ELECTED SIMPLICITY

In a climate of renewed sensitivity and awareness of our being an integral part of the immense web of life, inseparably linked with our natural environment, we are all summoned to promote life attitudes inspired by simplicity [sobrietas].

We realize that today more than ever, humankind is challenged by a savage exploitation of natural and human resources, by the risk of a destructive relationship with nature, by the neuroses of daily life.

The Jewish-Christian tradition teaches that we all share in the creative work of God by fostering life in all its many forms. Monastic tradition admonishes us to simplify our lives and to use resources and tools with reverence (see Rule of Saint Benedict 31:10). The story of Saint Romuald (Life of Blessed Romuald, chapter nine) also suggests a way of daily living inspired by elected simplicity.

A special summons goes out to our monks and nuns living in countries that enjoy greater material prosperity, that they may assume a life style of elected simplicity as individuals and as communities, thereby bearing witness to their authentic search for God above all else and their concrete love of neighbor.

The natural environment of our houses is a gift of God that invites our commitment to respecting and safeguarding life as manifested in the little corner of the cosmos where we live. Hence it is appropriate that monks and nuns collaborate to this end with other individuals and groups locally and globally.

The physical plant and furnishings of our monasteries and hermitages, both those of recent date and those inherited from past eras, are often of considerable artistic and cultural value. They should be seen as an opportunity for service to individuals and society, and hence they must be maintained with the care and taste for beauty that also bear witness to the elected simplicity of monastics.