October 31

Chapter 24

The Rule of Benedict October 31

When all are gathered for the singular purpose of being formed spiritually in the Benedictine way, the means of correction for faults can be viewed through a lens of medicine rather than punishment.  There is no judge banging a gavel from a courtroom throne here, but rather the battlefield medic who acts to save the life of the wounded.

October 30

Chapter 23

The Rule of Benedict October 30

Excommunication from the community is an extreme solution, like amputation, and, when the conditions warrant, it is, ultimately, an act of mercy that allows the body to heal.  It is unpleasant to think on such solutions, but their presence in the Rule is evidence of the clear-eyed realism that Benedict brings to his program for spiritual formation.

October 29

Chapter 22

The Rule of Benedict October 29

A long time ago Benedictines saw fit to re-imagine this chapter and adopt cells for sleeping quarters in monasteries rather than the dormitory Benedict describes here.  The re-imagining of the Rule has a long precedent.  The process of adaptation must be careful, however, to preserve the spirit behind the specific instructions when the specifics are set aside.

In the case of the Canon Communities of St. Benedict, Benedictine life is re-imagined once again.  Here the very notion of living in a monastery is set aside, but what is preserved is the mutual support and encouragement along the path of Benedictine spiritual formation, which, I believe, is the spirit behind this chapter.

October 28

Chapter 21

The Rule of Benedict October 28

Given that the first sentence of this chapter is conditional, "If the community is a large one . . .," I think it's fair to say that we have a long time until the position of deans will have any application for us in the spirit that Benedict intends.

October 27

Chapter 20

The Rule of Benedict October 27

From June:

As I have taken on a practice which includes more Offices each day, our Father Benedict's instructions here have found new resonance in me.  Each experience of praying an office is far less important than the cultivation of the disciplined obedience that comes from the act of stopping and turning my attention to God.  A desire for a particular set of emotions or mental states only serves to further fix my attention on myself.  


It is then, when we obediently turn our hearts and minds from ourselves that we can be surprised by divine grace, which may inspire us to linger in response to God's presence.

October 26

Chapter 19

The Rule of Benedict October 26

The personal experience of Presence while "assisting in the Work of God" (praying the Office) is what Benedict seeks to enable by this chapter.  Of course there is a learning curve wherein one must learn the techniques involved in ritualized prayer, but other problems arise when we feel so comfortable within the form that our focused attention is no longer needed.  It is at this point that Benedict calls on our minds to join our voices in harmony.

From February:

I appreciate that Benedict describes the desired relationship between mind (our thoughts) and voice (the words we sing) in the Divine Office as "in harmony".  "Harmony" implies a pleasant relationship between two distinct entities, not a top-down conformation of one to the other.  Our task as we pray is not so much to submit our thoughts to the words of the Office, but to allow our thoughts the freedom to sing along.  And as we all know from experience, such freedom takes practice.

October 25

Chapter 18 pt. 4

The Rule of Benedict October 25

The Book of Common Prayer has two different Psalm cycles that Jana and I have used at different times since February.  One is from the Daily Office lectionary, which appoints Psalms for morning and evening on a 7-week cycle.  This cycle tries to put morning Psalms in the morning and evening Psalms in the evening, similar to the way the Rule instructs, just on a much longer timeframe.

The other is a 4-week cycle that can be found in the BCP's Psalter itself.  It goes linearly, from beginning to end, through the Psalter assigning Psalms to days of the month.  If you notice, for example, on p. 766 at the top it says: Twenty-fifth Day: Morning Prayer, and then on p. 769 near the middle it says Twenty-fifth Day: Evening Prayer.  This 4-week cycle is what we have been using in our home since September.  It helps to give a feeling of really moving through the wide breadth of the Psalms in a few short weeks.

I recommend trying either of these to see what works for you.  You can simply substitute the BCP Psalm cycle you choose for the Psalms in the Breviary and use the rest of the service directly from the Breviary, if you so desire.

October 24

Feast of St. James of Jerusalem

Chapter 18 pt. 3

The Rule of Benedict October 24

Since August, on Thursday nights, I have using the rotation of Psalms that is laid out in the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer.  This is a 7-week rotation, and so every 7 weeks the same Psalms will show up on a Thursday night.

October 23

Chapter 18 pt. 2

The Rule of Benedict October 23


Over the last several months, Psalm 119 has found resonance within me in ways that I have not expected.  Some speculate that this Psalm, based on the Hebrew alphabet, is a mnemonic tool intended for children.  It  is not nuanced, not subtle, and I find great help in its overt, simple assertion over and over that the speaker loves and obeys God's commands.  My ego, at a given time, might balk by any number of concepts found in the psalm, but the deepest longings of my true self are affirmed and encouraged by its clear intention.

