Stability - Br. Ephrem O'Bryan, OSB

All Subiaco monks have professed three vows: obedience, conversion of life, and stability. Dom Jean Leclercq traces the idea of stability to its Latin origin – “Stability is derived from stare, which means to stand, and also to be still. From this comes its figurative meaning - to be firm, to stand fast, to endure, to persevere, to be rooted.”

St. Benedict's made stability important. He bound together the lives of all members of the monastery as brothers. In his vision of community, St. Benedict wanted communities to be formed by faith and bound by mutual respect, solidarity and love. Since they lived together in one place, affection for and care of that place were considered the norm, but only because of commitment of the heart to the community. This then, is what St. Benedict meant by stability, being firmly and perseveringly committed to one's community and its values.

While updating the Subiaco's Monks section of the Abbey’s website, I was struck by diversity of places of birth and the widespread college and work venues in the backgrounds of Subiaco’s monks who have come to one place to spend their lives and to share their lives in one community. Being committed to and sharing the values of this one monastic community requires of some to spend months, and sometimes years, outside the monastery. Some monks have worked and/or studies in Africa, Europe, Central America, and in the far corners of the United States, but Subiaco is always the place in which all are “committed” and eventually the place to which all spend their “golden” years.