All religious orders, however much they may vary in their origins or in the work they do, are based on a single— indeed a simple—idea: namely the search for Christian perfection. To begin with, this meant an individual’s going apart, often into the desert or a cave, where he might devote himself wholly to prayer and contemplation. The very word ‘monk’ means a solitary. But in the fourth century in Egypt the monks began to organize themselves in communities: the movement spread, and gradually a rule of life developed by which the communities were bound. The most important of them was that of St Benedict, bom in 480 in Italy, and the Benedictine rule became the dominant force in the growth of monastic life in the West.

The Rule of St Benedict, which is still followed today by the thousands of monks and nuns who bear his name throughout the world, is a sane and moderate document which provides a charter for a life to be lived in common. Its motto is ‘Pax’, the peace that comes to those who follow Christ. For it is, in St Benedict’s words, ‘a school of the Lord’s service’, in which the monk is to leam to prefer the common good to his own interests, and that common good is seen in the faithful following of Christ. The Abbot is Christ to his community, and the monk’s principal work is the Opus Dei: the work of celebrating the solemn liturgy, the praise and glory which it is man’s chief privilege to offer to God. Manual work is to be the monk’s other occupation, and the ordinary business of tilling the fields and running a house is seen to be itself a means of serving God in silence and simplicity. Labour itself is made into something holy.