October 22

Chapter 18 pt. 1

The Rule of Benedict October 21

From February:

I have been struck over the last couple of years by the fact that almost every hour of the Divine Office begins with the versicle, "O God, come to my assistance," and the response, "O Lord, make haste to help me."  How profoundly honest to begin prayer with such a request.  And the expectation that, even if I'm praying 7 times in one day, I need God's help each time I approach God in prayer is naked realism on the part of Father Benedict.  What joy it is to experience the Presence of a God who honors such a request.

October 21

Chapter 17

The Rule of Benedict October 21

I find this especially relevant given Gil's thoughts last night about the Scriptures being etched onto our souls during our formation as children and throughout our life.  From February:

Sister Joan ends her commentary on this chapter admonishing us to consider the material we commit to memory.  I think of the loads of songs with which I can sing along or whole scenes of dialog from Monty Python and the Holy Grail I often recite unbidden. 

In October of 2009, I was driving home with Jana from northern AZ on a Tuesday at noon, the hour of Sext, which I had prayed each Tuesday for a year previous.  We had our breviary with us, and so we prayed together in the van.  To my surprise, I found that I had no trouble following along while looking straight ahead.  I had accidentally memorized the Office. 

To spin Sr. Joan's question in a positive light, what components of our prayer life have made their way into our memory without us realizing it?  I imagine that the answer would surprise us.

October 20

Chapter 16

The Rule of Benedict October 20

A daily schedule of prayer is one way in which the practice of the oblates would differ from that of the canons.  Canons, it seems to me, will conform to a set schedule of prayer (tbd) as they are able, whereas oblates create their own schedule as their life allows.  This is a consistent difference between the practices of Benedictine oblates and monks.

October 19

Chapter 15

The Rule of Benedict October 19

from February (my own comment on the post from this chapter):

I love this petition in the Litany for Sunday Lauds, weeks 2 and 4, in our Breviary: 

"Diffuse the light of your Son's Resurrection to all the people of the world."

And the Concluding Prayer:

"God of the universe, when you raised your servant Jesus, you made him the light of the nations. May the salvation he brings us shine out to the ends of the earth, and may your name be blessed forever and ever."

And for weeks 1 and 3:

"Father of mercy, your love embraces everyone and through the Resurrection of your Son you call us all into your wonderful light. Dispel our darkness and make us a people with one heart and one voice, forever singing your praise, in Jesus, the Christ, our Lord."

The light of the Resurrection is within and shines through us! Yes, we know about the Resurrection, and more, we carry its audacity within us! We diffuse its light. Alleluia!

October 18

Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist

Chapter 14

The Rule of Benedict October 18

Speaking of feasts, happy Feast of St. Luke!  As you pray today, pay attention to the feast-specific content at the back of the Breviary (p. 2169) or in the BCP (p. 999 for readings and p. 244 for today's collect).  Let praise God for our brother and teacher in the faith, St. Luke.

October 17

Chapter 13 pt. 2

The Rule of Benedict October 17

Thank you all for a lovely time together yesterday.

from February:

When we place our inner work in close proximity to the inner work of others, we find ourselves to be vulnerable and exposed.  This exposure is to the combustible dynamics of the Spirit, which is "apt" to cause contention amidst our egos as they maneuver to avoid being burned.  Benedict's instruction is to keep these dynamics in mind as we pray the Lord's Prayer each day.

October 16

Chapter 13 pt. 1

The Rule of Benedict October 16

A great diversity from the biblical witness is prescribed here.  Benedict intends for us to be shaped by a vast experience of the Divine: the heights and the depths of God's exchange with humans.  We must face both the shadow and the light of our heritage, which are mirrored in our own souls and in the world we inhabit.

October 15

Chapter 12

The Rule of Benedict October 15

I know that Lauds has been, for many of us, the primary office used to begin our practice.  I find it amazing and beautiful that we, a millennium and a half later, can recognize the components of this office as they are laid out here in Chapter 12.  This is one part of my soul's deep longing: to step into one of the Great Streams of the Faith and to be transformed by its ancient flow.

October 14

Chapter 11

The Rule of Benedict October 14

The preparation of our hearts for the celebration of our Lord's resurrection each Sunday is something of which to be mindful.  What practices can be put in place that will soften the soil of our souls to receive what God intends for us each week?  What a joy it is to gather with the Universal Church and with the Host of Heaven in worship on the Lord's Day, and what an honor to play our part in this central Cosmic Drama.

October 13

Chapter 10

The Rule of Benedict October 13

As I wrote in January, legalism is unhelpful, as is guilt and obligation, regarding prayer.  We pray because we are invited and welcomed into relationship.  We pray because the invitation calls forth in us a deep longing to be formed and transformed.

October 12

Chapter 9

The Rule of Benedict October 12

Over the next couple of weeks the Rule will lay out a precise structure for community prayer.  The details of this structure, although broadly influential in shaping Christian worship in the West over the last 1500 years, are less important for us than the overall structure itself.  As we've all heard before, our prayers shape our beliefs, or, put a bit differently, our prayers order our inner life.  It takes years and years of faithful practice, but we will find that when our thoughts and feelings are ordered, we are more able to listen, to hear, and to act in harmony with the Divine Will.

