Feast of the translation of the relics of St Benedict: the liturgical genius of St Benedict/1

Today is of course, the feast of St Benedict in the Benedictine (and novus ordo) Calendar, and so in honour of the feast, I am posting today a brief introduction to a series of posts on the liturgical genius of St Benedict's Office.

The liturgical genius of St Benedict

Most modern commentators on St Benedict's Office have struggled to find any systematic thematic or programmatic intent in St Benedict's psalm selections beyond a few allusions to the morning or light at Lauds.

Certainly the Rule itself provides only a few rather oblique clues as to the factors that shaped St Benedict's Office, and don't go to the reasons for selecting this or that psalm for a particular hour or day.  Nonetheless, in this series of posts on the liturgical genius of St Benedict, I will argue that in fact the Benedictine Office reflects a very deliberate theological and spiritual program indeed, one that links together the seven days of creation with seven 'days' that set before us the life of Christ: seven days, in short, of the new creation.  It is, in my view, a structure that builds into each day and hour key themes and ideas for us to meditate on.  And it is a program that is closely integrated with the spirituality of St Benedict's Rule more generally.

Aggiornamento or patrimony?

The standard post-Vatican II take on the Benedictine Office is that there is, in essence, nothing particularly special about it, and therefore, implicitly or explicitly, the specifications that St Benedict set out in his Rule can be freely abandoned [1].  His Office, it was argued, provides a model for aggiornamento, of adaptation to the times for us to emulate, rather than representing a monument of tradition to be preserved.  In fact the Benedictine Order's 1977 instruction on the liturgy notes that:

"The arrangement of the Work of God described in chapters eight to twenty of the Rule of Benedict is a clear testimony to the proper liturgical tradition of Benedictine monasteries... this Liturgy of the Hours is not a mere reproduction of an existing Office, but consists of elements freely chosen from ancient (especially monastic) traditions, while the door is left open for adaptations to practical needs..." [2]

The basis for this claimed freedom to innovate was the twentieth century academic consensus that St Benedict took as his starting point the psalter of the Roman Church of his time, and made relatively minor changes to it aimed primarily at giving the hours from Lauds to None a little more variety.  But, it was argued, St Benedict did not have in mind any underlying program to the ordering of the psalmody; made no attempt to give the Office any thematic unity.  In sum:

"The process was clearly not one motivated by selecting thematically appropriate psalms.  There was a measure of that only at Lauds and Compline.  Rather, the process was, in Vogues words, a "mechanistic" one, "a matter of a very modest task of arithmetic."[3]

This take on the Benedictine Office, as the author of the quote above, James McKinnon, hints in his own comments, simply does not pass the plausibility test.  Here's why.

First, St Benedict devotes a lot of space and care to his Office in the Rule, and it is hard to resist the idea that he must have had good reasons for doing this.  It is true that the saint did, after setting out his schema, with due modesty, give a seeming permission to use other orderings of the psalms (RB 18).  Yet while modern commentators have latched onto this throwaway line, the earliest monastic commentators took quite a different view of it.  Hildemar, for example, argued that the words are simply a standard humility formula, and suggests that those who abandon St Benedict's specifications "are not seen to be lovers of the holy rule but transgressors" [4].

Secondly, and more fundamentally perhaps, it is not in the least obvious that the 'mechanistic changes' thesis adequately explains some of the seeming contortions in the organisation of St Benedict's psalter.  Paul Bradshaw, for example, found several of his choices of psalms for Lauds utterly inexplicable [5]. On the face of it though, the psalm orderings for Vespers are equally difficult to explain: why, for example, did St Benedict choose to divide some of the shorter psalms assigned to Vespers rather than the longest ones?  And why does he squash Psalm 128 into Monday Vespers when leaving it until Tuesday would have allowed a far more even spread of the number of verses to be said over the week at that hour?

Thirdly, it doesn't take much work to find at least some well-attested thematic elements to the Office.  St Bede and Rabanus Maurus, for example, both point to traditional associations between the day on which events in the life of Christ occurred, and the Old Testament (ferial) canticles said at Lauds on those days, such as between the Canticle of Habacuc said on Friday and the Passion, for example [6].

Edging towards Jerusalem

It has to be acknowledged that at least some of the work of the last half century does at least hint at some deeper possibilities in St Benedict's Office.

Some few, such as Laszlo Dobszay and John Fortin, have drawn attention to particular features of the Benedictine Office that might be important in establishing a spirituality particular to the order, such as the use of the Gradual psalms at Terce to None during the week, and in the selection of the Prime psalms [7].

And even RB 1980 notes, for example, that the inclusion of a Third Nocturn in the Sunday Office seems to have its origins in the weekly 'Resurrection Vigil' observed by the fourth century nun Egeria during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem [8] Its article on St Benedict's 'liturgical code' fails to link this insight, however, to the other dimensions of St Benedict's Sunday Matins such as the selection of the psalms to be said.  On the face of it this is rather a major oversight, for where the Office started at Psalm 1, St Benedict starts at Psalm 20 which is pre-eminently a song of the Resurrection taking its cue from its final line 'Rise up, O Lord, in your strength...'  In fact the whole set of psalms that follow on Sunday are filled with prophesies of the Resurrection, culminating in Psalm 31, whose conclusion St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus puts in the mouth of Christ, a promise of mercy to the sinners to whom the way to heaven has been reopened [9].

RB 1980 also notes that the Roman Cathedral tradition tried to select psalms for their appropriateness to the time and day, and to underscore the Christological meaning of the psalms [10].  St Benedict, I hope to show over the course of this series, worked very much in this tradition.  In fact, ex-Trappist turned Orthodox scholar Patrick Reardon has recently identified at least some elements of this, pointing to the existence of a weekly cycle in both the Orthodox and Benedictine Offices, that runs from Wednesday to Sunday each week and echoes the events of Holy Week. [11]

Immersing ourselves in the Fathers

Nonetheless, none of the more recent discussions of St Benedict's psalter arrangement, at least that I've come across, suggest the existence of a comprehensive program behind it or provide a convincing rationale for St Benedict's ordering of it.

There is, in my view, a good reason for this.  Most twentieth century liturgists have adopted the tools of historical-critical method, and become preoccupied with tracing the origins of the Saint's psalm ordering (aka cursus or schema) by reference to precursor Offices.  Most treatments of the Office work from the psalm equivalent of the (now largely debunked) putative 'Q Gospel', in the shape of reconstructions of a putative Roman Office that St Benedict is thought to have started from and adapted [12].  Yet, like Q theory, the reality is that there is absolutely no actual basis for these reconstructions since no office books or listings of psalms for the Roman Office of the period have actually survived [13].

Instead of attempting to trace the borrowings in St Benedict's Office, therefore, a much more fruitful approach, I would suggest, is to attempt to immerse ourselves in the mindset that St Benedict would have brought to the Opus Dei, a mindset formed and informed by the Fathers of the Church [14].

