Read Part 1 or Part 2 of this series on addiction and Saint Benedict’s Twelve Steps of Humility.
In recovery, we seek freedom from addiction by following the Twelve Steps. But the true effectiveness of 12-step recovery is found in the fact that, at its heart, it is really a program for learning and living virtue, the subsequent gifts of which are sanity, sobriety, and serenity. It is a “rule of life” that above all teaches the virtue of humility.
It is worth noting that the only Step that mentions addiction per se is Step One. We could simply substitute any particular obsession or compulsion with its underlying spiritual cause—pride—and it would be the exact same program. Now naming the true depth of the problem: “We admitted we were powerless over our pride—that our lives had become unmanageable.” The remainder of the Steps are nothing more than a brilliant pedagogy to deconstruct our pride and amend the damage our pride caused to self and others through the salutary practice of humility “in all our affairs” (Step Twelve).
As Catholics, we learn about humility, of course, from the witness of Our Lord in the Gospels, from the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church, and from the lives of the Saints. And it is the Saints who can be especially helpful to us in the daily walk of recovery. The Saints received the grace of heroic virtue in this life not because they had some otherworldly DNA, but rather because they radically understood that they were utterly powerless of their human capacity alone to resist the gravity of pride and therefore sin. They realized that their lives would be totally unmanageable without their savior, Jesus Christ. In other words, the Saints went to Confession and Holy Communion too, and remained close to the Savior in prayer and Eucharistic adoration!
I would argue that the Saints would absolutely “get” 12-step recovery because they collectively grasped the essence, not only of all the Twelve Steps together, but especially of the foundational first three Steps which are the essential hallmarks of conversion and which could be rephrased as follows: Step One—I am not God (honesty). Step Two—there is God (faith and hope). And Step Three—I choose to obey and surrender to God (humility and trust).
As a result, the Saints received the gift we are all called to receive—sainthood! They loved God and neighbor in radical humility in this life only by remaining united with divine grace, and thus were perfected in their love by Love Itself in eternal life. They did not flee their suffering, but readily accepted it in imitation of Christ for the love of God and neighbor, and thus received the precious gifts of serenity and joy even at times in the midst of terrible agony or privation. We too, if we walk in the ways of humility, can learn how to embrace our suffering and be free of addiction. We can in fact become Saints.
One of the greatest Saints and teachers in the history of the Church on the virtue of humility is Saint Benedict of Nursia (AD 480-547), the founder of Western monasticism. He composed a truly remarkable document, the Rule (c. AD 530), which is a spiritual masterpiece and has served as the blueprint for one of the most enduring spiritual communities within the whole of the Church, the Order of Saint Benedict (OSB). It has influenced similar “rules of life” for many other orders and movements throughout the long history of the Church!
Without question, the Rule of Saint Benedict has been a reliable guide leading the souls of countless men and women to deeper conversion in Christ for nearly 1,500 years. On its surface, the Rule is a practical guide instructing monks how to love God and one another in community, but in its richness and depth, it is an extended treatise on how to live the virtue of humility in every thought, word, and deed as the healthy foundation of every relationship and of a life well lived. This is what makes it so applicable to anyone seeking to love God and neighbor in a more authentic manner even if not called to the monastic vocation outright. And this therefore is what makes it entirely relevant to us Catholics in our programs of recovery.
Throughout the Rule is the consistent message that humility is indispensable for authentic love and conversion of heart. Father Cyprian Smith, OSB has asserted that “St. Benedict clearly sees humility as the key virtue, the ground or basis of every other. That may surprise us, for we are used to thinking that the Christian spiritual path is all about love. So it is, but love is not genuine unless it is based upon humility. Humility is the root; love is the flower…Love which is not grounded upon humility turns quickly into illusion, possessiveness and desire” (The Path of Life). If pride is the root evil of every addiction, then humility means everything when it comes to having a genuine and sustained recovery, and it is to Saint Benedict’s marvelous teaching on this most important of virtues that we now turn.
To begin, Saint Benedict’s vision for understanding conversion in humility takes the form of a ladder and was inspired by the patriarch Jacob’s dream of a ladder connecting heaven and earth (cf. Genesis 28:10-12). “The ladder erected is our life on earth, and if we humble our hearts the Lord will raise it to heaven. We may call our body and soul the sides of this ladder, into which our divine vocation has fitted the various steps of humility and discipline as we ascend” (Rule). It is important to understand that the very structural integrity of our embodied lives depends on these rungs of humility. They are what hold the body and the soul together. They are what make us whole and strong!
There are, interestingly enough, twelve steps or degrees of humility comprising this ladder of our lives. One might say that Saint Benedict introduced one of the earliest programs of 12-step recovery! These steps or degrees can be denoted as follows, starting at the bottom and moving toward the top: fear of god, self-denial, obedience, perseverance, repentance, serenity, self-abasement, prudence, silence, dignity, discretion, and reverence (I am indebted to Father J. Augustine Wetta, OSB and his book Humility Rules: Saint Benedict’s 12-Step Guide to Genuine Self-Esteem for this particular elucidation).
As we shall see, the twelve degrees of humility, just like the familiar Twelve Steps of recovery, are not necessarily a linear progression but rather permeate and mutually enrich one another and necessarily require all for the fullest expression of a humble life. Considering the Twelve Steps of recovery in the light of Saint Benedict’s twelve degrees of humility can greatly expand our understanding of conversion, recovery, and how to fulfill the vocation to which we are all called—to love God and neighbor with undivided and unaddicted hearts. Together they can teach us everything we need to know to defeat the lurking saboteur present with every sin and at all levels of addiction—the nemesis of our pride.
This series will continue with Part 4.
Pete S. is a grateful Catholic in recovery. He lives in Augusta, GA and helped start a CIR General Recovery meeting at St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Grovetown. He actively sponsors several individuals in CIR. He is also a regular content contributor for the CIR Daily Reflections. And as a result of his recovery journey in CIR, he discerned a calling to the Benedictine spiritual way of life and on September 30, 2023 was invested as an Oblate novice of the Order of Saint Benedict affiliated with St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, PA.