March 31

Easter Sunday

A hymn from Benedictine Daily Prayer for Lauds on the Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord:

The golden dawn has spread her rays,

The heavens now resound in praise,

The earth exalts in jubilee

While Darkness groans in agony.

For He, the King with glorious strength,

Has crushed death's power with mighty arm,

He trampled darkness underfoot

And freed those who were languishing.

Although enclosed beneath a stone,

Well sealed and guarded carefully,

He rose triumphant in his might,

the glorious Victor over death.

Dissolved is all the agony,

And sorrow of the world below;

"The Lord is risen as he said,"

The shining angel testified.

Creator of all things, we pray

In this, our joyful Paschal time:

Defend the people whom you saved,

From falling prey to sin's deep death.

To you, O Lord, who rose again,

To Father and to Paraclete,

May we give glory and all praise,

Both now and for eternity. Amen.

Alleluia! The Lord has risen, as he told you, alleluia.

Br. Chad 2013

March 30

Holy Saturday

There are times when liturgical time must take a priority over other schedules, and the four month cycle of reading the Rule is not intended to fit into the Church Year in any particular way.  I will, then, set today's reading aside to honor this Holy Saturday.

From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday:

Today there is a great silence over the earth, for the King sleeps.  

The earth has trembled and fallen still, for the Lord sleeps in his fleshly nature; 

in the netherworld his is arousing those who have slept for ages.  

God is dead in the flesh, and has shaken Sheol to its foundations.

He goes to seek our first parent like a lost sheep.

"I bid you: Awake sleeper! I did not create you to lie bound in hell.

Arise from the dead, for I am life to those who have died.

Rise up, work of my hands, my likeness, made in my image.

Rise, let us go hence.

"For your sake I put on your lowly shape.

For your sake I came to earth and to the underworld.

See the spittle on my face--
it was for you, that you might have the breath of life again.

See my cheeks reddened by the blows--
it was for you, that you might be remade in my image.

See my torn back--
it was for you, that I might take the burden of sin from your shoulders.

See the nail-marks in my hands--
it was for you, because once you put your hand to the forbidden tree.

"Arise, let us go hence.  

I have a heavenly throne prepared for you,
and the cherubim shall bow down before you."

Br. Chad 2013

March 29

Good Friday

Chapter 48 pt. 2

The Rule of St. Benedict March 29 (Ch. 48 pt. 2)

Ora et Labora is the ancient Benedictine motto.  "Pray and Work."  Chapter 48 "On the Daily Manual Labor" is one reason why it seems appropriate to add "Study" to the motto's translation.  Our Father Benedict clearly considers reading to be an essential component of the work a Benedictine is to do each day.

We see in this passage the creating of conditions by which ever further spiritual formation can take place throughout the year.  And, as is needed, a support system is provided for those who may resist such ongoing formation.  As Sr. Joan writes, "Study is hard work.  It is so much easier to find something else to do in its place than to stay at the grind of it."  Remaining open to the Spirit's creative energies within us through engagement with the wider world of ideas is a beautiful disposition of the Benedictine heart.

On this Good Friday, let us open ourselves to the Church's experience of this darkest of days and to the ways in which this aspect of the Paschal mystery plays out in our lives and in the world.

Br. Chad 2013

March 28

Maundy Thursday
*The Paschal Triduum begins at sundown today

Chapter 48 pt. 1

The Rule of St. Benedict March 28 (Ch. 48 pt. 1)

One of my favorite lines in all of Sr. Joan's commentary on the Rule is from today's reading.  She writes, "Benedictine spirituality exacts something so much harder for our century than rigor.  Benedictine spirituality demands balance."

The story of Jesus' visit to Martha's home in Chapter 10 of St. Luke's Gospel is instructive here.  Martha welcomes Jesus and his entourage in, offering them hospitality, but is "distracted by her many tasks" to the extent that she begrudges her sister, Mary, her seat at Jesus' feet.  This passage is often used to extol the virtues of overt religious devotion over and against the vice of being a busybody, but far more than this simplistic dichotomy is at play here.  Jesus' affectionate admonition to Martha contrasts the "many things" about which she is "worried and distracted" with the "only one thing" of which there is need.  To be "worried and distracted" implies that one's attention is absent from one's actual environment.  Presence is the "one thing" that is needed if one is to, like Mary, listen to what the Lord is saying.

