Editing Benedictines (section)

==Benedictine vows and life==
{{Main|Rule of Saint Benedict}}

A sense of community has been the defining characteristic of the order since the beginning.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/history/benedictine-order/history |title=The Defining Features of the Benedictine Order|website= Durham World Heritage Site}}</ref> To that end, section 17 in chapter 58 of the [[Rule of Saint Benedict]] specifies the solemn vows candidates joining a Benedictine community are required to make: a vow of stability, to remain in the same community), and to adopt a "conversion of habits", in Latin, ''conversatio morum'' and obedience to the community's superior.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://saintjohnsabbey.org/osb|title= Order of Saint Benedict|website = Saint John's Abbey}}</ref> The "Benedictine vows" are equivalent to the [[evangelical counsels]] accepted by all candidates entering a [[Religious order (Catholic)|religious order]]. The interpretation of ''conversatio morum'' understood as "conversion of the habits of life" has generally been replaced by notions such as adoption of a monastic manner of life, drawing on the [[Vulgate]]'s use of ''conversatio'' as indicating "citizenship" or "local customs", see [[Philippians]] 3:20. The Rule enjoins monks and nuns "to live in this place as a religious, in obedience to its rule and to the abbot or abbess."

Benedictine abbots and abbesses have jurisdiction over their [[abbey]] and thus canonical authority over the monks or nuns who are resident. This authority includes the power to assign duties, to decide which books may or may not be read, to regulate comings and goings, and to punish and to [[excommunicate]], in the sense of an enforced isolation from the monastic community.

A tight communal timetable{{spaced ndash}}the [[horarium]]{{spaced ndash}}is meant to ensure that the time given by God is not wasted but used in God's service, whether for prayer, work, meals, spiritual reading or sleep. The order's motto is ''[[Ora et Labora]]'' "pray and work".

Although Benedictines do not take a vow of silence, hours of strict silence are set, and at other times silence is maintained as much as is practically possible. Social conversations tend to be limited to communal recreation times. Such details, like other aspects of the daily routine of a Benedictine house are left to the discretion of the superior, and are set out in its ''customary'', the code adopted by a particular Benedictine house by adapting the Rule to local conditions.<ref>[https://mountmichael.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/CustomaryRev2016.pdf  Customary of Mount Michael Abbey]</ref>

According to the norms of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law]], a Benedictine abbey is a "[[religious institute]]" and its members therefore participate in [[consecrated life]]<!--?: , commonly referred to as "Religious"--> which Canon 588 §1 explains is intrinsically "neither clerical nor lay." Males in consecrated life, however, may be ordained.

Benedictines' rules contain a reference to [[ritual purification]], which is inspired by Benedict's encouragement of [[bathing]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The English Spa, 1560–1815: A Social History|first=Phyllis|last= Hembry|year= 1990| isbn= 9780838633915|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press}}</ref> Benedictine monks have played a role in the development and promotion of [[spa]]s.<ref name="ASpiritualHistory">{{cite book | title = Water: A Spiritual History| first =Ian |last=Bradley | year =2012| isbn= 9781441167675|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref>