“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we have beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.”
John 1:14
The Superior as a Christ
By Josef Saunders
By the interchangeability of Christ and the Superior, the unifying figures of the monastery, we can divide their function in the Rule into three kinds of unities, those of Community, Formation, and Prayer, a similar division to Benedict’s own injunction to “teach, authorize, [and] command” (106). His actions made clear, it may be shown how the Abbot reflects his namesake and Christ.