+PAX

A blessed feast of Saint Brigid to all, especially those of the
world's first Methodist Benedictine monastery, which bears her name!

Continued prayers for Paul H. His job interview went well and now
comes the hard part of waiting. God's will is best. All is mercy and
grace. Thanks so much! JL


February 1, June 2, October 2

Chapter 7: On Humility

The fourth degree of humility
is that he hold fast to patience with a silent mind
when in this obedience he meets with difficulties
and contradictions
and even any kind of injustice,
enduring all without growing weary or running away.
For the Scripture says,
"The one who perseveres to the end,
is the one who shall be saved" (Matt. 10:22);
and again
"Let your heart take courage, and wait for the Lord" (Ps. 26:14)!

And to show how those who are faithful
ought to endure all things, however contrary, for the Lord,
the Scripture says in the person of the suffering,
"For Your sake we are put to death all the day long;
we are considered as sheep marked for slaughter" (Ps. 43:22; Rom.
8:36).
Then, secure in their hope of a divine recompense,
they go on with joy to declare,
"But in all these trials we conquer,
through Him who has granted us His love" (Rom. 8:37).
Again, in another place the Scripture says,
"You have tested us, O God;
You have tried us a silver is tried, by fire;
You have brought us into a snare;
You have laid afflictions on our back" (Matt. 5:39-41).
And to show that we ought to be under a Superior,
it goes on to say,
"You have set men over our heads" (Ps. 65:12).

Moreover, by their patience
those faithful ones fulfill the Lord's command
in adversities and injuries:
when struck on one cheek, they offer the other;
when deprived of their tunic, they surrender also their cloak;
when forced to go a mile, they go two;
with the Apostle Paul they bear with false brethren (2 Cor. 11:26)
and bless those who curse them (1 Cor. 4:12).

REFLECTION

The awful trip here is the part about holding "fast to patience with
a silent mind." How on earth does one begin to do that? The trend in
consumerist Western society is pretty much to form people- no, let's
call them what consumerism does: "consumers"- in a mold that ALWAYS
listens to very noisy minds. That, after all, is the root of desire
and consumption (clever play on words there!) and profit. Nothing
else matters much to a consumerist society.

It's not surprising that living, moving and having our being in such
waters, we more or less acquire consumerist gills in order to
breathe. However, the Gospel itself, as well as the Holy Rule, tells
us that we must adopt a view which contradicts that of the secular
world. Learning to do this is neither easy nor fast.

The really hard thing here is that sometimes, even when we are right,
we have to put up and shut up, so to speak. The Rule speaks of
bearing injustice and false brethren. There are no qualifiers here
that say: "You may think it is unjust, but the truth is otherwise."
No, sometimes we must actually endure stuff that really is unjust,
endure people that truly are false. As one very wise old monk of
Pluscarden once said: "Some things will only be fixed by a cross in
the cemetery." That is frighteningly true. Some people, some
dysfunctions will go unchecked and there are only two things one can
do about it: leave or endure.

This may feel like denial to us. It isn't. That's not what's asked of
us. I may feel very clearly that a person or situation is wrong,
nearly know it, but what is asked of me is to react in a particularly
controlled fashion, "with a silent mind." Non-judging also enters in
here. We must have silent minds because, generally speaking, we
cannot be sure what is going on!

Jesus did say, after all, the He is the Truth. He is not calling us
to stupidity or denial, but to trust Him.  He can well afford to call
us to silent endurance. The briefest look at Jesus in His Passion can
affirm His rights there. There was never a greater injustice done
than that, nor was there ever a victim so innocent and completely
undeserving of all that brutality.

Why is the "silent mind" such a big deal? Because you cannot get
anywhere spiritually without one. Your focus will be shattered. The
messy bit here is that your focus can be shattered by things
apparently worthwhile- the devil, after all is no fool. We can be
tricked into spinning our wheels and expending all our emotional and
spiritual energy on dead ends that look noble, or on things that
truly are noble, but should not absorb all of our efforts or
attention. We can distort our necessary caring and charity into anger
and rage at injustice that does nothing other than perpetrate anger
and rage in more religious attire. Big mistake there!

Recently, on Monastic Life, a mini-flame war, perhaps only
a "skirmish", has erupted. Predictably, quite early on it stooped to
hurling charges at people, not ideas. Whoops! Wrong way, folks. The
holiest monks I know would not have even entered into that
discussion. They would have smiled and maybe shrugged and gone to
their room to read or pray.

That's not denial, that's a fair assessment that Brother David (the
elderly monk I have in mind,) of Saint Leo would have made correctly.
David was a very, very holy nobody and he knew that. It was a very
freeing knowledge, one I completely lacked when I first lived with
him. At the ripe old age of 18, I thought entering into heated
argument was the thing to do. David, quite rightly, knew that it
would result in a night (or day) of strife and nothing would be
changed. David knew that a nickel-dime lay brother in Florida was not
going to change the Church at all by fighting with other people who
were similarly powerless. He was humble enough to go to his room. How
I wish I had been that smart- then or now!

Love and prayers,

Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

February 2, June 3, October 3
Chapter 7: On Humility

The fifth degree of humility
is that he hide from his Abbot none of the evil thoughts
that enter his heart
or the sins committed in secret,
but that he humbly confess them.
The Scripture urges us to this when it says,
"Reveal your way to the Lord and hope in Him" (Ps. 36:5)
and again,
"Confess to the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures forever" (Ps. 105:1).
And the Prophet likewise says,
"My offense I have made known to You,
and my iniquities I have not covered up.
I said: 'I will declare against myself my iniquities to the Lord;'
and 'You forgave the wickedness of my heart'" (Ps. 31:5).

REFLECTION

To hide one's symptoms from one's physician is to court misdiagnosis.
If you lie to your therapist, why bother with analysis? Both these
tactics obscure illness rather than produce health. The "health" they
seek is nothing more than a falsehood, an illusion based on an
incomplete view.

It is natural for us to wish to wish that parents and abbots think
the best of us. It is supernatural to want them to know the truth
when they need to know it to help us. That "natural" tendency in us,
however, is founded on a very unlovely kink: the desire to ALWAYS
look good, ALWAYS seem in control, even when we are floundering in
deep trouble. If parents or bosses or abbots think very highly of us,
this temptation is even stronger; we'd rather not burst their bubble,
we think it is to our advantage not to do so.

The monastery is a school of the Lord's service, but it is a hospital
of sorts, too. When we place ourselves under the care of the Holy
Rule and an abbot, we have admitted our need for care, for treatment,
for progress. Why deny ourselves any of those things now? I'm not
sure, but I'll bet there are tons of easy ways to fake one's way out
of chemical dependency treatment. Why bother? Unlike many in
substance abuse treatment, we came to Benedictinism of our own accord.

In Eastern monasticism, the tradition is for the disciple to confess
thoughts to the elder every day. This is considered a crucially
important part of monastic formation. It humbles the disciple and it
leaves the elder in a much better position to train and advise.
Granted, with many monastics in and out of house, most abbots would
be unable to do this daily, but every monastic needs a confessor or
spiritual director or spiritual co-struggler who can really know
what's going on in their souls.

Parents know how it feels when a child has need of them and never
lets them know. It is an awful feeling and often the child's reasons
(like fear or deceit,) for keeping them in the dark hurt even more.
No parent, no boss and no abbot is perfect. They are all human and
flawed, just like us. However, when we avoid trusting them with some
of our dark side, we cheat ourselves of a chance to see their
greatness called forth in compassion, mercy and wisdom.

Balance, common sense and moderation obtain here, too. It is one
thing not to tell one's abbot or boss something because one wishes to
be thought well of, quite another to realize that some things, when
there truly is no need to tell them, are best left unsaid. As Father
Damian of St. Leo is fond of saying: "The truth is not always
nourishing." Those of us inside monasteries live with our abbots. We
get to know them. At St. Leo, we had a fairly common agreement that
there were some things one had better NOT bring up to Abbot Fidelis
because they would flip him out. Many could say the same things of
their parents or boss. This is a different animal from keeping
superiors deluded into thinking we're doing fine. However, SOMEONE
needs to know: a spiritual director or confessor. We are too weak to
trod the path alone.

Family life, in either monastery or home church, must be founded on
truth and reality to be healthy. All of us have seen flaming examples
of dysfunction when it is not. Even though sometimes a mother will
say: "For heaven's sake, don't tell your father!" there has to be
SOME connection with reality. Not only is humility (in one sense,)
truth, but Jesus, too is the Truth. Why on earth bother seeking Him
if we don't want Truth?

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

February 3, June 4, October 4
Chapter 7: On Humility

The sixth degree of humility
is that a monk be content
with the poorest and worst of everything,
and that in every occupation assigned him
he consider himself a bad and worthless workman,
saying with the Prophet,
"I am brought to nothing and I am without understanding;
I have become as a beast of burden before You,
and I am always with You" (Ps:22-23).


REFLECTION

It is easy to miss the hardest word in this reading. Our eyes fly
right away to the ones we want to argue with- and these days many
want to argue with them! Slyly stuck into the first line is the
demand that the monastic "be CONTENT with the poorest and worst of
everything." The connection this time is not to obedience, but to
other virtues in humility's service: simplicity and stability.

Contentedness does not bide its time for a jump to something better,
does not merely undergo, but accepts rather matter-of-factly.
Contented monastics aren't hunting for or wondering about something
else, usually it doesn't even occur to them. Truly contented people,
in monasteries or in marriage or in the world do not spend a lot of
time on "what if?" or "what next?". In the 70's a lot of people loved
the popular phrase on posters: "Bloom where you are planted." Quite
possibly they never stopped to think exactly what that meant: being
contented enough to blossom in any circumstance. Whoops! A little
more teeth to that version!

I know from personal experience: stability with divided attention,
with tons of Plans B, C, and D, simply is not very effective. It is
better than nothing, to be sure, but it is nearly nothing when
compared with its power once all those distractions are dropped. We
cannot drop them all at once, but we must try to stay rooted, ever
more and more rooted.

I know one great monk who told me, at 83, that he had finally decided
to stay! There was not even a hint of irony of twinkle in his voice.
On the other hand, I have known monks who were happy as clams and
completely contented in their forties. It is a different struggle for
each of us.

Truly contented simplicity and stability are powerful, counter-
cultural witnesses to offer this age. Materialism, consumerism and
the short attention span rule. A consumerist society is actually
fueled by provoking discontent: how else can superfluous consumption
imposed?

Every time one person, family or monastery gets even partially free
of those constraints it is a powerful witness to those still bound.
Most of us truly do not "need" more. The Holy Rule can teach us that,
but not if we look at it through the lenses we have hauled along with
us from the 21st century world. Those lenses are completely invested
in our reaching the opposite- and false- conclusion.

Two cautions here. Good ole Gulf coast Florida boy that I am, I can
tell you that when one goes crabbing with a big floating washtub full
of blue crabs tied to your belt, you never have to put a lid on it.
Why? Because whenever one crab gets close to crawling out, the others
will pull it down. Don't be surprised if this happens to you! Lots of
people LOVE consumerist enslavement, or at least think they do!

The other, equally important consideration is that simplicity is NOT
just a way to save money- though it will free up plenty. The goal is
not to hoard what you have saved, but to spread it around or, as St.
Elizabeth Seton said: "Let us live simply, so that others may simply
live." We can direct our goods ever so much more responsibly toward
the common good, goods we had been tricked into believing we had to
throw elsewhere in the service of greed!

As to the "bad and worthless workman" line, where I expect there'll
be a lot of dissent, well, that isn't St. Benedict or me. You'll have
to argue with Jesus Himself on that one. He said that after we have
done ALL that was commanded us, we should say we are nothing but
unprofitable servants. Being God, I don't imagine He was mistaken.

