Benedictine Intellectualism?

Benedictines are not often associated with intellectual work the way, for example, Dominicans or Jesuits are. So, the expression, “Benedictine intellectualism,” may sound oxymoronic to some. Benedict begins the Rule exhorting: “attend to [the master’s instruction] with the ear of your heart” (Prol: 1). To us, the heart seems to be the seat of emotion and desire, not the intellect. And the Benedictine motto, ora et labora, seems to foreground devotion and physical work, not intellectual activity.

Furthermore, if there is an intellectual component to Benedict’s teaching, it seems unlikely to be found in chapters 8-20 of the Rule, which lay out the schedule for praying the Divine Office every day. But this impression of the Rule and the Benedictine way misunderstands Benedict’s teaching. A close look at chapters 8-20 dispels these misconceptions.

Benedict positions these chapters on the Divine Office after the “doctrinal chapters” on obedience, silence, and humility, demonstrating the intimate connection between doctrine and devotion. In 19:3-4, Benedict cites the psalmist: “Serve the Lord with fear” (Ps. 2:11); and again, “Sing praise wisely” (Ps 46[47]:8). It is an easy extrapolation to, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” a theme echoed also in the doctrinal chapters (4:44-47; 7:10-13, 26-30).

Even with our present-day emphasis on feelings and action, we know that effective work requires knowledge. However, we often ignore that effective prayer requires knowledge as well. Benedict does not. Chapters 8-20 show how highly Benedict values the intellect. In chapter 8, Benedict leaves time after Vigils for intellectual work: “those who need to learn some of the psalter or readings should study them” (8:3). Much of the devotional material should be recited by heart: a reading from the Apostle (9:10); a reading from the Old Testament (10:2); a reading from the Apocalypse (12:3). In the final chapters of the section Benedict exhorts, “Let us consider, then, how we ought to behave in the presence of God and his angels, and let us stand to sing the psalms in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices” (19:6-7). He concludes: “We must know that God regards our purity of heart and tears of compunction, not our many words” (20:3).

Benedict was more experiential, or Aristotelian, than intellectual, or Platonic, in his approach to the monastic way of life. The transformation of the heart is Benedict’s primary concern. However, for Benedict “the heart” is not only the seat of one’s emotions and desires. Benedict follows scripture in imagining the heart as the center of the person, intellect included.

As a "school for the Lord's service," a Benedictine community is structured to guide its members to "loftier summits of the teaching and virtues" (73:9). This journey requires the knowledge and wisdom for rightly interpreting one's experiences, properly valuing one's natural and social environments, and effectively growing in devotion to God. This is the expansive Benedictine vision of what it means to have an intellect.