St Benedict of Nursia (AD 480-550) wrote his famous Rule in the year 516 as a practical guide for abbots and brother monks living together in a monastic community. The rule book consists of 73 chapters (no more than paragraphs), and sets out St Benedict’s vision of how the values of the gospel can be lived out in a community.

The spirit of Saint Benedict’s Rule is summed up in the motto of the Benedictine Confederation – pax (“peace”) and the traditional ora et labora (“pray and work”).

Wikipedia