From the Rule: “Those who are to be received shall make a promise before all in the oratory of their stability, their reformation of life, and their obedience . . .” (RSB 58).
Reflection from Praying with Saint Benedict:
Three promises are made when novices take their vows: stability, obedience, and reformation of life. (Other translations of the Rule transcribe the original phrase conversio morum—or conversatio—as “conversion of life” or “conversion of morals.”)
In my Benedictine community, we define these three vows this way:
• Stability is the promise to remain in community, even though close relationships can create interpersonal tensions, and to stay faithful to our practice.
• Conversion of Life is a commitment to practice the ideals of scripture and the Rule to sanctify everyday living, acknowledging spiritual transformation.
• Obedience is responding with deference to the abbot and others in the community and accepting the example of Jesus to seek what is best for others.
The three promises are interrelated. Stability is an act of obedience to the community, and reformation of life empowers us to be both more stable and more obedient. In other orders, monastics also take vows of chastity and poverty, but Benedict saw these as outcomes of a conversion of life and obedience.
All of the interpretations refer to one’s manner of living. In a monastery, this change of life is indicated in the novices’ final symbolic act: putting aside their own clothes and taking on the wardrobe of the monastery.
As Michael Casey points out, conversion is a necessary starting point for the spiritual journey as well as a necessary device to bring us back on course when we have drifted away. And it is a gift of grace. We cannot bring it about through our own efforts. God calls out to us, and we respond by reorienting our lives to grow into the kind of person God created us to be. We change because we can do no other.
M. Casey, The Road to Eternal Life (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2011), 6–7.
S. Isaacson, Praying with Saint Benedict: Reflections on the Rule. (New York: Morehouse, 2021), 8-9.
Improbable Benedictine 