2 h 29 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How can people share one roof, one purpose, and daily work without making life harsh?
St. Benedict's Rule for Monasteries offers a practical guide to communal Christian life. Saint Benedict sets out how monks pray, work, eat, sleep, and share their goods. Across seventy-three brief chapters, ordinary choices become part of a larger question: how can a community hold firm standards while treating its members with care?
The text begins with a call to listen. Its prologue and chapters move through leadership, obedience, silence, humility, daily prayer, work, and hospitality. Benedict gives the abbot authority, but also responsibility. He describes the monastery as a school for the Lord's service, with steady habits rather than harsh demands at its heart.
What you’ll discover
- Authority with responsibility Explore a model of leadership in which the abbot leads and the community offers advice.
- The practice of listening Consider how obedience, silence, and humility shape the moral heart of life under shared rules.
- Days shaped by prayer Follow the Divine Office, the cycle of daily prayer that Benedict places before other tasks.
- Work beside sacred reading See how set hours for manual work and sacred reading give ordinary days a steady rhythm.
- A welcome for strangers Discover Benedict's instruction to receive guests as Christ, greeting them with prayer and peace.
Who will love it
For readers curious about monastic life, Christian spiritual practice, or how a group can live by shared rules, and leaders who want a calm model of authority.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Monastic life is a school of service
- The abbot leads, and the community advises
- Listen, keep silence, and grow humble
- Prayer shapes every day
- Work, reading and shared goods
- Welcome strangers and keep on beginning
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 29 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works · 60-day guarantee
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
60-day money-back guarantee. Love it or get your money back: ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Regla de san Benito in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Regla de san Benito
by San Benito · 530
Inside Benedict's monastery, prayer, work and open doors shape a community where authority serves and rules aim at love.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free60-day money-back guaranteeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Monastic life is a school of service
Benedict opens with a prologue that speaks directly to the reader as a son or daughter would be addressed by a father. Its first word in Latin is listen. He asks the reader to turn from a life of drifting and to take up the strong, bright weapons of obedience in the service of Christ the king. The tone is warm and urgent at once.
He then sorts monks into four kinds. The first are the cenobites, who live in a community under a rule and an abbot. The second are hermits, who have trained in community and then go off to live alone. The third are the sarabaites, who live in small groups with no rule and follow their own tastes. The fourth are the gyrovagues, who wander from house to house and live to please their appetites. Benedict praises the first kind and says he will write for them.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Regla de san Benito
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. And if you have paid, the 60-day money-back guarantee applies: ask within 60 days of your first payment and we refund it in full.
What is the Rule of Saint Benedict about?
It is a guide for monks living in community. It covers the abbot's role, daily prayer, work, reading, food, sleep, discipline, and welcome for guests, all aimed at a balanced life that puts love and the service of God first.
When was the Rule of Saint Benedict written?
It was written in the sixth century, traditionally around the 530s or 540s, in Italy. Benedict died in 547. He drew on earlier monastic writings, especially a longer anonymous text called the Rule of the Master.
Is the Rule of Saint Benedict hard to read?
No. The chapters are short and practical, and most are only a page or two long. The language is direct.
The author
Saint Benedict
480–547 · Italian monk and religious founder
Founder of Christian monasticism, founder of the Benedictine order.
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in philosophy & ideas
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
