Benedict on prayer and work
“Ora et labora — pray and work.”
Plain English
This is a later summary of Benedictine life rather than a direct line from the Rule. It captures the rhythm of worship, labor, reading, and community discipline.
Why it matters
The phrase became the popular shorthand for Benedictine spirituality.
About Benedict
Benedict wrote a short rule that taught Western monastic communities how to endure. The Rule of St Benedict organised prayer, work, obedience, correction, hospitality, leadership, and ordinary community life with unusual moderation. For centuries it shaped monasteries that preserved texts, trained clergy, cultivated land, and carried Christian learning through the early medieval West. Its power is that it makes holiness practical: a daily pattern rather than a dramatic gesture.
- Lifespan
- c. 480 – c. 547
- Era
- Post Nicene
- Born in
- Nursia
- Region
- West
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