BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//eriebenedictines.org//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.30.10// CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH UID:a330cd71-bf33-40a0-b99e-ec640419115f X-WR-CALDESC:Members are to sleep in separate beds. They receive bedding as provided by the prioress or abbot\, suitable to monastic life.\n\n At first glance\, the paragraph seems pathetically mundane for anything so exalted as 'the most influential monastic Rule of all time.' It is\, on t he contrary\, exactly paragraphs like this that make the Rule so influenti al.\n\nIn a culture of peasants who came out of clans where whole families slept in one room--and still do in many poorer areas of the world--Benedi ct proclaims a policy of at least limited privacy and simplicity and adapt ation. Benedict wants an atmosphere of self-sacrifice\, true\, but he also wants people to have opportunity for reflection. He wants no living situa tion to be so austere that both sleep and thinking become impossible in th e cold of winter. In Benedictine spirituality people get what they need\, both beds and bedding\, both privacy and personal care.\n\nThe lesson is a good one when we are tempted to think that extremism is a virtue. As far as Benedictine spirituality is concerned\, there is a very limited spiritu al value in denying the body to the point where the soul is too agitated t o concentrate on the things of the spirit.\n\nIf possible\, all are to sleep in one place\, but should the size of the community preclude this\, they will sleep in groups of ten or twenty under the watchful care of elde rs. A lamp must be kept burning in the room until morning.\n\nThe dorm itory is of ancient origin in the monastic tradition. It carried the conce pt of community living from the chapel to the dining room to bedtime itsel f. The common life was indeed a common life for twenty-four hours out of e very day\, with all the difficulty and all the virtue that implied. Nevert heless\, the sleeping arrangements present in monastic communities of the sixth century were not all that different from family circumstances of the same period. Nor were bedrooms in communities of manual laborers the stud y centers they were to become as monastics of later centuries became more engaged in intellectual labors.\n\nWhat is important in the paragraph is n ot so much the sleeping arrangement itself as the underlying caution it pr esents to an era in which independence\, individualism and personal space have become values of such magnitude that they threaten the communal quali ty of the globe itself. The question becomes: What part of our lives do we really practice with others? Has our claim to the private and the persona l evicted the world from our space\, from our hearts?\n\nThey sleep clo thed\, and girded with belts or cords\; but they should remove their knive s\, lest they accidentally cut themselves in their sleep. Thus the members will always be ready to arise without delay when the signal is given\; ea ch will hasten to arrive at the Opus Dei before the others\, yet with all dignity and decorum. The younger members should not have their beds next t o each other\, but interspersed among those of the elders. On arising for the Opus Dei\, they will quietly encourage each other\, for the sleepy lik e to make excuses.\n\nIn this instruction\, monastics are formed to be modest--dressed even in bed\, unlike a good proportion of the population of the time\, and simple--willing to wear the same thing at night that the y did during the day\, and ready--quick to respond to the will of God at t he first sound of the call. They are trained\, too\, to 'quietly encourage each other' in the daily effort of rousing the soul when the body is in r evolt.\n\nPersonal modesty\, simplicity\, readiness and encouragement in l ife may well be the staples of community living\, of family life\, or dece nt society even today. What\, after all\, can shatter any group faster tha n the one person who is dedicated to being conspicuous\, overdone\, resist ant or self-centered?\n\n X-WR-RELCALID:b9611bd07612dafa2fb70659dc618833 X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RDATE:20251102T020000 RDATE:20261101T020000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RDATE:20260308T020000 RDATE:20270314T020000 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:78d895cd-8226-4805-979e-fe6518570d24 DTSTAMP:20260429T020318Z DESCRIPTION:Members are to sleep in separate beds. They receive bedding as provided by the prioress or abbot\, suitable to monastic life.\n\nA t first glance\, the paragraph seems pathetically mundane for anything so exalted as 'the most influential monastic Rule of all time.' It is\, on th e contrary\, exactly paragraphs like this that make the Rule so influentia l.\n\nIn a culture of peasants who came out of clans where whole families slept in one room--and still do in many poorer areas of the world--Benedic t proclaims a policy of at least limited privacy and simplicity and adapta tion. Benedict wants an atmosphere of self-sacrifice\, true\, but he also wants people to have opportunity for reflection. He wants no living situat ion to be so austere that both sleep and thinking become impossible in the cold of winter. In Benedictine spirituality people get what they need\, b oth beds and bedding\, both privacy and personal care.\n\nThe lesson is a good one when we are tempted to think that extremism is a virtue. As far a s Benedictine spirituality is concerned\, there is a very limited spiritua l value in denying the body to the point where the soul is too agitated to concentrate on the things of the spirit.\n\nIf possible\, all are to s leep in one place\, but should the size of the community preclude this\, t hey will sleep in groups of ten or twenty under the watchful care of elder s. A lamp must be kept burning in the room until morning.\n\nThe dormi tory is of ancient origin in the monastic tradition. It carried the concep t of community living from the chapel to the dining room to bedtime itself . The common life was indeed a common life for twenty-four hours out of ev ery day\, with all the difficulty and all the virtue that implied. Neverth eless\, the sleeping arrangements present in monastic communities of the s ixth century were not all that different from family circumstances of the same period. Nor were bedrooms in communities of manual laborers the study centers they were to become as monastics of later centuries became more e ngaged in intellectual labors.\n\nWhat is important in the paragraph is no t so much the sleeping arrangement itself as the underlying caution it pre sents to an era in which independence\, individualism and personal space h ave become values of such magnitude that they threaten the communal qualit y of the globe itself. The question becomes: What part of our lives do we really practice with others? Has our claim to the private and the personal evicted the world from our space\, from our hearts?\n\nThey sleep clot hed\, and girded with belts or cords\; but they should remove their knives \, lest they accidentally cut themselves in their sleep. Thus the members will always be ready to arise without delay when the signal is given\; eac h will hasten to arrive at the Opus Dei before the others\, yet with all d ignity and decorum. The younger members should not have their beds next to each other\, but interspersed among those of the elders. On arising for t he Opus Dei\, they will quietly encourage each other\, for the sleepy like to make excuses.\n\nIn this instruction\, monastics are formed to be modest--dressed even in bed\, unlike a good proportion of the population o f the time\, and simple--willing to wear the same thing at night that they did during the day\, and ready--quick to respond to the will of God at th e first sound of the call. They are trained\, too\, to 'quietly encourage each other' in the daily effort of rousing the soul when the body is in re volt.\n\nPersonal modesty\, simplicity\, readiness and encouragement in li fe may well be the staples of community living\, of family life\, or decen t society even today. What\, after all\, can shatter any group faster than the one person who is dedicated to being conspicuous\, overdone\, resista nt or self-centered?\n\n DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251029T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251029T235900 LOCATION:Chapter 22 SUMMARY:The Sleeping Arrangements of Monastics END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR