Peace Amongst Many Voices

Does St Benedict have a ‘word’ for us today? ‘Peace’ would certainly be one. War threatens the whole of Europe now, as the Cold War did in 1964 when Benedict was named Patron of Europe by Pope Paul VI. And as we know only too well, the threat of war is already a reality on the Eastern flank of our continent. St Benedict, pray for us and especially for Ukraine.But I would like to suggest another ‘word’ that Benedict might offer us: ‘Don’t listen!’ Yes, that’s right, ‘don’t listen’ – it’s not a typo.

We know of course that ‘Listen!’ is the first word of the Rule and underpins the whole of Benedictine spirituality. So what do I mean? Nowadays, we are assaulted by so many subtle voices, especially on the internet, many of them quite pernicious (though of course the internet can be a fantastic facilitator of sharing and learning as we are doing now). Even so, there are the voices of advertising, of influencers, there is peer pressure, much misinformation and not a few downright lies. We are persuaded to try this, to go there, to vote for him or her or them, to think as they do; in short, all that the Catholic philosopher, Alisdair MacIntyre who died on 21 May this year, described as ‘emotivism’ in his classic book After Virtue (1981).

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See link https://youtu.be/f8mqNt86l6g?si=cB21i3sPx--0A0EI for more on MacIntyre’s work and the connections with St Benedict. Benedict, usually so measured and balanced, is strong in his denunciation of negative, harmful speech – putting such speech under a ‘perpetual ban in every place’ (aeterna clausura, RB 6: 8). Here Benedict echoes his master, Jesus, who, when preparing his disciples for the challenges they would face after his death, spoke uncompromisingly: ‘Take care that no one misleads you...’ (Mark 13: 35) and ‘If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah...do not believe it’ (Mark 13: 21). In other words, ‘Don’t listen!’

It’s not a question of wearing impenetrable ear plugs or of hiding away from the ‘real’ world, but rather of exercising vigilance and discernment, or what the monastic tradition calls, ‘discretion’, about what we allow into our hearts – or, if you like, those we allow to be our influencers. The Rule gives us the means to develop highly sensitive antennae, sensors which can pick up the truth in any given situation and which allow us to choose the Gospel path. By exposing ourselves to the light of Christ the Word in our lectio and in the Divine office, we become attuned to that Word who is himself ‘Truth’ and who has promised us the Holy Spirit who will lead us into ‘all Truth’ (John 16: 13). For Truth is dynamic, not changing in essence but infinite as God is, and so capable of infinite expansion and development.

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That same Holy Spirit helps us to pray, opening our hearts ever more deeply to the divine light and drawing us into the life of the Trinity. Then, our Benedictine way gives us companions for the journey who keep us on track, and it gives us ‘ancestors’ in the spirit who have trodden the path before us: saints and a Tradition which embodies the Truth. Everything in the Rule is there to help strengthen our inner self so that we can discern God’s will and have the energy to follow it, whatever the prevailing climate in society may be.

So, to adapt my opening words slightly, I think Benedict as Patron of Europe wants us today to be aware of all the currents of our times, and ‘to test everything and hold fast to what is good’ (1 Thess. 5:  21), not listening to voices that are negative or which lead to death. To close, some words of another Patron of Europe (surely they all work together!) St Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), who wanted to see in her daughters that same holy virtue of discretion:

In the fire of his love, we know that God is powerful to give us what we ask, for he is highest Wisdom, who knows how to give and discern what we need. This is the kind of prayer through which we attain virtue and preserve in our souls the longing for it. What is the beginning of such a good? Discretion, the daughter of charity... That is why I said that I desire to see in you the holy virtue of discretion. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God.

                                                         From a letter of St Catherine of Siena to Daniella of Orvieto

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Sr Laurentia Johns, Stanbrook Abbey

2025