The Constitution and the Statutes

of the Swiss-American Benedictine Congregation

Established by the General Chapter

Section II: Norms for the Individual Monasteries

E. E. Of the Component Elements of Monastic Life

2. Of Private Prayer and Monastic Asceticism

C50 1) Each monk must have the opportunity for private prayer, lectio divina, and daily examen. Each monk is encouraged to make the best possible use of these in order to deepen and advance his own spiritual life.

2) As is traditional in our Congregation, devotion to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Patroness of the Congregation, is to be esteemed.

C51 In each monastery there shall be an annual retreat.

S49 Each monk has the right to make a day of recollection every quarter, and he is encouraged to do so. He should arrange with his superiors for a suitable day, so that he can be excused from his regular assignments.

C52 The practice of penance is an essential part of monastic asceticism. The monk is to esteem the practice of private acknowledgement of his faults. Communal expressions of penance and mutual forgiveness, as in a chapter of faults, are to be arranged in each monastery. The monks should approach the sacrament of Penance frequently (CIC 644).

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