It is our baptismal promises that we live out in our monastic vocation. The call to serve the Lord as a Benedictine nun or monk is to fulfil our baptismal promises living in community ‘under a Rule and a Abbess/Abbot’ It is where we say our ‘yes’ to God.
Most religious take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Benedictines take a vow of stability, to be faithful to a particular community and our sisters chosen for us by the Lord. It is not unusual for the community to remain in one location, to be ultimately grafted to Christ.
The saying of the desert fathers saying, ‘Stay in your cell and your cell will teach you everything,’ can be equally said of stability in the monastery.
