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
43: OF THOSE WHO COME LATE TO THE
WORK OF GOD OR TO MEALS Nov 21 At the hour of Divine Office let each one, as soon
as he hears the signal, lay aside whatever he may be engaged with and respond
with all speed, yet also with gravity, that no occasion be given for levity.
Let nothing, then, be preferred to the Work of God. Should anyone come to the Night Office after the
"Glória" of the 94th Psalm - which for this reason we wish
to be said very deliberately and slowly - let him not stand in choir in his
usual place, but in the lowest place, or in a place which the Abbot may have
set apart for such negligent ones, until at the completion of the Office he may
do penance by public satisfaction. We
have thought that these should stand in the lowest place, or apart from the
others for this reason, that, being seen by all, they may be brought by very
shame to a sense of duty. Moreover, if
they should remain outside the oratory, there might be someone who would either
return to bed and sleep, or else sit outside and give himself to idle talk and
thus furnish occasion to the Evil One.
Let him enter, therefore, that he may not miss the entire Office, and
may amend for the future. At the day hours, if one should come to the work of
God after the Verse and the "Glória " of the first psalm that is said
after the Verse, let him stand in the last place, as we have ordered above; and
let him not presume to join himself to the choir in their chanting until he has
made satisfaction, unless, perhaps, the Abbot may give him permission to do so;
but even then, he is to make satisfaction for his fault. In the
context of the Divine Office, to hasten is the expression of a love that
impels. We do not drag our feet to meet
someone we love. When we go to prayer we
are going to meet God and our sisters.
We are hastening towards God and his praise, so this haste will not be
any kind of haste: it will have a character indicative of its goal, what St
Benedict calls gravitas that is with a sense of sobriety, self-control,
dignity. “Laying aside whatever he may
be engaged with and responding with all speed” recalls the gospel: “They left
everything and followed Him” (Luke5:11).
To be chosen by Christ and to choose Him imply a letting go. This capacity to let go for the sake of the
Beloved is also part of what it means to love.
We can also express this love by choosing to arrive a little early from the Work of God, the
Divine Office, in order to express our desire to be with Christ, to unite myself to him in His own praise to the Father and to unite myself with the
Community of sisters, being with them under the gaze of Christ. |
CHAPTER
42: THAT NO
ONE MAY SPEAK AFTER COMPLINE Nov 20 Monks ought to have a zeal for silence at all times,
but especially during the hours of the night.
Therefore at all times, whether on days of fasting or on other days, let
this be the rule: if it is not a fast day, as soon as they have risen from
supper, let them all assemble together and let one read the Conferences or
Lives of the Fathers, or indeed anything else that may serve to edify the
hearers; but not the Heptateuch, or the Books of Kings, for it would not be of
profit to those of weak understanding to hear those parts of Scripture at that
hour; at other times, however, they may be read. If it is a fast day, then shortly after Vespers let
them assemble for the reading, as we have said.
Four or five pages are to be read, or as much as the time allows, so
that during the time consumed by this reading all even such as may be occupied
in some work assigned them - may come together.
All, therefore, being assembled, let them say Compline; and on coming
out from Compline no one shall be allowed thereafter to speak to anyone. But if one is found to have violated this
rule of silence, let him be subjected to severe punishment - unless the
presence of guests make it necessary, or, perhaps, the Abbot give one a
command. But even this must be done
becomingly and with all gravity and moderation. St.
Benedict attaches the greatest importance to this spirit of silence, using the
word gravitas. This word appears 6 times in the Rule, and 5 of these specify a
manner of speaking, as it does here. It
means literally, quantity, amount; figuratively there is the idea of
seriousness, dignity, “weighty.” The
word gravitas doesn’t mean gloom or solemnity; it denotes a certain dignity,
seriousness, weight in speaking. It appears in the preface at Profession where
it asks that the nun be possessed with a gentleness full of gravity (gravis
lenitas). Our silence should reflect
the seriousness, the weightiness of monastic life, a seriousness which results from
an awareness of God’s presence, from the purpose of our life which is to seek
God. As Mother Abbess has put it, “The monk or nun values silence because its
opposite would not be in keeping with the ultimate seriousness of our monastic
life. By seriousness is not meant
solemnity or long faces, but a deep realization of the purpose of the life we
lead and a renouncement of shallowness and triviality which could vitiate it.
We are people in earnest about attaining eternal life; we are serious about seeking
God and living in his presence with the humble desire to sharing in his work of
redemption of all man.” So St. Benedict does not demand a total
silence, but a restraint of speech, and a way of speaking which is in complete
harmony with the nature and end of our life.
The true monk is he who when he must speak does so with gentleness,
which is at once respect for God and for others, with humility, gravity, and
with as few words as possible. Instead
of being simply a negative precept--do not speak--St. Benedict teaching is
positive--peace and serenity. Smiling is
a silent, extra manifestation of this peace, joy and contentment. As Dom Belorgy has noted, smiling is both worship,
(a way of saying to God that we are happy to serve him) and an apostolate
(encouraging others to serve him with joy).
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