The principles of evolution just enumerated enable us to understand why within one and the same Benedictine spiritual tradition there could appear and subsist different tendencies. Benedictine spirituality is a fresh alternative in an increasingly fast-paced world. In monastic life public prayer is only one observance among those which help the monk seek God. Her muscular Christianity is grounded in the spiritual practices of the Rule of Saint Benedict, such as silence, hospitality, humility, and peace. But if they are rich communally, they must be rich for the many people who are poor not only materially but also intellectually, culturally, spiritually, and humanly. According to monastic scholar Fr. // endobj 11 0 obj <> endobj 12 0 obj <>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text]/ExtGState<>>> endobj 13 0 obj <> endobj 14 0 obj <> endobj 15 0 obj <> endobj 16 0 obj <> endobj 17 0 obj <> endobj 18 0 obj <>stream ." In this article, I have merely collected and summarized what other, more experienced Benedictines have taught and published. It is a comprehensive rule of life for the whole church and all her members. Gymnasts practice routines, yoga students practice poses, swimmers practice strokes, and tennis players practice their serves. It continues today as an institute for Benedictine students and others who wish to obtain graduate degrees in philosophy, theology, liturgy, and monastic studies. Fr. This will not subscribe you to a contact management software program, and you wont get an onslaught of computer-generated emails begging you to buy my books and services. . 0000001056 00000 n What are the characteristics of Benedictine spirituality? Lets make ours a truly humana listening and reverentconnection. Yes, work, too, is a basic tenet of Benedictine Spirituality. It is only in a secondary sense that Benedict himself, speaking through the rule, and the abbot of the community are masters. Rather, it is a series of embodied practices that forms the monk over the course of a lifetime to make space for the guest. defines the leader of a Benedictine community is not being head of an institution but being in relationship with all the members. Mauritius Wilde O.S.B explains that obedience means, , Fr. He writes: "The will develops its own gifts, seeking to perfect them in the order of nature and of grace so as to bring the faithful soul to spiritual maturity. Belief in One God: The most important teaching of Islam is that only God is to be served and worshipped. 0000002499 00000 n In no way am I qualified to be a teacher of the Benedictine way of life. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. The church and her sacramental system are essential to the Christian life of grace. God speaks to the monk through Christ, but the monk is called to see Christ not only in the superior but also in the guests, in the sick, in the young, and in the old. No one is to pursue what he judges better for himself, but instead, what he judges better for someone else." In her blog, Presbyterian minister Lynne Baab offers ways for those of us who do not live in a monastery to embrace stability. As time went on we decided that we needed a clear focus on the values. It is that same balance that has made it attractive today to those countless lay men and women who are not living vowed lives in a monastery but who are associated with Benedictine monasteries as oblates attempting to live their lives in the secular world according to the spiritual values set out in the rule. One of the primary functions of the various monastic structures is to provide conditions in which the monks can concentrate on learning the art of listening. Getting Started with Ignatian Spirituality Beyond the Basics of Ignatian Spirituality In other words, to be a good Franciscan means to be a good Christian. Benedictine spirituality is a way of life that helps a person to seek God and his will daily. The typical person takes little time for personal renewal in the hectic daily round of activities. We are all accountable as steward of creation, they tell us. MS. Hatton 48 fol. The discipline of slowing down to pay attention renews our orientation toward receiving the presence of Christ. But for all, the ideal has remained "solitude of heart" with God, guaranteed by the "order of charity" in the community institution. Simplicity of life and a sense of stewardship are also characteristics of Benedictine spirituality. Benedict reminds us of our priorities: prayer, contemplation, balance and the importance of everything we do. The Benedictine practice of mindfulness, like all the Benedictine practices, is lifelong. An atheist is a man who lives without God. backgrounds including non-Catholic ones find deep spirituality in the Divine Office and the other Benedictine practices in the Rule such as the emphasis on work and lectio divina (slow prayerful reading), is difficult to state briefly. While everyone has their values and principles, the spiritual person knows that one-size does not fit all. What does it mean for us to learn contentment with living simply? [CDATA[ Because I couldnt find relevant, simple answers online to the questions, What is Benedictine Spirituality? and What are Benedictine practices? I decided to publish this summary of 23 habits Benedictines seek, through lifelong practice, to cultivate into a lifestyle. It is rooted in faith, and like Christ's own simplicity of life must be an outward expression of trustful dependence on God. The years 1987 and 1990 saw the publication of two unprecedented and immediately popular reference works, The New Dictionary of Theology and The New Dictionary of Sacramental Worship.The present