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers, please, for Mary, possible cancer, and for her husband of 65
years who will be shattered by such a diagnosis, also their daughter,
Elaine. God's will is best. All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much! JL


February 4, June 5, October 5
Chapter 7: On Humility

The seventh degree of humility
is that he consider himself lower and of less account
than anyone else,
and this not only in verbal protestation
but also with the most heartfelt inner conviction,
humbling himself and saying with the Prophet,
"But I am a worm and no man,
the scorn of men and the outcast of the people" (Ps. 21:7).
"After being exalted, I have been humbled
and covered with confusion" (Ps. 87:16).
And again,
"It is good for me that You have humbled me,
that I may learn Your commandments" (Ps. 118:71).

REFLECTION

No one need worry whether or not the blue jay population of our
forest will make it through the winter! Mary Kenny keeps the feeder
full and the blue jays bully and terrorize all the other birds-
including members of their own species lower in the pecking order.
And it is LITERALLY a pecking order! While they are pretty birds,
once in action their belligerent personalities will dispel many a
romantic notion!

Contrast the cardinals and chickadees, both far lovelier to look at,
and both well aware that they need to stay out of the jays' way! One
imagines that the cardinals, strikingly red, might be as numerous as
their blue cousins if they were anywhere near as combative. Below
even these in the hierarchy are the slate juncos. None too eye-
catching, a rather sooty gray, and spending almost all of their time
gleaning on the ground, not at the feeder. It is a niche they seem
not to mind at all. Their attraction is not in plumage, but in the
humility of their dispositions.

Of course, I watch all this from the dining room window and am amused.
These scrappy jays are fighting over a front yard that they don't
own. They are battling for food that is always there and will be
there in plenty. And hey, they are BIRDS, right? What's all this
crock about who's-better-than-who? It's like watching a lot of
Lilliputians in hand-to-hand, mortal combat. It's so silly that it is
laughable. This is my front yard, guys, not yours!

Whoops! Just fell into the same stupid snare as the birds....

One of the beautiful things the late Israeli astronaut on the
Columbia, Ilan Ramon, said about the view from space was that the
earth was just one beautiful blue ball, no boundaries, no borders,
all one. Surely that is a glimpse of how God sees it. Therein lies
the secret of humility: to see things as God sees them, because that
is how things truly are! That means seeing things like neither the
scrappy blue jay, nor the monk inside who just as foolishly thinks
something is his to control, that he has a privilege others do not,
that his hegemony must be protected at any cost!

Of course, it is all too easy to see things in an nation state way,
especially these days. One nation hates another or hates their
agenda. Ah, but that is how it has worked out! How it started was no
doubt one incident, lost in the mists of time, forgotten except for
the rivalry it engendered, which took on a life of its own. Perhaps
the progenitors of two warring nations of today met once at the same
oasis with their flocks. Maybe one decided it was hers, maybe both
did. At any rate, the fallout was terrible for centuries.

Each of us faces a desert oasis with others. How little we reflect
that our actions there could change history. We will never know until
heaven how our choices to assert or defer literally change the
history of the cosmos, however slightly. All things start out small,
but then they grow! Which outcome do you wish to nourish with your
life?

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers, please, for Richard Pieczarka, whose uncle, Joe, died, and
for all Joe's family. Prayers, too, for John Green, recovering from
his surgery and for Anne, his wife, who is recovering from having
John home all the time!  God's will is best. All is mercy and grace.
Thanks so much! JL

February 5, June 6, October 6
Chapter 7: On Humility

The eighth degree of humility
is that a monk do nothing except what is commended
by the common Rule of the monastery
and the example of the elders.

REFLECTION

I am a much bigger fan of early Sinatra than I am of his later
career. One of the hits of his closing years, which was also recorded
by Elvis, was "My Way." It quickly became the defining anthem for
many in the rather egocentric late 20th century. Actually, though
both men sang it as an apologia/defense for their lives, by the time
they got around to recording it, an apology in the more usual sense
might have been much more in order. Couple these two guys with a
third, Tony Bennett, in an imaginary trio for another hit, "I've
Gotta Be Me" and you have the secular rationale of the self in a
nutshell. I really love Tony Bennett, and I used to own a copy of his
recording of "I've Gotta Be Me", but now I rather wish he'd passed up
on that one.

Both songs take the healthy notion of self and elevate it to a level
of distortion and falsity. Like any heresy, they erroneously elevate
a part of truth to being the whole truth and that spells trouble. Our
selves are wonderful, unique, precious gifts, so are children. Leave
either unbridled and malformed and you will regret it.

Humility forms rightly because it is truth. Like the Gospel itself,
humility is the exact reverse of many a worldly tune. The real,
objective truth lies in the paradox, in the tension of yes AND no to
many things which the world would accept unquestioningly as "YES!"

So, here comes the 8th degree. It's message is that it is most safe
to assume that doing it one's own way is neither right nor terribly
bright. We may find that sometimes we are right, but even there, so
long as the action is morally neutral, the wise course is subjection
to the common mind. Benedictines swim in schools, it's our nature to
do so.

In fact, even doing it someone else's tested, tried and true way
makes no sense. God calls us to the house and the observance that
will best suit us. If we have made a mistake in hearing Him, He will
somehow gets us to transfer (unless we STILL can't hear Him!)
Otherwise, let things alone.

We come to a distinct monastery and congregation, to the Rule, to be
taught, not to teach them. We come to be directed, not to direct, to
be formed, not to form. If we allow all those things to happen to us
in humility we quite likely WILL be elements of change for the better
in the community's history, but that change will be one planned by
God, not ourselves.

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers, please, for Pauline, and for her sister who died Sunday, and for all
their family. God's will is best. All is mercy and grace.
Thanks so much! JL

February 6, June 7, October 7
Chapter 7: On Humility

The ninth degree of humility
is that a monk restrain his tongue and keep silence,
not speaking until he is questioned.
For the Scripture shows
that "in much speaking there is no escape from sin" (Prov. 10:19)
and that "the talkative man is not stable on the earth" (Ps. 139:12).



REFLECTION

Well, you can safely bet that I fail this one right and left.

Obedience is essential to humility, but as we climb the steps, other
virtues that figure in humility are presented to us. Why is silence
important? Because when someone like me is shooting his mouth off all
the time, whether being really funny, or just thinking he is, offering the
world choice observations of his "exquisite" wisdom, what's really
going on is a desire to be at the center of things, to be star and
protagonist. Lights, camera, action! Why?

If I am bored- and I often am- I make a joke, create my own
excitement, change the human situation I have walked into to suit MY
needs. Maybe they weren't bored at all, even if they politely laugh
and seem to enjoy it. That trait doesn't say much for my depth.
I need to be entertained? Hello!?!? Can't I find enough material in
silence to keep me busy? What's really going on here? Short attention
span much? I can get so absorbed in elevating humor and speech as
positive, necessary goods that I can easily forget that both can be
tools of control, and control is not for the humble.

Naming that does not mean I do not have to work at change. I do. I
think it was Flannery O'Connor who said that accepting ourselves does
not preclude an effort to be better. Change may be so gradual that
none will ever notice, but every time I resist any useless temptation
to open my mouth, there is a small victory. Face it, we think a lot
of what we have to say is important because we think WE are
important. In one sense of divinely created dignity, we are, but that
is not usually the sense that is employed in making these decisions
to speak!

Silence is not incompatible with charity or cheerfulness. Brother
David Gormican, OSB, of St. Leo, now gone to God, was a paragon of
this step (actually, of all of them!) Brother would speak first if he
needed something, but otherwise, he waited until he was spoken to or
asked something. No surprise that he usually looked very recollected:
he was! When he was called on to speak, it was always cheerfully and
with something I can only describe as sweetness. I don't mean he was
sugary, I mean sweetness in the best possible sense. When Brother
David DID speak, one would never think that silence was unloving; all
his compassion and love just shone right through.

Brother David was truly a saint. No doubt, had he wished to run off
at the mouth as I do, he could have given you all much better and
deeper wisdom and holiness than me. But part of his holiness was
silence and his humility left people far less bright (like me,) to
talk all they wanted, unchallenged. On the rare occasion when he
wouldn't leave something unchallenged, the weight of a well-chosen
phrase or two of his would offset pages of prose! Part of the reason
his words bore such weight is that he was so usually silent that
people LISTENED when he spoke. Sadly, that is not true for most of us.

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

+PAX

These two beautiful thoughts were sent to me by Sr. Mary Joseph, OSB. I owe her
for having something so nice to pass on to you!! Enjoy!  JL

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are
working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family
we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to
think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family,
an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?

One of the students reminded us yesterday that the word Companion is from two
Latin words meaning:  to share bread....com (with) pane (bread).  Which is why
in Eastern countries the sharing of a meal with a guest is such an important
part of hospitality.  You could never allow a guest to leave your home without
giving him something to eat.   We need to make meals a family ceremony again and
not just eat on the run, or in front of the TV.  It's an important part of
sharing our day and our lives.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

+PAX

Prayers, please, for Doherty, who has died, for her sister, daughters and all
her family.
Prayers, too, for Beth and Karl. Beth is in premature labor with their first
child. God's will is best.
All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much! JL

February 7, June 8, October 8
Chapter 7: On Humility

The tenth degree of humility
is that he be not ready and quick to laugh,
for it is written,
"The fool lifts up his voice in laughter" (Eccles. 21:23).

REFLECTION

Face it, beloveds, speech and laughter have a lot in common! Both are
often fake, insincere, nervous or empty. Both are often employed for
no reason other than to break a silence which makes us uncomfortable.
Both are frequently unnecessary. To the degree that both are
sometimes false, they are destructive of truth and, therefore, of
humility.

I speak from experience as one of the big-time braying jackasses, all
too ready to lift my fool's voice in laughter! People like me are
quick to defend themselves by making the other side look dumb or
challenged: "Oh, I can't stand someone with no sense of humor!" Well,
the issue here is NOT having a sense of humor, all saints need that.
It is having a hair trigger on same or, worse. It's having a
catastrophic first strike capability to laugh when no one else does,
to see humor where it truly does not exist, or to be silly in the
presence of those far wiser than oneself.

Every good monk I have ever known has laughed. The best monks,
however, did not laugh easily. A knowing, warm smile with bright eyes
or a discreet chuckle would have been most usual for them. There's
another connection between speech and laughter here. Their moderate,
virtuous use is connected to wisdom, which is why the person who
rarely speaks at all is usually listened to when they do say
something. Ditto the use of laughter. If Br. X, who laughs at
everything, including things that aren't funny, roars in laughter,
people don't ascribe much to the affair. On the other hand, if Br. Y,
who is NOT given to laughter, even chuckles it is a sign that
something is REALLY funny!

Stupid laughter and stupid speech are both pathetic as a first
resort. Both can stem from thinking we know something that we really
do not, or that we can see clearly and entirely what we really see
only partially, if that. Our ignorance in such matters may be missed
by others, but those we live with can usually point it out, unless
they are too polite to do so!

Having said that about ignorance, let me jump in to defend valid
laughter and truthful senses of humor. Merely being curmudgeonly and
not laughing is definitely NOT the idea! That treats the symptom, not
the cause! Joyless, cranky, unduly serious people who take
themselves, above all, FAR too seriously, are every bit as much out
of touch with reality as the braying jackasses.

Both laughter and speech can be cruel and ought never to be for the Christian.
But
both can be loving and charitable, too. Surely there is no condemnation implied
here
of charity! What of the many times when a laugh or chuckle truly did break the
ice,
lighten the moment or cheer someone up. One would be hard pressed to claim that
those charitably kind uses of laughter were forbidden.

Humility is truth, remember that one? As Sheen observed, both the sense of faith
and
the sense of humor are the terribly important ability to see through things! The
good
monks I described who rarely laughed were not morose. They were not so because
they
were holy enough to know better! They were cheerful, joyful men. That stands in
high
(and pleasant!) relief to being either a crank or a buffoon.