This is not easy for a modern reader, because many of the ways St Benedict and his monks would have approached the text are directly at odds with those we've been conditioned to.

Where we see translation problems and transmission errors, for example, the Fathers saw a providentially given text; where we have been trained to prefer the Hebrew Masoretic Text tradition, in St Benedict's time primacy was accorded to translations of the psalms based on the Septuagint Greek, not the Hebrew.

Above all, where we tend to focus on recovering the literal meaning of the text in its 'original' historical and cultural context, late antiquity mostly favoured the spiritual meanings of the text. The Fathers - demonstrably including St Benedict - saw Christ everywhere in the psalms, with the text either being in his voice or about him.  They invariably read the Old Testament in the light of the New: they saw the Old Testament in terms of typology, where events and people foreshadowed the events of the Gospels; they read it as prophesy; and they assigned particularly Christological meanings to certain key words and phrases [15].

If we too adopt this approach, I hope to demonstrate, the construction of St Benedict's Office takes on a whole other colour.

I'll say more about this in the next post in this series.

Notes

[1] See for example "The Liturgical Code in the Rule of St Benedict" in Fry, Timothy OSB, Imogene Baker OSB, Timothy Horner OSB, Augusta Raabe OSB and Mark Sheridan OSB editors.  RB 1980. The Rule of St Benedict in Latin and English with Notes. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1981; pp 379-414; Terrence G. Kardong, OSB, Benedict’s Rule. A Translation and Commentary. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1996, pp209-217.

[2] Benedictine Confederation, Thesaurus Liturgiae Horarum Monasticae, Rome,1977.  Translation by Luke Dysinger: http://ldysinger.stjohnsem.edu/CH_599z_MonSpir/09_mon-reform/00a_start.htm

[3] James McKinnon, "The Origins of the Western Office", pp 63-73 in The Divine Office in the Middle Ages, Methodology and Source Studies, Regional Developments, Hagiography, Written in Honor of Professor Ruth Steiner, edited by Ruth Steiner, Margot Elsbeth Fassler, Rebecca Anne Baltzer, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000: 72.

[4] Hildemar, Commentary on the Rule of St Benedict, http://www.hildemar.org/FullText.html#Ch8.  Smaragdus (c817) similarly exhorts 'the one who has promised to live according to this Rule to hold firmly to it..", Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel, Commentary on the Rule of St Benedict, trans David Barry, Cistercian Studies No 212, 2007, pp 331.

[5] Paul F Bradshaw, Daily Prayer in the Early Church A Study of the Origin and Early Development of the Divine Office, Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2008 reprint, esp pp 147.

[6]  Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on the Canticles said at Matins, PL 107:1089-1166; Bede, Commentary on the Prayer of Habbacuc, in Bede: On Tobit and on the Canticle of Habakkuk, Sean Connelly, Four Corners Press, 1997.

[7] Laszlo Dobszay,“Critical Reflections on the Bugnini Liturgy: The Divine Office”, 1983 PDF available from http://musicasacra.com/literature/; John D Fortin, “The Presence of God: a linguistic and thematic link between the doctrinal and liturgical sections of the Rule of Saint Benedict”, Downside Review 117 (1999) 293

[8] RB 1980, op cit, pp399-400; 388.

[9] See my post on Psalms 20-31: Songs of the Resurrection or the Passion

[10] RB 1980, op cit, pp386.

[11] Patrick Henry Reardon, Christ in the Psalms, Conciliar Press, revised 2011.  See especially pp 125-126; 181-182.

[12]  See especially Adalbert de Vogüé, OSB, The Rule of Saint Benedict A Doctrinal and Spiritual Commentary, trans John Baptist Hasbrouck, Cistercian Publications: Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1983, pp 127-163; Robert Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West The Origins of the Divine Office and its Meaning for Today, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, rev ed, 1993, and Paul F Bradshaw, op cit.

[13] On the problems of the historico-critical approach more generally see Fr Aidan Nichols OP, Criticising the Critics Catholic Apologias for Today, Family Publications, 2010; Bruce K Waltke and James M Houston with Erika Moore, The Psalms as Christian Worship A Historical Commentary, William B Erdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2010; and Scott Hahn and Benjamin Wiker, Politicizing the Bible The Roots of Historical Criticism and the Secularization of Scripture 1300-1700, Herder and Herder, NY, 2013.

[14]The case for doing this has recently made by Fr Cassian Folsom OSB in his series of talks on Praying Without Ceasing.

[15] See for example John O'Keefe and RR Reno, Sanctified Vision An Introduction to Early Christian Interpretation of the Bible, The John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 2005.

Feast of the Visitation

You can find the Gospel and readings on it for the feast here.

Today is also the day to start your novena to St Benedict for his feast on July 11.

Feast of the Sacred Heart

You can find the readings for the feast here.

Nativity of St John the Baptist

The feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist is so important it warrants a vigil: you can find the Matins readings for it here.  The readings for the feast itself will also be on my Lectio Divina blog.

And don't forget to sing the famous vespers hymn (the medieval equivalent of the Sound of Music's 'Doh a deer').

Feast of Corpus Christi

Is there a feast more in need of recovery in the Church today?  Introduced to counter lack of belief in transubstantiation, the texts for the feast of Corpus Christi were famously composed by St Thomas Aquinas.

The Novus Ordo version of the feast, predictably leaves out some of the most important verses of the reading from 1 Corinthians 11:

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, [24] and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."  [25] In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." [26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. [27] Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. [28] Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. [29] For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 

You can find the Gospel for the feast, and the third nocturn Matins readings on it here.

Feast of the Ascension

Today is the feast of the Ascension.

Somewhat bizarrely - given the Scriptural attestation to the number of days after Easter that this occurred - it is celebrated on the Sunday instead in many places these days.

The Gospel for the feast is St Mark 16:14-20, and you can find the Matins readings on it over at my Lectio Divina blog..

Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians

Collect for the feast:

Omnipotens et misericors Deus, qui ad defensionem populi christiani in beatıssima VırgineMarıa perpetuum auxılium mirabıliter constituısti: concede prop´ıtius; ut tali præsıdio muniti certantes in vita, victoriam de hoste malıgno consequi valeamus in morte. Per Dominum nostrum.

O Almighty and merciful God, Who didst wondrously appoint the most Blessed Virgin perpetual
help for Christians in need of protection: grant in Thy mercy that after battling in life under such a protectress, we may be able to conquer our enemy at death. Through our Lord.

The repeated psalms of the Benedictine Office - revised

A little while I ago, I noted in a post that I think St Benedict's design of his Office was a very deliberate work, a work of liturgical genius in fact, that very much reflects the spiritual agenda of the Benedictine Rule.  In particular, I suggested that his ordering of the psalter aimed at providing both horizontal and vertical unity to the Office, and reflects a deeply Christological theology of it.

