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X-WR-CALDESC:The life of a monastic ought to be a continuous Lent. Since
few\, however\, have the strength for this\, we urge the entire community
during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure and to was
h away in this holy season the negligences of other times. This we can do
in a fitting manner by refusing to indulge evil habits and by devoting our
selves to prayer with tears\, to reading\, to compunction of heart and sel
f-denial. During these days\, therefore\, we will add to the usual measure
of our service something by way of private prayer and abstinence from foo
d or drink\, so that each of us will have something above the assigned mea
sure to offer God of our own will with the joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thes
1:6). In other words\, let each one deny themselves some food\, drink\, sl
eep\, needless talking and idle jesting\, and look forward to holy Easter
with joy and spiritual longing.\n\n'Once upon a time\,' an ancient sto
ry tells\, 'the master had a visitor who came to inquire about Zen. But in
stead of listening\, the visitor kept talking about his own concerns and g
iving his own thoughts.\n\n'After a while\, the master served tea. He pour
ed tea into his visitor's cup until it was full and then he kept on pourin
g.\n\n'Finally the visitor could not bear it any longer. 'Don't you see th
at my cup is full?' he said. 'It's not possible to get anymore in.'\n\n''J
ust so\,' the master said\, stopping at last. 'And like this cup\, you are
filled with your own ideas. How can you expect me to give you Zen unless
you first empty your cup?''\n\nA monastic Lent is the process of emptying
our cups. Lent is the time for trimming the soul and scraping the sludge o
ff a life turned slipshod. Lent is about taking stock of time\, even relig
ious time. Lent is about exercising the control that enables us to say no
to ourselves so that when life turns hard of its own accord we have the sp
iritual stamina to say yes to its twists and turns with faith and with hop
e. Most interesting of all\, perhaps\, is the fact that Benedict wants us
to do something beyond the normal requirement of our lives 'of our own wil
l.' Not forced\, not prescribed for us by someone else. Not required by th
e system\, but taken upon ourselves because we want to be open to the God
of darkness as well as to the God of light.\n\nBenedict tells us that Lent
is the time to make new efforts to be what we say we want to be. We appla
ud the concept in most things. We know\, for instance\, that even people w
ho were married years ago have to keep working at that marriage\, consciou
sly\, and intently every year thereafter or the marriage will fail no matt
er how established it seems. We know that people who own businesses take i
nventories and evaluations every year or the business fails. We too often
fail to realize\, however\, that people who say that they want to find God
in life have to work everyday\, too\, to bring that Presence into focus o
r the Presence will elude them no matter how present it is in theory.\n\n<
i>All should\, however\, make known to the prioress or abbot what they int
end to do\, since it ought to be done with their prayer and approval. What
ever is undertaken without the permission of the prioress or abbot will be
reckoned as presumption and vainglory\, not deserving a reward. Therefore
\, everything must be done with their approval.\n\nAn ancient people t
ell us that when the moment of a great teacher's death was near\, the disc
iples said\, 'What is it we will see when you are gone?' And the Master sa
id\, 'All I did was sit on the river bank handing out river water. After I
'm gone I trust you will notice the water.' Spiritual mentoring is a stapl
e of the Benedictine tradition. The role of the abbot or prioress is to ev
aluate the directions the seeker intends to take. Like anything else\, the
spiritual life can become an elixir of novelties\, a series of fads\, an
excursion into the whimsical. Benedict counsels the zealous to submit them
selves to the scrutiny of wisdom so that the spiritual remedies they fancy
have the merit of the tried and the true\, the sensible and the measured.
