ENLARGING THE HEART UPDATE: 1ST January 2015 We now begin a new series of commentaries on the Rule of our Holy Father Saint Benedict (Series 3). We hope this will continue to be a source of spiritual nourishment for you. Daily readings from the Rule of Saint Benedict By a Benedictine of Saint Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde "... as we progress in our monastic life and in faith, our hearts shall be enlarged, and we shall run with unspeakable sweetness of love in the way of God's commandments." (From the Prologue of the Rule of Saint Benedict) |
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St Benedict wrote his Rule for monks some fifteen centuries ago. Driven by his love of Christ, he wanted to establish his monastery as a "school of the Lord's service": a place where people who truly seek God could find him; places where "authentic Gospel values prevail"(1); where nothing whatever would be preferred to Christ. The Rule of St Benedict spread all over Like many monasteries we divide the Rule into sections so that the whole Rule is covered over a period of three months. The commentaries will follow the sequence of the sections. (1) Pope John Paul II, to Benedictine Abbots, |
CHAPTER 38: Of the reader for the week July 17, There shall always be reading at table while the
brethren are eating. Yet he should not
presume to read there who by mere chance shall have taken up the book; but let
him who is to read throughout the week enter on his office on Sunday. He who is entering on this service shall, after Mass
and Communion, ask of all to pray for him that God may keep from him the spirit
of pride. And let this verse be thrice
said in the oratory by all, he himself beginning it: "Dómine, lábia mea
apéries, et os meum annuntiábit laudem tua " (“O God, open my lips, and my
mouth shall proclaim your praise”) (Ps 51:17).
Then, having received the blessing, let him enter on his duties as
reader. The most profound silence shall be kept at table so
that the whispering or voice of no one save that of the reader alone be heard
there. The brethren will so help each
other to what is necessary as regards food and drink that no one may have need to ask for
anything. Should, however, something be
required, let it be asked for by means of some sign rather than by words. Let no one ask any question there concerning
what is being read or anything else, lest occasion be given to the Evil One;
unless perhaps the superior should wish to say something briefly for the
edification of the brethren. The brother
who is reader for the week shall receive refreshment before he begins to read,
because of the Holy Communion, and lest it be too hard for him to fast so long.
After the meal he shall eat with the weekly cooks and servers. The brethren are not to read or sing
according to rank; but only those are to discharge these duties who can do so
to the edification of the hearers. St Benedict here returns to
questions concerning the refectory. He
desires that the prayer for the reader takes place not in the refectory, but in
the oratory, the place of prayer, after Mass and Holy Communion. In this way, St Benedict brings out the
interior connection between Holy Communion and the Word of God in the mouth of
the reader. Both are the presence of Christ.
Both require humility and reverence and both build up community. For St Benedict the reader is not to project
himself, but to allow God to speak through him, so that God can truly work in
the reader and in those who listen, so that all may be edified. That is why St
Benedict exhorts the reader to ask all to pray for him. To read in this way is a grace for which we
must ask. |
Of old men and
children
July 16, Although human nature itself is inclined to
consideration as regards these ages, namely, that of old men and children, yet
the authority of the Rule should also provide for them. Let their weakness be always taken into
account and let the full rigour of the Rule as regards food be in no way
exacted in their regard; but let a kind consideration be had for them, and let
them eat before the regular hours.
As we have seen, these two stages of life have much in common, and both have something to give. After dealing with sick brethren, he now turns to those whose weakness is not due to illness but simply to age. They are both stages of weakness and dependence. Every child is entrusted, defenceless into another’s hands. He has to let himself be clothed, fed, carried, looked after. Similarly the elderly and those who are dying no longer have control over themselves; they must let others look after them. The Son of God freely entered into this condition of dependence when He became incarnate. And He continues to entrust Himself to His Church; He allows the Church to have control over Him and His sacrifice. He entrusts to her administration not only the fruits of His life and his sacrifice, but His very self in the Eucharist. Finally, he gives Himself into the hands of anyone who becomes a ‘mother’ to Him by doing the will of the Father. This being ‘handed-over’ is the final fruit of His life of action and free obedience to His Father’s will. We too have to learn |