A few of St. Benedict’s older monks had an unusual job, walking the halls at reading time to look for one kind of brother. The word he used for that brother, acediosus, still fits more of our afternoons than we like to admit. Drawn from Benedict’s Rule and Pope St. Gregory the Great’s Dialogues.

SOURCES:

1. Main saint and witness account:
   St. Benedict, Rule (Prologue, chapters 1, 4, 5, 22, 34, 40, 43, 48); St. Gregory the Great, Dialogues, Book 2, chapter 4.

2. Other saints on the topic:
   St. John Cassian, Institutes, Book 10 on acedia; St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 35.

3. Catechism:
   CCC 2094.

4. Scripture:
   Proverbs 6:9-10; Romans 13:11; 2 Corinthians 9:7; Philippians 2:14; Hebrews 6:12

Exact wording varies by edition, so please verify passages in your own copy.

DISCLAIMER:
This video is for educational and spiritual reflection purposes only. It is not advice of any kind, it is not meant to hurt anyone’s beliefs or feelings, and it respects people of every faith and perspective. The four signs are this channel’s own grouping of material from Benedict’s Rule, since he never wrote a list by that name. The story from Gregory’s Dialogues is a traditional account, and nobody is required to believe it as doctrine.