The rule of St. Benedict for a daily life, learning to listen to God with a discerning heart.

I'm Chris McGregor.

The fifth degree of humility.

With a fifth degree of humility, St. Benedict turns to speech. Up to this

point, humility has been shaped mostly through obedience, restraint, and endurance. Now he shows how

humility also appears in a way a person speaks about what is really going on in the heart.

From Chapter 7 of the Rule of St. Benedict,

The fifth degree of humility is that one does not conceal from one's abbot

any evil thoughts that enter the heart, or any wrongs secretly committed,

but humbly confesses them.

The Benedictine Way understands that silence by itself is not enough.

A person can save very little and still hide a great deal.

Humility grows when we stop covering over what is wrong

and become willing to bring it into the light light plainly and honestly. St. Benedict takes

concealment seriously because hidden things have a way of growing. When a sinful thought, a

secret habit, or a hidden wrong is left buried, it doesn't simply disappear. It settles in. It starts to shape the heart. It begins to defend itself.

Humility begins when a person stops hiding and starts telling the truth.

This doesn't mean saying everything to everyone. St. Benedict is not calling for oversharing or making a spectacle of oneself.

He's talking about honest speech in the right place, with the right person, when truth needs to be spoken.

The point is not exposure.

The point is freedom.

For the monk, the truth is brought to the abbot, because the abbot has a real responsibility for the care of the souls in the monastery.

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