THE ABBOT WHO IS WORTHY TO BE HEAD OF A MONASTERY SHOULD ALWAYS REMEMBER WHAT HE IS AND WITH HIS ACTIONS FULFILL THE NAME OF SUPERIOR. FOR HE TAKES THE PLACE OF CHRIST. St. Benedict begins his chapter on the abbot by referring to the meaning of his title. He considers that the word "abbot" derives from "abba" which, he explains, means "Father". But, rather to our surprise, he applies this title, not to the first person of the Blessed Trinity as is commonly done, but rather to Christ. It is because the superior takes the place of Christ in the monastery in the sense that he represents him, that he is designated by this term, "abbot". Upon reflection such usage appears solidly justified, for Christ associated himself so closely with the Father that he could declare that "I and the Father are one thing." (John 10:30), and, in fact, prior to St. Benedict's time a number of spiritual writers had ascribed the title of Father to Christ.

In describing what kind of person the abbot should be this is the first point that Benedict chooses to make: he is to consider always that he does not function in his own name. He is not to use his office to put into effect his own plans and assure the success of his preferred projects; rather, he is to discern what is the will of the Father in relation to the issue at hand. This applies to decisions affecting individuals in their spiritual life as well as matters of importance to the community as a whole. This dimension of the abbatial service is prophetic and as such requires the grace of the Holy Spirit. Learning and intelligence and human experience are all helpful and even necessary for the fruitful discharge of the duties of abbot, but they do not suffice. For the chief task of his office is not administration but, as the legislator states it: "Let him reflect that he has undertaken to rule over souls concerning whom he will have to give an account."

At this time, when our community is considering the choice of a new abbot it is well to recall that this sensitivity to the spiritual is the primary qualification for anyone who assumes the responsibilities of the abbatial office. The other qualities and obligations of the office must be fitted into this overarching requirement of discerning and implementing the will of God in the many concrete decisions that he must make in the daily discharge of his functions. For that reason the abbot should be so formed in his character that he evaluates and judges all matters in the light of faith and strive to execute them with the desire to carry out God's will and contribute to his glory by faithfully serving the community and the individual brothers who are its members.

Experience reveals, to be sure, that there are men who, though spiritually sensitive and endowed with good will and dedicated to carrying out God's will, are not endowed with the energy and practical good judgment required by the administration of the temporal administration and the dealings with persons both inside and outside the community. As a result they are encumbered rather quickly with too many anxieties to be free for the exercise of the spiritual discernment requisite for the good order and advancement of the community. This lack of practical facility is, in my opinion, a major reason that accounts for the rather large turnover in superiors in the last couple of decades. In recent times at each of the General Chapters 30 or more superiors have been present for the first time, replacing the same number of those who have gone out of office. This represents a considerable percentage of the abbots in the Order, and one would hope that the figure can be reduced, but that is likely to happen only if deliberate changes are made in the way the community relates to the abbot as well as in the abbot's manner of carrying out his ministry.

The Rule makes it clear that the monks who choose the abbot have a very serious responsibility to make their choice in light of the primary requirement of the abbot's role, namely, the spiritual advancement of the individual monks and of the community as a whole. Benedict describes in some detail the qualities that the abbot should strive to develop in order to be effective in his efforts to be of use to the brothers and to establish and maintain a fervent community spirit. Sufficient knowledge of the divine law and of the teachings of the orthodox fathers is basic and requires that he devote himself regularly to continued study and reflection. Keeping sufficiently informed of developments in the areas of Scripture, theology and spirituality requires regular study and anyone who finds such application burdensome will experience increasing pressure from his duties. Concern to communicate reliable and useful doctrine that will stimulate and encourage interest in acquiring fuller knowledge of the faith and of monastic wisdom is necessary for maintaining a healthy dedication to lectio and prayer in the community.

