Monastic Vows
“When he is to be received, he comes before the whole community in the oratory and promises stability, fidelity to monastic life, and obedience. This is done in the presence of God and his saints.”
A monastic existence is one committed to the pursuit of God. A isolated monk seeks guidance from the monastery in this search. One of the fundamental principles of seeking God, as well as a critical step toward knowing what is sought, is to deliberately reject characteristics of oneself that inhibit success in this journey. Monastic vows facilitate the loss of some qualities of oneself. Benedictine monks take three vows: obedience, stability, and conversatio morum.
OBEDIENCE
Obedience means “to listen closely,” and this pledge is made in the spirit of trust and love in order to follow Christ, who was obedient to the will of the Father. The term itself comes from the Latin word for “to listen.” St. Benedict introduces listening at the beginning of the Rule with the statement, “Listen, child of God, to the instruction of your teacher…” The monk promises to listen for God’s message in all of its forms, including scripture, nature, Tradition, the Rule, the community, and the words of others, particularly the Abbot and community elders. The monk learns to clear space in his heart for God to become more present by listening in this manner.
STABILITY
Benedictine monks devote to the community in which they live. This vow encourages the monk to continue his search for God.The monk has agreed to stay with the other members of the group in order to provide mutual support in their search. While an individual monk may feel frustrated with his quest for God at times, the vow of stability allows him to understand that others are seeking as well and has a sense of the ideal way to make that journey.
This vow binds the monk in both body and spirit to the community of his vocation for the rest of his life, where he serves under both a Rule and an Abbot.
CONVERSATIO MORUM
Conversatio Morum is a difficult-to-translate Latin word for a monk’s third vow to aid in his search for God. Informally, this word has been translated as “moral conversion” and “fidelity to the monastic life.” Both versions come close to conveying what it takes to complete the vow, but they each leave out certain aspects. This vow contains the gospel counsels of poverty and chastity, committing the monk to abandonment of personal things and adopting celibacy for the service of the kingdom. This is a lifelong commitment that requires a concerted effort to improve one’s conduct. It is also an acknowledgment of how monks have historically practiced change—monastic desert asceticism, which involves things like poverty, chastity, and seclusion.