Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
December 23: Class II
O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
December 22: Class II
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
A Rule for cenobites...
OK this is a bit of a rant, but I think an important one.
One of the problems in the Church today is the subversion of the idea that religious life represents a higher state of life. Under the guise of the "new monasticism" even married people today like to describe themselves as monks, or consider themselves as bound by the Rules of their Order as monks are.
To the extent that this movement encourages piety and spiritual growth it is obviously a good thing. But to the extent that it undermines the idea that religious life - even in the watered down form so often practiced in these confused and troubled times - is an objectively higher state of life, we should reject it as a dangerous subversion of the Church's traditions.
The Benedictine Rule is first and foremost a Rule for monks and nuns...
A widely disseminated commentary on the Rule for December 2 laudably encourages the saying of the hours of the Office. But in making his arguments for doing so the author gets carried away, claiming:
"the Holy Rule was written by a layman for laymen. The early men (and later, women) were lay-folk when they joined St. Benedict, not vowed Religious but beginners..."
Well no.
First, St Benedict himself was a monk not a layman: the story of his acceptance of the habit from a monk of a monastery near Subiaco appears in the Life of the saint written by St Gregory. And, leaving aside the question of whether or not St Benedict was actually a deacon, is the author of the commentary really claiming that St Benedict didn't make the vows he prescribes for his own monks in Chapter 58 of the Rule? Surely he was indeed a vowed religious!
Secondly, the Rule makes it clear several times that he is writing for "the strong race of cenobites" (ch 1), that is for those "practicising it in monasteries" (ch 73), "in the enclosure of the monastery and stability in community" (ch 4), under the authority of an abbot (ch 1).
When the postulant arrives at the gates of the monastery he is indeed a layperson and beginner. But he is seeking to become a monk or nun (and by the way, women were not later in this but contemporaneous, as St Scholastica, as well as the communities of women referred to in the Life, make clear), not seeking to continue living in the world.
The Rule of St Benedict is a great spiritual document, filled with wisdom for all. And the laity have been called to adopt the spirituality taught by St Benedict from its very beginnings as his Life makes clear: the saint provided spiritual direction to many from his cave at Subiaco; converted those living near Monte Cassino by his preaching; and attracted lay donors who provided land for new monasteries, and entrusted their sons to him for the monastery. Those early oblates often followed an exemplary asceticism too, as the story of the lay follower of St Benedict who fasted on his annual journey to visit the monastery (until tempted otherwise and called on it by the saint) demonstrates. But the call of an oblate is different to that of a monk, and we shouldn't confuse the two.
What is a monk or nun?
The profession of the evangelical counsels by a religious means poverty, chastity and obedience not just in the sense we are all required to adopt, but that special consecration which renounces all goods and all sexual activity, and promises obedience to a superior who stands in the place of Christ. In the case of Benedictines, the form of the vows is 'stability and conversion of morals' and a commitment to live' according to the Rule': "stabilitate...et conversatione morum...et obedientia...secundum Regulam Sancti Patris nostri Benedicti..."
In Vita Consecrata, Pope John Paul II stated that the superiority of the state reflects the fact that religious voluntarily gave up good things, making a total holocaust of themselves, in favor of a greater good, the pure service of God. It is this special commitment that justifies the status of religious life as a higher calling: “As a way of showing forth the Church’s holiness, it is to be recognized that the consecrated life, which mirrors Christ’s own way of life, has an objective superiority.”
Oblates
We are all called to holiness. And the promises made by a Benedictine Oblate for example represent a particularly good way of pursuing that holiness.
But an oblate is not a monk.
Canonically, the situation of an oblate is quite different to that of either a monk, or a third order member of one of the mendicant orders such as the Carmelites, Franciscans or Dominicans.
The traditional promises (not vows) made by a Benedictine oblate living in the world are to live "according to the spirit of the Rule of our Holy Father Benedict, and observe the Statutes of Oblates" (conversationem morum...ad mentem Regulae..."
In the prayers and admonitions of the American-Cassinese Congregation leading up to the promises, for example, the prospective oblate was asked if he was willing to "observe the salutary teachings of our Holy Father Benedict, according as your state of life permits..."
Religious life is, amonst its other purposes, meant to help and support the practice of the laity by providing an exemplar of holiness. Oblates are meant to share in the spiritual benefits produced by their monastery, and learn from the religious life. But oblation is not to meant to be a substitute for religious life, even in times where that religious life seems often poorly observed.
Be fervent followers of St Benedict by all means, but according to your state in life...
