SEVERAL participants have asked about spiritual practices that may be undertaken between our conferences.  For those who wish, these might include using the psalms in prayer in the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) and/or praying the Sacred Scriptures in the monastic tradition of lectio divina.

IF you would like to hear and see the form of the Divine Office we celebrate at Valyermo,  Abbot Damien has made six of our offices available at the Recorded Prayers tab on the Abbey website, (https://www.saintandrewsabbey.com).

WITH regard to the practice of lectio divina, please explore the articles downloadable from the section on lectio divina accessible from the Bibliography link on the navigation panel to the left.  Feel free, also, to explore the Lectio Divina link on the navigation panel.  Biblical texts and patristic writings used at Mass and the Divine Office (which are excellent matter for lectio divina) may be found at the Universalis Website (https://www.universalis.com/USA/0/mass.htm).
 

  

IN this workshop we will begin our exploration of the spirituality of Saint Benedict by meditating together on selected chapters from his Rule and comparing his approach with that of his principal source, the anonymous Rule of the Master.

     We will then turn to the literary portrait of Saint Benedict provided by Pope Saint Gregory the Great in the second book of his Dialogues, noting especially the last chapters of this famous work

WE will then turn to texts by later disciples of Saint Benedict, noting in particular the writings of Saint Bede of Jarrow and Saint Gertrude of Helfta.

     If time permits, we will also consider the examples of other saints and lesser-known monks and nuns in the Benedictine Tradition.
 

  

 

THE only text we possess that Saint Benedict wrote is his Rule. The spirituality he wished to bequeath to his monks is evident throughout the Rule, but especially so in chapters we will consider, including:

   The beginning and conclusion to the Prologue;

   Chapter 1, on the Kinds of Monks;

   Chapter 2, on the Abbot, esp. v.31-33;

   Chapter 3, on Summoning the Brethren for Counsel;

   Chapter 36, on the Sick Brothers; and

   Chapter 72, on the Good Zeal

 

 NAVIGATION BAR LINK

THE only information concerning the life of Saint Benedict that we possess is found in the second book of the Dialogues of Pope Saint Gregory the Great.  Gregory never met Saint Benedict, and is dependent on stories he was told by the monks of Monte Cassino.  In the Dialogues Benedict is portrayed as a model of Christian ascetical and contemplative life.

   Chapters 33-37 of book two depict the growth of Saint Benedict as a contemplative and the means by which God widens the human heart to greater capacity for contemplative vision of both God and of God in creation.

 

 

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SAINT Bede of Jarrow, also known as The Venerable Bede was a Benedictine monk of the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow.  He is the most important English historian of the early middle ages; and his vision of history is richly imbued with his own Benedictine spirituality.  This is especially seen in Book 4, chapter 24 of his Ecclesiastical History, where he recounts the story of the famous poet-monk, Caedmon, and his relationship with the great Abbess Hilda.

 

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SAINT Gertrude of Helta is a remarkable example of a disciple of Saint Benedict for whom liturgical prayer in community was also the principal locus of contemplative vision.  It was in her choir stall and while leading the complex Gregorian chant of which the Divine Office consisted that she would experience intimate visions and locutions of Christ that unlocked for her both the inner meaning of the liturgical celebration and the core of here heart – and she never missed a beat while leading the choir.  For her there was no distinction between liturgical prayer in common with others and intimate, personal union with Our Lord.