The Břevnov community

According to the Rule of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monks are Christians who pray and work together within the community. Meant by  prayer  is private prayer (especially the so-called lectio divina, the meditative reading of the Bible) and  public, liturgical prayer (the so-called opus Dei, the work of God:  the Eucharistic worship and divinum officium, liturgy hours (the Breviary) in the chancel). Work is also considered to be kind of prayer for the Benedictines: according to the position of the monastery and dispositions of the brethren this includes manual work, work in  religious administration and academic work, and in education. Monks take four vows: the vow of poverty, vow of purity, vow of obedience (in the Benedictine tradition they are collectively called “the conversion of manners”) and the vow of stability (lifelong residence in a monastery or within a particular community).