One of the problems in the Church today is the subversion of the idea that religious life represents a higher state of life. Under the guise of the "new monasticism" even married people today like to describe themselves as monks, or consider themselves as bound by the Rules of their Order as monks are.
To the extent that this movement encourages piety and spiritual growth it is obviously a good thing. But to the extent that it undermines the idea that religious life - even in the watered down form so often practiced in these confused and troubled times - is an objectively higher state of life, we should reject it as a dangerous subversion of the Church's traditions.
The Benedictine Rule is first and foremost a Rule for monks and nuns...
A widely disseminated commentary on the Rule for December 2 laudably encourages the saying of the hours of the Office. But in making his arguments for doing so the author gets carried away, claiming:
"the Holy Rule was written by a layman for laymen. The early men (and later, women) were lay-folk when they joined St. Benedict, not vowed Religious but beginners..."
Well no.
First, St Benedict himself was a monk not a layman: the story of his acceptance of the habit from a monk of a monastery near Subiaco appears in the Life of the saint written by St Gregory. And, leaving aside the question of whether or not St Benedict was actually a deacon, is the author of the commentary really claiming that St Benedict didn't make the vows he prescribes for his own monks in Chapter 58 of the Rule? Surely he was indeed a vowed religious!
Secondly, the Rule makes it clear several times that he is writing for "the strong race of cenobites" (ch 1), that is for those "practicising it in monasteries" (ch 73), "in the enclosure of the monastery and stability in community" (ch 4), under the authority of an abbot (ch 1).
When the postulant arrives at the gates of the monastery he is indeed a layperson and beginner. But he is seeking to become a monk or nun (and by the way, women were not later in this but contemporaneous, as St Scholastica, as well as the communities of women referred to in the Life, make clear), not seeking to continue living in the world.
The Rule of St Benedict is a great spiritual document, filled with wisdom for all. And the laity have been called to adopt the spirituality taught by St Benedict from its very beginnings as his Life makes clear: the saint provided spiritual direction to many from his cave at Subiaco; converted those living near Monte Cassino by his preaching; and attracted lay donors who provided land for new monasteries, and entrusted their sons to him for the monastery. Those early oblates often followed an exemplary asceticism too, as the story of the lay follower of St Benedict who fasted on his annual journey to visit the monastery (until tempted otherwise and called on it by the saint) demonstrates. But the call of an oblate is different to that of a monk, and we shouldn't confuse the two.
What is a monk or nun?
The profession of the evangelical counsels by a religious means poverty, chastity and obedience not just in the sense we are all required to adopt, but that special consecration which renounces all goods and all sexual activity, and promises obedience to a superior who stands in the place of Christ. In the case of Benedictines, the form of the vows is 'stability and conversion of morals' and a commitment to live' according to the Rule': "stabilitate...et conversatione morum...et obedientia...secundum Regulam Sancti Patris nostri Benedicti..."
In Vita Consecrata, Pope John Paul II stated that the superiority of the state reflects the fact that religious voluntarily gave up good things, making a total holocaust of themselves, in favor of a greater good, the pure service of God. It is this special commitment that justifies the status of religious life as a higher calling: “As a way of showing forth the Church’s holiness, it is to be recognized that the consecrated life, which mirrors Christ’s own way of life, has an objective superiority.”
Oblates
We are all called to holiness. And the promises made by a Benedictine Oblate for example represent a particularly good way of pursuing that holiness.
But an oblate is not a monk.
Canonically, the situation of an oblate is quite different to that of either a monk, or a third order member of one of the mendicant orders such as the Carmelites, Franciscans or Dominicans.
The traditional promises (not vows) made by a Benedictine oblate living in the world are to live "according to the spirit of the Rule of our Holy Father Benedict, and observe the Statutes of Oblates" (conversationem morum...ad mentem Regulae..."
In the prayers and admonitions of the American-Cassinese Congregation leading up to the promises, for example, the prospective oblate was asked if he was willing to "observe the salutary teachings of our Holy Father Benedict, according as your state of life permits..."
Religious life is, amonst its other purposes, meant to help and support the practice of the laity by providing an exemplar of holiness. Oblates are meant to share in the spiritual benefits produced by their monastery, and learn from the religious life. But oblation is not to meant to be a substitute for religious life, even in times where that religious life seems often poorly observed.
Be fervent followers of St Benedict by all means, but according to your state in life...
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Some possible principles for interpreting the Benedictine Rule...
