abbé

l'abbé (FR N-M) abbot, the governing head of an abbey or monastery, elected for life by his fellow monks; any ecclesiastic, not necessarily one having priest's orders. Saint Benedict of Nursia (480 – 543) founded one of the first great abbeys at Montecassino. (See abbaye.) He also wrote the »Rule of St. Benedict,« which still forms the basis for most monastic living in the world today, and which has been the subject of much interpretation over the centuries. The Rule calls for asceticism…