Part of this agenda is reflected in the selection of the variable psalms for each day, which I think generally reflects a certain thematic unity for the particular hour, as well as a weekly cycle based around the life of Christ.   

The other key factor that gives the Benedictine a particular spiritual flavour, and helps shape a particularly Benedictine spirituality amongst those who say this form of the Office arises, I think, from the repeated psalms.

St Benedict, in his Rule, makes it clear that he wanted all of the psalms to be said every week by his monks.  The vast majority of the psalms are, of course, said but once each week.  A select few, however, are given a more privileged place in his Office.

Accordingly, I wanted to alert readers here that I've just started a series, over at my blog Psallam Domino (which is dedicated to providing notes to aid understanding the psalms, particularly in the context of the Benedictine Office), looking at the repeated psalms, and at the reasons why St Benedict may have wanted his monks to say them so often.   

I thought I would post here now, though my introductory comments on this set of psalms by way of an alert and taster for the series.  

Comments, corrections and other reactions are, as always, very welcome.

The repeated psalms

It is worthwhile, firstly, just to list out what the repeated psalms of the Benedictine Office are.

First, some individual verses (Psalm 50:16 and Psalm 69:1) are used as opening prayers for the hours, and are thus repeated every day, or even, in the case of the Deus in adjutorium verse, at almost every hour for most of the year.  

Secondly, there are eight psalms repeated every day at particular hours, namely:

•  Matins (Ps 3 & 94)
•  Lauds (Ps 66, 50, 148-150); and 
• Compline (Ps 4, 90 & 133). 

And thirdly, nine of the Gradual Psalms (Psalms 119-127) are said on five days of the week from Terce to None.

It is worth noting that the number of times each of these verses and psalms is said has a deep theological symbolism:

• O Lord open my lips (Ps 50:16) is said seven times a week at Matins and again seven times a week at Lauds.  Seven is a number symbolising completeness; fourteen is a number St Benedict uses a lot (for example in the number of psalms said daily at Matins), perhaps alluding to the grouping of the generations to Christ in the genealogy provided by St Matthew, accordingly it symbolises deliverance or salvation;
• the number eight (the repeated psalms each day) symbolises the start of the new creation initiated by Christ's Resurrection, and perhaps our recreation through Christ;
• the number nine echoes the triple invocation of Christ in the Kyrie of the Mass, and symbolises the sum and end of men's work.

History, speculation and spirituality

In the Western monastic tradition of St Benedict's time (and long after it; St Benedict's Office was slow to gain general acceptance) it was actually more common to start at Psalm 1 and say them in their Scriptural order.  St Benedict, however, evidently took is cue from alternative traditions that existed at the same time both in the East and the West, which saw certain psalms as particularly fitted to particular hours, and thought some so important as to warrant daily repetition.  Accordingly, it is reasonable to assume that the particular choices he made of repeated psalms are significant.

One popular theory is that St Benedict actually started from the ordering of the psalter used by Roman Churches of his time, adjusting it to give it more variety.  It is certainly a plausible theory, but essentially unprovable since there are no surviving Office books or psalter schemas that survive from that era.   Nonetheless, the Roman Office as it has come down to us shares at least some of the repeated psalms of the Benedictine Office in common, namely Psalm 94 at Matins; Psalms 66, 50 and 148-150 at Lauds; and Psalms 4, 90 and 133 at Compline.  The Roman Office, however, at least until it was thoroughly 'updated' under Pope St Pius X in 1911, contained far more repetitions than the Benedictine, for Psalms 118, 53 and 30 were all said daily in the older form of the Roman Office.

These differences, I would suggest, are important, for what things are or aren't regularly repeated surely help develop a particular spiritual mindset.  Some modern Benedictines, though retaining the weekly psalter, have sought to eliminate many of the repetitions, taking their permission from Chapter 18.  It seems to me, however, more consistent with the Vatican II direction to retain the patrimony of religious orders (Perfectae Caritatis 2b), to devote some consideration to just why St Benedict decided that certain psalms (and certain verses) were so important and/or so appropriate to a particular hour that they should be repeated frequently.

The comments below consider the reasons for the repetitions in the context of the particular hours in which they occur.  

Matins: A light in the darkness

"At midnight I rose to give praise to thee." (Psalm 118:62, quoted in RB 16)

St Benedict made it clear, in his Rule, that the symbolism of light and darkness were extremely important to him.  In particular, he devotes an entire chapter to the timing of the Divine Office at night (Matins, or Vigils), in order to ensure that the monks rose early enough to enable Lauds to be said at first light.   

The long night Vigil, however, in which the monk keeps watch through the darkness of the literal and metaphorical night, reflects the particular Office of the monk in dispelling the darkness on behalf of us all.  Unsurprisingly then, Matins is the workhorse of the Benedictine Office, easily the longest 'hour' of the day, almost as long,  most days of the week, as all the other hours combined due to its twelve variable psalms to be said each day.

St Benedict manages to pack a lot of symbolism though, into the repeated psalmody of the hour.  Firstly, the start of Matins marks the end of the overnight 'great silence' that starts after Compline.  How appropriate then, that the first words the monk or nun says each day is a plea for God to allow him to speak in praise of him:

16  Dómine, lábia mea apéries: * et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.

O Lord, you will open my lips: and my mouth shall declare your praise.

The first full psalm of the hour, Psalm 3, also includes a verse that can be taken very literally - though it also has an important spiritual meaning as we shall see  - in a reference to waking from sleep:

6  Ego dormívi, et soporátus sum: * et exsurréxi, quia Dóminus suscépit me.

I have slept and taken my rest: and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me

Psalm 3, though, is primarily a call to take up the spiritual warfare at the start of the new day, a reminder that the battle will not end until we are in heaven.  It is not accidental, in my view, that St Benedict's Rule also opens with a call to become spiritual warriors for Christ.

The second invitatory, Psalm 94, is a joyful invitation to worship our creator, redeemer and protector, but also contains an important warning not to put off repentance, but to respond to God’s call here and now should we here it.  It is worth noting that this psalm features heavily in the Prologue to St Benedict's Rule, so it's appearance here too, is unlikely to be a coincidence.

Lauds: The hour of light

"May God cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us" (Psalm 66)

 In the Roman Office, Lauds is very closely linked to Matins, and often said effectively as one hour.  In the Monastic Office, however, St Benedict envisages there being a break between the two hours.  In winter he envisages this break being quite long break, providing time for study of the psalms and lessons for those who needed it (RB8); in summer it is just a break for 'the necessities of nature'. The reason for the break is simple: Lauds was to be carefully timed so that it begins at first light, and thus taken in dawn.  The rising of the sun, then, symbolises the Resurrection of the Son.  So important is the connection with the time of day for this hour that St Benedict even instructs his monks to cut short the readings of Matins if necessary in order to ensure that Lauds is said at its proper time.

