
Given how often modern monks are sent to work
outside the enclosure of the monastery these days - directing
retreats, parish ministry, giving conferences and talks, or meeting
with groups needing whatever expertise certain monks can offer, and
such - it's important to understand stability as a commitment of
mind and heart.
One has to be cautious, however, to avoid
downplaying too much the importance of actual presence. It would be
easy for me to reduce my obligation to stability to a mere
"mentality," an abstracted approach to rationalize my persistent
absence from the community. But the obverse is also true; I
can be physically present, in the house as it were, but not
really at home because I am not emotionally
accessible, not engaged.
To honor the vow of stability means we strive to be
present in mind and in body - seeking to engage
our brothers beyond a merely superficial level: in our prayer
together, in our shared meals and recreation times, and in our
work.
Stability demands we be generous in sharing our
lives by allowing others to know us, personally and professionally;
ready to share ourselves through contributions to the common life -
singing, serving, cooking, cleaning and the like - and by
hospitably accepting and honoring each brother's contributions to
the community's effort to be more than merely a bunch of
individuals sharing a house, but, as the Book of Acts renders it,
"
one
in heart
and
soul." A
community where, "No
one claimed that
any
of
his
possessions
was
his own,
but
they shared everything they owned" (Acts 4:32) in
common - even our very selves!