I've been pondering for some time what the appropriate principles for interpreting the Benedictine Rule might be if one approached it from the perspective of a hermeneutic of continuity, as opposed to the evident discontinuity that has largely prevailed for the last several decades.
And I've finally been spurred into posting on this having seen a commentary which touches on some of these issues.
Let me say that these are a first draft only, and I'd very much appreciate reactions and debate on them. If there proves to be interest, I may elaborate on each of them in subsequent posts.
May they prove of assistance at least in stimulating thought!
1. The Rule is a providential encapsulation of spirituality and legislation
That St Benedict wrote when he did, and that his Rule came to dominate Europe, was not happenstance, but rather part of God’s providential plan.
As Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly emphasized, God works through history; the history of the Church is the history of his saints.
One can’t therefore properly read the Rule solely in terms of how it differs from other contemporary or prior Rules, or decide that certain parts are in some way contingent since they would have been different if they had been written fifty years earlier or later. Thus, historico-critical analysis of the Rule may be interesting - but it cannot be the be all and end all of its interpretation. And above all, it should not be pursued at the expense of the "post-history" of the use of the Rule (or parts of it).
2. That said, the legislative aspects of the Rule can be modified
The Rule itself allows the abbot to adapt and mitigate its provisions, both to the time and place, and in order to the needs of individual monks.
Canon law and the law of the land have also overridden parts of the Rule – the procedures around the noviciate and priests for example in relation to canon law; the law of the land and corporal punishment.
And the experience of the Order over the centuries has led to the effective replacement of some of its provisions (through 'declarations' and Constitutions) in accordance with monastic custom and the history of particular monasteries or congregations – the separate kitchen and dining room for the abbot and his guests for example, number and content of meals, use of individual cells instead of a dormitory.
In addition, the Rule itself provides detailed prescriptions in some areas, mere sketches in others. The details have always had to be filled in through customaries, liturgical books and so forth.
In the terminology favoured by historians in relation to the period immediately after St Benedict, in practice, all monasteries today, traditionalist, conservative and liberal alike, effectively follow a "mixed Rule" of one type or another.
3. The Rule has to be read as a unified whole
St Benedict prescribed a regimen for his monks that involved a balance between the liturgy (Opus Dei), sacred reading, and work. He certainly emphasizes to the priority of the Opus Dei.
But within the context of that balance.
And within the context of the general principles of moderation and adaptation to the circumstances and place, as well as individual capacities that he reiterates throughout the Rule.
It is important too, to read the Rule against the background of the Life of St Benedict by Pope Gregory I (and see below for Pope Benedict's comments on this). The Life is traditionally regarded as one of the foundational texts of the Order, and it provides a useful perspective on the way the life is actually to be lived.
4. The primary criterion for interpreting the Rule is how it has been understood down through history.
The Rule should be interpreted in the context of the history of the Benedictine Order, adopting a "hermeneutic of continuity".
The history of monasticism prior to St Benedict will obviously throw light on it, so will the evidence of St Benedict’s contemporaries, as well as later reactions to in the form of the traditions of other religious orders. Interpretation of the Rule in the light of the great Franciscan or Dominican or Carmelite writers, for example, could well be of interest to members of those Orders as a way of appropriating a spiritual classic into their tradition. It may well also throw up insights that will be of interest to Benedictines.
But to learn how to be good Benedictines, the primary lens must surely be the Order’s own patrimony: read the great commentaries of the past on the Rule first and foremost; the great sermons; the great mystical works and so forth.
Pope Benedict XVI has put this point as follows:
“Charisms are bestowed by the Holy Spirit, who inspires founders and foundresses, and shapes Congregations with a subsequent spiritual heritage. The wondrous array of charisms proper to each Religious Institute is an extraordinary spiritual treasury. Indeed, the history of the Church is perhaps most beautifully portrayed through the history of her schools of spirituality, most of which stem from the saintly lives of founders and foundresses.”
5. The way the Rule is approached must be different for those living in community and those in the world
There is something to Dom David Knowles' proposition that the starting point for a monk in interpreting the Rule will be a presumption in favour of a literal reading of the Rule's provisions (but then allowing for changes and adaptations in the light of custom and the times); the starting point for an oblate will be a spiritual reading.
It is an obvious but perhaps often overlooked point, for example, that the Rule clearly states that it is written for monks living in a community under the authority of an abbot. Many of its concrete legislative provisions depend on the judgment of the abbot on a day-to-day basis. A lay person who thinks that he can simply be his own abbot needs to reread Chapter One of the Rule.