Rigor often holds one's attention hostage to a set of expectations around what must be done.  Those who value rigor too highly often direct their efforts toward human-made goals at the expense of presence in each moment.  Yet it is only in each moment that the voice of Christ can be heard.

What Benedictine balance affords us is the opportunity to move from sleep to prayer to study to work in a way that needs only the "one thing".  When it is time to work, we listen to what the Lord is saying through our work.  When it is time to stop working and pray, we leave our work, perhaps undone, and listen to what the Lord is saying through the Office.  It is not magic, nor is it easy, but such is the balanced life that shapes the Benedictine soul.

Br. Chad 2013

March 27

Wednesday in Holy Week

Chapter 47

The Rule of St. Benedict March 27 (Ch. 47)

Sr. Joan Chittister opens her commentary on Chapter 47 by describing Benedictine prayer as "regular and artistic."  I find much resonance with this characterization.

Prayer in the Benedictine tradition is literally regular, in that it conforms to a rule, a regula.  Its starting place is not extemporaneous, but formal.  It begins with a signal and proceeds with a carefully defined series of hymns, Psalms, and readings, and it is put to the religious superior to see to it that this is so in each Benedictine community.

Along with the regulation of prayer, Chapter 47 also tasks the superior with attending to the quality of its aesthetic presentation in the community.  This is the Opus Dei after all, the Work of God, and should be approached with a measure of beauty and excellence.

There are shadow sides to both of these elements that every healthy Benedictine community must acknowledge and address, however.  Regulations and artistry can become idols.  The sneering, upturned nose of the aesthete or the conformist's obsessive anxiety are every bit as damaging to our Father Benedict's intentions as haphazardness and ugliness.  We are to strike a balance in prayer that frees our hearts from the swirling chaos of our environments without shackling them to idols made by human hands.

Br. Chad 2013

March 26

Tuesday in Holy Week

Chapter 46

The Rule of St. Benedict March 26 (Ch. 46)

One delightful aspect of community life is the wealth of stories that accumulate over the years.  One such story I overheard at St. Gregory's Abbey in Michigan had to do with the instructions in this chapter.  It seems that a procedure for "com[ing] immediately before the Abbot and the community" after breaking something took on the form of kneeling with the broken item in hand at the entrance of the place where the community would gather next.  So, if the next community gathering is prayer, one would kneel at the entrance of the chapel, if a meal, one would kneel at the entrance to the refectory, and so on.  One day, many years ago, a brother was cleaning the bathroom before lunch and happened to break the toilet seat.  So, as the community and guests, of which there happened to be a large number that day, came silently into the refectory after the lunch bell, they had to walk past this brother kneeling with a toilet seat.  I was told that the procedure was modified after that.

Chapter 46 calls each member of the community to take responsibility for any fault they contribute to the common life, whether through a small, inconsequential accident or a "sin-sickness of the soul."  Our Father Benedict desires to cultivate a climate of trust and intimacy in the community.  Without trust, the community is poisoned by cycles of deception, suspicion, and accusation.  Without safe intimacy, the individual suffers the soul-killing trajectory of hidden guilt, self-loathing, and hardness of heart.

Br. Chad 2013

March 25

Monday in Holy Week

Chapter 45

The Rule of St. Benedict March 25 (Ch. 45)

In July of 2011 I spent two weeks at St. Gregory's Abbey in Three Rivers, Michigan as a part of their Summer Vocation program.  I saw the instructions from Chapter 45 (aside from the last sentence) play out several times during my time at St. Gregory's.  Almost every member of the community, including the Abbot, at one point or another, made a mistake on a Psalm tone or on a reading and immediately performed a small, quick genuflection toward the Superior.  This little action seemed to be the beginning and the end of the matter, and I felt it to be refreshing to have such a clear procedure for addressing mistakes rather than a muddled series of apologies and/or reprimands and/or passive-aggressive silence and/or cloying assurances.

As our Father Benedict indicates, the issue for the offender is that of humility, which, in truth, needs not speak a word of excuse or defense.  And the issue for the Superior and community is that of holding the space for that humility to manifest without undue commentary or judgment.

Br. Chad 2013