Plenty of books exist to help you understand the Rule of Saint Benedict, or to encourage a daily study/devotional reading of this foundational monastic text. But there are good reasons to start with this one. Chittister, who is herself a Benedictine Sister, offers an honest and thoughtful consideration of how a text that is some 1500 years old continues to be relevant today — not only to monastics, but for anyone who is seeking an authentic spirituality in our chaotic age. Like Benedict himself, Chittister is down-to-earth (humble) and practical in her insightful reflections. Like many Rule devotionals, this is arranged to be read daily over a four month cycle, thereby making it an ideal text for your regular morning or evening practice.

“Any religious or lay person will welcome and identify with her book's universal themes and concrete examples. Its message is profound and yet accessible to those ‘beginners’ for whom Benedict intended his Rule in the first place.”

“Chittister's interpretation . . . arranged according to the three-cycle reading Benedictines accomplish each year, is one of the best I have seen. Her commentary is itself a modern reworking of the Rule for contemporary Christians.”

“By offering informed commentary that links St. Benedict’s Rule with contemporary questions (stewardship, relationships, authority, community, balance, work, simplicity, prayer, and spiritual and psychological development), Sr. Joan succeeds in her task of making an ancient document accessible to a modern reading public.”