Another aspect of this duty to contribute to the spiritual advancement of the community is the lifestyle followed by the abbot. He should show by example that he believes in the monastic practices as a way of growth and of fruitful service and so live himself according to the Rule and the best of our traditions. This sounds easier than it turns out to be at least for many superiors. So many demands of various kinds are made upon his attention from outside the community as well as those arising from the administration of the monastery that unless he has deeply rooted convictions concerning the importance of regularity in prayer, the office and lectio he will easily find himself getting away from the regular life. As our Constitutions make clear the abbot has obligations not only to his own community and daughter houses, but also to all the houses of the Order, proportionate to his possibilities to render aid. This can at times mean taking part in meetings, giving retreats or seminars, making a special visitation, giving advice, receiving monks from other houses to provide teaching or counseling. All these take time and energy and the man chosen as abbot will be expected to handle such services without ceasing to maintain his own monastic regularity, though, obviously, with appropriate adaptions. This requires a flexibility as well as a strong persuasion of the importance of a basic fidelity to the fundamental practices of our life. Benedict refers to this duty when he observes that the abbot "should show more by his deeds than by his words all that is good and holy."

St. Bernard himself was keenly aware of the tensions caused by conflicting obligations and felt them deeply. As much as he was committed to the cloistered life, he nonetheless felt it his obligation to involve himself in various projects not only outside the Cistercian Order, but even beyond the borders of the Church. Shortly before death and suffering with a serious malady he left the monastery to mediate a conflict between two secular nobles and successfully averted an armed conflict. Bernard to be sure was charismatic, and his life is rather to be admired than imitated; still, the principle he exemplified remains valid and whoever is abbot will have to work out some balance between the various obligations deriving from the place of the monastery in society, in the Church and in the Order on the one hand, and his primary responsibilities toward his own community.

There is an important consideration in choosing an abbot that is implied but not explicitly stated in the Rule and that is the issue of trust. Obviously, when St. Benedict writes that as abbot "Let him be elected who is to be ordained, for the merit of his life and the wisdom of his teaching" (Ch. 64) he would seem to imply that, at the time of the election at any rate, there is considerable trust shown to the man thus established in office. He does not discuss, however, the need for both the community and the abbot to maintain and enhance the mutual trust that is so essential to the fruitfulness of the abbatial ministry. Elsewhere he does treat of some matters that impinge on trust, notably he insists that no murmuring be admitted in the community.

This prohibition of criticizing of authority among the brothers is much more important than some persons seem to realize. Benedict himself knew by experience how seriously the good spirit of a community can be weakened by such complaints. I have had occasion to make the same discovery in a few instances where individual monks, through critical remarks contributed seriously to weakening trust between a brother and the abbot. The persons who engage in such murmuring may believe they are justified and are only warning another, but in the cases I have in mind, have had highly distorted versions of events, based on incomplete knowledge of the facts. Some persons are already inclined to be distrustful of authority and such an exchange can, and has, put the abbot in a position where he can have little influence on a given monk. The result can end in a loss of vocation.

Trust is a highly vulnerable disposition of soul. One reason for its being so subject to injury is that it depends on our perception of another who is not under our control. When Jesus speaks of having faith in him and stresses that all things are possible to the one who has faith, he includes trust in what he refers to as faith. He was very sensitive to this point: those who did not believe in him put up a serious obstacle to his ability to be of service to them. Each of us knows by experience how readily we can be tempted to withdraw our trust in God, especially when we are under stress. How much more vulnerable is our trust in any human being. It takes years to build up a strong relationship of trust, and requires grace as well, it would seem. Of course, in dealing with God we can reasonably strive for absolute trust. We firmly believe he is totally trustworthy and faithful to his promises. Our trust in others, however, even in those we love and respect greatly, is always qualified No matter how much we may love even a parent or brother, we know them too well to trust them in certain situations or about certain matters. It is part of wisdom to recognize what measure of trust to have in any human person. Limits of their knowledge, for one thing, limits our trust in others. I would not ask legal advice from my best friend who is a physician, though I would trust my life to him.

