Saint Gregory has written that Saint Benedict, in entering his solitude, had no other desire than "to please God alone", "soli Deo placere desiderans." These simple words, better than any others, explain the monastic vocation. From the middle of the 20th century there appeared in Europe, America, Africa, and elsewhere monastic foundations that, drawing their inspiration from ancient sources, tended to return to forms of monastic life that are simpler and more contemplative. ), member of any of the confederated congregations of monks, lay brothers, and nuns who follow the rule of life of St. Benedict (c. 480-c. 547) and who are spiritual descendants of the traditional monastics of the early medieval centuries in Italy and Gaul. All these helping ministries place value on the confidentiality of the relationship and may lead to increased personal wellbeing and a more fruitful and productive life. Benedictine spirituality is a way of life that helps a person to seek God and his will daily. Core Islamic Beliefs: Six Articles of Faith. We prefer concepts like freedom and independence. It requires that a monk listens intently to the voice of God as it is manifested in the Sacred Scriptures and the teachings of his superiors. Im interested in connecting person-to-person with others who share my values, who want to participate with me in building a meaningful network of relationships that will serve to support us on our spiritual journey. This model of [], [] rather than continually traveling on to somewhere else. Or, am I living a lie, allowing myself to be conformed to every whim and temptation of my fallen nature? To complete our personal transformation, we never stop changing. This is a life devoted to the "Benedictine values of community, consensus, peace, balance, hospitality, humility, simplicity and care of the planet in our daily lives," Judith Valente writes in an article for Global Sisters Report. [contact-form][contact-field label=Name type=name required=1 /][contact-field label=Email type=email required=1 /][contact-field label=Website type=url /][contact-field label=Comment type=textarea required=1 /][/contact-form], Downloaded from the web site of the Bodleian library: [1]. Humility enables the monk to stand in awe before the world and to receive the gifts of God and others. For vowed monastics, stability is literala long-term commitment to a specific place and community. It evokes the name of St. Benedict, who lived in the 6th century, together with all those who have been inspired by the Rule of Benedict and associate themselves with the Benedictine spiritual tradition. Read the full essay to learn more about how humility helps us grow in the love of God and deepens our bonds with each other. This springs from a desire to please God, or to seek God, as the Rule puts it (chapter 58). Strong communities embrace stability and are open to necessary change. Since Benedict was a monk, the spirituality which is based on his rule, is fundamentally monastic. Just because these spiritualities are different does not mean they are contradictory. Benedictine spirituality is simple and down to earth. Demonstrate good will, humility, trust, accountability, justice, faithfulness, obedience, peace, and discipleship. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/benedictine-spirituality. Just as all these people practice to become more proficient, spiritual seekers practice in order to become better at living a spiritual life. Lets make ours a truly humana listening and reverentconnection. In Benedictine practice we acknowledge the primacy of God and look for God in the ordinary events of each day. Lectio divina involves contemplating what we read or hear in a Scripture, being receptive to the presence of God, and letting ourselves be transformed. The Benedictine tradition has frequently presented examples of spiritual men and women, many of them venerated as saints, who in the line of their monastic vocation have sought to unite themselves to God by the eremetical or solitary life, normally in dependence on their superior and in the neighborhood of their monastery. There was societal chaos and political dissatisfaction and we might wish that the conditions of those times did not sound so familiar to our modern ears. The Benedictine practice of service to others is intimately entwined with the reverence for all creation, and another of the great foundations of Benedictine spirituality. 9 0 obj
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As a Benedictine practice, obedience is intimately linked to being in right relationship, conversatio, humility, and listening. The Benedictine practice of mindfulness, like all the Benedictine practices, is lifelong. What calls us to attention? Out of these . (f`eav 22 Feb. 2023
