Chapter 55: Clothing and footwear for the community (paragraphs 1-2)

However the superior should see to it that the garments are not short and ill-fitting but appropriate to the size and build of those who wear them.

(From para. 1 of Ch. 55 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

With all of Benedict's concern for economy and practicality, I'm touched by his attention to appropriate fit. This speaks to me of the dignity of the body, and offers a gentle challenge to bear with honor the indwelling spirit.

Chapter 54: The reception of letters and gifts in the monastery

No one in a monastic community may receive or send to others letters, gifts of piety or any little tokens without the permission of the superior, whether it is their parents who are concerned or anyone else at all or another member of the community.

(From Ch. 54 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

For me to freely give, and to freely receive, I must do so in a way which expands the spirit of selfless love.

Chapter 53: The reception of guests (paragraphs 5-6)

The kitchen to serve the superior together with the guests should be quite separate, so that guests, who are never lacking in a monastery, may not unsettle the community by arriving, as they do, at all times of the day.
(From para. 5 of Ch. 53 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

My household isn't large enough to contain two kitchens.  And yet, I respond to the parallel arrangement that Benedict describes, of hospitality and stability standing side by side.

Chapter 53: The reception of guests (paragraphs 1-4)

The greatest care should be taken to give a warm reception to the poor and to pilgrims, because it is in them above all others that Christ is welcomed.

(From para. 4 of Ch. 53 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

My experience of being an assistant to mentally handicapped adults in a L'Arche household made very real for me a radical gospel message: Put the poor (the weak, the disenfranchised, the vulnerable) at the center of community.

Chapter 52: The oratory of the monastery

The oratory must be simply a place of prayer, as the name itself implies, and it must not be used for any other activities at all nor as a place for storage of any kind.

(From Ch. 52 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

Jesus teaches me to pray contemplatively in my heart: "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret" (Matt 6:6).  My inner room is my heart, my oratory, where Jesus dwells. In practicing selfless attention to Him, there is no room for egotism or psychological baggage of any kind.

Chapter 51: Those on local errands or work

Any who are sent on an errand which will allow them to return to the monastery on the same day must not eat outside, in spite of pressing invitations whatever their source, unless the superior has approved this.

(From Ch. 51 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans.by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

Too rushed, too tired -- I can be very quick to rationalize reasons why I can "skip out" on my spiritual attentiveness. St. Benedict is reminding me to always return to my source.

Chapter 50: Those whose work takes them away from the monastery

Those whole work takes them some distance from the monastery so that they cannot manage to get to the oratory at the right times for prayer must kneel with profound reverence for the Lord and perform the work of God at their place of work.

(From para. 1 of Ch. 50 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

Benedict has a specific instruction here about fidelity to the Divine Office, but I'm struck by the way the final phrase repeats the word "work",  to say to me, in essence, "to perform the work at the place of work".  In this way, I may see all work as the work of God,  and all places as that oratory which is the secret room in my heart.