work, The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, edited by Michael Downey, is intended as a companion to these, with a parallel aim and purpose.The NDCS is a collaborative attempt to take stock of . Kyle T. Kramer explains in his 2011 article for America Magazine that hospitality, for a Benedictine, means to welcome all others as Christ, to recognize that despite vast differences, the diverse human family is part of the same God-given belonging, and we need one another to survive and thrive. This means facing our fears, letting prejudice and certitude die in us, and rooting ourselves in the love of God, the alpha and omega of the entire creation, the force that pulls everyone and everything toward a center that can hold. Benedictines hold strong convictions, but experience shows strident, uncompromising voices tend to foster arguments, tensions, and hostilitiesnot peace and love. He was the son of a noble and grew up in Rome. As Sister Julie explains on the blog A Nuns Life, The Liturgy of the Hours is made up of specific prayers said at various time (hours) during the day and night. Which value speaks to your heart most strongly at this time and why? (February 22, 2023). They pray the Office together, with no voice standing out above the others. The Benedictine practice of hospitality is radical. Stewardship of resources, as a Benedictine practice, flows out of the commitment to stability, explain. New Catholic Encyclopedia. is an herbal liqueur produced in France. The first word of the Rule of Benedict is Listen. The Benedictine practice of listening is the heart of Benedictine spirituality, for not only are we instructed to listen constantly to one another in community, to leaders, to guests, to the sick, to our inner selves, and most of all, to God, we must also attend to [what we hear] with the ear of the heart. As Good Samaritan Sister Clare Condon writes, Listening with the ear of the heart can be a scary experience because it can call me to radical change, to a transformation of my limited human perspective. The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (Latin: Ordo Sancti Benedicti, abbreviated as OSB), are a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedict.They are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits.They were founded by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century monk who laid the foundations of . This model of [], [] rather than continually traveling on to somewhere else. Certainly the rule does not see material privation as an end in itself; it is in no way part of the Benedictine tradition to assess everything economically by materialistic standards or to override aesthetic or other values for the sake of cheapness or squalor, for such a mentality narrows the monk's horizons and even creates those very evils accompanying destitution which all Christians have duty to banish from the earth. Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). In The Rule of Benedict for Beginners, Wil Derkse reveals how elements from Benedictine spirituality and the Benedictine lifestyle may be . Obedience is a concept 21st-century souls dont generally like to consider. "Benedictine Spirituality Cultivating awareness of God is important for all who seek a meaningful spirituality. The thing that distinguishes monks from other religious in the Catholic Church is not primarily a matter of governmental structures or observances; all of these are found in other forms of consecrated life. 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. How are we being invited to swing back toward Christ-centeredness? Prosperity and ties with temporal society often led monasteries, especially the larger ones, to depart more or less from certain fundamental observances required by the rule, notably separation from secular society, real simplicity of life, and manual labor. Ordered by a rhythm of daily prayer that is Biblical and reflective 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. It is specified solely by a commitment to God sanctioned by public vows. Out of these . a. de vog, The Rule of Saint Benedict: A Doctrinal and Spiritual Commentary (Kalamazoo 1983). It is humility that takes the monk beyond the myth of his own grandeur to the grandeur of God. You can order a free copy of Give Us This Day, published by Liturgical Press, by clicking here. Only a year ago, after a year of formation, I became an Oblate of Saint Benedicts Monastery in St. Joseph, MInnesota. xb```f``x(80 A crucial confessor and teacher for Ignatius very early in his spiritual journey was a French monk, Fr. He entered the Dominican novitiate c. 1315 in his na, Benedictine College: Narrative Description. It was considered as proposing a spiritual program, while daily life was regulated by "customaries," to which succeeded, from the beginning of the 16th century, "Declarations" and "Constitutions" as well as the "Ceremonial." It is not possible to formulate a singl, Etymologically the word "contemplation" derives from templum, which signified the space marked out by a seer with his divining rod as a location for, Barth, Karl People are seen as an integrated whole: Body, Mind, and Spirit. People are seen as an integrated whole: Body, Mind, and Spirit. Augustinian Spirituality does not take us out of the world (into the . If there is anything that everyone of us in the whole world needs more of right now, its peace. They are listeners and patient, willing to wait and see. Benedictine spirituality is a fresh alternative in an increasingly fast-paced world. Acts 18:18). Just because these spiritualities are different does not mean they are contradictory. 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