That's the issue here: being holy makes us humble, being holy makes
us avoid extremes!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

+PAX

Chapter 7: On Humility cont.
February 8, June 9, October 9

The eleventh degree of humility is that when a monk speaks he do so gently
and without laughter, humbly and seriously, in few and sensible words, and
that he be not noisy in his speech. It is written, "A wise man is known by
the fewness of his words."

REFLECTION

I read this one and cringe, largely because I fail it so much. Part of my
loudness is being 40% deaf, and while I try to control my levels of speech, I
sometimes forget. That, however, in NO way absolves me from the wise man and
fewness of words part, nor does it cover the sins of my tendency to make a big
splash nearly every time I'm entering the pool. Face it, beloveds, for those at
poolside dining on dry snacks like potato chips, those big splashes can get very
old, very fast!

I'm speaking of my own failure here, but I imagine some of it may apply to
others' lives, too.  So many wasted words, and at such volume! What is their
purpose, what insecurities do they cover? How many times do I speak as if on
stage and why? To show that I am cool or a big shot or clever or funny? All
those things are ultimately lies and the person I may be trying most to convince
is my pathetically  false self. How many times do I call it teasing when another
is really hurt? How many times do I go over the top and not even notice? Even if
I am only futilely trying to overcome my own boredom by creating some
excitement, the message reads frighteningly clear: I am more important, I am a
big deal, I matter more than the people or silence that make me uncomfortable.
None of that is true in the sense I am modeling it. None. So why do I bother?
Why do any of us? These are tough and excellent questions!

There are, however, both  positive and negative sides to this virtuous method of
speech.  Check out the "gently" part, check out the "fewness" of words, not
their total absence. I have been at gatherings, not a few of them, alas,
monastic, where such a tense and uneasy silence obtained that one began to
ardently hope that someone would serve cyanide kool-aid and end the suffering!
One leaves such a mess hankering for either a stiff drink or an antacid. Not
what recreations are supposed to be and especially bad if they come right after
supper!

What is behind such recreations that have all the charm of a dead string quartet
is often shyness or social ineptitude, but these, too, are faults in some
instances and must be overcome. Just as the braying jackass like myself must
rein in, others must consciously "rein out". To fail to do so is to embrace the
same lie: I matter more than this situation, than these people. My feelings are
paramount. Whoops! Not so. Many humble people may be reticent, but there are
plenty of ways to be shy that are decidedly neither humble nor kind.

The twofold key is charity and balance. There have been times when I have seen a
person- even been a person- who monopolized a recreation. There have been other
times when I have longed for someone to do so.  It requires that mindfulness
born of love and balance to truthfully ascertain whether a situation would
profit more from our silence or our speaking. But the key here is "profit more"
and the recipients in mind must be others, not just ourselves.  Buffoonery can
certainly annoy, but silence can also sometimes hurt: this person doesn't care
about me at all, it's like I didn't even exist. Somewhere between the extremes
lies love, folks, and that is our precarious goal.

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

+PAX

Prayers, please, for Mary, 4, who died in January and for all her family. Her
sister, Gina, now has a brain tumor and is undergoing surgery today, but the
prognosis is hopeful and good. Ardent prayers needed here, especially for those
parents. God's will is best. All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much.  JL

This portion seems to beg for division into two parts, so I have done
that in the reflection. JL

February 9, June 10, October 10
Chapter 7: On Humility

The twelfth degree of humility
is that a monk not only have humility in his heart
but also by his very appearance make it always manifest
to those who see him.
That is to say that whether he is at the Work of God,
in the oratory, in the monastery, in the garden, on the road,
in the fields or anywhere else,
and whether sitting, walking or standing,
he should always have his head bowed
and his eyes toward the ground.
Feeling the guilt of his sins at every moment,
he should consider himself already present at the dread Judgment
and constantly say in his heart
what the publican in the Gospel said
with his eyes fixed on the earth:
"Lord, I am a sinner and not worthy to lift up my eyes to heaven"
(Luke 18:13; Matt. 8:8);
and again with the Prophet:
"I am bowed down and humbled everywhere" (Ps. 37:7,9; 118:107).

REFLECTION

Alcoholics Anonymous jokes about what they call "Two-steppers," that
is, people who decide to jump right from Step 1, acknowledging their
problem, to Step 12, carrying the message to others, with nothing in
between! Wrong! Doesn't work that way...

Benedictines often see a similar mistake in novices and humility.
Bingo, they go right to the twelfth degree with nothing to build
their external humility on but the images of Hollywood. Such
individuals are usually well-intentioned enough, but one look at
their demeanor will tell one that there is probably a very badly worn
tape of "The Nun's Story" among the things they left at home! (I'm
not knocking the film, I loved it, too! But it WAS Hollywood and it
is not real life! Close runners-up of the same ilk would be "In This
House of Brede" and "The Song of Bernadette" and "Come to the
Stable.")

Monastic life will do a lot of things but sorry, it will never make
you Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer Jones, Diana Rigg or Loretta Young!
People who learn that have a chance to stay, people who don't often
leave because no monastery fits the Hollywood model, though they
often keep looking for one that does!

My friend, Bishop Basil, tells me that his Spiritual Father used to tell him:
"Beware the monk  whose humility you're always tripping over." Amen!!!

Second Section of the Reading:

Having climbed all these steps of humility, therefore,
the monk will presently come to that perfect love of God
which casts out fear.
And all those precepts
which formerly he had not observed without fear,
he will now begin to keep by reason of that love,
without any effort,
as though naturally and by habit.
No longer will his motive be the fear of hell,
but rather the love of Christ,
good habit
and delight in the virtues
which the Lord will deign to show forth by the Holy Spirit
in His servant now cleansed from vice and sin.

This crucially important second part is why none of those Hollywood
roles quite make it AND why the first section is spared from
Jansenism. (Jansenism, you may recall, was a heresy which held that
we could NEVER be worthy, NEVER do enough penance and so forth. In
its sad extremes, it harked to a sort of Pelagian attitude, implying
that we might be able to do something if we did enough harsh stuff!
But, of course, even that would never be enough. It was a rather mean
idea of God.)

Humility is NOT affected, not presupposing, hence efforts to LOOK
humble when one is not so will fall woefully short of the mark. No
Academy Awards for this one! When they call for the envelope, it will
be empty! Genuine humility is the most unself-conscious thing in the
world. It produces the external demeanor without any further ado,
because the person actually (and usually unwittingly!) BECOMES the
truth they are striving to live. Humility shows up in the face, in
everything, just as years of bitterness or years of love often do.
You couldn't hide humility if you wanted to, but you don't need to,
because the true humility is rarely even noticed and those who are
less humble tend to discount the really humble as nobodies. In one
sense, they are quite right! Both would agree on that!

If one never gets to the joy and love of the end of this passage,
there will be no reason not to look artificially rather glum over
sins that one probably doesn't believe at heart are great anyhow.
This is where some monastics miss the mark. They can stop at the
perpetual gloom and dread point, without realizing the contemplative
joy and love beyond that.

Monasticism is true, but the Gospel is more so. Neither Jansenism nor
perpetual gloom would play very well with Matthew, Mark, Luke or
John. That means they wouldn't play well with St. Benedict, either,
as his second portion surely guarantees. Love and joy and humility
are an inseparable trio! When fear is cast out, gloom goes right
along with it!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

+PAX

A very blessed feast of Saint Scholastica to all. Pray for our nuns here (and
throughout the Order!) on their patronal solemnity.
A joyous feast at lunch today, with monks and nuns together for the special
meal. Jubilate!!

Deo gratias! Prayers of Thanksgiving for Gina, our child with the brain tumor,
who had a very successful surgery yesterday. Prayers, too, for me, as I enter
the last crazed day before leaving for FL, that I be as productive as possible!
God's will is best. All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much!  JL


February 10, June 11, October 11
Chapter 8: On the Divine Office During the Night

In the winter time,
that is from the Calends of November until Easter,
the sisters shall rise
at what is calculated to be the eighth hour of the night,
so that they may sleep somewhat longer than half the night
and rise with their rest completed.
And the time that remains after the Night Office
should be spent in study
by those sisters who need a better knowledge of the Psalter
or the lessons.


From Easter to the aforesaid Calends of November,
the hour of rising should be so arranged that the Morning Office,
which is to be said at daybreak,
will follow the Night Office after a very short interval,
during which they may go out for the necessities of nature.

REFLECTION

Two very human glimpses into the personality of St. Benedict here. He
is thoughtful and kind, making sure the monastics have time for a
bathroom run and he is not prudish about mentioning it. It's part of
the human and part of family life. As casually as a mother asks young
children if anybody "has to go" before a trip, he throws out mention
of the fact that not everyone could make it through two long services
without great discomfort!

The tender concern of a loving parent comes through loud and clear
here. St. Benedict is well aware that he is not setting up a spa
resort, but he also wants the monastics living by his ascetic regime
to live in the reasonable comfort of moderation. "Reasonable," that
is, in accord with reason; and "comfort" that is, to strengthen,
literally, with strength.

Some monastic reforms have missed the boat on this one! Certain
accounts of the early monks of La Trappe seem like nothing more than
travelogues of grim, gloomy, resigned penitential excess. It's not
supposed to be easy, ( and it isn't!) but being a monastic isn't
supposed to be ALL gritted teeth, either. We Benedictines need, as
Hopkins put it: "room to let joy size."!

So, yeah, let them sleep enough, but not too much. And after they've
been chanting in Church for a good long while, give 'em all a
bathroom break. This is not the program of a heartless, joyless,
unloving taskmaster!



Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

+PAX

Prayers, please, for Dunstan, cataract and other eye problems, waiting for
surgery, for a Mom and her very depressed daughter, with the latter in denial,
for Nadia, 5, cyst surgery on neck, and for her worried grandparents, and for
the vocation of Aida. Prayers, too, that my FL trip goes according to God's
will. If I miss a day or so between now and the 18th, forgive me, please. God's
will is best. All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much.  JL

February 11, June 12, October 12

Chapter 9: How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at the Night Office


In winter time as defined above,
there is first this verse to be said three times:
"O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall declare Your praise."
To it is added Psalm 3 and the "Glory be to the Father,"
and after that Psalm 94 to be chanted with an antiphon
or even chanted simply.
Let the Ambrosian hymn follow next,
and then six Psalms with antiphons.
When these are finished and the verse said,
let the Abbot give a blessing;
then, all being seated on the benches,
let three lessons be read from the book on the lectern
by the brethren in their turns,
and after each lesson let a responsory be chanted.
Two of the responsories are to be said
without a "Glory be to the Father"
but after the third lesson
let the chanter say the "Glory be to the Father,"
and as soon as he begins it let all rise from their seats
out of honor and reverence to the Holy Trinity.


The books to be read at the Night Office
shall be those of divine authorship,
of both the Old and the New Testament,
and also the explanations of them which have been made
by well known and orthodox Catholic Fathers.


After these three lessons with their responsories
let the remaining six Psalms follow,
to be chanted with "Alleluia."
After these shall follow the lesson from the Apostle,
to be recited by heart,
the verse
and the petition of the litany, that is "Lord, have mercy on us."
And so let the Night Office come to an end.


REFLECTION

Keeping Vigils is one of the things monastics do and have done from
time immemorial. Monasteries are structured to make that possible.
Things that are never easy are at least possible in monasteries
because everything has been geared toward that end.

Oblates in the world may sometimes express regret that they cannot
keep the whole monastic Office, but let me assure you, there are
Vigils kept by Oblates of which monastics have no clue. Sure, it's
hard to get up in the dark and say 14 psalms, but monastics need
never face the harder, lonelier Vigils spent beside a desperately ill
spouse or child. They need not face the terror of long insomniac
nights of financial dread and worry, which compounds when one
realizes that oversleeping might cost one one's job. The vocations in
which Oblates find themselves often more than compensate for whatever
ascesis one might find in a cloister!