. Nazirites (Numbers 6:1-21): Nazirites were of two types: those who were dedicated from birth to be a Nazirite (e.g. We always can go deeper in prayer, grow more open to the truth, enrich our understanding of the will of God, and learn what, in this moment at this time, is good, acceptable, and right. h|X+8v&yh{#||(E AM3. 21 0 obj
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Not only does the Benedictine lifestyle fit well within the walls of the monastery, its interpretation of life is also suitable to other forms of society. Monastic Spirituality. What are Benedictine Practices? A particular spirituality is a specific system, or schema of beliefs, virtues, ideals and principles which form a particular way to approach God and therefore all life in general. But what does the Bible teach on this issue? Awareness of God In Benedictine practice we acknowledge the primacy of God and look for God in the ordinary events of each day. endstream
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Little by little, however, the Rule of Benedict became the principal rule, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon countries and in Italy. It is humility that takes the monk beyond the myth of his own grandeur to the grandeur of God. He is author of Ice Break: A Collection of Poems (Aetos Publications, 2019), Enduring Ministry: Toward a Lifetime of Christian Leadership (Liturgical Press, 2017), and The Gospels in Poem and Image (Aetos Publications, 2016-2019). The monk needs time along and needs time in community. Be willing to wait. While submission is an act of youth, true obedience can only come as a response of maturity. "Let everyone that comes be received as Christ" is one of the most familiar and oft-quoted phrases of the Rule. Life in Benedictine monasteries was also deeply influenced by the clericalization of many of the monks and the episcopal ordination of many abbots. In a very special way God speaks through the Scriptures, through the liturgy of the hours (opus Dei ), and through personal prayer. In a podcast at DiscerningHearts.com from the Missionary Benedictines of Christ the King Priory, Fr. It is my experience that the simplicity of this message oftentimes seems just too difficult to accept. This emphasis on silence is so that we can learn to listen to God more acutelyThis kind of sensitivity and awareness makes it easier to pray at all times. This article explains that silence is healthy for community life and fosters the learning of reverence for all creation. Mindfulness is a trending word these days yogis, psychologists, educators, physicians, and practically everyone else is talking about the importance of quieting our busy minds in order to become more aware of the present moment. The years 1987 and 1990 saw the publication of two unprecedented and immediately popular reference works, The New Dictionary of Theology and The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship.The present work, The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, edited by Michael Downey, is intended as a companion to these, with a parallel aim and purpose.The NDCS is a collaborative attempt to take stock of . We are no more self-sufficient than the poor whose dependence on the service of others cant be hidden. The Rule of Benedict teaches that Monastics should serve one another (35:1). Life in common is the Benedictine monastic path toward God. The thing that distinguishes monks from other religious in the Catholic Church is not primarily a matter of governmental structures or observances; all of these are found in other forms of consecrated life. People are seen as an integrated whole: Body, Mind, and Spirit. Ancient Tradition. The Benedictine practice of Moderation in All Things is another that is trending today, under the word balance. In the blog Echoes from the Bell Tower, Fr. c. smith, The Path of Life (Ampleforth, England 1995). It is not one of the distinguishing characteristics of early monastic life. In the East it dates back to the 3rd century with St. Anthony, and in the West to the 4th century with St. Martin and other founders of monasteries. Here are some of the characteristics of Benedictine spirituality: Grounded in Listening For Benedict, the spiritual life was about listening to Godthrough prayer, Scriptures, the depths of our own experience, through listening to others in our community and the wider church. The third Benedictine value is conversatio morum, which translates to "conversion of life." This value involves a commitment to personal and spiritual growth, and it involves constantly seeking to improve oneself and to live in a way that is consistent with one's values and beliefs. The rule invites the monk to recognize the presence of God in his life, a presence which is neither gained or won or achieved but simply given. For the readers convenience, I will include only six of them here along with a simple explanation. Benedictine monastics make a three-fold commitment to stability, conversion (conversatio), and obedience. 0000001968 00000 n
