Father Basil Nixen, age thirty-six, and the monastery’s cook, said the Rule and even its more unusual rules don’t exist for arbitrary reasons. “The monk is deeply aware of the fact that in himself and in others, that order has been disturbed, has been disrupted by the Fall, by original sin, and by the personal sin of each person,” Father Basil said. “The monk enters the monastery knowing that finding that order doesn’t come easily. You have to fight for it, to work for it, and you have to be patient to achieve it. But it’s worth it, because that order gives us peace.”
