Each Benedictine community is unique, based upon geographic location and history. Some communities, like Our Lady of the Rock, are contemplative while others focus on direct service ministries such as education and health care. What we all share in common is the ideal of a balanced life of prayer, work, and study. We live by the labor of our own hands and are loving caretakers of the land and the environment.

Hospitality is an essential part of our work, and we welcome guests of all faiths to find peace and stillness amidst their busy lives.

We strive to uphold the traditional values of Benedictine life in the 21st century. This means that we follow the Rule of St. Benedict as closely as we can in this contemporary world.

• We wear the traditional habit.
• We pray the eight canonical Hours of the Divine Office in Latin as established by St. Benedict.
• We sing our daily Mass in Latin in Gregorian chant.
• We live by the labor of our own hands, raising as much of our food as possible, making most of our own clothes, doing our own cooking and cleaning.
• We make hospitality an essential part of our work.
• We are contemplative in that we center our lives on liturgical prayer and do not hold jobs "in the world". But we are actively involved in the "outside world" in numerous ways.