Thus, a lay oblate living in the world cannot be considered to be subject to the concrete legislative provisions of the Rule except to the extent that the constitutions or understandings of the community to which he made his oblation bind him (supplemented by any Rule of Life drawn up in consultation with his spiritual director). It is the spirituality of the Rule they are committing themselves to following, and its practical requirements must be adapted to take account of the duties of state of life and the need to maintain an appropriate balance between the different elements of Benedictine life....
And I've finally been spurred into posting on this having seen a commentary which touches on some of these issues.
Let me say that these are a first draft only, and I'd very much appreciate reactions and debate on them. If there proves to be interest, I may elaborate on each of them in subsequent posts.
May they prove of assistance at least in stimulating thought!
1. The Rule is a providential encapsulation of spirituality and legislation
That St Benedict wrote when he did, and that his Rule came to dominate Europe, was not happenstance, but rather part of God’s providential plan.
As Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly emphasized, God works through history; the history of the Church is the history of his saints.
One can’t therefore properly read the Rule solely in terms of how it differs from other contemporary or prior Rules, or decide that certain parts are in some way contingent since they would have been different if they had been written fifty years earlier or later. Thus, historico-critical analysis of the Rule may be interesting - but it cannot be the be all and end all of its interpretation. And above all, it should not be pursued at the expense of the "post-history" of the use of the Rule (or parts of it).
2. That said, the legislative aspects of the Rule can be modified
The Rule itself allows the abbot to adapt and mitigate its provisions, both to the time and place, and in order to the needs of individual monks.
Canon law and the law of the land have also overridden parts of the Rule – the procedures around the noviciate and priests for example in relation to canon law; the law of the land and corporal punishment.
And the experience of the Order over the centuries has led to the effective replacement of some of its provisions (through 'declarations' and Constitutions) in accordance with monastic custom and the history of particular monasteries or congregations – the separate kitchen and dining room for the abbot and his guests for example, number and content of meals, use of individual cells instead of a dormitory.
In addition, the Rule itself provides detailed prescriptions in some areas, mere sketches in others. The details have always had to be filled in through customaries, liturgical books and so forth.
In the terminology favoured by historians in relation to the period immediately after St Benedict, in practice, all monasteries today, traditionalist, conservative and liberal alike, effectively follow a "mixed Rule" of one type or another.
3. The Rule has to be read as a unified whole
St Benedict prescribed a regimen for his monks that involved a balance between the liturgy (Opus Dei), sacred reading, and work. He certainly emphasizes to the priority of the Opus Dei.
But within the context of that balance.
And within the context of the general principles of moderation and adaptation to the circumstances and place, as well as individual capacities that he reiterates throughout the Rule.
It is important too, to read the Rule against the background of the Life of St Benedict by Pope Gregory I (and see below for Pope Benedict's comments on this). The Life is traditionally regarded as one of the foundational texts of the Order, and it provides a useful perspective on the way the life is actually to be lived.
4. The primary criterion for interpreting the Rule is how it has been understood down through history.
The Rule should be interpreted in the context of the history of the Benedictine Order, adopting a "hermeneutic of continuity".
The history of monasticism prior to St Benedict will obviously throw light on it, so will the evidence of St Benedict’s contemporaries, as well as later reactions to in the form of the traditions of other religious orders. Interpretation of the Rule in the light of the great Franciscan or Dominican or Carmelite writers, for example, could well be of interest to members of those Orders as a way of appropriating a spiritual classic into their tradition. It may well also throw up insights that will be of interest to Benedictines.
But to learn how to be good Benedictines, the primary lens must surely be the Order’s own patrimony: read the great commentaries of the past on the Rule first and foremost; the great sermons; the great mystical works and so forth.
Pope Benedict XVI has put this point as follows:
“Charisms are bestowed by the Holy Spirit, who inspires founders and foundresses, and shapes Congregations with a subsequent spiritual heritage. The wondrous array of charisms proper to each Religious Institute is an extraordinary spiritual treasury. Indeed, the history of the Church is perhaps most beautifully portrayed through the history of her schools of spirituality, most of which stem from the saintly lives of founders and foundresses.”
5. The way the Rule is approached must be different for those living in community and those in the world
There is something to Dom David Knowles' proposition that the starting point for a monk in interpreting the Rule will be a presumption in favour of a literal reading of the Rule's provisions (but then allowing for changes and adaptations in the light of custom and the times); the starting point for an oblate will be a spiritual reading.
