In the Latin monastic rules (IV-XI centuries), manual labor is always understood as that undertaken by the monk to counteract idleness and sloth, that is, with a noneconomic purpose. Manual labor contributes to spiritual growth, but it is different from work for the sustenance of the community. The purpose of this contribution is to clarify this difference, beginning with the famous motto ora et labora (par. 1). In fact, only after this clarification is it possible to understand how the early Christian monk is above all a spiritual “inoperative,” who is explicitly precluded from those tasks that serve the livelihood of the monastery (par. 2). The only labor worthy of the name is the opus Dei (par. 3.), while others, mostly lay people, are entrusted with the task of put the community’s assets to good use (par. 4.).
University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-6518-6657
Titolo del capitolo
Il lavoro dei monaci nelle regole monastiche latine (IV-IX sec.)
Autori
Roberto Alciati
Lingua
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0319-7.23
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Anno di pubblicazione
2024
Copyright
© 2024 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Titolo del libro
Idee di lavoro e di ozio per la nostra civiltà
Curatori
Giovanni Mari, Francesco Ammannati, Stefano Brogi, Tiziana Faitini, Arianna Fermani, Francesco Seghezzi, Annalisa Tonarelli
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Numero di pagine
1894
Anno di pubblicazione
2024
Copyright
© 2024 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Editore
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0319-7
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0245-9
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0319-7
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-0320-3
Collana
Studi e saggi
ISSN della collana
2704-6478
e-ISSN della collana
2704-5919