Call to Mindfulness

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Benedictine, mindfulness, monasteries without walls, silence, Sr. Joan Chittister, St. Benedict, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Unlike most of those holy people we call saints, the influence of Benedict (c. 480 – c.547), whom we celebrate today, has been constant in the Western world of monasticism for over 1500 years. In fact, Benedict’s influence in the wider world of spirituality is now likely more expansive than ever before. Groups are forming and calling themselves “monasteries without walls,” living life “in the world” while following the tenets of the Benedictine rule. People are in search of a model for living that calls to mindfulness and a balanced way of being that fits into “real life” – not necessarily hidden away in a monastery. They are finding such a way with Benedict.

Twenty years ago Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister wrote a book entitled, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today. It is a simple, straightforward work on how to live every day mindfully with examples of how to balance work and rest, community and silence, and much more… examples that can relate to all of us. Sister Joan has a paragraph that sums it up quite well and is easily explicable, I think, to anyone who desires a closer relationship to God while living in any lifestyle today.

And so Benedict calls all of us to mindfulness. No life is to be so busy that there is no time to take stock of it. No day is to be so full of business that the gospel dare not intrude. No schedule is to be so tight that there is no room for reflection on whether what is being done is worth doing at all. No work should be so all-consuming that nothing else can ever get in: not my husband, not my wife, not my hobbies, not my friends, not nature, not reading, not prayer. How shall we ever put on the mind of Christ if we never take time to determine what the mind of Christ was then and is now, for me? (p. 105)

Good question…

Twins

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family, pray, siblings, St. Benedict, St. Scholastica, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, twins

Today is the feast of St. Scholastica, sister of the “famous” St. Benedict. I knew they were siblings who both led religious communities. What I didn’t know until today was that they were twins. I don’t suppose that predestined them to be close in mind and heart but it is known to often be significant in the lives of twins. For these two saints the connection seems quite important. Scholastica founded a monastery just 5 miles from her brother. Because of the strict rules of the time, they met once a year at a farmhouse because Scholastica was not permitted in the monastery of her brother. They spent their time, as one would suspect, discussing spiritual matters.

There is a sweet story about Scholastica that made me smile this morning. It seems that Scholastica was aware that the end of her life was near and she asked her brother on their yearly visit to stay the night with her. Not wanting to spend a night away from his monastery, Benedict refused. Scholastica then prayed asking God to let Benedict remain with her until the next day, whereupon a severe thunderstorm broke out, preventing a return to their monasteries.

Here’s the good part…Benedict cried out, “God forgive you, Sister. What have you done?” Scholastica replied, “I asked a favor of you and you refused. I asked it of God and he granted it.” They parted the next morning after their long discussion. Scholastica died three days later and Benedict saw her soul rising to heaven in the form of a white dove. He buried her in a tomb that he had prepared for himself. (www.franciscanmedia.org)

That might be a story that deserves a “You go, Girl!” and today might be a good day to pray for our siblings and/or those close to us like family, asking God for whatever might be favorable in their lives.

A Well-ordered Life

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Joan Chittister, monastery, monastic life, prayer, spiritual life, St. Benedict, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, work

St. Benedict (c. 480 – c. 547) is credited with bringing monasticism to the West. After more than 1500 years, his influence is still felt around the world in monasteries and over the past half-century it has been growing as well in “monasteries without walls.” This movement is a resurgence of the desire in “ordinary people” for a deeper spiritual life and is characterized by attention practices and balanced living, not only for monastics but for lay people as well.

At the heart of Benedictine life is mindfulness and a spirit of hospitality. It has been described with a simple daily formula of four quadrants: prayer alone and prayer together, work alone and work together. Someone once asked where leisure comes in that description and the answer was that if one divides the circle of the day and writes in all that has taken place, the entire circle should be a leisurely and peaceful walk through the hours.

Many authors have written on this topic – none better than Sister Joan Chittister, OSB, especially in her book, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today. This feast reminds me to return, not only to Sr. Joan’s book but also to the practice of drawing that circle each day, where I can assess the balance of my life’s activities and get back to a mindful way of being. Simple? Yes, but not always easy. Worthwhile? Always…as a lifelong daily practice…Oh, yes!

St. Benedict

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Hebrews, hospitality, Joan Chittister, monasteries without walls, monasticism, prayer, St. Benedict, the Benedictine Way, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Keating, Thomas Merton, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, work

There is much to say about St. Benedict, whose feast is today, known the world over as the man who brought monasticism to the western world. Although Benedict lived 1,500 years ago his influence is still felt and one might say is being proliferated more broadly than ever before because of a movement called “monasteries without walls.” Lay people who are interested in deepening their spiritual life often turn to The Rule of St. Benedict for guidance and a way to live his principles in secular society.

Most prominent in “the Benedictine Way” is ora et labora. That phrase, meaning “prayer and work” speaks of the balanced way in which the day is designed in his Rule. It includes work alone and work with others as well as prayer alone and prayer with others, experienced in a rhythm that gives not only form but meaning to each day and thus to all of life. (See Joan Chittister, OSB: Wisdom Distilled From the Daily, chapter 6 for a brilliant explanation of this concept.) In this world of excess for some and lack for others as well as in the use of time, we could do well to reflect on how we spend our days.

In tandem with this concept of balance is the call to hospitality. Based on Hebrews 13:2 that says “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares,” St. Benedict preached the necessity of welcoming everyone that we meet. How our world would change today if we took that advice to heart!

As we think of the influence of well-known people in our own day like Joan Chittister, Thomas Merton and Thomas Keating who have followed the rule of Benedict and shared it with the world, let us pray in thanksgiving also for the countless Benedictine monks and nuns through the centuries who have lived the life and carried the legacy of Benedict faithfully into the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Benedict

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monasticism, monk, psalm 51, rule of life, sincere heart, spiritual growth, St. Benedict, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

A verse from the Psalm of the day (51) speaks to me of St. Benedict whose feast is celebrated today. It says, “Behold, you are pleased with sincerity of heart and in my inmost being you teach me wisdom.” Benedict was born into a distinguished Italian family in or around the year 480. He felt the call to be a monk early in his life but did not find the life of the monastery he entered helpful in his quest for God so he became a hermit living in a cave for three years. Other monks came to him then, asking him to lead their monastery. He agreed but that experience was worse than the first as he was deemed too strict for the monks and they actually tried to poison him. His heart was by then, however, converted to the monastic way so and he dreamed of a monastery where families of monks could all come together in a life of brotherhood and unity with permanence/stability in prayer. This he achieved in the monastery at Monte Cassino which became one of the most famous monasteries in the world. Benedict is credited with bringing monasticism to the West and his Rule of Life (the only text he ever wrote) has been a model for monastics for 1500 years. The rhythm of prayer, liturgy, study and manual labor while living together in community has gathered men and women of sincere heart in an atmosphere of God’s love and in the quest for wisdom with the goal of union with God. Today, a new expression of Benedict’s rule is growing as “regular folks” join groups in “monasteries without walls.” Going about their life in “the world” these monastics of the heart follow the rule of Benedict seeking a balanced day of work and prayer, alone and in regular gatherings with others. Many have written about this phenomenon (Try Google!) and it is one more indication that God is alive and well and living in our world. Today we should be grateful for Benedict and all others who, simply by their sincerity and wisdom have led many seekers on the path of spiritual growth.