Fridays with Benedict: Chapter 62, Prideful Priests

In Chapter 61 of The Rule of St. Benedict we return to the problem of priests. Recall in Chapter 60 Benedict had been dealing with this problem, in that instance the admission of priests to the monastery. In Chapter 61 the issue involves allowing a monk already in the monastery to become a priest. In both cases the issue is pride, the ordained monk placing himself above the other monks. Thus Benedict writes:

²The monk so ordained must be on guard against conceit or pride, ³must not presume to do anything except what the abbot commands him, and must recognize that now he will have to subject himself all the more to the discipline of the rule.

One of the things happening here is that by ordaining monks you are introducing into the common life of the monastery the clergy/laity distinction and all that comes with that separation, especially the "conceit" and "pride" among the ordained.

Are our churches any different? Are clergy, priests, pastors, preachers and ministers vulnerable to conceit and pride? I think we have all been exposed to these sorts of cases.

But we see in Benedict a hint of what the best sort of clergy look like. Specifically, the best sort of clergy are those with a strong egalitarian and democratic sensibility, a person who, despite being clergy, will be subject "all the more to the discipline of the rule." No special treatment or indulgences. If anything, holding yourself to a high standard.