The Roots of Christian Mysticism Session 10
Summary of Esther De Waal
's "The Rule of St. Benedict" talk, The London Christian
Meditation Centre, St Mark's, Clerkenwell, 22 November 2005
Introduction
St. Benedict was born 480 and died 535.
His Rule is a practical handbook. It was written for a group of
men in Italy who were praying, working and studying together and
it shows such a grasp of the human psyche that it remains a living
document shaping the lives of people today with continual new insights
and translations. Patrick Barry, retired abbot of Ampleforth, has
written a new book on the Rule for laypeople Wisdom From the Monastery:
The Rule of Benedict for Everyday Life (2006).
His Life
We know about Benedict’s life because Gregory the Great
wrote about him in his Dialogues. This was hagiography rather than
biography.
Benedict grew up in Rome in the comfort of a provincial middle-class
family. He went to university there and then escaped with his old
nurse. The figure of the “old nurse” may be regarded
as symbolic of the wise woman. It was important to Benedict in addition
to the knowledge acquired by his academic and intellectual study
to have the sort of knowledge that the wise woman stood for-the
knowledge of the heart.
Benedict realised he needed to acquire this type of knowledge and
went off to a cave at Subiaco in the foothills outside Rome where
he was “holding himself still before the gaze of God.”
(Gregory) This experience was to lay the foundation for what life
later demanded of him.
According to Gregory, God did not want Benedict to be alone and
sent a priest to him to tell him it was Easter. Benedict said, “Easter
indeed it is brother because you are here.” This is Benedict’s
response to the first human being he has seen for a very long time.
He sees in the priest’s face the face of the risen Christ.
This was a turning point for him and he left Subiaco to found a
monastery at Monte Cassino. He asked that everyone who came should
be received as Christ. It was important to look at each guest not
with judgement or labels, not imprisoning them in any way but seeing
in them their resurrected self, their true self in Christ.
The Rule
Benedict wants us to listen to him and to God in the ear of our
heart. His approach is not cerebral. He asks us to use the heart,
the totality of ourselves.
Consider three points in relation to the Rule:
1) First of all approach it in a humble and open way. Michael Casey,
who writes on Cistercian spirituality, has written well on spiritual
reading. Of lectio divina he writes:
Do it in a spirit of reverence
Be silent and receptive
We allow ourselves to become vulnerable
Slow careful reflective reading
Words travel from the mind they travel to the heart
Stay in silence
Break into flame
Living transforming reality
That shapes the inner self
Lectio as dialogue.
God wants us to have the opportunity to explore the truth not have
the truth imposed on us.
2) Benedict does not want us to be Benedictines but followers of
Christ-the Word. It is all about the gospel, love and Christ, the
three are inseparable. The Rule is a digest of the Gospels. Benedict
is soaked in, and shaped by, his reading of the Scriptures. His
mind is so full of the scriptures that his words carry scriptural
resonances even when they are not direct quotes.
3) We are required to live and stay with the Rule.
The Prologue
If you read the Prologue you will find that phrases fall out of
the text and stay in your hand like a precious gift.
Terence Kardong OSB who writes on the Rule notes the baptismal
imagery in the Prologue and says that the Prologue is based on baptismal
teaching for those who were to be baptised at the Easter vigil in
the ancient Church.
The Prologue stands easily on its own. It is a gem. It begins personally,
“Listen my son…” These are biblical and baptismal
words. They conjure up images of “my beloved son.” This
was Christ at the moment of his baptism. This is each of us. We
are each of us the prodigal son who turns and returns (metanoia)
to be welcomed with unconditional love and forgiveness.
In the Prologue Benedict introduces us to the Benedictine Vows.
The Benedictine vows are not poverty, chastity and obedience. These
vows were only introduced in the 12th century with the Franciscans
and Carthusians but:
1) Obedience
This word from the Latin “obaudire” literally means
“To listen intently”. We must listen from the uncluttered
space of our heart.
2) Conversion of life
This is continual change and transformation. We must live being
open to change.
