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X-WR-CALDESC:<i>The prophet says: 'Seven times a day have I praised you (Ps
  119: 164).' We will fulfill this sacred number of seven if we satisfy our
  obligations of service at Lauds\, Prime\, Terce\, Sext\, None\, Vespers a
 nd Compline\, for it was of these hours during the day that it was said: '
 Seven times a day have I praised you (Ps 119:164).' Concerning Vigils\, th
 e same prophet says: 'At midnight I arose to give you praise (Ps 119:62).'
  Therefore\, we should 'praise our Creator for just judgments' at these ti
 mes: Lauds\, Prime\, Terce\, Sext\, None\, Vespers and Compline\; and 'Let
  us arise at night to give praise (Ps 119:164\, 62).'</i>\n\n'Prayer is th
 e service of the heart\,' the Talmud says. Benedict clearly thought the sa
 me. In forming his communities in prayer\, Benedict had two realities with
  which to deal. The first was the biblical injunction 'to pray always' aro
 und which the monastics of the desert had centered their lives. The second
  was the reality of community life itself: 'We earn our bread by the toil 
 of our hands\,' the Rule says.\n\nThe problem was that Benedict's monks we
 re not hermits who scratched their daily fare out of a dry desert\, living
  on locusts and honey. They were not gyrovagues\, wandering monks\, who\, 
 to demonstrate their dependence on God\, begged their way through life. Be
 nedict's monks were cenobites\, community people with a family to support.
  They were each as responsible for their inexperienced young and worn out 
 elderly as they were for themselves. They were\, in other words\, just lik
 e us.\n\nTo sanctify both situations Benedict instructs his communities to
  rise early in the night\, as his culture allowed\, to study and to pray a
 nd then\, during the day\, to recite brief\, simple\, scriptural prayers a
 t regular intervals\, easy enough to be recited and prayed even in the wor
 kplace\, to wrench their minds from the mundane to the mystical\, away fro
 m concentration on life's petty particulars to attention on its transcende
 nt meaning.\n\nBenedict scheduled prayer times during the day to coincide 
 with the times of the changing of the Roman imperial guard. When the world
  was revering its secular rulers Benedict taught us to give our homage to 
 God\, the divine ruler of heaven and earth. There was to be no stopping at
  the obvious\, at the lesser\, for a Benedictine.\n\nThe point is clear: t
 here is to be no time\, no thing\, that absorbs us so much that we lose co
 ntact with the God of life\; no stress so tension-producing\, no burden so
  complex\, no work so exhausting that God is not our greatest agenda\, our
  constant companion\, our rest and our refuge. More\, whatever other peopl
 e worship\, we are to keep our minds and hearts on God.
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UID:d1e4abf6-a80d-4c02-b887-faa53cfe612d
DTSTAMP:20260421T111832Z
DESCRIPTION:<i>The prophet says: 'Seven times a day have I praised you (Ps 
 119: 164).' We will fulfill this sacred number of seven if we satisfy our 
 obligations of service at Lauds\, Prime\, Terce\, Sext\, None\, Vespers an
 d Compline\, for it was of these hours during the day that it was said: 'S
 even times a day have I praised you (Ps 119:164).' Concerning Vigils\, the
  same prophet says: 'At midnight I arose to give you praise (Ps 119:62).' 
 Therefore\, we should 'praise our Creator for just judgments' at these tim
 es: Lauds\, Prime\, Terce\, Sext\, None\, Vespers and Compline\; and 'Let 
 us arise at night to give praise (Ps 119:164\, 62).'</i>\n\n'Prayer is the
  service of the heart\,' the Talmud says. Benedict clearly thought the sam
 e. In forming his communities in prayer\, Benedict had two realities with 
 which to deal. The first was the biblical injunction 'to pray always' arou
 nd which the monastics of the desert had centered their lives. The second 
 was the reality of community life itself: 'We earn our bread by the toil o
 f our hands\,' the Rule says.\n\nThe problem was that Benedict's monks wer
 e not hermits who scratched their daily fare out of a dry desert\, living 
 on locusts and honey. They were not gyrovagues\, wandering monks\, who\, t
 o demonstrate their dependence on God\, begged their way through life. Ben
 edict's monks were cenobites\, community people with a family to support. 
 They were each as responsible for their inexperienced young and worn out e
 lderly as they were for themselves. They were\, in other words\, just like
  us.\n\nTo sanctify both situations Benedict instructs his communities to 
 rise early in the night\, as his culture allowed\, to study and to pray an
 d then\, during the day\, to recite brief\, simple\, scriptural prayers at
  regular intervals\, easy enough to be recited and prayed even in the work
 place\, to wrench their minds from the mundane to the mystical\, away from
  concentration on life's petty particulars to attention on its transcenden
 t meaning.\n\nBenedict scheduled prayer times during the day to coincide w
 ith the times of the changing of the Roman imperial guard. When the world 
 was revering its secular rulers Benedict taught us to give our homage to G
 od\, the divine ruler of heaven and earth. There was to be no stopping at 
 the obvious\, at the lesser\, for a Benedictine.\n\nThe point is clear: th
 ere is to be no time\, no thing\, that absorbs us so much that we lose con
 tact with the God of life\; no stress so tension-producing\, no burden so 
 complex\, no work so exhausting that God is not our greatest agenda\, our 
 constant companion\, our rest and our refuge. More\, whatever other people
  worship\, we are to keep our minds and hearts on God.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260620T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260620T235900
LOCATION:Chapter 16
SUMMARY:The Celebration of the Divine Office During the Day
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