In keeping with this symbolism, both the psalms and the proper canticle for the hour, the Benedictus (from St Luke), link the hour symbolically to the 'almost/but not yet' time we live in - after the Coming of Our Lord, but before the Kingdom is fully realised on earth with his return in glory to judge the earth.  The hymns and psalms of Lauds focus on preparing for and rejoicing at the coming of the sun/Son, and its hymns and psalms contain many references to the dawn and the morning, and the coming light.  Overall, the flavour of the hour is one of anticipation and joy at the coming dawn. 

Lauds is the longest of the day hours in the Benedictine Office, with seven psalms and two canticles assigned to it.  The hour itself is somewhat unusual compared to the rest of the Office in that five of those psalms - Psalms 66, 50, 148, 149 and 150 - are repeated every day.  The fixed psalms are, therefore, obviously very important in setting the flavour of this hour.

The repeated psalms of Matins, I would suggest, are essentially ones of preparation, seeking to inculcate the right attitude to the coming day in us.  The repeated psalms of Lauds, though, have more of a focus on action.

The hour always starts (after the Deus in Adjutorium) with Psalm 66, a beautiful psalm asking for God's blessing to come upon us.   Psalm 66 is though, above all a prayer for the mission of the Church, the blessing requested is for our work so that 'all peoples may confess God's name'.

The second psalm, the Miserere acknowledges our sinful state, and begs God's forgiveness of our sins.  The Miserere is the most famous of the penitential psalms, and also the most beautiful, not least for its glimmers of light as it begs God to 'give us back the joy of salvation'.  But again, as well as being a call to repentance it also has a focus on mission, for example asking for the grace to 'teach thy ways to evil-doers'.

The psalmody of Lauds always ends on a joyful note, with the Laudate or ‘rejoicing’ psalms, from the very end of the psalter, which have always been interpreted by Christians as our response to the Resurrection.  The really key verse, I would suggest, comes right in the middle, in Psalm 149:6, which teaches that the mission of the faithful is twofold: firstly to worship God, and secondly to advance the Gospel in the world (the sword is the word of God, its two edges the Old and New Testaments):

6  Exaltatiónes Dei in gútture eórum: * et gládii ancípites in mánibus eórum.

6 The high praises of God shall be in their mouth: and two-edged swords in their hands:

Terce to None: the ascent of grace

One of the most distinctive features of the Benedictine Office is the use of nine of the Gradual Psalms (Psalm 119-127) at Terce to None from Tuesday to Saturday.  St Benedict's use of the Gradual Psalms is interesting, because they fit particularly well with the other psalmody of Tuesday, the first day of the week on which they are said, but also form part of the repeated framework of the day hours.

These psalms are thought to have been sung liturgically as the pilgrims ascended the fifteen steps of the Temple in Jerusalem on major feasts, as well as being pilgrim songs.  The Fathers saw them, though, as tracing the mystical ascent of the Christian in the spiritual life in imitation of Christ, who shows us how to climb Jacob’s ladder to heaven and grow in virtue.

Compline: Into great silence

Compline is the only hour in the Benedictine Office that remains the same every day (the Marian antiphon aside).  Said last thing in the evening, it teaches us how to deal with the darkness that inevitably surrounds us in this world, as well as the darkness and dangers of the literal night itself.

The structure of Compline is described in St Benedict’s Rule in Chapters 17 and 18, however over time the hour has been elaborated somewhat with the addition at the beginning of a new ‘opening section’ that includes a short reading warning of the dangers of the night and an examination of conscience and confession of sins; at the end with a Marian antiphon and prayer.   The three psalms set for it are Psalms 4, 90 and 133.  

Like Psalm 3 that opens the day, Psalm 4 contains verses that makes it particularly appropriate to the hour, indeed one that is in effect response to the verse on rising from sleep in Psalm 3:

9 In pace in idípsum * dórmiam et requiéscam;	In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest
10 Quóniam tu, dómine, singuláriter in spe * constituísti me.	For you, O Lord, singularly have settled me in hope.

The psalm calls upon us to repent of the sins of the day; asks God to grant us forgiveness and the grace to do better in future; and asks for God’s blessing on our sleep.  

Psalm 90 is most commonly associated with Our Lord's temptation in the desert in the Gospels, and provides reassurance of God’s protection of the just against all the dangers that can arise.  The first section of the psalm sets out the promise of divine protection that God grants to the faithful.  It closes with words put in the mouth of God.  

One particular reason its use may have appealed to St Benedict is the allusion to God as our 'susceptor' or sustainer, upholder, a word (which also appears in Psalm 3) that was particularly important in the monastic tradition, not least for its associations with the Suscipe verse (Psalm 118:116) used in the monastic profession ceremony.  

Psalm 90 contains another verse paralleling Psalm 3 as well, on the spiritual warfare:

Ps 3: 7  Non timébo míllia pópuli circumdántis me: * exsúrge, Dómine, salvum me fac, Deus meus.

I will not fear thousands of the people, surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.

Ps 90: 7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.

A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.

The last psalm of the each day, Psalm 133 is also the last of the Gradual psalms, and at the literal level, this psalm is a summons to worship at night, and give God thanks for the blessings of the day.  Spiritually though, it points to our ultimate destination in heaven, where the worship of God never ends.   It concludes by requesting a blessing from God on us. 

In a monastery, the hour is traditionally followed by the abbot or abbess sprinkling the monks or nuns with holy water, usually while verses of Psalm 50 (from ‘Asperges me…’) are chanted.  And then the Great Silence falls, lasting until those first words of Matins are spoken again.

You can follow my series on the repeated psalms of the Office either by visiting the Masterpost for the series (which covers the material provided above, but also provides links to the notes on each of the psalms in question), or start with the post on the first of the set, Psalm 3.

***Apologies for the formatting problems with an earlier version of this post!

Feast of St Joseph the Worker (May 1)

Today's feast, of St Joseph the Worker, is one that has perhaps been looking rather dated in recent years, but can perhaps gain a new lease of life in the light of the current Pope's emphasis on the social teaching of the Church.

The feast was introduced by Pope Pius XII in 1955, to counter Communist May Day celebrations.

With the collapse of communism, the rationale for it has looked rather less obvious.

However, the recent recognition of the adverse social consequences of increasing income inequality, and the association of wealth with the accumulation of capital rather than the rewards of hard work, particularly in countries such as America where wages have failed to keep pace with productivity and income growth, perhaps the feast can gain a new lease of life...

You can find the Gospel and the Matins readings for the feast here.

You might want to note, however, that the Monastic Breviary does provide the option of using the texts for the slightly older, non-workerized version of the feast - the Diurnal has them at MD [130].

Holy Saturday

Eastern Rite Matins for Holy Saturday

The instructions for the Office of Holy Saturday are set out at MD 318* ff.  Note that:
 There are no opening prayers
 The Gloria Patri is not said at the end of each psalm
 The psalms and antiphons to be used are set out at MD 279* ff
 ‘Propter quod…’ is added to the antiphon Christus factus est, MD 282*

Vespers is as on Maundy Thursday, except for the first antiphon and Magnificat antiphon, MD 325*.  It can be said any time after noon.