3) Stability
This is a coming home-in ourselves, in the kingdom, in relationship
to the Father. Benedict wants to bring us home to the real relationship
with Christ.
The Prologue encapsulates the essence of the Christian tradition.
The Rule-A Balance of body, mind and spirit
Benedict does not dictate. However the Rule does have a firm sense
of structure with discipline for those who break the rules. The
aim is to create boundaries which show respect for people.
Benedict gives us in the Rule a toolkit for deepening the sense
of Christ in our lives. The Rule can help us to discern How do I
learn to live with myself? How do I learn to live with others? How
do I learn to love people in such a way that sets them free? How
do I live with matter? How do I live with God? How do I make sure
that praying is the centre of it all? The Rule teaches us to have
respect and reverence for everything including time.
Its aim is to maintain a balance between all these elements so
we recognise that the whole of our self is God given, intelligence,
physical body, spirit-all require respect and time. I feel out of
balance if there has not been a balance of all these elements of
myself.
The old monastic cloisters are a physical symbol of the integration
striven for under the Rule. The buildings which line the open space
at the centre serve the physical and practical needs of the monks.
Walking around the cloister there is a feeling of a seamless garment.
For Benedict all these activities flow into one another. In the
middle is the open space; an open, uncluttered empty space representing
the space we all try to hold at the heart of our busy, demanding
lives, the place where we listen to God. There may be a fountain
in the middle of this space, the spring and source of life.
Benedict is so practical. We must make sure we have enough sleep
and enough food. He uses everyday examples-(Ch. 32) the Abbot giving
out work tools, hoes, spades etc. has a list as to what is to be
brought in when the harvesting is done, when things have been brought
to fullness! We might see these as spiritual tools to be used by
us as good stewards. The tools of the kitchen and the garden are
to be handled as if they were the sacred tools of the altar.
The vow of stability requires the monks to stay in one place. They
are not allowed to wander. They wear shoes not sandals like the
Franciscans. They cultivate the land generation after generation
and bring it to fruition. They make use of all the latest technological
advances as excavations under Canterbury showed when they revealed
12th Century tunnels exquisitely made using hydraulic engineering.
The old water supply for the old monastery still worked!
Benedict is the patron saint of the environment.
Questions/discussion
There are thriving Benedictine lay communities which can keep
in touch via the internet where they will find daily readings for
lectio. Abigail Wytchalls recovering after an attempted murder on
her and her brother who is mentally retarded are both members of
a lay community. Many community members are young and many married.
This may be the monastic life of the future.
What is it about Benedictine spirituality that particularly speaks
to our time?
It is down to earth, a spiritual health farm. If you don’t
have rhythm and balance in your life you are pulled to pieces, distorted.
In an age of consumerism this is a very clear counter stance. Father
Joe The Man Who Saved My Soul is a book written by Tony Hendra,
a media consultant. Possessions are extensions of the self-of the
prison of the self. It is not wrong to enjoy them but you need to
be able to give them up without regret. Things are only given to
us on loan. See On Holiness by Donald Nicholl who advises us to
touch everything and say this is not mine.
This is not a Rule just for specialists or professionals but for
ordinarily lived lives.
The Vow of Stability
See Rowan Williams Silence and Honeycakes on this theme. If you
stay you may see people differently. You may begin to find a lot
of good in a person if you stay with them and give them a chance
rather than escaping at the first sign of difficulty. Although,
remembering Lot’s wife, it is also important not to stay too
long to become ossified. God may be calling you on. You may need
to let go of the idols of the past. It is really a question of discerning
God’s way.
Extent of Benedict’s influence
This has been particularly in Western Europe though also now it
is growing worldwide.
When did the Benedictine movement become lay orientated?
After the publication of Esther’s book Seeking God in 1984.
This was the first commentary written on the Rule by a woman who
was married and not even a Roman Catholic! This was commissioned
at the last minute as a Lent book after the intended author had
to pull out. It was therefore written in a rush amid domestic chaos
and was clearly God’s work!
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