Rule of Life

Rule of Life

A lesser known saint, St. Stephen of Muret, lived a way of life in early 12^th century France. His reputation for holiness spread and gained him followers. However, his extreme humility kept him from sharing in the widespread fame of two others in his era: St. Bernard and St. Francis. Even thought St. Stephen had no intention of forming a religious order, a type evolved but was not formalized until after his death, by his followers, when they became known as the Hermits of Grandmont, or Grandmontines.

When St. Stephen became noticed for his holiness, questions (some tinged with envy) arose among others in religious orders. They wanted to know by what rule Stephen and his followers lived, as well as if they were hermits or cenobitic monks. 

St. Stephen, quite familiar with all the forms of religious life and the various orders, instructed the men who became like disciples, how to answer. If anyone inquired what Order they belonged to and which rule they followed, they were to reply that they were Christians observing the Rule of the Gospel which is the root of all rules.

St. Stephen's way of life has been historically considered to be the most pure, having the most pure rule. The amount of leadership displayed was practically nil, other than to live in a small, simple dwelling, and in charity to accommodate those who wanted to live as he lived and learn from his holiness. 

He suggested they build small simple dwellings in the vicinity, and they worshiped and prayed in a small, existing chapel among the rather remote terrain near the village of Muret, France. St. Stephen shared insights and counsel, lived simply, welcomed the poor, and expected of himself and his followers nothing more or less than what Christ asked in the Gospels.

After St. Stephen of Muret's death in 1124, a nearby Order of Benedictines overtook the property in which they'd been allowed to live. The late St. Stephen's followers then asked a nobleman's permission, and he allowed them to live on his land in another rather remote area, near Grandmont. Only then did the men begin to formalize their way of life, wrote specific rules, and further developed aspects that St. Stephen had not thought necessary to structure.  They decided to live as cenobites—defining themselves as hermit monks living in community. 

From this point until the suppression of the Grandmontines in 1788, the followers of St. Stephen of Muret became a religious Order much like other traditional orders. Other communities of Grandmontines were founded but never to the extent of the Cistercians or the already widespread Benedictines. Eventually, what historians had acclaimed as the most pure, became tainted, or at least diluted, when St. Stephen's followers tampered with and altered that which he distinguished with his holy life.

Given this background of what was and what could have been yet today, we wonder why the draw, the need, for people to fuss with what is simple, thereby creating complexity that eventually leads to distraction, sometimes destruction—even if amidst good motives and actions. What is this human urge to institutionalize by some structural formatting, what the saints discovered to be (for lack of scholarly term) the stairway to heaven?

The beauty, truth and goodness of St. Stephen of Muret's rule of life is obvious. No other rule can be superior nor more pure than the Gospels. Therefore, the Order of the Present Moment could have nothing other than to adopt, adhere to, and live: the Rule of the Gospels, the root of all rules. Turn to the Gospels.