The church and her sacramental system are essential to the Christian life of grace. Poverty of spirit, simplicity, sharing and giving, self-denial prompted by love, freedom of heart, gratitude, care for persons, and sound judgment with regard to created things should proceed from exposure to God in prayer. Benedict called this lifelong process conversatiomorum or conversion of life. In a podcast at DiscerningHearts.com from the Missionary Benedictines of Christ the King Priory, Fr. This little rule for beginners serves to develop a spirituality made up of practices, which Benedictines incorporate into their relationship with God and their interactions with the people with whom they live and work. Benedictines carry on a monastic tradition that stems from the origins of the Christian monastic movement in the late third century. Benedictine spirituality helps us to: Focus our eyes on God and His Word Be a people of humility Live and pray in community, rather than being too individualistic Maintain prayerful discipline in our lives 1. It acted and penetrated not as a legislative text imposed from without by authority but rather as a leaven by virtue of its intrinsic power. Commit to daily, weekly or monthly prayer disciplines. Father Mandonnet then lists three characteristics that are concerned more especially with the will. One of the sure signs of monastic maturity is the honest acceptance of one's need for other people in community. Read the full essay to learn more about how humility helps us grow in the love of God and deepens our bonds with each other. In a. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so we should use them in that order. endstream
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4. variety in physical characteristics, languages, and ways of life is really our . 0000000016 00000 n
For most of us, though, stability can have a figurative element beyond our experience with a [], 2023 Benedictine Center of St. Pauls Monastery, Core Values: Benedictine Spirituality (Part 1 of 3), Prayer and Community: Benedictine Spirituality (Part 2 of 3) - Benedictine Center, Lectio Divina and Preferring Christ: Benedictine Spirituality (Part 3 of 3) - Benedictine Center, My Day with the Sacred Fire | Benedictine Center, Saturated with Peace: Experiencing Personal Retreat | Benedictine Center, Wholehearted Living as the Lamed Vav | Benedictine Center, Practicing Sustained Lectio Divina | Benedictine Center, What Discernment Means to Me | Benedictine Center, Sabbath: Well-being, Not Endless Work | Benedictine Center, Moderation and Rhythm: A Benedictine Help Against Social Isolation | Benedictine Center, Stability: The Benedictine Value of Locatedness | Benedictine Center, The Erector Set: Adapting to Others | Benedictine Center, Sharper: Benedict's Tools for Good Works | Benedictine Center, The Benedictine Commitment to Learning | Benedictine Center, We Dare To Hope (Part 1 of 2) | Benedictine Center, We Dare To Hope (Part 2 of 2) | Benedictine Center, Life, A Continuous Advent | Benedictine Center, Rooted in Love: My Sustained Lectio Divina | Benedictine Center, Just Wave: Following that Holy Nudge | Benedictine Center. One of the primary characteristics of a spiritual person is openness. Just as all these people practice to become more proficient, spiritual seekers practice in order to become better at living a spiritual life. The Benedictine motto, "Prayer and Work," highlights this simplicity of obedience to our daily duties. For most Oblates. When the monk has zeal for God, he will come to see that he is consumed not only with love for God but for everything and everyone else that God has created. Like counselling, therapy and coaching, spiritual direction rests on careful listening to the 'client'. They regard Saint Benedict as their founder and guide even though he did not establish a Benedictine Order as such. Even the Cistercians, who in the 12th century had intended to return to a faithful observance of the rule itself, added numerous statutes. Benedictine detachment does not imply a disparagement of good things, nor a fear of their power, but rather a just appreciation of all things as gifts of God. Awareness of God In Benedictine practice we acknowledge the primacy of God and look for God in the ordinary events of each day. This is not simply a change in my opinion or even in my ideological stance, but a much deeper change in my attitude, a real change in my way of being and doing. Listening is integral to the practice of conversatio, indeed to all the practices, which, as Laureen Virnig OSB teaches to Oblates in formation, are inseparable woven together to make of our spirituality a living tapestry. Little by little, however, the Rule of Benedict became the principal rule, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon countries and in Italy. https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/benedictine-spirituality, "Benedictine Spirituality What gives the Rule of Benedict its exceptional quality has commonly been called its "discretion," in the double sense of the word: discernment and moderation. (320) 363-7112. Monastic life was punctuated by the rhythms of prayer during the hours of each day. [], [] Learn more about Benedictine spirituality. 6 Characteristics Of Benedictine Spirituality . Sister Joan Chittister is an extraordinarily prolific writer and among the most famous living Benedictines. In an article for HuffPost Sister Joan tells us that a Benedictine lifestyle is an an oasis of human peace in a striving, searing, simmering world. This lifestyle disallows war and violence on any level, including the root causes of violenceambition, greed, waste of resources, class distinctions, and the hubris that leads to the oppression of others, that justifies force as the sign of our superiority. This lifestyle makes ample room for what it valuescommunity, prayer, stewardship, equality, stability, conversion, peace all [which] make for communities of love. Without humility, Sr. Joan explains, there can be no peace. Belief in One God: The most important teaching of Islam is that only God is to be served and worshipped. Ive drawn this list of 22 (+ 1 = 23) Benedictine practices (arranged alphabetically) from Stepping into the Oblate way of life, published by St. Benedicts Monastery in 2017, when Laureen Virnig OSB served as Director of Oblates. The term was applied to two principal types: the hermits who lived alone or in small unorganinzed groups, and the cenobites who lived in community. More than a billion Muslims share a common set of fundamental beliefs that are described as "Articles of Faith." These articles of faith form the foundation of Islamic belief system. ), member of any of the confederated congregations of monks, lay brothers, and nuns who follow the rule of life of St. Benedict (c. 480-c. 547) and who are spiritual descendants of the traditional monastics of the early medieval centuries in Italy and Gaul. The Nazirite's spiritual disciplines included not drinking wine or eating grapes, not cutting . St. Vincent teaches us to see Christ in the poor and suffering, so much so that the poor become our Lords and Masters and we their servants. Hence, conversion to Christ and response to his love through the power of the Holy Spirit are the goals of obedience. Orbis, 20-21). Co-Director of the Spirituality Center. The Sisters of St. Benedict in Ferdinand, Indiana explain the importance of community life in Benedictine practice on their website. Hence he is able to receive others in the community, including guests, with kind consideration. Life in common is the Benedictine monastic path toward God. RB 73, the final chapter, is more or less a bibliography for all that precedes it. %PDF-1.4