But, you see, that is how it ought to be: all the graces we need for
holiness, for sainthood, are built right into our situations. The
monk need not long for parenthood, nor the parent for the cloister.
Each vocation is different and appropriately varied, but every
vocation carries within it exactly the mercy and the means of grace which
God knew from all eternity would be most perfect for us.

Never, ever think that a night spent sleepless for a sick child
doesn't count as many, many, MANY Vigils! Benedictines live and
thrive in all manner of environments today, and some of the best of
them are not in choir in the wee hours, but that matters absolutely
not at all!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
jeromeleo@...
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
Petersham, MA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

+PAX

Prayers of thanksgiving for a safe trip to FL and for progress on the
depressive woman we prayed for, prayers, too, for Wayne, who has died
and for Barbara, his daughter and all his family. God's will is best.
All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much! JL

Feb 12

Chapter 10: How the Night Office Is to Be Said in Summer Time

From Easter until the Calends of November
let the same number of Psalms be kept as prescribed above;
but no lessons are to be read from the book,
on account of the shortness of the nights.
Instead of those three lessons
let one lesson from the Old Testament be said by heart
and followed by a short responsory.
But all the rest should be done as has been said;
that is to say that never fewer than twelve Psalms
should be said at the Night Office,
not counting Psalm 3 and Psalm 94.


REFLECTION

The rhythm here is pure agriculture, not liturgy: when the sun rises
sooner, so do the farm chores, which have no human seasonal clocks to
tell them otherwise! Critters have to be cared for, milked and
pastured according to their clocks, not ours. The upshot of this is
that, for nearly 1,500 years, until the late 1960's, Benedictines
followed the Holy Rule's advice and said Matins differently in the
summer and winter, even in the cities. (It is worthy of note that, at
least in the U.S., agricultural enterprises were being abandoned at
about the same time as no longer economically feasible in many
houses.)

Put another spin on this and you will find, especially if you are an
Oblate, that St. Benedict intends at least some aspects of his
monastic program to adapt themselves to the environment in which the
monastic lives. Do no wear yourself out trying to make the very
square peg of a relentless monastic life fit into the intractably
round hole of a life in the world. Don't try to make your kids (or
spouse!) understand that you are going to be monastic, no matter what
they are or aren't. For one thing, if you in any way diminish your
primary vocation, like marriage or parenthood, you are not going to
be monastic at all! The key to our struggle is obedience and
humility, not control of others.

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
jeromeleo@...
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Sorry I'm so late today.

Prayers, please, for Lenore, diagnosed with colorectal cancer and for
Patricia, her granddaughter whom she raised. Without her parents,
Patricia relied very heavily on her grandmother and is devastated by
this news. God's will is best. All is mercy and grace. Thanks so
much.  JL

February 13, June 14, October 14
Chapter 11: How the Night Office Is to Be Said on Sundays


On Sunday
the hour of rising for the Night Office should be earlier.
In that Office let the measure already prescribed be kept,
namely the singing of six Psalms and a verse.
Then let all be seated on the benches in their proper order
while the lessons and their responsories are read from the book,
as we said above.
These shall be four in number,
with the chanter saying the "Glory be to the Father"
in the fourth responsory only,
and all rising reverently as soon as he begins it.


After these lessons
let six more Psalms with antiphons follow in order, as before,
and a verse;
and then let four more lessons be read with their responsories
in the same way as the former.


After these let there be three canticles
from the book of the Prophets,
as the Abbot shall appoint,
and let these canticles be chanted with "Alleluia."
Then when the verse has been said
and the Abbot has given the blessing,
let four more lessons be read,
from the New Testament,
in the manner prescribed above.


After the fourth responsory
let the Abbot begin the hymn "We praise You, O God."
When this is finished
the Abbot shall read the lesson from the book of the Gospels,
while all stand in reverence and awe.
At the end let all answer "Amen,"
and let the Abbot proceed at once
to the hymn "To You be praise."
After the blessing has been given,
let them begin the Morning Office.


This order for the Night Office on Sunday
shall be observed the year around,
both summer and winter;
unless it should happen (which God forbid)
that the brethren be late in rising,
in which case the lessons or the responsories
will have to be shortened somewhat.
Let every precaution be taken, however,
against such an occurrence;
but if it does happen,
then the one through whose neglect it has come about
should make due satisfaction to God in the oratory.

REFLECTION

Making the comparatively safe assumption that the majority of those
reading this will not be spending the wee hours of Sunday celebrating
three nocturns instead of two, what do we glean from this? Well, for
starters, let's note that St. Benedict goes out of his way to make
Sunday special year-round, even when he would at other times shorten
the Office. Making Sunday special, by the way, was not some novel
idea of his own: it's a commandment of God, one we often forget these
days.

Sunday is not just a day off. Sunday is not observed by just cramming
Church in somehow and the rest of the day no different. The Roman
Catholic practice of Saturday Vigil Masses can really throw a wrench
into this: do it late Saturday afternoon and "get it out of the way."
Whoops! In spite of the theological and liturgical justifications of
a Vigil Mass, that's what it often boils down to in people's minds:
less than an hour, done late the day before, and you're done! Not!!!

If Sunday affords no extra time at all to you for rest, for prayer,
for lectio, please change something. I know one family who can't make
it to Mass on Sunday because of sports schedules for several kids in
different games. What will those kids grow up thinking of as
Sabbath? A rushed 45 minute Mass Saturday evening, if that? How many
observant Jews does one find in that dilemma? None. They know what
comes first.

No one took the Sabbath away from Christians: we surrendered it willy
nilly! It is, by the way, still there waiting, just as God is, for us
to take it back. Fully within our power to do so. All we have to do
is change ourselves. That can be hard at first, but the rewards are
immense.

Albert Schweitzer once said that the proof that Christianity had
failed in Europe was war. I would say that the only proof needed to
say that our Christian theology of the Sabbath has failed is to take
a look at what's left of Sunday. And please don't blame the pagans
for this one: we are at the root of the problem. Most likely at fault
was our legalistic idea of you goes to Church and youse done with it.

Hence, don't go running for some Christian source to read up on the
Sabbath. Check out your library or bookstore for some good Jewish
books on how to keep the seasons, holidays and Sabbath. You're going
to have a refreshing surprise. You're going to find deep holiness and
you're going to find it largely "home-made" by the believers
themselves, in their own homes. If you whine as Christians can how
tough it is to run uphill against a secular Sunday, bear in mind that
Jews are doing all this themselves on SATURDAY, with absolutely no
cooperation from government or business or society at all.

This, by the way, is not imposing monasticism on your children: it's
making them Christian. Not an optional job!

Love and prayers,

Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers, please, for Mary Smith, whose funeral I came down here for,
for Sr. Lany Jo, her daughter and for all her family. I did not check
messages today, so any prayer requests I received will have to go on
tomorrow. God is outside of time and Her will understand. God's will
is best. All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much. JL

February 14, June 15, October 15

Chapter 12: How the Morning Office Is to Be Said


The Morning Office on Sunday shall begin with Psalm 66
recited straight through without an antiphon.
After that let Psalm 50 be said with "Alleluia,"
then Psalms 117 and 62,
the Canticle of Blessing (Benedicite) and the Psalms of praise (Ps.
148-150);
then a lesson from the Apocalypse to be recited by heart,
the responsory, the Ambrosian hymn, the verse,
the canticle from the Gospel book,
the litany and so the end.

REFLECTION

By now, it should be clear that St. Benedict goes out of his way to
make Sunday special, its liturgy more solemn and joyous. Tucked in
this short chapter, however, is a key to the monastic struggle that
is often forgotten or under-emphasized in the modern West: lifelong
repentance. Not just during the week, but even on Sundays, the feast
of the Resurrection spread throughout the year, he wants the
monastics to say Psalm 50(51), "Have mercy on me, O God..." This is
the most famous confession of guilt in the Psalter, *THE* penitential
Psalm par excellence!

Because East and West understand very different things
by "repentance" it is easy for either side to become annoyed with the
interpretation of the other. Extremely put, an Easterner might be
turned off by what would be seen as the Western practice of "repent
and get over it," a more or less (to their eyes,) temporary activity.
Westerners would be equally grossed out by the Eastern position of
LIFELONG repentance. It would strike them as severe and overdone, a
bit like the perfect student cheerleader who bursts into tears
because she got an A minus! (How many of us plodders have wanted to
retch and gag at such Honor Roll tears!! Puhleeze, get a life!)

Hate to tell you, folks, but I think that the East has the healthiest
view on this one. They view repentance not just as mourning, but as
turning around, "metanoia." Granted, the term metanoia gained a
certain popularity in the West in the late 20th century, but its full
Eastern meaning as a synonym for repentance seems to have escaped us!
In the West, we would term metanoia as "conversion", a turning around
or away from and repentance more as a passive regret. To the East,
both these active and passive actions make up the whole of
repentance. This may seem a silly distinction, but when two parties
mean slightly different things by the same term, it is wise to clear
up the picture!

In that light, repentance is a turning which does not turn back. It
is not just passive remorse, it is active and lifelong conversion.
Ah, now our Western minds can wrap around it more easily! Repentance
means to Eastern ears what we Benedictines would call conversion of
manners! You don't repent once and quit, you go on and on in
converted life.

There might be a Western glimmer of that absolute repentance which
continues in some fashion or other in a Spanish phrase: "De repente."
It is used to mean suddenly, all at once, in a twinkling. However,
(correct me, mis Latinos, if I am wrong here!) once something
happens "de repente" a complete and total return to the prior state
of affairs does not occur. If you fall in love "de repente" you may
indeed later fall out of love, but you will never return to the
condition which preceded your love, to the beloved being unknown or
ignored. De repente is not just sudden, it is, in a real sense,
definite: things will never the exactly the same again.

That's why St. Benedict wants us to repent everyday. He wants us to
never be exactly the same again! And that, beloveds, is what
conversion of manners is all about: different and hopefully better
each day.

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Sorry to be so late, but it WAS a great day at St. Leo. Unknown to
me, I landed here just in time for Oblate Sunday. Had a wonderful
time and met several of our Holy Rule readers among the group, as
well as gathered a lot of addresses to add when I get home. A very,
very happy and holy time in this place that is so dear to me. Pray
for me and all of those I shared today with, please! Brother Patrick
is wonderfully well. At 89!!! Deo gratias! God's will is best. All is
mercy and grace. Thanks so much.  JL

February 15, June 16, October 16
Chapter 13: How the Morning Office Is to Be Said on Weekdays

On weekdays
the Morning Office shall be celebrated as follows.
Let Psalm 66 be said without an antiphon
and somewhat slowly,
as on Sunday,
in order that all may be in time for Psalm 50,
which is to be said with an antiphon.
After that let two other Psalms be said according to custom,
namely:
on Monday Psalms 5 and 35,
on Tuesday Psalms 42 and 56,
on Wednesday Psalms 63 and 64,
on Thursday Psalms 87 and 89,
on Friday Psalms 75 and 91,
and on Saturday Psalm 142 and the canticle from Deuteronomy,
which is to be divided into two sections
each terminated by a "Glory be to the Father."
But on the other days let there be a canticle from the Prophets,
each on its own day as chanted by the Roman Church.
Next follow the Psalms of praise,
then a lesson of the Apostle to be recited from memory,
the responsory, the hymn, the verse,
the canticle from the Gospel book,
the litany, and so the end.

REFLECTION

Again, we have the gentleness of St. Benedict, insisting on the slow
recitation of Psalm 66, to give all the stragglers and strugglers
time to arrive! But we have it here in other respects, too. Check out
the length of the Canticle from Deuteronomy. Pack a lunch!! St.
Benedict divides it, drops one Psalm and lets one half of the very
long canticle take its place.