Compline can be found in the Diurnal on at 325*, and should be said before the Easter Vigil.  Note that those attending the vigil don't need to say Sunday Matins or Lauds.

Good Friday

The Monastic Diurnal sets out the Office as it is said today at 309*ff.  Note that:
 There are no opening prayers
 The Gloria Patri is not said at the end of each psalm
 The psalms etc for Prime to None are set out at MD 279* ff
 ‘Mortem autem crucis’ is added to the antiphon Christus factus est, MD 282*; and
 Compline as for Maundy Thursday, MD 305*

Remember, too, that if you attend the Good Friday afternoon liturgy, you do not need to say Vespers.

Note that outside of monasteries, Tenebrae of Holy Saturday is often anticipated, said after Compline rather than early in the morning.

Maundy Thursday

The Benedictine Office becomes Roman for the next few days, so ignore all the parts of the Diurnal except what is set out at  out at MD 265* ff.   Note that there are no opening prayers, and the Gloria Patri is not said at the end of each psalm.

If you attend the evening Mass, you don't need to say Vespers, as it is included in the ceremonies.  Compline is said according to the rubrics at MD 305* after the denudation of the altar, with extinguished candles and no chant.

Tenebrae of Good Friday (Matins and Lauds) is often said immediately after this.

Wednesday in Holy Week: Spy Wednesday

The Gospel today is the Passion according to St Luke (22:39-71; 23:1-53).  You can find the Matins readings (from Jeremiah) here.

There are specific antiphons for the psalms for the day (MD 263*ff) for Lauds to None, as well as the proper texts for passiontide.  The canticle antiphons and collects for the day can be found in the Monastic Diurnal at 264*ff.

Tenebrae of Maundy Thursday

Technically, under the 1962 rubrics Matins and Lauds of Maundy Thursday (viz Tenebrae) are not allowed to be anticipated.

However, this is one of the most widely ignored of the 1962 rule changes, ignored for entirely practical reasons.

If you happen to be able to attend Tenebrae, do make sure you have said Vespers and Compline of Wednesday first.

Tuesday in Holy Week

At Mass, today's Gospel is the Passion according to St Mark (14:32-72; 15:1-46).

The Office at Matins, however, reverts to Scriptural texts for the next two days, in the form of readings from Jeremiah, and then the special readings for the Triduum, which include the famous Lamentations.

From Lauds to None there are antiphons for the day (MD 262*ff), which are said with the psalms of Tuesday, and the proper texts for Passiontide (MD 240* ff).  The canticle antiphons and collects can be found at MD 263* (Farnborough edition).

Monday in Holy Week

At Mass for Monday in Holy Week, the Gospel is St John 12:1-9, St Mary Magdalene washes Jesus' feet with ointment.  You can find the text and the Matins readings on it over at my Lectio Divina blog.

From Lauds to None today note that there are specific antiphons for the day (you can find them in the Monastic Diurnal at 260-61*) - use them with the psalms of Monday, and the chapter, responsory and hymn of Passiontide (MD 240* ff).  The Benedictus and Magnificat antiphons, together with the collects, can be found at MD 261*.

Laetare Sunday and the fourth week of Lent

Codex Egberti, c980

We have reached the halfway point of Lent  - eighteen more penitential days to go - celebrated with rose vestments and more at the Mass.  This Sunday's Gospel is the feeding of the multitude, St John 6:1-15.

The 1962 Benedictine Office this week in summary

March 30 – Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday), Class I
Monday March 31 - Monday in the fourth week of Lent, Class III
 Tuesday April 1 - Tuesday in the fourth week of Lent, Class III
Wednesday April 2 – Wednesday in the fourth week of Lent, Class III [EF: St Frances of Paula, Memorial]
Thursday April 3 – Thursday in the fourth week of Lent Class III
Friday April 4 – Friday in the fourth week of Lent, Class III; St Isidore, Memorial
Saturday April 5 – Saturday in the fourth week of Lent, Class III [EF: St Vincent Ferrer, Memorial]

The liturgical genius of St Benedict: why Psalm 18 on Saturday?**

Those who have been listening to Fr Cassian Folsom's series on Praying without Ceasing will know that one of his key themes has been the need to recover the reading of the psalms as the Fathers and St Benedict would have read them, above all, Christologically.   Fr Cassian has also drawn attention to the idea that St Benedict literally interprets the Office as being about Christ: put nothing before the work of God/Put nothing before Christ.

I came across a possible solution to something that has been puzzling me yesterday, and it is a nice example, I think, that takes what Fr Cassian has been talking about just a step further.  Accordingly, I thought I would share it partly by way of encouragement to catch up with his talks if you haven't already done so; partly as a taster for some broader research on the structure of the Office I hope to share here in due course; and also to stimulate your own meditations on the Office.

Any  comments on the plausibility or otherwise of my hypotheses below will be gratefully received on or offline.

The puzzle of Prime

One of the key features of the Benedictine Office, compared to the Roman Office that St Benedict took as his starting point, is the design of Prime.  In the old Roman Office, Prime to None were the same every day, featuring Psalm 118.  St Benedict instead varies the psalms for this hour every day, using Psalms 1-2, 6-19 and four stanzas of Psalm 118.

In many ways the use of these particular psalms is an odd one on the face of it, for instead of Sunday Matins starting the week with Psalm 1, it starts seemingly in the middle of things, with Psalm 20 (though as it turns out, that psalm is particularly apt to Sunday given that the Fathers saw it as pertaining to the Resurrection; and the likewise the psalms that follow).

Once one starts looking more closely though, there are in fact several reasons why St Benedict might have chosen to highlight these particular psalms.  Dom John Fortin pointed out some years back, for example, that they seem to echo some of the key themes in the Rule [1].

Christ the fulfillment of the law?

The particular feature of the Prime psalms that I've been interested in though, is their emphasis on the law. There are, in the psalter, three psalms that deal above all with the law, known as the three 'Torah psalms', namely Psalms 1, 18 (19) and 118 (119).  All three feature at Prime one day after another: Psalm 18, which features the line 'The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul' on Saturday (the old Sabbath); four stanzas of Psalm 118, the long hymn in praise of the law, on Sunday; and Psalm 1, 'Happy the man...who meditates on the law day and night', on Monday.

The threefold repetition is surely no accident, but rather symbolises the Trinity and perfection.

But what seemed particularly puzzling to me is why St Benedict arranges things so that this little trilogy starts on Saturday.  One possible answer is suggested, I think, by yesterday's Matins readings (for Thursday in the third week of Lent).

