His monastic brothers then told him he was wrong. He was able to hear them and to apologize to his brother and re-admit him to the community. The Rule and Saint Benedict presume that the abbot will make decisions and that he needs advice in making them. Sometimes there are abbots who do not want to make decisions or who seem incapable of making decisions. This does not work well for a monastery.
Monasteries function better when the abbot makes the decisions after consulting.
It is also presumed that the monks will give advice and have thoughts about the various situations of the monastery. Sometimes our image of holiness can be to be a person without strong feelings, without thoughts of his or her own and without preferences. This is not the type of person we find in the Rule of Benedict. Thus there is advice to present one s ideas and opinions with humility and not presume to defend them obstinately. A certain amount of defense is seen as part of presenting our views.