They share in God's continuing creation while supporting themselves by earning and producing for their needs. As important as work is in Benedictine Community, it is not an end in itself. Healthy life in the community requires time for recreation and relaxation. Even the work itself, performed with dedication and thoroughness, must be governed by peaceful and prayerful composure, for as God's work, its success does not depend on speed, intensity, or amount of the monks labor. The Benedictine tradition affirms the values of human development, and monks have preserved and furthered humanities art, music, literature, and science.
Monks celebrate the progress of humanity as a continuation of creation and redemption.
In their own programs of education, monks try not to confuse learning with information, but aim at the training of the whole person. Their service to learning and human development is fulfilled primarily in the sphere of the monastery, but monks can also assist growth and progress in the churches mission to other lands. Because of his reverence for creation, the monk is concerned about the protection of the natural environment of the monastery. He conserves its beauties and resources as part of his stewardship of all the gifts of the Lord. During candidacy, the individual is exposed to the experience of communal life, receives spiritual direction and does guided reading in theology.