Hi there! My name is Annie. I’m a three-year-old feline. I would like to join the Feline Cloister because I think it will help me be a better cloister kitty. Our novice master Br. Ricky gave a big purr when he heard this. He assured me that I was responding to a call from God. Opening his well-worn copy of The Rule of St. Benedict in Mew, he mewed…
“What is more delightful than this voice of the Holy One calling to us? See how God’s love shows us the way of life.” Prologue 19-20
What beautiful and encouraging words to hear! I’m so excited to learn more about St. Benedict and the Rule.
In response to Br. Ricky’s query about my leading feline characteristics I shared that I am sweet and playful. Br. Ricky looked down and wrote something in a little notebook with a tiny green pencil. Sporting a broad feline smile, he continued. “Annie, these qualities show that you have a loving heart which is a true gift. Listen to what Benedict says in Chapter 4 – The Tools for Good Works.”
“Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; the love of Christ must come before all else.” RB 4.20-21
Meow! Now I am even more excited about being a novice!
But I do have some concerns about my new venture into Benedictinehood. I love to chase laser lights and climb up to high places.
Will I be allowed to do these things as a novice?
Br. Ricky said that we would work on allowing both energetic endeavors to be manual labor as prescribed in the Rule. RB 48.1
Agile Novice Annie in a high place moving
so fast she’s a blur
With much eagerness, I excitedly meowed about what I really have fun doing. “Mom is a scientist so I like to test whether gravity still works by knocking things down like knick-knacks and watching them fall.”
Br. Ricky’s fur suddenly stood up and his eyes got wide. “Annie, I know that must be fun. But I’m sure that your human mom finds these tests distressing. You could break something valuable. Benedict says that we are to treat everything with reverence.”
“The cellarer will regard all utensils and goods of the monastery as sacred vessels of the altar, aware that nothing is to be neglected.” RB 31.10-11
I wistfully thought about my fun experiments. Gone forever? Maybe I’ll ask Br. Ricky to consider these experiments as manual labor.
Most felines love closed-in spaces like drawers, under a bed or beneath a couch. Not me! I don’t like to be in enclosed spaces. Another thing that I don’t like is sleeping in the morning. This is also unlike most felines whom I know, who laze around most of the day. After all, the Rule tells us to “refrain from too much sleeping, and from laziness (Rom 12:11).” RB 4.37, 38
Annie’s brother Linus.
He loves to lick wet bars of soap.
Annie thinks this strange. She prefers milk.
I confessed to Br. Ricky that I have a real problem – my brother Linus attacks me. This is so annoying. It hurts my feelings, too. My Novice Master meowed that such behavior is forbidden by the Rule.
“In the monastery every occasion for presumption is to be avoided, and so we decree that no one has the authority to excommunicate or strike any member of the community unless given this power by the prioress or abbot.” RB 70.1-2
Br. Ricky assured me that neither he nor Amma would ever authorize striking anyone, feline, human, or even canine.
But what am I to do? I had mewed plaintively. This is a real problem, Br. Ricky admitted. “You are gentle and loving,” he observed, “and your brother takes advantage of you. Humans deal with this frequently.” He promised that we would work on this problem during my novice instruction. For now, he gave me a purrfect idea from the Rule to practice with Linus. I mewed that I would try my best.
“[Monastics] should each try to be the first to show respect to the other (Rom 12:10). supporting with the greatest patience one another’s weaknesses of body or behavior, and earnestly competing in obedience to one another.” RB 72.3-5
My human is not only a scientist. She is also a caregiver. I’m going to study the Rule carefully and help her bring Benedictine practices into her life as a caregiver. Br. Ricky suggested that I begin with Chapter 36 – The Sick.
“Care of the sick must rank above and before all else so that they may truly be served as Christ who said: I was sick and you visited me (Matt 25-36), and, What you did for one of these least of my people you did for me” (Matt. 25-40). RB 36.1-3
Meeee-ow! I am beginning to see how Benedict filled the Rule with the Gospels to guide us in Jesus’ way!
My favorite Verse from the Rule of St. Benedict:
“Place your hope in God alone.” RB 4.41