Even though St. Benedict went out of his way to shorten the Roman
Office of his day, here he says that the canticles chosen by the
Roman Church for most of the week should be used. When he sees a good
idea, he embraces it. When he sees a need for change, he does that,
too. It is very evident that he did not care for lengthy services,
that he did not want his monastics to become liturgical gymnasts,
spending ALL their time working out! As always, he wanted balance.

We must always be careful NOT to read St. Benedict with purely 21st
century eyes. Liturgy and uniformity were very, very different in his
time. If anything, uniformity was little known. The greatest
ascendancy of the Roman usage before Trent in Europe- and even that
was far from complete- would come hundreds of years later, under the
aegis of Charlemagne. The enforced uniformity of Trent was over a
thousand years away.

(Trivia: We forget that the Roman rite of Trent was not used
everywhere before the 16th century, or even used everywhere AFTER the
Reformation. One of the minor complaints to arise about the priests
of the post-Reformation English mission was that some used the new
Roman Mass of Trent, while others clung to the more ancient and
properly English rite of Sarum. Dominicans, Cistercians and
Carthusians retained their own rites, with Gallican peculiarities,
right up until the late 1960's. Carthusians still use their own rite
for Mass and Office, currently the most ancient and rare rite in the
West.

Hence, when we see St. Benedict setting up his own complete Psalter,
that is not unusual: every monastery would have to do that for
itself, some better than others. It was that "some better than
others" part that St. Benedict wished to avoid: he set a standard for
his monasteries that would protect them from the surrounding extremes
of too much or too little.

Love and prayers,

Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

February 16, June 17, October 17

Chapter 13: How the Morning Office Is to Be Said on Weekdays


The Morning and Evening Offices
should never be allowed to pass
without the Superior saying the Lord's Prayer
in its place at the end
so that all may hear it,
on account of the thorns of scandal which are apt to spring up.
Thus those who hear it,
being warned by the covenant which they make in that prayer
when they say, "Forgive us as we forgive,"
may cleanse themselves of faults against that covenant.


But at the other Offices
let the last part only of that prayer be said aloud,
so that all may answer, "But deliver us from evil."


REFLECTION

If one just counts the times we say the Our Father aloud, at Mass,
Lauds and Vespers, it's three times a day. Actually, given the silent
repetitions at minor Hours, Compline and grace at table, the number
jumps considerably. Added up, that can be pretty damning evidence at
the Judgement seat if we don't mean what we are saying!

Do we forgive? Do we really want His Kingdom to come? Or His Will to
be done? Probably, in most cases, yes and no... The work of our
monastic lives is to make that equation all "yes"! We cavil with God
over His Will, we seek to change His mind, as if we really could! As
for forgiveness and His Kingdom, well, you can't have one without the
other! The very equality of all in God's love that will obtain in the
Kingdom already chafes us when we stop to think of someone we
mightily WISH He did not love quite that much!

As Dorothy Day's friend, Fr. Hugo, used to say: "You love God as
much as the one you love the least." That remark shames me every
single time I think of it. It is a great barometer of just how far
one has to go, of how much God really matters to one. So far, I have
never had a shortage of people I loved little enough to be quite
embarrassed. But I am working on it, and that is all any of us can
do.

This perfection called for in the Lord's Prayer is a task we will
never complete. There will always be more to do, our ducks will never
be in a row, we will never and can never be utterly perfect. That's
why we need a Savior, that's what He did. That's how ALL the "i's"
got dotted and "t's" got crossed (literally!) God does call us to be
perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, but He also knows that
that job will never be finished, He wants us to keep trying, but He
certainly knows best that no one could do that without becoming God.
Let us be frank in holding out no hope of anyone ever doing that!

Quick: Think of the last happy perfectionist you've known! There
aren't any. That's the rub. They're missing a HUGE part of the
puzzle, God and His Mercy and Grace. Small wonder they can be cranky
so much!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB, who sadly admits that more than one perfectionist has
been the one he loved the least.... They CAN be hard to live with,
even to themselves!

jeromeleo@... St. Mary's Monastery Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers are requested for Kathleen Ozech, who has died, and for
Laryssa, her granddaughter and all their family. God's will is best.
All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much!  JL


February 17, June 18, October 18
Chapter 14: How the Night Office Is to Be Said on the Feasts of the
Saints


On the feasts of Saints and on all festivals
let the Office be performed
as we have prescribed for Sundays,
except that the Psalms, the antiphons and the lessons
belonging to that particular day are to be said.
Their number, however, shall remain as we have specified above.


REFLECTION

Check out the sickening glut of consumerist advertising that attends
the approach (even the very remote approach!) of Christmas,
Valentine's Day, or any other holiday whose traditions include gift-
giving. Man, the sharks move in for the kill! We can firmly trust the
secular world to promote and protect the days they stand to profit
from. In fact, in the US, at least, we can count on the greeting card
industry to even increase those special days. Long since bored with
just Mother's Day and Father's Day, now the card industry has now
gone to Grandparents' Day, Secretaries' WEEK, and who knows what is
next.

There's a truth in all this annoying materialism: those who profit
from a thing must make it special themselves. In other words, we must
use their self-promoting tools on our own feasts, for our own
spiritual gain, since it is highly unlikely that the holiest feasts
for us (unless one is named Patrick!!) are likely to turn up anytime
soon in the scheme of secular promotion.

In our monastery, we celebrate feastdays, not birthdays. This took a
bit of adjusting to, but now my feastday is even more special than my
birthday: it is the one everyone knows about and celebrates and tries
to make special. WE make feastdays special. We profit from them
spiritually and it is up to us to ensure their importance.

Take a hint from this chapter and go out of your way to make your own
special saint's feast or feast of the Lord come alive for you. For
years now I have loved Feb 2, the Presentation of the Lord, or
Candlemas. It has become my favorite feast and I honestly look
forward to it and revel in it. But I had to do that myself, to
nurture the associations with the day and so forth. All of us can
give that gift to ourselves and there's no consumerist madness
involved!

Love and prayers,

Jerome, OSB St. Mary's Monastery Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers of thanksgiving, Nadia, for whom we prayed, has had
successful neck surgery. Also, thanks be to God I am home after a
safe and happy trip!! God's will is best. All is mercy and grace!
Thanks so much!  JL

February 18, June 19, October 19
Chapter 15: At What Times "Alleluia" Is to Be Said

From holy Easter until Pentecost without interruption
let "Alleluia" be said
both in the Psalms and in the responsories.
From Pentecost to the beginning of Lent
let it be said every night
with the last six Psalms of the Night Office only.
On every Sunday, however, outside of Lent,
the canticles, the Morning Office, Prime, Terce, Sext and None
shall be said with "Alleluia,"
but Vespers with antiphons.

The responsories are never to be said with "Alleluia"
except from Easter to Pentecost.

REFLECTION

When I lived in the Byzantine rite for a very happy while, one of the
things that surprised me was the fact that they still used Alleluia
in Lent. That sounded strange to my Western ears, but not for long.
In the West, Alleluia has become virtually nothing but a synonym
for "Hooray!" In the East, not so. Our Western connection of Alleluia
as primarily a word of rejoicing reserved for happy times is not
quite on the mark, with all due apologies to St. Benedict and the
rest of Western tradition.

When was the last time you stopped to think that "Amen" really
meant "So be it"? I do now and then, but usually just parrot the word
out without a thought. So it is with most people saying
Alleluia. "Oh, yeah, uh...alleluia...." Alleluia means "Praise the
Lord." Focus on this and one can readily see why the East still says
it during Lent.

Of course, St. Benedict's prescriptions here are a perfect blend of
change and variety for the Office. They "dress up" the most festive
times of the years and provide a break from the ordinary. Probably
what St. Benedict had in mind at the time was that our hearts should
be so full at Paschaltide that no other words would do: only the
ineffable stuttering out of "Alleluia!!" would convey our joy. He
wasn't wrong about that, but saying Alleluia mindlessly misses the
point.

So, forgive me, does saying Alleluia only at joyous times. The
charismatic movement in the 1970's made popular the English
equivalent of Alleluia: "Praise the Lord!" It was an expression of
joy and gratitude for whatever God had done for one. Ah, but then
the "whatever" part of that phrase soon came to be evident! A very
clever catch phrase evolved for those times when things WEREN'T so
great, when one had difficulty appreciating what sometimes seems like
God's decidedly strange sense of humor. On such occasions, they
said: "Praise the Lord Anyhow!" Now that one is probably closer to
the real sense of "Alleluia!"

Our Office and Mass may change in Lent in the Western tradition, but
our hearts must always and everywhere, in every circumstance,
say "Alleluia!" and really mean it, really know it.

Love and prayers and Alleluia!
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers, please, for David Burton and his Mom. She is having a
pacemaker put in today at 11 AM. God's will is best. All is mercy and
grace. Thanks so much!  JL

February 19, June 20, October 20
Chapter 16: How the Work of God Is to Be Performed During the Day

"Seven times in the day," says the Prophet,
"I have rendered praise to You" (Ps. 118:164).
Now that sacred number of seven will be fulfilled by us
if we perform the Offices of our service
at the time of the Morning Office,
of Prime, of Terce, of Sext, of None,
of Vespers and of Compline,
since it was of these day Hours that he said,
"Seven times in the day I have rendered praise to You."
For as to the Night Office the same Prophet says,
"In the middle of the night I arose to glorify You" (Ps. 118:62).


Let us therefore bring our tribute of praise to our Creator
"for the judgments of His justice" (Ps. 118:164)
at these times:
the Morning Office, Prime, Terce, Sext, None,
Vespers and Compline;
and in the night let us arise to glorify Him.

REFLECTION

Tucked neatly into all this business of naming and counting the Hours
of the Divine Office comes the actual reason we go to choir or say
the Office alone. It is "our tribute of praise to our Creator 'for
the judgments of His justice' "

OK, tribute, praise, glorify, all those things are familiar enough to
us, but the zinger here is "for the judgments of His justice."
Whoops! A lot fall out on that one! Whether we realize it or not, the
reason we praise God as Benedictine is to thank Him for ALL His
decisions in regard to us. That isn't easy, but it is terribly valid
and terribly necessary.

We thank God- admittedly sometimes with gritted teeth- for all the
things that did and DIDN'T work out the way we wanted them, for every
acceptance and every rejection that brought us to be as we find
ourselves today, in His arms. The jobs we didn't get, the great loves
which were not reciprocal, the course we flunked, the kids that went
wrong, the illness that dogs us, the spouse we should never have gone
out with twice, the unwanted pregnancy, the miscarriage, EVERYTHING
that has shaped our lives and persons is something we thank God for
in the Office.

I mention only the difficult things, because anybody can be thankful
that the apparently GOOD stuff worked out. I am not saying all the
bad stuff is God's fault, or that it's our own fault, but ALL of it
is turned to GOOD by God, and that is worth singing about! All of it!
If we look back honestly, we can see the hand of His goodness in the
darkest times, we can see it in NOT having our way, we can see it in
everything.

Since the way God turns all to good is a mystery we shall never know
fully in this life, we cannot adequately say much of anything but
thanks and praise, the stammered joy of someone who has received a
really great gift and is astounded at such generosity. Thanks, God.
And hey, You really DID know what You were doing all along, didn't
You?

Truly, truly, God's will *IS* best! And all is mercy and grace!!!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers of thanksgiving for Dave Burton and his Mom, she came through
her pacemaker operation well! Prayers, too, for Bernice and all her
family. She has 4 grandchildren graduating, 3 from HS and one a nurse!
God's will is best! All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much!  JL

February 20, June 21, October 21
Chapter 17: How Many Psalms Are to Be Said at These Hours

We have already arranged the order of the psalmody
for the Night and Morning Offices;
let us now provide for the remaining Hours.


