January 13, May 14, September 13
Chapter 2: What Kind of Person the Abbess Ought to Be

In her teaching
the Abbess should always follow the Apostle's formula:
"Reprove, entreat, rebuke" (2 Tim. 4:2);
threatening at one time and coaxing at another
as the occasion may require,
showing now the stern countenance of a mistress,
now the loving affection of a mother.
That is to say,
it is the undisciplined and restless
whom she must reprove rather sharply;
it is the obedient, meek and patient
whom she must entreat to advance in virtue;
while as for the negligent and disdainful,
these we charge her to rebuke and correct.

And let her not shut her eyes to the faults of offenders;
but, since she has the authority,
let her cut out those faults by the roots
as soon as they begin to appear,
remembering the fate of Eli, the priest of Silo (1 Kings 2-4).
The well-disposed and those of good understanding
let her correct with verbal admonition the first and second time.
But bold, hard, proud and disobedient characters
she should curb at the very beginning of their ill-doing
by stripes and other bodily punishments,
knowing that it is written,
"the fool is not corrected with words" (Prov. 18:2; 29:19),
and again,
"Beat your son with the rod,
and you will deliver his soul from death"(Prov. 23:13-14).

The more we read of the duties of the Abbot/Abbess, the more sorry I feel for anyone elected to the office. In love, the Abbot/Abbess must adjust the way they deal with each person in their community according to what is going to work with that person. That's not so dissimilar to families, where the parents know that grounding will have no effect on Lara, but it does with Bobby. To get to Lara, you have to argue with logic, and still sometimes must invoke the parental right to say "no."

Now, we also know that if anyone goes about beating their "son with the rod" they will find themselves in prison, where they rightfully belong. But that is today. When Benedict wrote this, the world was an extraordinarily violent place. The monks he had to deal with came from who knows what kind of backgrounds, and probably only understood "the rod" as a form of correction. "Bold, hard, proud, and disobedient characters," they were the ones that got the rod.

What does this all boil down to? That the Abbot/Abbess must act as a parent to all the community in their charge. They must know each person in their community, and know what is going to work with that particular person. Most important though, they must deal with the problem, not just look over it. Without such discipline, there can be no community life. At least, peaceful community life.

Application to Lay Cistercians? Just like the monastic community, the Lay Cistercian community is going to have the bold, hard, proud and disobedient. We certainly are not going to use the rod on them -- no matter how tempting it may be -- no, we must find the right way of dealing with each individual in a way that both corrects them, and upholds them in the faith. Those who are disruptive at every meeting, need to be dealt with. Those who oppose everything just for the sake of opposing, need to be dealt with. While it is not up to us to throw people out of our groups, it is up to us to find ways of making ourselves, and each other, obedient to the structures, and strictures, that our individual community has set up as the norm.

For the next two days we have a guest writer. All I will do is include the section of the RB for the day, the commentary will be that of the guest writer.