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Come, join us for our Benedictine Life Week!

June 26 - July 2, 2009

"Sharing Our Stories"

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Monastic Life

The Benedictine monastic life is a special way of living in a religious community. For Benedictines, the term "monastic" means living according to the ideals set down in the Rule of Benedict, in a monastery, under the guidance of a prioress, abbess, or abbot. The monastic life involves living the ordinary life extraordinarily well.

The Ferdinand Benedictines strive to live a life of balance between "ora" (prayer) and "labora" (work). This ideal was of utmost importance for Benedict, and most chapters in his rule were written to regulate this balance:

• Balance in prayer — a set number of psalms each day, the format for each prayer time, the times for prayer;
• Balance in work — the types of work to be done by his followers (monks), the times for work, etc.
• The Ferdinand Benedictines believe that the monastic lifestyle has great spiritual value for the world today. The monastic lifestyle defines the life values of community living, contemplation, and personal transformation and challenges us to a mindfulness that focuses on the right things in life.

For more information on the monastic life, see the Suggested Reading List.