One of the most important themes of the Fathers was the idea of Christ as the fulfilment of the law.  A nice example of how this theme plays out in Patristic Scriptural exegesis is provided by St Ambrose's comments on why the first miracles recorded in St Luke's Gospel are of Christ healing on the Sabbath.  St Ambrose comments that:

"That the Lord began to heal on the Sabbath-day showeth in a figure how that the new creation beginneth where the old creation ended. 

It showeth, moreover, that the Son of God, Who is come not to destroy the law but to fulfil the law, is not under the law, but above the law.

Neither was it by the law, but by the Word, that the world was created, as it is written "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made."

The law, then, is not destroyed, but fulfilled, in the Redemption of fallen man. Whence also the Apostle saith: "Put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."


Our hymn of praise to the law at Prime then, starts, as St Ambrose suggests on the Sabbath, to symbolise that the new creation starts where the old ends.

It continues on the 'eighth day', that celebrates the Resurrection and our redemption.

And is repeated a third time on Monday, a day I suggest that St Benedict makes a celebration of the Incarnation (most of the psalms of Matins are clearly linked to this theme by the patristic commentaries, indeed virtually the whole of the Benedictus and Magnificat can be reconstructed from lines in these psalms; moreover, Psalm 2 at Prime gives us the Introit verse for the Midnight Mass of Christmas).

It is a nice tie in that seems to me to illustrate the deeply Christological approach that St Benedict took to the design of his Office.

Christ the King

Just to reinforce that point, I should note that St Benedict actually takes the repetition of ideas further than the idea of Christ as the fulfillment of the law, for it is not just the 'Torah' psalms themselves we should look at, but also the other psalms placed with them.

In particular, on both Saturday and Monday we are also presented, in the following psalm, with the image of Christ the victorious king.  Michael Barber, in his book Singing in the Reign [2], drew attention to the similarities in content between Psalms 1 and 2 (Monday), and Psalms 18 (19) and 19 (20) (Saturday):

"Psalm 19 [18] is unique because of  its strong emphasis on wisdom.  Its role may be better understood when examined in light of Psalm 20 [19].  Together these two psalms - situated at the centre of book I - mirror Psalms 1 and 2.  Psalm 19 exalts the law of the Lord, the source of wisdom: "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple" (v. 7).  Them Psalm 20 evokes Psalm 2, speaking of the Lord's deliverance of the Davidic king from his enemies, sending support from Zion.  Thus, as in Psalms 1 and 2, wisdom is connected with the victorious Davidic king."

A similar point can be made on the similarities in content between these two sets of psalms, and the first four stanzas of Psalm 118 St Benedict uses at Sunday Prime.  Both Sunday Prime and Monday, for example, begin with a beatitude, praise the importance of the law, call for or prophesy the destruction of enemies and point to the victory 'over princes' (Ps 2; Ps 118, esp 21-23).

There is also arguably a reason why St Benedict uses Psalm 118 at Sunday Prime rather than Saturday or Monday, for on Monday, the beatitude contained in Psalm 1 'Happy the Man' is singular, referring as St Augustine insists in his commentary, to Christ himself.  Psalm 118, on the other hand, opens with a plural beatitude (Happy those who...): for Christ has opened the way to many through his Resurrection.

This particular example of a key motif in the Benedictine Office is also strongly suggestive of the linkages between the organisation of the Benedictine Office and St Benedict's spirituality more generally.

The dominant image of Christ as King certainly seems to echo through the Rule of St Benedict, for the very opening lines of the Prologue invite the monk to enlist in the army of the true King, Christ, and its an image that is repeated several times through the Rule directly (eg 42.4; 61.10), as well as underpinning the directions on how to pray (Chapter 20) and how to welcome visitors (RB 53).  A similar point can be made about the association between the Rule and the law.

The spirituality of St Benedict's Office?

Is this all too much of a stretch?  Personally I think that this example serves to illustrate the importance of looking at the psalms the way St Benedict would have, in order to unpack the true depths of meaning of his Office, and has hopefully served as a taster for a more thorough reconsideration of the design of the Benedictine Office.

Most contemporary commentators on St Benedict's Office, it has to be said, have struggled to find any systematic thematic or programmatic intent in St Benedict's psalm selections [3].  The consensus view has long been that established by Dom Adalbert de Vogue back in the 1960s, to the effect that St Benedict's changes to the old Roman Psalter were essentially minor ones, aimed primarily at giving the hours from Prime to None a little more variety. [4]  Indeed, James McKinnon summarised the received view on St Benedict's reforms of the Office as follows:

"The process was clearly not one motivated by selecting thematically appropriate psalms.  There was a measure of that only at Lauds and Compline.  Rather, the process was, in Vogues words, a "mechanistic" one, "a matter of a very modest task of arithmetic."[5]

My view is though, that a careful look at the psalms read in the light of the Fathers, as well as close examination of what actually lies behind the liturgical provisions of the Rule, will lead to a rather different conclusion.

Far from being purely mechanistic, I think St Benedict's construction of his Office was a very deliberate work indeed, with his ordering of the psalter aimed at providing both horizontal and vertical unity to it, and reflects a deeply Christological theology.

I'm certainly not the first to suggest this: there have been a few lonely voices that have hints of a deeper spirituality behind St Benedict's design of his psalter, and my comments build on this work. [6]  One key recent contribution, I think, is that of ex-Trappist turned Orthodox scholar Patrick Reardon, who has pointed to the existence of a weekly cycle in both the Orthodox and Benedictine Offices, that runs from Wednesday to Sunday each week and echoes the events of Holy Week. [7]  This cycle, he suggests, starts on Wednesday, with the betrayal of Christ by Judas (reflected in the fact that this was traditionally a fast day in the Benedictine Rule), takes in the events of the Triduum, and ends on Sunday, with a weekly mini-Easter Day celebration of the Resurrection.  All the same, he argues that the Benedictine psalter's programmatic focus is relatively limited, particularly compared to the Orthodox version.

My own view is that closer examination reveals that St Benedict's program is actually much more far reaching.  The bottom line is that in my view, far from representing a purely mechanistic process of adaptation, St Benedict's Office arguably represents a very deliberate spiritual agenda indeed.

Such an agenda does not, of course, have to be understood explicitly in order to shape a particular spirituality: as the experience of the old and new rites of the Mass suggests, an implicit theology can be a surprisingly powerful force in shaping attitudes and understandings.

Prime is of course, one of those hours that no longer exists in the horariums of most modern monasteries.  Indeed, even many monasteries that still say the entire psalter each week have abolished the hour.

Accordingly, making explicit what is implicit in St Benedict's Office may help make the case for the recovery of St Benedict's Office as part of the patrimony of his Order, as well as stimulate our own meditations on the psalms, and enhance our understanding of the Office more generally.  Accordingly, I hope you have found this 'taster' of interest.

Footnotes

[1] John D Fortin, “The Presence of God: a linguistic and thematic link between the doctrinal and liturgical sections of the Rule of Saint Benedict”, Downside Review 117 (1999) 293-308.