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Encyclopedia.com. Humility is also a dominant theme in Benedictine spirituality; in fact it is closely related to contemplation. The monk needs time along and needs time in community. Just as all these people practice to become more proficient, spiritual seekers practice in order to become better at living a spiritual life. 0000004832 00000 n
We stumble through being in right relationship. Where it was adopted, it was looked upon as a venerable text but not necessarily requiring observance in all its prescriptions. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. He wrote a Rule for his monastery at Monte Cassino in Italy and he foresaw . Its recipe comes from a 16th-century monk and includes a secret blend of 27 herbs and spices in a neutral spirit that's sweetened with honey. Bibliography: Marked for Life: Prayer in the Easter Christ (London 1979). Adrian Burke, OSB writes, Benedict insists in his. Only after we have come to understand our desires are we capable of relinquishing them in service of others. As time went on we decided that we needed a clear focus on the values. What practise spiritual practices do? 540-604 CE), who praised Benedict for his discretion and moderation. Garcia Jimenez de Cisneros in . (61.6). How are we being invited to swing back toward Christ-centeredness? It includes reading, reflecting, responding to and resting in the Word of God not in a scholarly way, not to make a sermon to preach to others, but simply to nourish and deepen our own relationship with the Divine. You will likely recognize the timeless quality of the values which has caused them to endure for centuries and continue speaking to the many layers of our human experience (personal, familial, communal and societal). Their prayer discipline is based on the rhythms of the universe. Benedictine reverence for all creation applies to nature and all creatures, to the objects we use and make, and to all peoplepilgrims, the broken and downtrodden, to every single human, including ourselves. 9 0 obj
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The diffusion of the Rule of Benedict in the West was slow. The fourth Benedictine value is work, or labora. It is likewise through that response that one becomes free to be and develop as the person one is called to be. Directly translated, Lectio Divina means divine reading. Focus Our Eyes on God and His Word For Saint Benedict, the Word of God was of central importance. This listening is not merely an intellectual or rational activity; it is intuitive, springing from the very core of the monk's being where he is most open to God and most open to the word of life that God speaks. To be empowered by anything less than the God of love is to risk evil zeal in the name of vengeance. Prayer is the foundation to the monastic life and calling, and can be a constant part of the life of non-monastics as well. It appeared little by little wherever the Church took root, a spontaneous manifestation of the Holy Spirit urging Christians to become monks in response to the counsel given by Jesus in the Gospel: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions , follow me " (Mt 19.21). praying the Divine Office) as well as regular silent . Ignacio Gonzalez, OSB writes that the Benedictine practice of Conversatio requires that we never stop asking hard questions about our personal growth. Sam Rahberg is former Director of the Benedictine Center and a spiritual director in St. Paul. Sister Joan Chittister is an extraordinarily prolific writer and among the most famous living Benedictines. As a Benedictine practice, obedience is intimately linked to being in right relationship, conversatio, humility, and listening. Hence the monk must be poor psychologically because he realizes his dependence on others. The Rule revolves around five practices: Prayer, Work, Study, Hospitality and Renewal. trailer
When a monk is aware of his own littleness, he is not driven to satisfy his own ego more than his true needs. "Benedictine Spirituality There is a temptation to complicate it, to . 4qAB0Lfb+ ``v@ BK
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Reading the transcript or listening to the podcast is worthwhile. My work with the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (MID) has . No one thingprayer, work, rest, studywas to be done in the extreme. Obedience means "to listen intently," and this vow is undertaken in a spirit of faith and love in following Christ who was obedient to the will of the Father. The word "Benedictine" is relatively modern; it scarcely existed before the 17th century. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. As Joan Chittister puts it, Benedictine practices build a spirituality that will enable us to go on beyond disappointment, beyond boredom, beyond criticism, beyond loss. Benediction spirituality is for the long haul.. What calls us to attention? Benedictine spirituality is a fresh alternative in an increasingly fast-paced world. Near the end of his life in 547 AD, Benedict of Nursia wrote a a guide to living, in the company of other humans, the kind of good days that add up to a good life. Benedict's Rule and Spirituality. defines the leader of a Benedictine community is not being head of an institution but being in relationship with all the members. Of all creatures, the human person is in fact the neediest. While there are times allotted for prayer and for work, ultimately there is to be no division between the two. . Interviewed by Krista Tippett for her podcast On Being, Brother David talks about gratitude as the true wellspring of joy. Benedict reminds us of our priorities: prayer, contemplation, balance and the importance of everything we do. The Friends of St. Benedict website says The Rule offers people a plan for living a balanced, simple, and prayerful life. Simple, yes. 6v-7r of the Bodleian library in Oxford. Successful organizational leaders practice self-mastery and teamwork. On the blog Catholic Beer Club, Br. Fr. 22 Feb. 2023
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