Obedience

Monks take a vow of obedience to the abbot of the monastery.

Conversatio Morum

Monks take a vow of conversion of life.

This vow does not have a direct English equivalent, because the Latin can take the meaning of both a conversion of one’s behavior and/or conversion to monastic living. In practice, this vow means both, with an emphasis on the latter. Through the vow of conversion, the monk embraces the essential aspects of monastic Christianity: dedication to prayer, celibacy, sharing of material goods in community, a life of simplicity.

Stability

Monks take a vow of stability to a specific monastery.

The vow of stability to a monastery allows for quick and substantial growth in purity of heart, charity, and union with God. St. Benedict ties growth, through God’s grace, in the love of God and neighbor directly to stability in his 4th chapter, stating, “the workshop where we are to toil faithfully at these tasks is the enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community” (4:78).

Saint Benedict says, “It is love that impels them to pursue everlasting life; therefore, they are eager to take the narrow road of which the Lord says: ‘Narrow is the road that leads to life’ (Matt 7:14). They no longer live by their own judgment, giving into their whims and appetites; rather they walk according to another’s decisions and directions, choosing to live in a monastery and to have an abbot over them. Men of this resolve unquestionably conform to the saying of the Lord, ‘I have come not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me’ (John 6:38)” (RB 5:10-13).