Trust between the abbot and the community is, in my opinion, a condition for his useful service and should be worked at by every member of the monastery. The abbot must try to deserve it and work at improving it where it is weak. This can be a long term project in certain instances when dealing with someone who has strong inclination to distrust authority and to believe whatever seems to justify his distrust. The persons who have such dispositions, of course, feel justified in their entrenched inclination to hold the abbot at a distance. This accounts for the fact that even saintly abbots have often had to contend with monks who had a rather poor opinion of them and so remained impervious to their attempts to prove useful. St. Aelred, to name but the man considered by most to be extraordinary in his charity, is a striking instance. Those of us who fall short of saintliness inevitably provide by our faults what can seem to justify such aloofness. But in the end, it is the monk himself who is the chief loser. Rarely does a change of superiors prove to be a solution for those who are critical and aloof, for the cause is in themselves.

Another characteristic that St. Benedict commends highly in any one considered for the abbatial office is prudence. Good practical judgment is perhaps as much a gift as an acquisition; on the other hand, it can be acquired by reflecting on experience and by learning how to make use of advice. Learning from mistakes as well as by successful experiences, whether made by oneself or by others, is a major source of prudence and of wisdom. It is not enough for the abbot to be zealous for the Rule and to correct those who offend against it; he must also know when to overlook transgressions, and patiently to live with those defects which will not yield to correction.

Trying too hard to remove the rust can end with ruining the vessel, St. Benedict warns the abbot. John XXIII observed that a superior should know all that is going on, correct what he can and know what cannot be corrected. The abbot of Monte Casino does not wish to drive anyone away who has good will even though he may have very real faults of character and of behavior. To be sure, the abbot must see that vices do not grow up and that discipline is maintained; distinguishing between instances when insisting on discipline is appropriate and when it will prove deleterious is the function of prudence. Prudence alone, however, does not suffice; love alone makes prudence sharp-eyed and reveals to the heart when patience and tolerance are the only effective response. Jesus himself taught this principle to his apostles by means of a memorable parable that has had a profound influence on pastoral practice in the Catholic Church down to the present. Do not attempt to uproot the weeds that grow up among the wheat, lest you do more harm than good. The angels of God will take care of separating them out in the end. Like all the parables this one needs to be completed by other teachings. It is precisely prudence which enables the superior to discern when it is applicable.

Discernment, in fact, is the final quality that Benedict recommends to the abbot in a phrase incorporating a wisdom that is considered by many to be the characteristic that accounts for the enduring viability of his Rule for Monks.

Let him discern and temper the works that he enjoins, keeping in mind the discretion of holy Jacob when he said: "If I cause my flocks to cover too much distance they will all perish in one day (Genesis 33)." Laying hold of this and other testimonies to discretion, the mother of virtues, let him so temper all things so that the strong will have something to desire and the weak will not flee.

There is more contained in such a policy than mere common sense; experience soon discloses that it is only genuine charity, that is a selfless concern for the well-being of another, that allows one consistently to recognize and implement such a program over an extended period of time. The abbot will soon discover that it is not only his own charity that permits him to implement this injunction of the Rule, but the fraternal love of all the brothers. Benedict himself seems to have come to appreciate this fact more fully toward the end of his life so that, near the end of his Rule he adds a Chapter "On the Good Zeal the Brothers Should Have.", where he stresses precisely the importance of a patient charity.

Let the monks exercise this zeal with a most fervent love; that is to say, let them be forward in showing honor to one another. They should tolerate with the greatest patience their weaknesses whether of body or of behavior, and outdo one another in mutual obedience. Let them display fraternal charity with a chaste love, fear God and love their abbot with a sincere and humble charity. May they prefer nothing to Christ who will lead us together to life eternal.

With these directives in mind and taking them to heart as we prepare to choose a superior, our community will create a spirit of fraternal collaboration that alone makes it possible for the abbot to serve in a manner worthy of the name he receives. Only then can he be expected effectively to function as a father who represents Christ to those called to serve God and the Church. In this way all of us can contribute to assure that our community proves to be worthy of the title St. Bernard gave to the monasteries of our Order, a School of Charity.

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