It is an obvious but perhaps often overlooked point, for example, that the Rule clearly states that it is written for monks living in a community under the authority of an abbot. Many of its concrete legislative provisions depend on the judgment of the abbot on a day-to-day basis. A lay person who thinks that he can simply be his own abbot needs to reread Chapter One of the Rule.
Thus, a lay oblate living in the world cannot be considered to be subject to the concrete legislative provisions of the Rule except to the extent that the constitutions or understandings of the community to which he made his oblation bind him (supplemented by any Rule of Life drawn up in consultation with his spiritual director). It is the spirituality of the Rule they are committing themselves to following, and its practical requirements must be adapted to take account of the duties of state of life and the need to maintain an appropriate balance between the different elements of Benedictine life....
Friday, November 19, 2010
Pope Benedict: Five reasons for doing lectio divina....
Lectio Divina is of course central to Benedictine spirituality, with several hours a day of prayerful reading of Scripture and other spiritual texts required of monks in the Rule.
And it is also one of the central themes of Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini. Scattered through the document are the reasons why lectio is so crucial. Here is my summation of the reasons he sets out for why we should do lectio divina.
1. To please God by listening to him. Pope quotes Origen: “Do your reading with the intent of believing in and pleasing God.”
2. To build the Church as a community. "While it is a word addressed to each of us personally, it is also a word which builds community, which builds the Church...The reading of the word of God… enables us to deepen our sense of belonging to the Church, and helps us to grow in familiarity with God.”
3. To nourish and sustain us 'on our journey of penance and conversion': through it, we grow in love and truth.
4. In order to discern God’s will for us, and convert us: “Contemplation aims at creating within us a truly wise and discerning vision of reality, as God sees it, and at forming within us “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16).
The Pope particularly recommends lectio divina to seminarians because: “It is in the light and strength of God’s word that one’s specific vocation can be discerned and appreciated, loved and followed, and one’s proper mission carried out…” Lay people to should be trained, he urges, “to discern God’s will through a familiarity with his word, read and studied in the Church under the guidance of her legitimate pastors.”
He goes on: "Saint Paul tells us: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect ” (12:2). The word of God appears here as a criterion for discernment: it is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12).”, and “….by nourishing the heart with thoughts of God, so that faith, as our response to the word, may become a new criterion for judging and evaluation persons and things, events and issues”….”
5. For the spiritual benefit of others. First, to equip us to fulfill the duty of all Christians to evangelize, contributing to the Churches mission to convert the whole world to Christ. And secondly to aid the souls in purgatory through the Church's offer of indulgences for Scripture reading and certain Scripturally based prayers (such as the Office), which teach us that “to whatever degree we are united in Christ, we are united to one another, and the supernatural life of each one can be useful for the others ”
And it is also one of the central themes of Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini. Scattered through the document are the reasons why lectio is so crucial. Here is my summation of the reasons he sets out for why we should do lectio divina.
1. To please God by listening to him. Pope quotes Origen: “Do your reading with the intent of believing in and pleasing God.”
2. To build the Church as a community. "While it is a word addressed to each of us personally, it is also a word which builds community, which builds the Church...The reading of the word of God… enables us to deepen our sense of belonging to the Church, and helps us to grow in familiarity with God.”
3. To nourish and sustain us 'on our journey of penance and conversion': through it, we grow in love and truth.
4. In order to discern God’s will for us, and convert us: “Contemplation aims at creating within us a truly wise and discerning vision of reality, as God sees it, and at forming within us “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16).
The Pope particularly recommends lectio divina to seminarians because: “It is in the light and strength of God’s word that one’s specific vocation can be discerned and appreciated, loved and followed, and one’s proper mission carried out…” Lay people to should be trained, he urges, “to discern God’s will through a familiarity with his word, read and studied in the Church under the guidance of her legitimate pastors.”
He goes on: "Saint Paul tells us: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect ” (12:2). The word of God appears here as a criterion for discernment: it is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12).”, and “….by nourishing the heart with thoughts of God, so that faith, as our response to the word, may become a new criterion for judging and evaluation persons and things, events and issues”….”
5. For the spiritual benefit of others. First, to equip us to fulfill the duty of all Christians to evangelize, contributing to the Churches mission to convert the whole world to Christ. And secondly to aid the souls in purgatory through the Church's offer of indulgences for Scripture reading and certain Scripturally based prayers (such as the Office), which teach us that “to whatever degree we are united in Christ, we are united to one another, and the supernatural life of each one can be useful for the others ”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)