Benedictine (Afterward)

A Benedictine monk is a monk that belongs to the Order of Saint Benedict. Those people follow the rules of life of St.Benedict. And even though it is an order, each Benedictine monastery is autonomous (Britannica.com).

Saint Benedict of Nursia was an Italian monk, living in the late 400s and early 500s in Italy. There he founded a monastery at Monte Cassino and established a rule that quickly spread out and became the norm for monastic living in all of Europe. He is the patron saint of Europe and his rule provided a complete guideline for the life in a monastery. Government, as well as the spiritual and material well-being of the monastery, was all included in his rule. The life of a Benedictine monk is a strict daily schedule that consists mainly of prayer, manual labor, and study (Knowles).

The word is mentioned once in the story in order to describe Edward Boyne’s life at Lyng (Wharton 360). The word, as it is used in the story, means that Ned’s life is strictly structured, like that of a Benedictine monk.

• Britannica.com. “Benedictine”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. 27. May. 2014. 15. June. 2019. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Benedictines

• Knowles, Michael David “Saint Benedict”. Encyclopædia Britannica. 07. June. 2019. 15. June. 2019. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Benedict-of-Nursia

• Wharton, Edith. "Afterward". The Muse's Tragedy and Other Stories . Ed. Candace Waid. London: Penguin Books, 1992. 342-373. Print.