The essence of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of the Benedictine Confederation: PAX ("peace") and the traditional ora et labora ("pray and work").The expression pray and work (or "pray and labor", in Latin ora et labora) signifies to the Catholic Monastic practice of working and praying, commonly connected with its use in the Rule of Saint Benedict. Benedict observed prayer and work as two sides of the one coin, and believed in uniting contemplation with action.