It is so easy to ply extremes and miss the river of tradition. This chapt
er reminds us that the purpose of personal restraint is to develop us\, no
t to ravage our energies or confuse our perspective on life.\n\n
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UID:e8b7e284-ce38-4c7b-933f-f94febc78dfd
DTSTAMP:20260528T195838Z
DESCRIPTION:The life of a monastic ought to be a continuous Lent. Since
few\, however\, have the strength for this\, we urge the entire community
during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure and to wash
away in this holy season the negligences of other times. This we can do i
n a fitting manner by refusing to indulge evil habits and by devoting ours
elves to prayer with tears\, to reading\, to compunction of heart and self
-denial. During these days\, therefore\, we will add to the usual measure
of our service something by way of private prayer and abstinence from food
or drink\, so that each of us will have something above the assigned meas
ure to offer God of our own will with the joy of the Holy Spirit (1 Thes 1
:6). In other words\, let each one deny themselves some food\, drink\, sle
ep\, needless talking and idle jesting\, and look forward to holy Easter w
ith joy and spiritual longing.\n\n'Once upon a time\,' an ancient stor
y tells\, 'the master had a visitor who came to inquire about Zen. But ins
tead of listening\, the visitor kept talking about his own concerns and gi
ving his own thoughts.\n\n'After a while\, the master served tea. He poure
d tea into his visitor's cup until it was full and then he kept on pouring
.\n\n'Finally the visitor could not bear it any longer. 'Don't you see tha
t my cup is full?' he said. 'It's not possible to get anymore in.'\n\n''Ju
st so\,' the master said\, stopping at last. 'And like this cup\, you are
filled with your own ideas. How can you expect me to give you Zen unless y
ou first empty your cup?''\n\nA monastic Lent is the process of emptying o
ur cups. Lent is the time for trimming the soul and scraping the sludge of
f a life turned slipshod. Lent is about taking stock of time\, even religi
ous time. Lent is about exercising the control that enables us to say no t
o ourselves so that when life turns hard of its own accord we have the spi
ritual stamina to say yes to its twists and turns with faith and with hope
. Most interesting of all\, perhaps\, is the fact that Benedict wants us t
o do something beyond the normal requirement of our lives 'of our own will
.' Not forced\, not prescribed for us by someone else. Not required by the
system\, but taken upon ourselves because we want to be open to the God o
f darkness as well as to the God of light.\n\nBenedict tells us that Lent
is the time to make new efforts to be what we say we want to be. We applau
d the concept in most things. We know\, for instance\, that even people wh
o were married years ago have to keep working at that marriage\, conscious
ly\, and intently every year thereafter or the marriage will fail no matte
r how established it seems. We know that people who own businesses take in
ventories and evaluations every year or the business fails. We too often f
ail to realize\, however\, that people who say that they want to find God
in life have to work everyday\, too\, to bring that Presence into focus or
the Presence will elude them no matter how present it is in theory.\n\nAll should\, however\, make known to the prioress or abbot what they inte
nd to do\, since it ought to be done with their prayer and approval. Whate
ver is undertaken without the permission of the prioress or abbot will be
reckoned as presumption and vainglory\, not deserving a reward. Therefore\
, everything must be done with their approval.\n\nAn ancient people te
ll us that when the moment of a great teacher's death was near\, the disci
ples said\, 'What is it we will see when you are gone?' And the Master sai
d\, 'All I did was sit on the river bank handing out river water. After I'
m gone I trust you will notice the water.' Spiritual mentoring is a staple
of the Benedictine tradition. The role of the abbot or prioress is to eva
luate the directions the seeker intends to take. Like anything else\, the
spiritual life can become an elixir of novelties\, a series of fads\, an e
xcursion into the whimsical. Benedict counsels the zealous to submit thems
elves to the scrutiny of wisdom so that the spiritual remedies they fancy
have the merit of the tried and the true\, the sensible and the measured.
It is so easy to ply extremes and miss the river of tradition. This chapte
r reminds us that the purpose of personal restraint is to develop us\, not
to ravage our energies or confuse our perspective on life.\n\n
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240731T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240731T235900
LOCATION:Chapter 49
SUMMARY:The Observance of Lent
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR