Just as all these people practice to become more proficient, spiritual seekers practice in order to become better at living a spiritual life. 0000001554 00000 n Life in Benedictine monasteries was also deeply influenced by the clericalization of many of the monks and the episcopal ordination of many abbots. Brendan Rolling, OSB of St Benedicts Abbey of Atchison, Kansas, Sister Joan tells us that a Benedictine lifestyle is an an oasis of human peace. "Let everyone that comes be received as Christ" is one of the most familiar and oft-quoted phrases of the Rule. As for details, Benedict left much to the discernment and initiative of the superior. It shows itself in the way (emphasis mine) you put up with the many things of your daily life, sickness, death, war, persecution, mishaps and misfortunes of every kind. In other words, without awareness of God and without gratitude, indeed, without the interweaving of all these practices into our lives, patience cannot exist. Adrian Burke, OSB writes, Benedict insists in his. startxref One of the great challenges in the rule is that the monk obey others not only in their strengths but also in their weaknesses, for it is tempting to see others in their weakness as simply burdens rather than as gifts. As Sister Julie explains on the blog A Nuns Life, The Liturgy of the Hours is made up of specific prayers said at various time (hours) during the day and night. All these helping ministries place value on the confidentiality of the relationship and may lead to increased personal wellbeing and a more fruitful and productive life. Monsignor Charles Pope seems to be saying in the blog post, A Reflection On the Benedictine Vow of Stability for Community in Mission of the Archdiocese of Washington (DC), that stability of heart is the Benedictine practice our chronically unstable contemporary society most desperately needs. In Benedictine practice we acknowledge the primacy of God and look for God in the ordinary events of each day. Benedictines are called to strive for silence and have a love for silence. The website of Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas tells us, Modern monks like to point out that first word in the Rule is to Listen,which cant be done while talking! Benedict called this lifelong process conversatiomorum or conversion of life. The Benedictine practice of service to others is intimately entwined with the reverence for all creation, and another of the great foundations of Benedictine spirituality. The concept that we are not above nature but are part of it, stems from the practice of humility, of knowing who we are, how we are, and to whom we belong. The RB is saturated with Scripture and, as Esther de Waal has suggested in her book Seeking God: The Baptismal Invitation of the Rule of St. Benedict (Liturgical Press, 2009), the Prologue exemplifies this as a model of baptismal instruction. For example, Let us get up then, at long last for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: It is high time for us to arise from sleep (Rom 13:11), or Run while you have the light, that the darkness of death may not overtake you (John 12:35). Scripture and baptism undergird the Benedictine vision of Christian discipleship, a vision which relies on a prayerful orientation toward God and relationships which support us in Christ-centeredness. The wisdom of Native Americans has often been quoted as a way of thinking about the long term implications of our present actions: What is the impact of our decisions on the seventh generation? We are called to consider ourselves part of Gods larger and longer story, living a legacy which was a gift to us and inspiring others who will follow. 4. Instead of being possessive and manipulative, he is called to grow in detachment which manifests itself in the constructive and creative use of things. We go forth into the world as contemplatives in action, discerning God's desire for our lives here, now, and acting on God's invitation. How are you feeling called to commit that value to practice in the days ahead? SUGGESTED BOX ON PRAYER The psalms eloquently express how we feel and how we think about life and time and God. 3 Views. Rather, it is a series of embodied practices that forms the monk over the course of a lifetime to make space for the guest. The devotio moderna is an example. The Rule of St. Benedict structures this for the monk. A devoted monk, he established the Rule of Benedict. My work with the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (MID) has . It is rather the fact that monastic existence is a form of religious life having not secondary or ministerial purpose. Eunice Antony, OSB. Acts 18:18). He is called to witness in a materialistic world to the dependence of all men and women on God, and to their need and destiny for a happiness that lies beyond material fulfillment. Catholic spirituality includes the various ways in which Catholics live out their Baptismal promise through prayer and action. Are you a thoughtful reader (and maybe even a writer) who seeks a peaceful, just, spiritual approach to life? 6v-7r of the Bodleian library in Oxford. 