"Sarabaites, who live together in twos and threes, doing what they consider right, remind us of cliques and factions in communities that can go astray and grow rigid. There is also a tendency in each of us not to expose ourselves to criticism and to challenging questions. The sarabaites define their monastic life along their own views, and their own interpretation is their norm. They see hardly any need to listen to the experience of others or to accept spiritual direction in order to learn from the wisdom of others. "I already know what I have to do," they might say. Thus they can build a fence around themselves and lock themselves up inside. It is easier to enter into such an enclosed area than to leave it again."
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Aquinata Böckmann OSB, Listening Community: A Commentary On The Prologue And Chapters 1-3 Of Benedict's Rule (2015), p. 85
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Sarabaites
Sarabaites were Christian monks who dwelt in their own homes. This phenomenon was widespread before the time of Benedict of Nursia.
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