Are Benedictines a Silent Order?

Although Benedictines do not take a vow of silence, hours of strict silence are set, and at other times silence is maintained as much as is practically possible. Social conversations tend to be limited to communal recreation times.

What type of Order are the Benedictines?

Benedictine, member of the Order of Saint Benedict (O.S.B.), member of any of the confederated congregations of monks, lay brothers, and nuns who follow the rule of life of St. Benedict (c. 480–c. 547) and who are spiritual descendants of the traditional monastics of the early medieval centuries in Italy and Gaul.

Do Benedictine monks speak?

Benedictines don't take a vow of silence but take their dinner and breakfast without talking. At dinner, they don't talk, but one of the monks sits at the front of the cavernous room, surrounded by stained glass, and reads an article from Benedictine history and passages from the Rule of St. Benedict.