What is a Vow of Stability?

Benedictines take a vow of stability, of being rooted in one place instead of always looking for greener pastures. St. Benedict condemned monks who were gyravagi, always moving from one monastery to another. He believed that monks should have everything they needed inside the monastery walls with no need to seek sustenance or attractions outside.

Nowadays, of course, Benedictines often travel for renewal, retreats, and refreshment. We live in a different culture and age than sixth century monastics. Yet we still have an identity with our “home” monastery.  It is where we are nourished, attached, and acclimated to become who we are called to be. Those looking for the perfect monastery will certainly be disappointed. Most monasteries are pretty ordinary, full of ordinary people.

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, an important voice in the new monastic movement, writes in his book The Wisdom of Stability, “Stay put and pay attention – learn to trust God in the place where you are – and you will have a front seat for the revolution that Christian tradition calls conversion. Stability transforms us along with the place where we live.”  It is not just staying in one place that is necessary, but paying attention to what is happening around us and within us. We affect our surroundings and our surroundings affect us.

Rubbing shoulders with holy people and those who are on the road to holiness aids our own conversion. We learn to emulate the saints among us and to support and encourage those who are still striving and sometimes failing. Most of us belong in the latter category, but when we fall we hope others will help us up and when they fall, we need to lift them up. Without stability, without really being there and paying attention, this is not likely to occur.