October 11

Chapter 8

The Rule of Benedict October 11

A Benedictine's life is a life that finds its main orientation according to prayer.  Think of what will get you out of bed in the middle of the night--a crying child, a red-eye flight, "the necessities of nature."  We orient our lives according to such things.

Imagine our prayers being our first priority in our daily life.  What would need to shift?  What resistance would arise within me to such a reorientation?

October 10

Chapter 7 pt. 16

The Rule of Benedict October 10

I said previously that the twelfth step of humility deals with the outward demeanor of the monastic, and that is true, but it also describes an inward state of being.  The inward state is one wherein we live with an acute awareness of the egoic self-interests that lie hidden at the core of our personality.  These are our "sins at every moment," which corrupt even the best of our motives and intentions.  This state of self-awareness is the top rung of the ladder--this ascent by descent--that Benedict describes in chapter 7.  When we reach it, although we feel demolished and helpless, we have "presently come to that perfect love of God which casts out fear."

October 9

Chapter 7 pt. 15

The Rule of Benedict October 9

I was in a meeting yesterday where I witnessed a man's capacity to speak and listen crippled by his inability to hold his tongue.  As he kept talking, compelled by a need to express himself and make convincing points, his own words spun him around until the monologue collapsed into self-centered pettiness--sad and foolish.  I have given such monologues more times than I care to admit, and, as I read Benedict's eleventh step of humility this morning, I am struck by its wisdom.

October 8

Chapter 7 pt. 14

The Rule of Benedict October 8

The tenth degree of humility is not simply "to not laugh."  It is to "be not ready or quick to laugh."  I have the image of a spring-loaded toy: compressed and waiting for the button to be pushed that releases a burst of energy.

I think the tenth degree follows from the ninth in that the loaded spring of ready and quick laughter can be another way we impose ourselves upon silence and compromise our hospitality to Spirit.

October 7

Chapter 7 pt. 13

The Rule of Benedict October 7

From January:

I perceive the ninth step of humility to be Benedict's way of weaning us from the belief that our daily circumstances stand in need of our uninvited interpretations and solutions.  By keeping silent until addressed, we cultivate the capacity to be truly hospitable and open to reality on God's terms instead of our own.

October 6

Chapter 7 pt. 12

The Rule of Benedict October 6

From January:

Trailblazer.  Entrepreneur.  Innovator.  These are the titles of aspiration in our culture and antitheses of Benedict's eighth step of humility.  We must take care, as a part of a lay order that has no clear precedent, to not become a law unto ourselves.  It's up to us to find those who act as our elders on this path and place our feet in their footprints.

From June:

My novitiate as a Benedictine canon is part of this process of seeking "elders".  Let us hold the question together of whether the identity of a Canon Community of St. Benedict fits well at the center of our common life to the end of helping us to establish "the common Rule of the monastery."

October 5

Chapter 7 pt. 11

The Rule of Benedict October 5

When we derive our worthiness from any story our ego tells about itself, we are made unable to receive the true worth of what God has or us, which cannot be distorted to fit within that story.

October 4

The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

Chapter 7 pt. 10

The Rule of Benedict October 4

From January:

There's an image that comes to mind when I read this passage.  It's an image of Gil, in August of 2006, the week he was appointed Vicar at St. Augustine's, in sunglasses, a baseball cap, shorts, a long-sleeved shirt, and gloves, cutting back the palo verde that had grown to completely cover the church sign on College Ave.  It was well over 100 degrees that day and cloudy, and we all know how Gil feels about the %*##@ heat.  But, as the new Vicar, he didn't demand that anyone other than he brave the Summer weather and tend to the grossly neglected landscaping in front of the Parish. 

October 3

Chapter 7 pt. 9

The Rule of Benedict October 3

From January:

It seems appropriate that we each find ourselves in a relationship with a spiritual guide of some sort from whom we hide no evil thoughts or deeds.  To confess with our mouth that which we have intentionally hidden can be a powerful healing act in the proper context.  We would do well to incorporate such acts into our Benedictine practice.


I encourage us all to consider who in our life can act as a confessor for us.  Your priest?  Your spiritual director?  

October 2

Chapter 7 pt. 8

The Rule of Benedict October 2

From January:

The fourth step of humility reminds us that spiritual formation, not utopian community, is the end, or goal, of Benedict's Rule.

October 1

Chapter 7 pt. 7

The Rule of Benedict October 1

From January:

After the instruction to love not our own wills, but to love the will of God, we are, in the third step of humility, admonished to submit ourselves in obedience to the will of a flesh-and-blood human being.  It is Benedict's understanding, so it seems from chapter 5, that such obedience prepares us to obey the will of God in our lives.