“In each part of the world, I found the same questions being asked. Monks and nuns of all races and religions feel a deep kinship between them. What do they have in common? What is the special contribution or requirement of Christianity and, among all the religious orders, what are the specific contributions of Saint Benedict?” from the Introduction
The last hundred years have witnessed an unprecedented encounter between monks and nuns of the various world religions. This encounter is reflected in the experience of all the followers of these different religions through the great mixing of culture that is taking place in the contemporary world, an encounter accelerated for many by the progress of interreligious dialogue since the Second Vatican Council.
At the time of Benedict there were various forms of Christian monasticism, but forms of monasticism had existed for centuries in other religious traditions. A commentary on the Rule of St Benedict enriched with lights drawn from all of these traditions has a particular relevance today for Christian monks and nuns but also coincides with the huge contemporary growth in interest among a wider public both in monasticism itself and in an encounter with the spirituality of non-Christian religions.
Amongst the ever growing literature of analysis, commentary and reflection on the Rule of St Benedict, Fr Mayeul de Dreuille’s writing stands out with a particular relevance through his experience of so many years working with the formation of young monks and nuns in different cultures and on different continents. He writes: “written in monasteries far from towns, this book, then, is above all the fruit of experience matured by reflection in the silence of the jungle, and by contact with the young people I had to educate”.
“What Father Mayeul de Dreuille proposes to us in this book is to get a deeper understanding of the Benedictine tradition in the light of other traditions, and to discern the basic values that are embodied, although in various ways, in all those forms of monastic life. Nobody is better prepared to meet this challenge”. Armand Veilleux, Abbot of Scourmont
Mayeul (Francois) de Dreuille OSB was born at Cressanges, France in 1920; he made his monastic profession in 1940 at the Benedictine Abbey of La Pierre-Qui-Vire and was ordained priest in 1945. Since 1954 he has been involved in monastic foundations in Madagascar, India and Congo, opening himself to the cultures and religions of these countries. He is the author of From East to West: a History of Monasticism and Seeking the Absolute Love: the Founders of Christian Monasticism, both also published by Gracewing.