[2] Michael Barber, Singing in the Reign The Psalms and the Liturgy of God's Kingdom (with an introduction by Scott Hahn), Emmaus Road Publishing, 2001; pp90.

[3]  The two standard histories of the Office in general, which draw together and provide references to most of the key research on the Benedictine Office are Robert Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West The Origins of the Divine Office and its Meaning for Today, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, rev ed, 1993, and Paul F Bradshaw, Daily Prayer in the Early Church A Study of the Origin and Early Development of the Divine Office, Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2008 reprint.

[4] For the mainstream views of the Office within the Order, see Adalbert de Vogüé, OSB, The Rule of Saint Benedict A Doctrinal and Spiritual Commentary, trans John Baptist Hasbrouck, Cistercian Publications: Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1983, pp 127-163; Timothy Fry OSB, Imogene Baker OSB, Timothy Horner OSB, Augusta Raabe OSB and Mark Sheridan OSB editors.  RB 1980. The Rule of St Benedict in Latin and English with Notes. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1981; and Terrence G. Kardong, OSB, Benedict’s Rule. A Translation and Commentary. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1996, pp209-217.

[5] James McKinnon, "The Origins of the Western Office", pp 63-73 in The Divine Office in the Middle Ages, Methodology and Source Studies, Regional Developments, Hagiography, Written in Honor of Professor Ruth Steiner, edited by Ruth Steiner, Margot Elsbeth Fassler, Rebecca Anne Baltzer, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000: 72.

[6] See for example Laszlo Dobszay,“Critical Reflections on the Bugnini Liturgy: The Divine Office”, 1983 PDF available from http://musicasacra.com/literature/

[7] Patrick Henry Reardon, Christ in the Psalms, Conciliar Press, revised 2011.  See especially pp 125-126; 181-182.  It should be noted that helpful as this book is, it needs to be treated with some care from a Catholic perspective.  I should also note that I've recently come across a reference to a book on the psalms of the Benedictine psalter by the German monk Georg Braulik, which from its blurb at least sounds promising in this context; my copy has yet to arrive however.

**Update: I've now got the Braulik book, and at first glance at least, though of academic interest at least (providing you can read German) it is less relevant than I had hoped, being concerned primarily with modern arrangements of the psalter rather than St Benedict's (though there is a chapter on the Sunday Office that may have some relevant material in it).

Feast of the Annunciation

From the readings at Matins:

Reading 4 (From Sermon 22 of Pope St Leo the Great): The Almighty and merciful God, Whose nature is goodness, Whose will is power, and Whose work is mercy, did, at the very beginning of the world, as soon as the devil's hatred had mortally poisoned us with the venom of his envy, foretell those remedies which His mercy had foreordained for our healing. He bade the serpent know that there was to be a Seed of the woman Who should yet bruise the swelling of his pestilential head; this Seed was none other than the Christ to come in the flesh, that God and Man in one Person, Who, being born of a Virgin, should, by His undefiled birth, damn the seducer of man.

Reading 6: The devil rejoiced that by his fraud he had so deceived man as to make him lose the gifts of God, forfeit his privilege of eternal life, bring himself under the hard sentence of death, and find in his misery a certain comfort in the accomplice of his guilt; he rejoiced also that God, in His just anger, was changed towards man, whom He had made in such honour. But, dearly beloved brethren, that Unchangeable God, Whose Will cannot be divorced from His goodness, by His own secret counsel carried out in a mysterious way His original purpose of goodness, and man, who had been led into sin by the wicked craft of the devil, perished not to disappoint that gracious purpose of God.

Reading 7: Then therefore, dearly beloved brethren, the fullness of that time came, which God had appointed for our Redemption, our Lord Jesus Christ entered this lower world, came down from His heavenly throne, and, while He left not that glory which He hath with the Father before the world was, was incarnate by a new order and a new birth new, in that He Who is Invisible among His own, was made visible among us; He Who is Incomprehensible, willed to be comprehended; He Who is before the ages, began to be in time; the Lord of all shadowed the glory of His Majesty, and took upon Him the form of a servant; the Impassible God vouchsafed to become a man subject to suffering; and the Immortal laid Himself under the laws of death.

Reading 8: For though the true mercy of God had infinitely many schemes to hand for the restoration of mankind, it chose that particular design which put in force for destroying the devil's work, not the efficacy of might but the dictates of justice. For the pride of the ancient foe not undeservedly made good its despotic rights over all men, and with no unwarrantable supremacy tyrannized over those who had been of their own accord lured away from God's commands to be the slaves of his will.And so there would be no justice in his losing the immemorial slavery of the human race, were he not conquered by that which he had subjugated.

Third week of Lent

Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

This Sunday's Gospel is from St Luke 11:14-28.  You can find the texts and the Matins readings on it here.

This week in the 1962 Benedictine Office in summary

The key feast this week is the solemnity of the Annunciation on Tuesday.

Sunday March 23  – Third Sunday of Lent, Class I
Monday March 24 – Monday in the third week of Lent, Class III [EF: St Gabriel]
Tuesday March 25 - Annunciation of the BVM, Class I
Wednesday March 26 - Wednesday in the third week of Lent, Class III
Thursday March 27 – Thursday in the third week of Lent, Class III; St John Damascene, Memorial
Friday March 28 – Friday in the third week of Lent, Class III [EF: St John of Capistran; Seven Sorrows of BVM]
Saturday March 29 – Saturday in the third week of Lent, Class III

Feast of St Benedict (March 21)

From the Matins readings of the feast:

Reading 5: Benedict was born of a noble family at Norcia, about the year of our Lord 480, and studied letters at Rome. Desiring to give himself altogether to Christ Jesus, he betook himself to a very deep cave at the place now called Subiaco. In this place he lay hid for three years, unknown to all except the monk Romanus, by means of whom he received the necessaries of life. While he was in the cave at Subiaco, the devil one day assailed him with an extraordinary storm of impure temptation, and to get it under, he rolled himself in brambles till his whole body was lacerated, and the sting of pain drove out the sallies of lust.

Reading 6: At last the fame of his holiness spread itself abroad from the desert, and some monks came to him for guidance, but the looseness of their lives was such that they could not bear his exhortations, and they plotted together to poison him in his drink. When they gave him the cup, he made the sign of the Cross over it, whereupon it immediately broke, and Benedict left that monastery, and retired to a desert place alone.  Nevertheless his disciples followed him daily, and for them he built twelve monasteries, and set holy laws to govern them.

Reading 7: Afterwards he went to Cassino, and brake the image of Apollo which was still worshipped there, overturned the altar, and burnt the groves. There, in the year 529, he built the Church of St Martin and the little chapel of St John; and instilled Christianity into the townspeople and inhabitants. He grew in the grace of God day by day, so that being endowed with the spirit of prophecy he foretold things to come. When Totila, King of the Goths, heard of it, and would see whether it really were so, he sent his Spatharius before him, with the kingly ensigns and attendance, and feigning himself to be Totila. But as soon as Benedict saw him he said: My son, put off that which thou wearest, for it is not thine. To Totila himself he foretold that he would go to Rome, would cross the sea, and would die after nine years.

