The Benedictine Work Ethic

Wherever the Rule went, the emphases of manual work, discipline, moderation and learning went also. These ideas, combined with the notion of Stability, produced material prosperity and technological innovation. As the monks practiced their work habits, they developed the arts of cheese making, brewing, wine-making , animal husbandry and the production of surplus farming. They also came to be nearly the sole repository of knowledge, preserving both biblical and secular texts in their Scriptoria. The franchise arrangement was responsible for not only the evangelization of Europe, but also the spread of agricultural and technological progress. Because of the near universal acceptance of Benedict's Rule the, it is not too much to assert that Benedict is really the Father of Western Civilization! For this reason, the "Protestant work ethic" should really be known as the "Benedictine work ethic".