At Prime let three Psalms be said,
separately and not under one "Glory be to the Father."
The hymn of that Hour
is to follow the verse "Incline unto my aid, O God,"
before the Psalms begin.
Upon completion of the three Psalms
let one lesson be recited,
then a verse,
the "Lord, have mercy on us" and the concluding prayers.


The Offices of Terce, Sext and None
are to be celebrated in the same order,
that is:
the "Incline unto my aid, O God," the hymn proper to each Hour,
three Psalms, lesson and verse,
"Lord, have mercy on us" and concluding prayers.


If the community is a large one,
let the Psalms be sung with antiphons;
but if small,
let them be sung straight through.


Let the Psalms of the Vesper Office be limited to four,
with antiphons.
After these Psalms the lesson is to be recited,
then the responsory, the hymn, the verse,
the canticle from the Gospel book,
the litany, the Lord's Prayer and the concluding prayers.


Let Compline be limited to the saying of three Psalms,
which are to be said straight through without antiphon,
and after them the hymn of that Hour,
one lesson, a verse, the "Lord, have mercy on us,"
the blessing and the concluding prayers.

REFLECTION

Just as Lauds and Vespers are fraternal twins, at dawn and sunset, so
are Prime and Compline, before work and before bed. Both are somewhat
different from the other minor hours, but, like Lauds and Vespers,
they share a similarity and complementarity of sorts. Prime was
suppressed in the Roman rite, but not in the Monastic usage. Still,
in the reshuffling of things, Prime got lost in many, if not most
houses.

That's too bad, in a way. Just as Compline features many things that
prepare one for sleep or for the death it prefigures, always a
possibility, so Prime prepares one for the day at hand, for its work
and for life. The traditional time given for the celebration of Prime
was "before work."

Some older Oblate manuals used to offer the full text of Prime for
every day, with the other hour being the changeless Compline. That
made a great deal of sense. Many Oblates who could only dream
spending morning hours before work or school celebrating Matins and
Lauds could easily fit Prime into their schedule and its whole
liturgical slant was to prepare them for and bless their work day
ahead.

One reason Prime became such a prayer for one's workday is that, over
centuries, the minor hour got merged with a lot of stuff that
ordinarily happened in the Chapter room daily: reading the Rule and
assigning work. Hence, some of its additions may not have been of the
purest type, but let us face it, we are an age that rarely insists on
purism, and chiefly only when it agrees with agendas we already are
bent on anyway.

Let me whet your appetite by giving you the two prayers offered at
the end of Prime, either or both are a great way to begin the day and
quickly memorized. Just remember, as you say them, to join your heart
to the thousands and thousands of monastics who said them every day
before you. They are a very neat connection to our past and to the
saints of our Order who have gone before us and they easily fit into
any morning routine..

"Lord God Almighty, You have brought us to the beginning of this day.
Preserve us now by Your power so that in this day we may not fall
into any sin; rather, that all our words, thoughts and acts may be
always directed to doing Your justice. We ask this through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen."

"Lord God, King of heaven and earth, be pleased this day to direct
and sanctify, to rule and govern our hearts and bodies, our thoughts,
words and deeds according to Your law and in obedience to Your
commandments. Now and forever may we attain salvation and freedom by
Your help, O Savior of the world, Who lives and reigns forever and
ever. Amen"

Enjoy them and use them!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers, please, for Frank, severe pain after back surgery. He has
had chronic pain for some time before surgery and really needs our
prayers. Prayers, too, for Fr. Paul Sankoorikal, hospitalized after a
car accident and now facing prostate surgery on Monday, also
thanksgiving for the young depressed woman for whom we prayed.
Significant progress there! God's will is best. All is mercy and
grace. Thanks so much.  JL

February 21, June 22, October 22
Chapter 18: In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said

Let this verse be said:
"Incline unto my aid, O God;
O Lord, make haste to help me,"
and the "Glory be to the Father"
then the hymn proper to each Hour.


Then at Prime on Sunday
four sections of Psalm 118 are to be said;
and at each of the remaining Hours,
that is Terce, Sext and None,
three sections of the same Psalm 118.

At Prime on Monday let three Psalms be said,
namely Psalms 1, 2 and 6.
And so each day at Prime until Sunday
let three Psalms be said in numerical order, to Psalm 19,
but with Psalms 9 and 17 each divided into two parts.
Thus it comes about that the Night Office on Sunday
always begins with Psalm 20.

REFLECTION

Since Prime was to be said before work, its Psalms could vary. The
Tuesday through Saturday repetition of the same 9 Psalms for minor
hours excludes Prime, which was probably said in Church or Chapter
room, or partially in both. Since Prime was celebrated where books
were available, it could use different Psalms every day and did.
There was no need for the memorization which would allow farmer monks
to celebrate None in the midst of a hayfield.

The distinction of lay brothers and sisters who did not celebrate the
full choral Office did not come about until long after St. Benedict's
time. Hence, there were choir monks and nuns working in the fields
who had to fulfill their obligation. This at least partially explains
the use of the same nine Psalms every day on the week's 6 work days,
with variations only on Sunday, when all could be in Church. Those
nine Psalms slipped readily into memory and no books were required
for the minor Hours while at work.

I was glad to hear from some who especially loved the prayers of
Prime. So do I! Here, however, is yet another offering from the
Office of Prime: its hymn. Being metrical, it is easily memorized. A
nurse friend of mine told me years ago she used to sing this hymn
every morning at an Episcopal summer camp for kids. Not a bad idea at
all! Enjoy! If the commute to morning work or school allowed for
nothing else, it could always easily include this!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA 01366

HYMN

Now that the daylight fills the sky
We lift our hearts to God on high,
That He, in all we do or say,
Would keep us free from harm today:

Would guard our hearts and tongues from strife;
From anger's din would hide our life;
From evil sights would turn our eyes;
Would close our ears to vanities.

So we, when this new day is gone
and night in turn is drawing on,
With conscience by the world unstained
Shall praise His name for vict'ry gained.

To God the Father and the Son
And Holy Spirit, three in one,
Be endless glory as before
The world began, so evermore. Amen.

+PAX

Prayers for all our Eastern Christian brothers and sisters who will
begin their Lent tomorrow. Unlike the West, they do not have ashes at
the beginning, but they do have a very striking custom: Forgiveness
Vespers. At Vespers today all are supposed to forgive each other for
whatever has held them apart. Not a bad idea for us Westerners,
either!! Holy Lent to all. God's will is best. All is mercy and
grace.  JL

February 22, June 23, October 23
Chapter 18: In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said

At Terce, Sext and None on Monday
let the nine remaining sections of Psalm 118 be said,
three at each of these Hours.

Psalm 118 having been completed, therefore,
on two days, Sunday and Monday,
let the nine Psalms from Psalm 119 to Psalm 127
be said at Terce, Sext and None,
three at each Hour,
beginning with Tuesday.
And let these same Psalms be repeated every day until Sunday
at the same Hours,
while the arrangement of hymns, lessons and verses
is kept the same on all days;
and thus Prime on Sunday will always begin with Psalm 118.


REFLECTION

It is easy to think that St. Benedict included all this repetition- 6
days worth!- in the Psalms of the minor hours for its own sake, but
that is not necessarily so. Remember that, in St. Benedict's time,
the distinction of lay brothers or sisters, who did not say the full
Office in choir, did not yet exist: everyone said the full Office,
even while away or working at a distance.

That provides a very likely possibility for the 6 days- all of them
working days- repetition. Try saying the same 9 short Psalms 6 days a
week for a while and watch how fast they slip into memory. Monks
could pray the minor hours in the fields or on the road to market
with farm goods, anywhere.

That might not be a bad idea for rushed Oblates today. What if one
chose just one of these short minor hours with Gradual Psalms and
memorized it, maybe Sext for the lunch hour, or None for the drive
home, even Terce for the ride to work? I often say parts of the
Office I have memorized on public transport or while driving: no
book, no fuss, no worry. It is a great freedom to require nothing but
one's memory and heart to say part of the Office. Not only that, but
moments of solitude for prayer often surprise us during the day, come
when and where we least expect them. A memorized hour lets us always
be ready for them.

LOTS of people have trouble with Psalm 118. That's not surprising
because, even if unconsciously, we have come to expect at least more
or less of a whole thought or story to a given Psalm. Most of them
certainly offer this.

Psalm 118, by contrast, seems to ramble on and on and all over the
place. Yes, there's a common thread of sorts in dealing with the Law,
but even that doesn't figure everywhere. It often reads as nothing
more thrilling than a somewhat disjointed collection of proverbs. Try
saying the whole Psalm at once and you'll see what I mean! (I know it
is the longest, but saying the whole thing will take less than 15
minutes or so.)

OK, for one thing, Psalm 118 is an alphabetical psalm, hence those
names of Hebrew letters at the beginning of each section. That's the
gimmick in the Hebrew original that is lost in translation: every
verse begins with the same letter. Small wonder that we find it a
touchy mess of unrelated sayings!

So, yeah, a LOT of the verses will sound like someone was scraping the
bottom for something to come up with next, largely because of the
alphabetical restraint in composition. Try to get beyond all that,
relax, and realize that Psalm 118 really *IS* a collection of
proverbs with a very loose theme. Enjoy it as proverbs and stop
worrying!

The Psalms were dear to the early monastics because they were seen as
a compendium of Scripture. In other words, all the basis elements of
Scripture were to be found in them, including representatives of the
most common literary forms: history, poetry, prophecy and
wisdom/proverbs. Psalm 118 covers the latter category quite
masterfully!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

February 23, June 24, October 24
Chapter 18: In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said

Vespers are to be sung with four Psalms every day.
These shall begin with Psalm 109 and go on to Psalm 147,
omitting those which are set apart for other Hours;
that is to say that
with the exception of Psalms 117 to 127 and Psalms 133 and 142,
all the rest of these are to be said at Vespers.
And since there are three Psalms too few,
let the longer ones of the above number be divided,
namely Psalms 138, 143 and 144.
But let Psalm 116 because of its brevity be joined to Psalm 115.


The order of the Vesper Psalms being thus settled,
let the rest of the Hour --
lesson, responsory, hymn, verse and canticle --
be carried out as we prescribed above.


At Compline the same Psalms are to be repeated every day,
namely Psalms 4, 90 and 133.

REFLECTION

Maybe it's just me, but I find Vespers and Compline very different
and refreshing. They are evening hours, not followed by work, except
for the light clean up after supper, which is not a main meal here
anyway. Vespers makes me think of finally getting home and shutting
the door after a long day and a tough commute. It is a flavor no
other hour has for me. It ends the workday, leaving the evening for
family. Not shabby! A rite of passage from the job to the home hearth!

A brief glance at the Psalms for Vespers will show that they are yet
another example of consecutive, running psalmody. One right after
another, except for a few which get bumped elsewhere or thoughtfully
divided because of their length. Apparently by numerical
happenstance, Psalm 140 winds us in the Vespers grouping, and it is
most appropriate: "Let my prayer ascend to You like incense and the
lifting up of my hands like an evening sacrifice." Historically,
Psalm 140 has appeared in the Vespers or services of light
(Lucenaria) of many, many rites.

For active monasteries, or for busy Oblates in the world, evening and
early morning are often the only times we get of relative cloister
and focus. The morning hours are largely available to anyone willing
or able to get up while the rest of the world (including the kids!)
sleeps, the evening hours perhaps less so. Those evenings are family
times par excellence and our first vocations must always be respected.

If, as a working parent or spouse, getting home means just getting
started with dinner, don't despair! There is (or can be, if you
provide for it,) a lot of undistracted solitude in cooking, even if
it is rather harried cooking. (Guests often ask if they can do
something to help me in the kitchen. My frequent response, I hope
said kindly enough, is "Yes, don't talk to me while I am cooking. I
get too focused!" If you can GENTLY establish a similar program of
don't-talk-to-Mom-while-she-is-cooking, go for it. The solitude of a
kitchen at work feeding loved ones is a rich one, indeed.

