A Benedictine Approach to Illness

In chapter 36 of his Rule, St. Benedict says, “Care of the sick must rank above and before all else.” This verse means one thing when you are the one providing the care and something else when you are the one being cared for.

Caring for those who are sick gives us the opportunity to practice compassion and put someone else’s needs above our own. It also teaches us patience and the need to reorder our priorities, as when we care for aging parents or a family member with a chronic illness for years on end. At the same time, being a caregiver is an active role that gives us the satisfaction of helping someone else.

Being sick and under the care of someone else is a very different situation. Our task here is to accept our limitations and practice humility, as we face a situation we can’t control (illness) and by necessity must rely on the assistance of others.

I’m accustomed to being in the caregiver role, but a recent bout with COVID flipped the script and thrust me into the role of patient. Sisters in the monastery who have COVID are quarantined in their bedroom (except for trips to the bathroom) until they have two consecutive negative test results. This means someone must deliver “meals on wheels” to us three times a day, cover any of our regular household chores, and assume any of our monastery assignments, such as leading midday prayer or being lector at Mass.

This situation quickly leads to gratitude for the faithful care of others and appreciation for community life with its built-in support system. It’s also a reminder to enjoy our health while we have it, because it won’t last forever, and it provides an opportunity to practice giving up control, for that too will one day slip away.

It turns out that one of the ways to know Christ and walk the road to eternal life is not just visiting and caring for the sick but practicing patience and humility when we ourselves are ill.