Monastic life: the Rule of Saint Benedict
T he community of nuns at the Monastery of Sant Daniel abides by the Rule of St Benedict, the code of monastic life and principal regulatory text of the Benedictine communities.
The core precept of Benedictine life is community prayer, based on the two fundamental pillars of the Christian liturgy: the Eucharist or mass and the liturgy of the hours or divine office.
T he daily mass is conceived as the focal point of spiritual life; while before and after, the community gathers for the prayers of the canonical hours: matins, lauds, sext, vespers and compline. Time is also set aside during the day for individual prayer. It usually includes lectio divina or divine reading, often from the Scriptures. Another of the typical characteristics of Benedictine communities is their hospitality, which the rule mentions explicitly in Chapter LIII: “Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ.”