If you are into tapes, get one of somebody else singing Vespers and
play it. Heaven knows, if you can put up with the kids' music, they
can put up with yours for half an hour a day. Even if you do not
listen to every word, the soothing chant will settle into your bones,
become a backdrop of peace on which you can position the rest of your
evening. Give it a shot for two weeks and I'll bet you find your
evening meals and later times very different, because YOU are
different!

LOve and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX


February 24, June 25, October 25
Chapter 18: In What Order the Psalms Are to Be Said

The order of psalmody for the day Hours being thus arranged,
let all the remaining Psalms be equally distributed
among the seven Night Offices
by dividing the longer Psalms among them
and assigning twelve Psalms to each night.


We strongly recommend, however,
that if this distribution of the Psalms is displeasing to anyone,
she should arrange them otherwise,
in whatever way she considers better,
but taking care in any case
that the Psalter with its full number of 150 Psalms
be chanted every week
and begun again every Sunday at the Night Office.
For those monastics show themselves too lazy
in the service to which they are vowed,
who chant less than the Psalter with the customary canticles
in the course of a week,
whereas we read that our holy Fathers
strenuously fulfilled that task in a single day.
May we, lukewarm that we are, perform it at least in a whole week!

REFLECTION

I am going to begin this by reprinting two paragraphs of very
important qualifications from the last post on this chapter, in
February.

"I hasten to add a word of caution to Oblates here: the Holy Rule is
referring to choral Office in monasteries. To undertake for oneself
such an Office could well be unwise, and sometimes, even wrong. The
conditions of one's state in life come first. Oblates who are parents
or married have kept Vigils and Nocturns with sick children or
spouses of which professed monastics would never dream. Don't get
hung up on this one. SHARE the Office all you can, but tend first to
the responsibilities of your state in life.

Before I became a monk I used to OCCASIONALLY do all 150 Psalms
alone. There were two things worthy of mention here: I was a single
man with one (very loving!) cat, and I recited them. Even at that, I
can assure you it took up a chunk of time. Hence, Oblates should take
great care that they don't obsess on this notion. Do what you can and
rest assured that your community, and the Order and the whole praying
Church is "making up" whatever you can't offer."

A couple of years ago, the guesthouse well died (temporarily, thanks
be to God!) We had to gather 10 gallon plastic buckets for each
bathroom, haul them down the hill to the monastery in the station
wagon, fill them and bring them back. What a hassle! We also had to
caution the guests rather indelicately about no unnecessary
flushes: "Mellow yellow, brown down..." Even more recently, a storm
and left us without electricity for about twelve hours. Afraid to
open the fridge too much and with no oven, we ordered pizza in Athol
for the guests.

Both of these things were tough, but neither were anything compared
to the amount of labor required to maintain life in the first
centuries of the Order's existence. Neither were there lay brothers
to do all that work in those days, since they were a much later
development. No electricity, no indoor plumbing, no running water, no
phones, no Athol House of Pizza to call and no car to pick it up in.
(OK aqueducts in some places, but you get the picture...) In the
midst of a life that we would find crushingly different, St. Benedict
insisted on the weekly 150. Hmmmm......

We live in a world where countless labor-saving devices and perks
give us far more time than anyone in history has ever had. Are we
always good stewards of that abundance? Heaven knows, I don't want to
give up those modern advantages, look at how hooked on computers I
am. But what do we do with all that time? How much of the time we
save goes to prayer? How much goes to mindless stuff we could well do
without?


Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

February 25, June 26, October 26
Chapter 19: On the Manner of Saying the Divine Office

We believe that the divine presence is everywhere
and that "the eyes of the Lord
are looking on the good and the evil in every place" (Prov. 15:3).
But we should believe this especially without any doubt
when we are assisting at the Work of God.
To that end let us be mindful always of the Prophet's words,
"Serve the Lord in fear" (Ps. 2:11)
and again "Sing praises wisely" (Ps. 46:8)
and "In the sight of the Angels I will sing praise to You" (Ps.
137:1).
Let us therefore consider how we ought to conduct ourselves
in sight of the Godhead and of His Angels,
and let us take part in the psalmody in such a way
that our mind may be in harmony with our voice.

REFLECTION

If there were any phrase I could carve on the walls of every choir in
the Order, it would be: "In the sight of the Angels I will sing
praise to You." It stresses not only the lofty character (and cast!)
of our sacrifices of praise, but also the demeanor we should have in
offering them.

This applies to parishes as well as to monasteries. In either milieu
there can arise a certain foolish and unfortunate terrorism
in "ministers" of rubric or music. The foregoing italics were not
unintentional: when one terrorizes the flock over trivia, ministry
has stopped. We are in the presence of the Angels, yet we sometimes
easily forget that our brothers and sisters are each worth infinitely
more than aesthetics, than music, than rubric. We must love people
more than those!

Dump on your sister or brother in the name of such things and you
have missed the Bridegroom and married the Wedding March. Don't be
too surprised if you find the Wedding March to be a less than
thrilling spouse, a source of frustration rather than peace and joy!
Glare at your brother or sister once and the liturgy has just been
flushed for you, might as well go home right now. Whenever we use the
constructs of rubric or music to hurt or demean one another, those
Angels whose presence we ignore at our peril weep, and I think God
does as well.

The Presence of God that we miss so often should change our
demeanour. Father Bede and I know we can say just about anything to
each other and do! However, when Father Giles of Pluscarden took us to
lunch with his friend, Countess Cawdor, you can bet that Father Bede
and I were VERY well-behaved, subdued and deferential to the max!!!
We behaved differently because of the woman the Countess is, and
because we were in her home, a 13th century castle, not a sports bar
with soccer on big screens and face-painted patrons awash in Guinness.

Students act differently (usually worse, alas...) for a substitute
teacher. Employees are different when the boss is off for the day.
These assortments of different behavior are pretty much shot through
the human condition, though not necessarily always a good idea.

The message here is no masks. Know Him in Whose presence and House
you are. But really KNOW Him. That can take a lifetime of trying on
and shedding as false different modes of conduct. God, like so many
things, is very Benedictine in His perfection, which stands between
the extremes of which we are prone to think of Him. If you think God
is pretty much like the strictest teacher you ever had, who ran a
real death camp of a classroom, guess again. You're dead wrong. On
the other hand, neither is God some raunchy night club comedian,
though I feel hopeful He has chuckled at some of my earthier moments
more than once!

God is Parent and Creator and we are always creatures, but we are not
always children. We have to grow to the adult relationship with God
that fortunate children eventually share with their parents. (If we
never got to do this, and many haven't, establishing such honesty
with God is going to be a bit of a chore... Keep trying!) As we grow
in our knowledge of God, our behavior around Him (and we are
ALWAYS "around Him", that's another clear message of the Holy Rule!)
changes. It becomes more real and more natural. It changes with a
very clear eye to Whom God is and who we are. It changes from
knowledge born of love and security.

We often panic and are less comfortable than God or the people we
think we are pleasing would ever wish. During my visit to Cawdor
Castle, I was so busy being more polite than I'd ever been for that
long in my life that I ALMOST forgot how badly I wanted a cigarette.
I was the only smoker in our group.

The Countess, who had never met me before, must have asked or noted
somehow. At dessert, with no fanfare, an ashtray appeared at my place
at table, no fuss, no ceremony, no problem. I was so stunned I had to
ask to make sure it really WAS an ashtray. The message was: "Be who
you are, you're my guest!" I wonder if the Countess knew how very
much like God she was at that moment: real grace and class. Yeah, and
mercy, too!

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers, please, for a young mother of three who has died and for
Lynne, her mother, and all her family. Prayers, too, for Tim and Ilya
Smith, whose house burned down on Ash Wednesday, killing their
daughter, Felicia. God's will is best. All is mercy and grace. Truly
all! Thanks so much!  JL

February 26, June 27, October 27
Chapter 20: On Reverence in Prayer

When we wish to suggest our wants to persons of high station,
we do not presume to do so
except with humility and reverence.
How much the more, then,
are complete humility and pure devotion necessary
in supplication of the Lord who is God of the universe!
And let us be assured
that it is not in saying a great deal that we shall be heard (Matt
6:7),
but in purity of heart and in tears of compunction.
Our prayer, therefore, ought to be short and pure,
unless it happens to be prolonged
by an inspiration of divine grace.
In community, however, let prayer be very short,
and when the Superior gives the signal let all rise together.

REFLECTION

There is a necessary tension in Benedictine prayer, both public and
private, between the awesome majesty and otherness of God and His
infinite closeness and approachability. God is among us. He is not
the guy next door, but neither is He some untouchable, easily
offended emperor or sultan. Both these truths must be addressed in
order to maintain a correct balance.

God doesn't need ceremony, He doesn't need anything. All the high
church in the world might (or might not...) tickle His fancy, but it
does not one whit for Him personally. The rub here is that WE need
what we offer to God, and that has been all too often forgotten in
the last 40 years or so. In a very real and subtle sense, we BECOME
what we offer to God, often quite unnoticed by ourselves.

The upshot of all this is clear: offer God the lowest possible common
denominator and that is what those offering will become; offer Him
empty and presumptuous high church and be not surprised when those
offering such things become rather pathetically silly themselves. In
fact, sad fact, either extreme will make people pathetically silly
and spiritually impoverished besides.

Balance, always balance! The Holy Rule says "our prayer should short
and pure." Fine, but the last part of that phrase has often gotten
lost in the struggles of reform. Just plain short doesn't get it. God
doesn't care about short, except insofar as it cheats us, those He
loves.

The balance of short AND pure will feed a normal soul well.
Hence, if you find liturgy in any given place leaves you at least
hungry and maybe starving, it's a safe guess that something might be
wrong. God is still served, but His people often are not. That should
upset both God and us.

A very Benedictine warning here that the Carmelites would strongly
approve: prayer is only to be prolonged by "inspiration of divine
grace." When God does let us feel something wonderful in prayer, a
very understandable temptation is to hang onto the feeling, to
prolong it, to produce it again.

Doesn't work, folks, and it could very well turn into a trap. When
God prolongs prayer or gives us graces, fine! Relax, swim in His
grace and enjoy it, but never, ever try to fill the pool for a quick
dip on your own. That's not the way prayer- or God- works.

Love and prayers,
Jerome,OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers, please, for Bill, serious undiagnosed problem, first thought
wrongly to be a burst aneurysm, for someone having a spinal fusion,
for someone having brain surgery for a tumor, for a 50 yr. old man
having aortic aneursym surgery. Prayers, too, for Dunstan, eye
surgery on March 12. God's will is best. All is mercy and grace.
Thanks so much! JL


February 27, June 28, October 28
Chapter 21: On the Deans of the Monastery

If the community is a large one,
let there be chosen out of it
brethren of good repute and holy life,
and let them be appointed deans.
These shall take charge of their deaneries in all things,
observing the commandments of God
and the instructions of their Abbot.


Let men of such character be chosen deans
that the Abbot may with confidence
share his burdens among them.
Let them be chosen not by rank
but according to their worthiness of life
and the wisdom of their doctrine.


If any of these deans should become inflated with pride
and found deserving of censure,
let him be corrected once, and again, and a third time.
If he will not amend,
then let him be deposed
and another be put in his place who is worthy of it.


And we order the same to be done in the case of the Prior.

REFLECTION

Did anyone read this as I did at first, many years ago, and
wonder: "Why did St. Benedict give them an academic name
like "deans"? Well, it was probably the other way around! Since the
first schools were monastic ones, it is quite likely that the
term "dean" entered academia via the Holy Rule!

Surely the academic gown of today is a modified form of our
Benedictine choir robe, the cowl or cuculla. In fact, Benedictines
used to wear their cucullas with the appropriate academic hoods as
their formal dress at graduations and the like. With all due respect
to the johnny-come-latelies like the Dominicans, Franciscans and
Jesuits, when they don full academic regalia, they're wearing a
derived form of our choir habit!

