Abstract
Benedictine monks and nuns take a vow of stabilitas, or stability of place, vowing to live their monastic life in the same location with the same group of people. That commitment to a particular community of people has also been foundational in the spirituality of many oblates and laypeople inspired by the Benedictine tradition. Yet declining religious vocations in Europe and North America have meant that monastic institutions themselves are increasingly unstable and impermanent, and those seeking a monastic vocation today must grapple with the likelihood that they will outlive their monastery. The Rule of Benedict counsels its readers to keep death daily before their eyes, but this is often thought of as referring only to the individual’s death, while the community might be imagined as eternal. This experience of institutional precarity is also relevant for many clergy and laypeople outside of a monastic context, as many denominations struggle to keep parish churches open. Moreover, patterns of migration and displacement have made stability of place an unachievable ideal for many people. Drawing on the literature of late antiquity and the experience of orders that were forcibly closed during the Protestant Reformation, this paper explores what wisdom the Christian monastic tradition has to offer for living a life of stabilitas in the midst of unstable institutions.
Presenters
Elizabeth AndersonFaculty, Historical Theology, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Religious Community and Socialization
KEYWORDS
Christianity, Monasticism, Theology, Hope
