Ora et labora.… “Pray and work.”
This is the motto of the Rule of St. Benedict, written in 516 by the famous founder of Western monasticism, Benedict of Nursia. For fifteen centuries Benedictine monks have lived their lives according to this motto, performing manual labor and praying to God. Many laypeople have similarly taken this motto to heart, forming lay Benedictine societies or simply adhering to “the rule” in their daily lives.
“St. Benedict found the world, physical and…