But, enough of trivia...This chapter repeats another important
consideration in St. Benedict's plan: people are not to be
overburdened. This theme is less noticeable than the more important
ones of moderation and the like, but it is there. Again and again,
the Holy Rule says that people should have help with their charges,
certain officials should even be exempted from serving in the
refectory.

Two things are going on here, both very important. Surely the first
is kindness, gentle consideration for human frailty. The second,
however, is every bit as defining and important: we are not our work,
we are not our jobs, our vocation and worth is only connected to such
things tangentially at best. Our motto is Prayer AND Work. The
message is that neither of these should make the other impossible.

This message is equally important for both choir monastics and
Oblates. If your work is so much that your prayer suffers, something
is wrong. However, especially true for those of us in the secular
world, if your prayer is so much that your job or children or
marriage suffers, something is REALLY wrong. If your work deprives
your family or spouse, it might be time to look at changing it, time
to rearrange goals and priorities a bit.

One of the occasional problems of modern life everywhere is not just
that we are too busy, but that we FOCUS too much attachment and will
on stuff that really doesn't matter. Change that focus. Picture your
job today if you had died yesterday. The important stuff would still
get done by someone else. The rest, your own agenda, would go merrily
down the tubes.

Well, learn from that! A LOT of our own agendas are worth little more
than that: going down the tubes. So why waste so much time and
spiritual and emotional energy on them? As it does so frequently, the
Holy Rule and Benedictine life tell us: "Get real!"

Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

Prayers, please, for a Search retreat in Texas, first week of March,
for the staff and the teen Searchers, also for an overworked
sacristan, that she be given some team helpers. God's will is best.
All is mercy and grace. Thanks so much.  JL

February 28, June 29, October 29
Chapter 22: How the Sisters Are to Sleep

Let each one sleep in a separate bed.
Let them receive bedding suitable to their manner of life,
according to the Abbess's directions.
If possible let all sleep in one place;
but if the number does not allow this,
let them take their rest by tens or twenties
with the seniors who have charge of them.


A candle shall be kept burning in the room until morning.


Let them sleep clothed and girded with belts or cords --
but not with their knives at their sides,
lest they cut themselves in their sleep --
and thus be always ready to rise without delay
when the signal is given
and hasten to be before one another at the Work of God,
yet with all gravity and decorum.


The younger shall not have beds next to one another,
but among those of the older ones.


When they rise for the Work of God
let them gently encourage one another,
that the drowsy may have no excuse.

REFLECTION

Hastening "yet will all gravity and decorum" has prompted many a
community joke, many a wry comment as one ran most ungracefully,
parts of the habit flapping wildly in the breeze, to whatever the
bell was about to make one late for! St. Benedict far antedates the
Three Stooges, but he still took precautions to ensure that we would
not look EXACTLY like Moe, Larry and Curly when we went to choir or
dinner! Admittedly, some of our human tendency still arises to give a
partial glimpse of that comedic trio, but, as always, the picture is
balanced!

The idea of sexual temptations being thwarted by a lamp burning and
fully clothed juniors interspersed among seniors has been mentioned,
but there is also another very pragmatic rationale. First off, the
young, even in monasteries, tend to giggle. No point in turning grand
silence into a noisy slumber party!

Even more importantly, the elderly may have problems during the night
if their health is declining. Hale and hearty (and hopefully easily
awakened!) juniors nearby promise them assistance, if needed. Of
course, if you want a humorous take on the knives issue, it may have
been to prevent mayhem and murder of snorers, an idea which has
occurred to many light sleepers!

Of course, dormitory sleeping is a thing of the past in our Order
today, but its nice to see that thoughtfulness behind its original
expression in the Holy Rule. There's a bit of the "mother" in St.
Benedict, going out of his way to mention a small detail like not
sleeping with knives. It is worthy of note, however, that St.
Benedict, as always is MODERATELY maternal, not neurotically so! He
doesn't get all bent out of shape, but he cares greatly and deeply.

One of the most beautiful images in this passage is the exhortation
to "gently encourage one another" at the hour of rising. Remember
that the strictest silence of all prevailed at this time. Now picture
the monastics gently encouraging one another! With no words, there
had to be a lot of touch, a lot of gentle smiles, a lot of warmth and
care expressed NON-verbally.

A very good idea of how loving a monastic is can be had by disturbing
their silence (or sleep, I imagine!!) Is the reaction cross and
withering? Watch out for that one! Is there a smile, even a warm one,
a reaction of sweetness? Well, when silence is over, that is a
monastic to whose words you may want to listen carefully.

One species of Australian eucalyptus keeps the ground around itself
clear by emitting a toxic substance that renders other growth
impossible. Sad to say, but sometimes monastics in community (or in
families, or in workplaces!) can engage in a very similar toxicity.
There is a terrible facial message that says: "Don't even come near
me- with anything at all!" We need to watch ourselves carefully for
that one.

Everyone has bad days, now and then. Good communities and good
families know how to spot them in each other. If, however, those
days get strung together for some time and fairly often, something is
very, very wrong. Either the monastic doesn't belong in community or
they do belong in treatment. The monastic life, in cloister or
marketplace, is not the proper arena for eucalyptus toxicity!


Love and prayers,
Jerome, OSB
http://www.stmarysmonastery.org
jeromeleo@...
Petersham, MA

+PAX

One of our readers wrote to me Thursday morning:

"My heart sank as your prayer requests went out for "Tim and Ilya Smith, whose
house burned down on Ash Wednesday, killing their  daughter, Felicia." and then
shocked when you wrote: "God's will is best."  Because of the proximity of the
two sentences, I believe I understand you to say that it was God's will that
Felicia suffered and died.  IF that is what you meant, please, please explain to
me your understanding.  It is contrary to everything I know about our Lord.  It
is my belief that Jesus wept over such an event, even though it did not catch
him by surprise. It is my belief that the mystery of her death can only be
partially understood in the context of living in a broken, fallen world, where
God, making us in his likeness gave us free wills; and that it is our fallen
nature, which causes us to suffer these kinds of things, not God's intention or
purpose. "

We're on the same page here without realizing it. I fully agree, God has never
willed human death or suffering, never even willed corruptibility. All of those
things came on the scene SOLELY because of fallen humanity, because of our free
will. I fully agree that God weeps with the broken hearts of Tim, Ilya, Felicia
and all who suffer. I fully believe that God recoiled in pain at Felicia's end.
Were this not the case, I would have no relationship with God other than fear,
and I'd hope to have enough personal integrity to not even have that. I tend to
be not really fond of mean....

Ah, but come quite inevitably suffering and death did, and with us they shall
irrevocably remain for all time. No one, no one at all is exempt from their
terrible whimsy. Not innocent children, not even dumb animals nor inanimate
elements are spared this all-encompassing decay and pain and loss. Not even
Jesus and His Mother, the two most wonderful humans to ever live, were spared.
Not for an instant. That should tell us something very awesome about God's firm
resolve to respect our free will utterly. He left us with all those earthly
consequences, even though, in His changeless Love and Mercy, He gave us His own
Son as a sure way to getting eternally out of them in heaven.

None of this was the way God planned things. None of it. Check out Eden, check
out Paradise, that's what God willed and that's all He willed: perfect joy and
bliss and union with Him. And God never changes. He does not will one thing
today and change His mind tomorrow. That optimal best of a love so exquisite
that we shall be eternally overwhelmed by its wonder is His will for each of us,
once and for all. Nothing at all can thwart that love and will except free will,
and the garbage of millions of years of human insistence has left us with a
tangled cobweb of past bad choices than none can escape in this life.

Jesus died. Mary died. Felicia died. So will you, so will I. It would be nice if
our yet to come ends were in our own bed, with the priest beside us and the oils
of anointing fresh on our foreheads, but they could just as well be otherwise.
Surely most those who crashed into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center on
Sept. 11 had often hoped for a peaceful and easy end, but it was not theirs.
Evil, death, suffering, illness, corruptibility, transience, all of these wag
dangerously in our fallen world like broken power lines in a hurricane. Like
those inanimate power lines, they neither think, plan, nor care whom they
strike. Alas, that is the human condition.

We speak almost casually of the brokenness of the world without realizing that
the brokenness extends to hearts, to even our deepest and holiest loves. Surely
the love that God-fearing people like Tim and Ilya had for Felicia wished so
much more, only the best for their promising daughter in college. That their
love and their hearts were broken and crushed did not necessarily have anything
to do at all with the purity and holiness of either. It  happened, perhaps, in
spite of such purity. Only in heaven shall we regain the ability to love purely
and have things guaranteed to work as we'd wish. Here, even our dearest love is
at risk and we are powerless to remove that risk entirely, just as God Himself
was powerless to spare His own Son as soon as He became human. We all reap the
bitter fruits of a one-time human insistence on OUR plan. Miserably, our plan
lacked the wisdom of God, as is all too readily apparent.

Humans were not the only ones to rebel, nor the first. Angels did, too. Now
there's a problem: the fallen angels have greater intelligence and powers than
ourselves and they meddle against the will of God endlessly. We are not
powerless, as Christians, against Satan and his followers, but they can
certainly get in the way of things temporarily! Our Christian faith, baptism and
grace can and do protect us from them in a real sense, but they can still annoy
and bother!

Why mention Satan? Because, even when we agree to cling to the will of God with
all our hearts, there are other entities, human and otherwise, busily
cooperating with evil, whether knowingly or otherwise. This can create a LOT of
short-term problems, although, if we only turst and love God's will, the
long-term victory is assured us. In the meantime, all these counter forces
shuffling pieces of the puzzle to their own designs can really slow things down,
even temporarily divert the trains altogether. But ONLY temporarily.

God and God alone can turn evil to good. God and God alone can turn loss into
triumph. When we accept His will, rather than undergo it, we plug into that
inestimable ability of God that only God  has. God permits evil, permits
suffering and death. They are part and parcel of the idea of His giving us free
will, and God cannot go back on His word. So yeah, all those painful things that
are the result of original sin still happen, but also yeah, God can and does use
them for our highest and unimaginable good. We have only to allow Him!!
Believing His will is best for us is how we allow Him, so is trust, so is love.

Trust me when I tell you that I know from experience that human life can be
crushingly awful. It can. As I look back on some of the worst times, I am SO
glad I didn't get my way- it could have been so much worse, and so much good
would have been missed. Had God asked my 47 year old Dad and me whether or not
we wanted him to die, both of us would have doubtless said no. My Dad would have
cringed at what might have happened without him. I was only ten. I thought my
world had ended. Still, I would in no way be the person I am today had he not
gone to God. Not possible. Wouldn't have happened. Probably wouldn't be a monk
and probably wouldn't be writing this. Thanks Dad, thanks God. I owe you both!!!
Much of who I am came to be precisely BECAUSE the things that my Dad would have
wished to prevent befell me. God is not thwarted ultimately, not ever!

Houses burned, daughters and fathers dead, loves lost and lives apparently
ruined are terrible consequences of a will OTHER than divine, our own free will
and that of others. However there is great hope, even in this. None of the
things, not one, that happen in this life cannot be turned to good, to eternity
of bliss, to God. That is His power to overcome ALL evil ultimately, of whatever
sort. In fact, He already HAS overcome the world. it's just that our finite eyes
cannot see that yet, but it IS a reality. ALl temporal loss is apparent. Tough,
no doubt, but not lasting. Only God lasts.

The Lord told St. Faustina that ALL creatures do His will, whether they want to
or not, whether they know it or not. That means that the will of God for our
best good is already out there as a whole reality, a done deal. We can plug into
it or join the on-going resistance. The choice is ours. He will always, always,
always lead us to the best. For our part, we need only trust and follow!

Love and prayers,
Jerome

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