Reading 8: Some months before he departed this life, Benedict forewarned his disciples on what day he was to die; and he ordered his grave to be opened six days before he was carried to it. On the sixth day, being the 21st of March, in the year 543, he would be carried into the Church, where he received the Eucharist, and then, in the arms of his disciples, with his eyes lifted up to heaven, and wrapt in prayer, he gave up the ghost. Two monks saw his soul rising to heaven, clothed in a most precious garment, and surrounded with lights, and One of a most glorious and awful aspect standing above, Whom they heard saying This is the way whereby Benedict, the beloved of the Lord, goeth up to heaven.

I should note that traditionally, St Gregory's Life of St Benedict is used for the table reading in monasteries from this feast.  If you would like to make it your own reading to, you can a copy online here.

More on lectio divina!

This is just a note to draw your attention to the latest part in Peter Kwasniewski's Lectio Divina series over at New Liturgical Movement.

The post contains a discussion of my post on the need for proper guidance in reading Scripture, and some helpful suggestions on resources to help those doing lectio, and guide your theological formation more generally.

I've posted a comment over there, but let me repeat the gist of it here with a few additional notes.

Study vs prayer?

In the main the NLM post agrees with my concerns about the potential dangers of reading Scripture unaided, but still argues that study and prayer are not the same thing, study being directed to intellectual ends.  Dr Kwasniewski argues that:

"Study originates in a desire to know something intellectually; its medium is our thoughts about things; its goal is conceptual understanding. Prayer originates in a desire to be united to the beloved; its medium is the things themselves; its goal is to get closer to the reality and to conform oneself to it. When we study, we are taking things into our mind; when we pray, we are being drawn to the thing itself, which, at least at times, forces our mind to be quiet."

There is therefore a danger, he suggests, in study driving out the space for prayer.

I agree that is a danger, but the view that study and prayer are potentially at odds with each other, I would suggest, is entirely an artifact of modern approaches to 'study' of the text, rather than those traditionally adopted by the Church until relatively recent times. 

In particular, the historico-critical approach has encouraged the study of the text in order to find what was 'really' originally said, done or written; what was really meant by the text given its 'original' cultural and historical setting, and perhaps what it means for doctrine. 

The more traditional approach to study of the text, on the other hand, is to study it in order to find Christ in the text (where he is not the explicit subject of it), to enable it to be interpreted in the light of other verses of Scripture that deal with the same ideas (the Rule of Faith), and to understand its moral teachings and applicability to us in the here and now.

Study applied to our transformation

The more traditional approach certainly requires study - in reading the Old Testament one needs to be familiar with typology, events and people who foreshadow events in the Gospels for example; in reading the New, one has to be familiar with the Old Testament events and prophesies are that are being responded to. It also requires looking at things like word concordances so one can find the web of associations around a particular text. 

But its object is not the accumulation of intellectual knowledge, but rather the transformation of the reader. 

Study then, is, Dom Paul Delatte's classic Commentary on the Rule of St Benedict suggests, a necessary step in the lectio divina process, but it is a means to an end, not an end in itself.  Lectio divina he suggests:

"...is not merely intellectual activity and culture of the mind...it is the work of the intelligence if you will, but of the intelligence applying itself to divine mysteries and divine learning...it is the organized totality of those progressive intellectual methods by which we make the things of God familiar to us and accustom ourselves to the contemplation of the invisible.  Not abstract, cold speculations, nor mere human curiosity, nor shallow study; but the solid, profound and persevering investigation of Truth itself....It is a study pursued in prayer and in love.  The name lectio is only the first of an ascending series: lectio, cogitatio, studium, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio (reading, thinking, study, meditation, prayer, contemplation); but St Benedict knew that the remaining degrees would soon come if the soul were loyal and courageous..." p306)

There is, unfortunately, no one book on lectio and how study relates to it that I would recommend, but I did personally find Australian Trappist Michael Casey's book Sacred Reading The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina, quite helpful in attempting to map out some of the intellectual effort involved in the process.  I've also recently come across O'Keefe and Reno's Sanctified Vision: An Introduction to Early Christian Interpretation of the Bible which looks to be quite helpful in articulating the different approaches involved.

On the study tools for lectio 

The NLM post contains some links to very useful resources to assist the reading of Scripture, and to it I would add the Ancient Christian Commentary series, which provides an anthology of patristic texts on each book of Scripture arranged by chapter.

That said, I do agree that there is a challenge for us in how to integrate the 'study' of Scripture with prayer.  In the end though, I think that the dangers of over-intellectualising the process can easily be overcome if we keep the proper end of lectio in mind.  My own favourite description of lectio divina is from the fourteenth century Cloud of Unknowing:

"God's word...can be likened to a mirror. Spiritually, the 'eye' of your soul is your reason: your conscience is your spiritual 'face'. Just as you cannot see or know that there is a dirty mark on your actual face without the aid of a mirror, or somebody telling you, so spiritually, it is impossible for a soul blinded by his frequent sins to see the dirty mark in his conscience, without reading or hearing God's word." (ch 35, Penguin edition, p102)

Feast of St Joseph (March 19)

From the readings for Matins:

Reading 5 (From the Sermons of St Bernard, Abbat of Clairvaux. 2nd on Luke i. 26): What and what manner of man the blessed Joseph was, we may gather from that title wherewith, albeit only as a deputy, God deemed him fit to be honoured he was both called, and supposed to be the Father of God. We may gather it from his very name, which, being interpreted, signifieth Increase. Remember likewise that great Patriarch who was sold into Egypt, and know that the Husband of Mary not only received his name, but inherited his purity, and was likened to him in innocence and in grace.

Reading 6: If then, that Joseph that was sold by his brethren through envy, and was brought down to Egypt, was a type of Christ sold by a disciple, and handed over to the Gentiles, the other Joseph flying from the envy of Herod carried Christ into Egypt. That first Joseph kept loyal to his master, and would not carnally know his master's wife; that second Joseph knew that the Lady, the Mother of his Lord, was a virgin, and he himself remained faithfully virgin toward her.

Reading 7: To that first Joseph it was given to know dark things in interpreting of dreams; to the second Joseph it was given in sleep to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.The first Joseph laid by bread, not for himself, but for all people; the second Joseph received into his keeping that Living Bread Which came down from heaven, not for him only, but for the whole world.

Reading 8: We cannot doubt but that that Joseph was good and faithful to whom was espoused the Mother of the Saviour. Yea, I say, he was a faithful and wise servant, whom the Lord appointed to be the comfort of His own Mother, the keeper of His own Body, and the only and trusty helper in the Eternal Counsels.