The Rule of St David

The Rule of St David: A Rule of Life for the Order of St David

This edition of the Rule is offered free of charge as an introduction to the life and spirituality of the Order of St David. A fuller edition is also available, which includes the Companion to the Rule — an extensive collection of essays and reflections exploring every dimension of the Rule in practice — together with a complete Celtic prayer book and retreat guide.

On the morning of his death, Dewi Sant gathered his community and spoke the words that have defined his legacy ever since: Byddwch lawen. Cadwch y ffydd. Gwnewch y pethau bychain. Be joyful. Keep the faith. Do the little things. In seven words, the patron saint of Wales offered what amounts to a complete theology of ordinary life: that holiness is not found in exceptional deeds but in the faithful, joyful, faith-filled performance of small ones.

This volume opens with four essays exploring those words in depth. Three extended reflections examine each phrase in turn — the deep, Spirit-rooted joy of the monastery at Menevia; the steady, unspectacular fidelity that David commended above all religious display; and the radical simplicity of a life in which every ordinary task becomes an offering to God. A closing reflection, One Sentence, One Life, draws the threads together and asks what it would mean to take these words as seriously as their author did.

The Rule of St David follows: the canonical framework of life for the Order of St David, a secular institute of the Ancient Apostolic Catholic Church whose members live their consecration not in a monastery but in the heart of ordinary life. Drawing on both the Celtic tradition of Dewi Sant and the Benedictine inheritance of ora et labora, the Rule addresses prayer and the Divine Office, lectio divina, the Eucharist, the three vows of rootedness, wholehearted devotion and faithful service, humility, good works, silence, obedience, ongoing conversion, the theological virtues, asceticism adapted for modern life, community, and the stages of formation and profession. Throughout, the Rule is practical in character, offering not merely obligations but methods, worked forms, and guidance for living what it requires.

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