1) They know that not one-size-fits-all. The first word of the Rule of Benedict is Listen. The Benedictine practice of listening is the heart of Benedictine spirituality, for not only are we instructed to listen constantly to one another in community, to leaders, to guests, to the sick, to our inner selves, and most of all, to God, we must also attend to [what we hear] with the ear of the heart. As Good Samaritan Sister Clare Condon writes, Listening with the ear of the heart can be a scary experience because it can call me to radical change, to a transformation of my limited human perspective. We prefer concepts like freedom and independence. If you fill out this form, Ill respond from my personal email. This invitation to listen came to Benedict from the heart of the Old and New Testament traditions. Her muscular Christianity is grounded in the spiritual practices of the Rule of Saint Benedict, such as silence, hospitality, humility, and peace. Obedience is an act of letting go of the egoistic will. Humility helps us accept our gifts and talents joyfully while letting go of our false selves. BARTH, KARL The Rule of Benedict opens with the word "listen" (ausculta ). Unfortunately, Jesus never indicated discipleship would be easy. As. . Benedictine Center is affiliated and operated in partnership with St. Pauls Monastery. The years 1987 and 1990 saw the publication of two unprecedented and immediately popular reference works, The New Dictionary of Theology and The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship.The present work, The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, edited by Michael Downey, is intended as a companion to these, with a parallel aim and purpose.The NDCS is a collaborative attempt to take stock of . This listening is not merely an intellectual or rational activity; it is intuitive, springing from the very core of the monk's being where he is most open to God and most open to the word of life that God speaks. Its principal source is the Word of God and its model is Christ. endstream endobj 10 0 obj <> endobj 11 0 obj <> endobj 12 0 obj <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]/ExtGState<>>> endobj 13 0 obj <> endobj 14 0 obj <> endobj 15 0 obj <> endobj 16 0 obj <> endobj 17 0 obj <> endobj 18 0 obj <>stream This will not subscribe you to a contact management software program, and you wont get an onslaught of computer-generated emails begging you to buy my books and services. The whole spiritual life of the monk consists in listening to God by "inclining the ear of the heart." People are seen as an integrated whole: Body, Mind, and Spirit. It is humility that takes the monk beyond the myth of his own grandeur to the grandeur of God. For most of us, though, stability can have a figurative element beyond our experience with a [], 2023 Benedictine Center of St. Pauls Monastery, Core Values: Benedictine Spirituality (Part 1 of 3), Prayer and Community: Benedictine Spirituality (Part 2 of 3) - Benedictine Center, Lectio Divina and Preferring Christ: Benedictine Spirituality (Part 3 of 3) - Benedictine Center, My Day with the Sacred Fire | Benedictine Center, Saturated with Peace: Experiencing Personal Retreat | Benedictine Center, Wholehearted Living as the Lamed Vav | Benedictine Center, Practicing Sustained Lectio Divina | Benedictine Center, What Discernment Means to Me | Benedictine Center, Sabbath: Well-being, Not Endless Work | Benedictine Center, Moderation and Rhythm: A Benedictine Help Against Social Isolation | Benedictine Center, Stability: The Benedictine Value of Locatedness | Benedictine Center, The Erector Set: Adapting to Others | Benedictine Center, Sharper: Benedict's Tools for Good Works | Benedictine Center, The Benedictine Commitment to Learning | Benedictine Center, We Dare To Hope (Part 1 of 2) | Benedictine Center, We Dare To Hope (Part 2 of 2) | Benedictine Center, Life, A Continuous Advent | Benedictine Center, Rooted in Love: My Sustained Lectio Divina | Benedictine Center, Just Wave: Following that Holy Nudge | Benedictine Center. One of the sure signs of monastic maturity is the honest acceptance of one's need for other people in community. Benedictine monks and nuns made a commitment to living in a specific location, within a specific community, as the context for their spiritual growth and development. Joan Chittister is the executive director of the company Benetvision, which serves as a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality; a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie; and a former past president of the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Successful organizational leaders practice self-mastery and teamwork. 0000001968 00000 n Benedictine spirituality is practical and profound. is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. The Benedictine motto, "Prayer and Work," highlights this simplicity of obedience to our daily duties. Emerging out of the high middles ages, it emphasizes the humanity of Jesus Christ as the mystery of God's presence in human flesh. Closely related to both listening and humility is the virtue of obedience. How have we been equipped by God to do so? Benedictine spirituality is a fresh alternative in an increasingly fast-paced world. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. It evokes the name of St. Benedict, who lived in the 6th century, together with all those who have been inspired by the Rule of Benedict and associate themselves with the Benedictine spiritual tradition. In the 7th and 8th centuries it was often combined with other rules, especially that of St. Columban (d. 615). Consequently he accepts the services and ideas of others, the gifts of life, and community. Contact. Balance is less about achieving perfect equilibrium than it is a pendulum which continuously swings back toward a central point. On the blog Catholic Beer Club, Br. It embraces a diversity of vocations: lay and clerical, contemplative and active, academic and pastoral, married and celibate. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. It requires that a monk listens intently to the voice of God as it is manifested in the Sacred Scriptures and the teachings of his superiors. Dominican preacher and mystic; b. Strasbourg, c. 1300; d. there, June 16, 1361. In his book Humility Rules: Saint Benedicts Twelve-Step Guide to Genuine Self-Esteem, Augustine Wetta, a Benedictine monk, teaches, The sum of all virtues is reverence. In this 2-minute video, Father Mark Goring (Companions of the Cross) says This profound and humble [Benedictine practice of] reverence for all things is one of the great foundations of Benedictine spirituality. He explains that this reverence flows from prayer. 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