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X-WR-CALDESC:If a member of the nobility offers a child to God in the mo
nastery\, and the child is too young\, the parents draw up the document me
ntioned above\; then\, at the presentation of the gifts\, they wrap the do
cument itself and the child's hand in the altar cloth. That is how they ma
ke their offering.\n\nAs to their property\, they either make a sworn prom
ise in this document that they will never personally\, never through an in
termediary\, nor in any way at all\, nor at any time\, give the child anyt
hing or afford the child the opportunity to possess anything\; or else\, i
f they are unwilling to do this and still wish to win their reward for mak
ing an offering to the monastery\, they make a formal donation of the prop
erty that they want to give to the monastery\, keeping the revenue for the
mselves\, should they so desire. This ought to leave no way open for the c
hild to entertain any expectations that could deceive and lead to ruin. Ma
y God forbid this\, but we have learned from experience that it can happen
.\n\nThe dedication of children to God by their parents\, the designat
ion of their professions or even the selection of their marriage partners
was a common practice for centuries. The gifting of a child to a monastery
\, in particular\, was believed to assure the salvation of the parents as
well as the child. Not until the Council of Trent did the Church itself de
fine a legal profession age. In a period of history in which dedication of
a child to God was a common pious practice\, Benedict takes pains to see
that the piety is not corrupted by the inexorable tension between the high
ideals of the family and the test of time on the decision. The fact is th
at when the full realization of what we have promised begins to dawn on us
\, it is often more common to come to dubious terms with the demise of the
commitment than it is to quit it. We marry in haste and then\, as the yea
rs go by\, we find ourselves starting to live life in two different parts
of the house. We promise to spend more time with the children but read in
the car while they play in the park. We take a job as night security guard
and go to sleep at the desk. Benedict wants to avoid that kind of silent
erosion of zeal by binding both the child who is being given and the paren
ts who do the giving to the promise to let the thing go on being what it s
et out to be. Benedict does not want the child torn between two identities
\, community member and family member\, as it gets older. More than that\,
he does not want the parents themselves to begin to take back the spiritu
al covenant they have promised for the sake of their posterity or influenc
e.\n\nIt is a chapter concerned about simplicity and community and equalit
y\, true\, but it is also a chapter dedicated to the spirituality of the l
ong haul. We must learn to complete in faith what we began in enthusiasm\;
we must learn to be true to ourselves\; we must continue to become what w
e said we would be\, even when accommodation to the immediate seems to be
so much more sensible\, so much more reasonable\, so much easier.\n\nPo
or people do the same\, but those who have nothing at all simply write the
document and\, in the presence of witnesses\, offer their child with the
gifts.\n\nThe ability to eliminate distinctions between people is a ha
llmark of Benedictine simplicity and community. In the preceding paragraph
it is obvious that Benedict is not accepting the children of the wealthy
because their parents will endow the monastery. Whether they do or whether
they don't makes no difference to him at all. What matters is that the ch
ildren accepted as monastics out of the fervor of their parent's hearts be
allowed to develop as monastics. Otherwise\, he clearly fears\, the commu
nity life and spirituality of the house will be corrupted by the independe
ntly wealthy who\, as the years go by\, grow more into the family fortune
than into the monastic life. The poor have nothing whatsoever to give exce
pt their children and Benedict accepts them on the same grounds\, with the
same ceremony\, in the same spirit. Benedictine spirituality does not fea
r poverty\; it fears the kind of self-sufficiency that frees people from t
he smelting effects of a communal spirituality.
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DTSTAMP:20260405T113847Z
DESCRIPTION:If a member of the nobility offers a child to God in the mon
astery\, and the child is too young\, the parents draw up the document men
tioned above\; then\, at the presentation of the gifts\, they wrap the doc
ument itself and the child's hand in the altar cloth. That is how they mak
e their offering.\n\nAs to their property\, they either make a sworn promi
se in this document that they will never personally\, never through an int
ermediary\, nor in any way at all\, nor at any time\, give the child anyth
ing or afford the child the opportunity to possess anything\; or else\, if
they are unwilling to do this and still wish to win their reward for maki
ng an offering to the monastery\, they make a formal donation of the prope
rty that they want to give to the monastery\, keeping the revenue for them
selves\, should they so desire. This ought to leave no way open for the ch
ild to entertain any expectations that could deceive and lead to ruin. May
God forbid this\, but we have learned from experience that it can happen.
\n\nThe dedication of children to God by their parents\, the designati
on of their professions or even the selection of their marriage partners w
as a common practice for centuries. The gifting of a child to a monastery\
, in particular\, was believed to assure the salvation of the parents as w
ell as the child. Not until the Council of Trent did the Church itself def
ine a legal profession age. In a period of history in which dedication of
a child to God was a common pious practice\, Benedict takes pains to see t
hat the piety is not corrupted by the inexorable tension between the high
ideals of the family and the test of time on the decision. The fact is tha
t when the full realization of what we have promised begins to dawn on us\
, it is often more common to come to dubious terms with the demise of the
commitment than it is to quit it. We marry in haste and then\, as the year
s go by\, we find ourselves starting to live life in two different parts o
f the house. We promise to spend more time with the children but read in t
he car while they play in the park. We take a job as night security guard
and go to sleep at the desk. Benedict wants to avoid that kind of silent e
rosion of zeal by binding both the child who is being given and the parent
s who do the giving to the promise to let the thing go on being what it se
t out to be. Benedict does not want the child torn between two identities\
, community member and family member\, as it gets older. More than that\,
he does not want the parents themselves to begin to take back the spiritua
l covenant they have promised for the sake of their posterity or influence
.\n\nIt is a chapter concerned about simplicity and community and equality
\, true\, but it is also a chapter dedicated to the spirituality of the lo
ng haul. We must learn to complete in faith what we began in enthusiasm\;
we must learn to be true to ourselves\; we must continue to become what we
said we would be\, even when accommodation to the immediate seems to be s
o much more sensible\, so much more reasonable\, so much easier.\n\nPoo
r people do the same\, but those who have nothing at all simply write the
document and\, in the presence of witnesses\, offer their child with the g
ifts.\n\nThe ability to eliminate distinctions between people is a hal
lmark of Benedictine simplicity and community. In the preceding paragraph
it is obvious that Benedict is not accepting the children of the wealthy b
ecause their parents will endow the monastery. Whether they do or whether
they don't makes no difference to him at all. What matters is that the chi
ldren accepted as monastics out of the fervor of their parent's hearts be
allowed to develop as monastics. Otherwise\, he clearly fears\, the commun
ity life and spirituality of the house will be corrupted by the independen
tly wealthy who\, as the years go by\, grow more into the family fortune t
han into the monastic life. The poor have nothing whatsoever to give excep
t their children and Benedict accepts them on the same grounds\, with the
same ceremony\, in the same spirit. Benedictine spirituality does not fear
poverty\; it fears the kind of self-sufficiency that frees people from th
e smelting effects of a communal spirituality.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260413T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260413T235900
LOCATION:Chapter 59
SUMMARY:The Offering of Children by Nobles or by the Poor
END:VEVENT
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