St. Benedict (2026)
One
St Benedict
Born in central Italy in 480, St. Benedict had a twin sister, Scholastica, who, like him, would become a great saint. As a young man, Benedict went to Rome around the year 500 to study literature and law. But what he saw there troubled him deeply. The city was filled with fear, anger, unrest, with no clear sense of purpose or meaning. People were chasing pleasure but seemed profoundly unhappy. Disillusioned by the moral collapse of society, Benedict walked away from it all. He left Rome and withdrew to a cave near Subiaco, where he spent three years dedicated to prayer and work.
His holiness did not go unnoticed. When a nearby group of monks lost their abbot, they begged Benedict to lead them. He warned them that his way of life was balanced but disciplined and they wouldn’t like it, but eventually he agreed.
Their community was in chaos. Benedict knew they needed balance. So he introduced a structured life of prayer, work, spiritual reading, and community life. But the monks bristled at the change. They resented the discipline, and in their rebellion, they secretly tried to poison him. Before Benedict drank the cup of poisoned wine, as usual, he blessed it. Immediately it shattered, spilling the poisoned wine harmlessly to the ground. The jig was up, but rather than retaliating, Benedict quietly left.
He returned to Subiaco, free of resentment. But his witness of peace and inner order drew others. Soon, many came seeking his guidance. He founded twelve small monastic communities, each living a simple, balanced life of prayer and work. This was the beginning of the Benedictines, and one of their mottos is “ora et labora” prayer and work.
Do you long for a simpler, more meaningful life?
Two
Ingredients for Happiness
Everyone wants to be happy. Happiness is to possess the good things that fulfil our human nature. In general, God designed the human person to need certain good things to be happy. Physical goods like sleep, good nutrition, and exercise. Good relationships with family and friends, we all want to achieve something. So, we need meaningful work, some way to do good for others and good for the world, knowledge, beauty through nature, art, music, books, movies. We need inner peace. And most importantly, a good relationship with God through the sacraments and prayer.
These are the basic ingredients for happiness. But it’s not enough to have the right ingredients. Every good recipe gives you the right ingredients, in the right order and in the right proportion. The same is true for our lives. We need a recipe, a plan, a strategy to arrange our days so that we can get these seven good things we need to be happy.
St. Benedict called it a rule of life. I like to call it a recipe of life.
Three
Recipe of Life
Let me suggest a daily recipe for happiness with the right ingredients; then you must put them in the right order and right proportion.
● Friendship with Jesus - 30 min/day in Meditative Prayer through the Rosary or reading and reflecting on the Word of God – we combine both in our Rosary Podcast
● Daily Mass - 1.5 hours
● Sleep – 8 hours
● Personal hygiene – 1 hour
● Prep, eat and clean up meals – 3 Hours
● Exercise – 1 hour – like a good walk
● Meaningful Work - Inside the home or out – 8 Hours
● Time for Relationship with your family and friends by talking with them while we pursue the other goods, like talking over meals, or chores around the house or walking, or doing homework with kids, so this one takes no extra time.
● Knowledge about God and the good world He created – 30 minutes to read or listen to something
● Experience beauty in its many forms – 30 minutes
● That’s 23 1/2 hours
If you combine some of these, like walking with a spouse or friend and praying the rosary, you can get all that in with time to spare.
Four
Order, Structure and Flexibility
These are the seven ingredients to a recipe for happiness. There needs to be an order to the way we pursue them. For example, we are not much good at anything without sleep or at least rest, so we go to bed on time and get up on time. Then the most important ingredient is a relationship with God, so receiving Him in the Eucharist and spending time in prayer is the priority; it should come first. As C.S. Lewis writes, “put first things first and we get the second things thrown in; put second things first, and we lose both first and second things.”
But the recipe must be flexible because life isn’t always predictable. Some days more work is required than others; on other days the kids or elderly parents need more attention. Some days truth and beauty get a little less attention, and that’s okay. A rule keeps us grounded, but if the exceptions become the rule, our lives unravel.
Do good things together. Be good at creatively combining good things. Prepare a meal, eat and talk with your spouse, family or friends. Do a chore with a grandkid and talk while you do it. Take a walk outside with a friend, pray the Rosary and talk. This gets you prayer, friendship, exercise, and beauty!
Five
Get Rid of the Junk
When I share this recipe of life, people often object, “There’s no way I can fit all of this into my day.” Start by tracking your time. Each night, write down how you spent your time that day in 30-minute blocks. Then look at the results. You’ll likely find hours lost to scrolling, streaming, and distraction.
Now ask yourself: What needs to go? Cut out the junk: unnecessary screen time, compulsive news-checking, endless entertainment, and phone addiction. Say “No” to overcommitments. Tell people, “I’m sorry, I can barely take care of the things I am responsible for, so I can’t add more.”
And here’s the good news: when you clear the clutter, space opens up. Space for prayer. For deep friendships and good books and exercise. For beauty, laughter, nature, music, creativity, restful meals. It makes space for happiness.
I totally understand if this feels too overwhelming to change everything at once. You don’t have to change everything. Pick one place to begin and change that. Start small.
A good place to begin is to look at the way you spend the last 90 minutes of each day. Are we wasting time when we could go to bed earlier, then we might have more time in the morning for prayer or exercise?
As a resolution, let me suggest that you create your own recipe of life. The transcript of this Rosary in point #2 has a helpful guide. Then, if you live with someone, share it with them so that they understand what you are doing and so they don’t inadvertently work against you. They may even join you, and you can live this well-ordered and balanced life of happiness together!