backgrounds including non-Catholic ones find deep spirituality in the Divine Office and the other Benedictine practices in the Rule such as the emphasis on work and lectio divina (slow prayerful reading), is difficult to state briefly. It sets up a framework of life, an institution, of which the essential and constitutive elements are firmly determined: life in common under the government of a superior called an abbot, who has the help of a prior and other officials and takes counsel of the whole assembly of monks, even the youngest in the community. On the constitutional level, Benedict's supreme achievement was to provide a succinct and complete directory for the government and the spiritual and material well-being of a monastery. Some of the key characteristics of Benedictine spirituality include: Liturgy of the Hours; Lectio Divina (prayerful reading of Scripture) Eucharist; Benedictine Spirituality includes the willingness to: Seek God; Use the Gospel and the Rule of Benedict as a guide; Listen to one another . He neither innovated nor broke with tradition. Like counselling, therapy and coaching, spiritual direction rests on careful listening to the 'client'. The meaning of stability in our day and time refers to staying rooted where we arein relationship with ourselves and with others, in order to grow in the spiritual life. Brother David Steindl-Rast of the Gut Aich Priory monastery in St. Gilgen, Austria, is the founder and senior advisor for A Network for Grateful Living. (320) 363-7112. mholicky@csbsju.edu. This means that the monk must be very quiet and still within himself, but also very alert and attentive if the word of God is to resonate properly within his innermost depths so that he is enlightened and nourished by it. There are three primary commitments in the Benedictine way that form the spiritual backbone for the rest of the spiritual practicesobedience, stability, and conversion. I hope this list (compiled in September, 2018) is helpful, perhaps even inspiring. Monsignor Charles Pope seems to be saying in the blog post, A Reflection On the Benedictine Vow of Stability for Community in Mission of the Archdiocese of Washington (DC), that stability of heart is the Benedictine practice our chronically unstable contemporary society most desperately needs. It is God who is the primary author of life for Benedict's disciples; hence the monk's obedience is above all to God and God's word which the monk finds mediated into his life through a wide variety of persons and experiencesin the rule, in the abbot, in the community as a whole, in the young and the old, in the sick and in guests, in the liturgy of the hours and in personal prayer, in sacred reading, in work, and in silence. The RB is saturated with Scripture and, as Esther de Waal has suggested in her book Seeking God: The Baptismal Invitation of the Rule of St. Benedict (Liturgical Press, 2009), the Prologue exemplifies this as a model of baptismal instruction. For example, Let us get up then, at long last for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: It is high time for us to arise from sleep (Rom 13:11), or Run while you have the light, that the darkness of death may not overtake you (John 12:35). Scripture and baptism undergird the Benedictine vision of Christian discipleship, a vision which relies on a prayerful orientation toward God and relationships which support us in Christ-centeredness. A devoted monk, he established the Rule of Benedict. For most of us, though, stability can have a figurative element beyond our experience with a [], 2023 Benedictine Center of St. Pauls Monastery, Core Values: Benedictine Spirituality (Part 1 of 3), Prayer and Community: Benedictine Spirituality (Part 2 of 3) - Benedictine Center, Lectio Divina and Preferring Christ: Benedictine Spirituality (Part 3 of 3) - Benedictine Center, My Day with the Sacred Fire | Benedictine Center, Saturated with Peace: Experiencing Personal Retreat | Benedictine Center, Wholehearted Living as the Lamed Vav | Benedictine Center, Practicing Sustained Lectio Divina | Benedictine Center, What Discernment Means to Me | Benedictine Center, Sabbath: Well-being, Not Endless Work | Benedictine Center, Moderation and Rhythm: A Benedictine Help Against Social Isolation | Benedictine Center, Stability: The Benedictine Value of Locatedness | Benedictine Center, The Erector Set: Adapting to Others | Benedictine Center, Sharper: Benedict's Tools for Good Works | Benedictine Center, The Benedictine Commitment to Learning | Benedictine Center, We Dare To Hope (Part 1 of 2) | Benedictine Center, We Dare To Hope (Part 2 of 2) | Benedictine Center, Life, A Continuous Advent | Benedictine Center, Rooted in Love: My Sustained Lectio Divina | Benedictine Center, Just Wave: Following that Holy Nudge | Benedictine Center. 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