THE RULE OF BENEDICT: INSIGHTS FOR THE AGES
Joan Chittister, OSB
CHAPTER 13. THE CELEBRATION OF LAUDS ON ORDINARY DAYS
Feb. 15 - June 16 - Oct. 16
On ordinary weekdays, Lauds are celebrated as follows: First, Psalm 67 is said without a refrain and slightly protracted as on Sunday so that everyone can be present for Psalm 51, which has a refrain. Next, according to custom, two more psalms are said in the following order: on Monday, Psalms 5 and 36; on Tuesday, Psalms 43 and 57; on Wednesday, Psalms 64 and 65; on Thursday, Psalms 88 and 90; on Friday, Psalms 76 and 92; on Saturday, Psalm 143 and the Canticle from Deuteronomy, divided into two sections, with the Doxology after each section. On other days, however, a Canticle from the prophets is said, according to the practice of the Roman Church. Next follow Psalms 148 through 150, a reading from the apostle recited by heart, a responsory, an Ambrosian hymn, a versicle, the Gospel canticle, the litany and the conclusion.
Lauds becomes an unending lesson in reality and faith, in accepting what life brings, sure in the knowledge that the God who loves us is with us upholding us all the way.
CHAPTER 13. THE CELEBRATION OF LAUDS ON ORDINARY DAYS-Continued
Feb. 16 - June 17 - Oct. 17
Assuridly, the celebration of Lauds and Vespers must never pass by without the prioress reciting the entire Prayer of Jesus at the end for all to hear, because thorns of contention are likely to spring up. Thus warned by the pledge they make to one another in the very words of this prayer: "Forgive us as we forgive (Mt. 6:12)," they may cleanse themselves of this kind of vice. At other celebrations, only the final part of this prayer is said aloud, that all may reply: "But deliver us from evil (Mt. 6:13)."
Benedictine prayer is not an e scape into a contrived or arcane life. It is prayer intended to impel us through the cold, hard, realities of life in the home, life int he community, life in the world, life with people whom we love enough to hate and whom we hate enough to dampen every other kind of love in us.
CHAPTER 14. THE CELEBRATION OF VIGILS ON THE ANNIVERSARIES OF SAINTS
Feb. 17 - June 18 - Oct. 18
On the feasts of saints, and indeed on all solemn festivals, the Sunday order of celebration is followed, although the psalms, refrains and readings proper to the day itself are said. The procedure, however, remains the same as indicated above.
The lesson is that we must keep the human dimensions of the faith very much in mind and find in models from the past proof that daily chaos can be ordered and the ordinary transfigured for us, too.
CHAPTER 15. THE TIMES FOR SAYING ALLELUIA
Feb. 18 - June 19 - Oct. 19
From the holy feast of Easter until Pentecost, "alleluia" is always said with both the psalms and the responsories. Every night from Pentecost until the beginning of Lent, it is said only with the last six psalms of Vigils. Vigils, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext and None are said with "alleluia" every Sunday except in Lent; at Vespers, however, a refrain is used. "Alleluia" is never said with responsories except from Easter to Pentecost.
Benedict of Nursia did not originate the use of the Alleluia but one thing he did do was to extend its use to every day of the year except during Lent.
CHAPTER 16. THE CELEBRATION OF THE DIVINE OFFICE DURING THE DAY
Feb. 19 - June 20 - Oct. 20
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 and 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, 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 times: Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline; and "let us arise at night to give praise (Ps. 119:164, 62)."
"Prayer is the service of the heart," the Talmud says. Benedict clearly thought the same. In forming his communities in prayer, Benedict had two realities with which to deal. The first was the biblical injunction "to pray always," around 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.
CHAPTER 17. THE NUMBER OF PSALMS TO BE SUNG AT THESE HOURS
Feb. 20 - June 21 - Oct. 21
We have already established the order for psalmody at Vigils and Lauds. Now let us arrange the remaining hours. Three psalms are to be said at Prime, each followed by the Doxology. The hymn for this hour is sung after the opening versicle, "O God, come to my assistance (Ps. 70:2)," before the psalmody begins. One reading follows the three psalms, and the hour is concluded with a versicle, "Christ, have mercy" and the dismissal.
Prayer is celebrated in the same way at Terce, Sext and None: that is, the opening verse, the hymn appropriate to each hour, three psalms, a reading with a versicle, "Christ, have mercy" and the dismissal. If the community is rather large, refrains are used with the psalms; if it is smaller, the psalms are said without refrain.
At Vespers the number of psalms should be limited to four, with refrain. After these psalms there follow: a reading and responsory, an Ambrosian hymn, a versicle, the Gospel canticle, the litany, and, immediately before the dismissal, the Prayer of Jesus.
Compline is limited to three psalms without refrain. After the psalmody comes the hymn for this hour, followed by a reading, a versicle, "Christ, have mercy," a blessing and the dismissal.
Benedict wants us to pray the psalms. His own monks, many of them illiterate and all of them without manuscripts, memorized the psalms of the day hours so that they could be prayed in the fields as well as in the prayer place.
CHAPTER 18. THE ORDER OF THE PSALMODY
Feb. 21 - June 22 - Oct. 22
Each of the day hours begins with the verse, "O God, come to my assistance; O God, make haste to help me (Ps. 70:2)," followed by the Doxology and the appropriate hymn.
Then, on Sunday at Prime, four sections of Psalm 119 are said. At the other hours, that is, at Terce, Sext and None, three sections of this psalm are said. On Monday three psalms are said at Prime: Psalms 1, 2 and 6. At Prime each day thereafter until Sunday, three psalms are said in consecutive order as far as Psalm 20. Psalms 9 and 18 are each divided into two sections. In this way, Sunday Vigils can always begin with Psalm 21.
The psalms for Prime and the day hours of the psalmody--Terce, Sext and None--are relatively ordinary. They simply recite psalms 1-20 in order. But they do it with two major emphases. The first is the opening of the office with the verse, "O God, come to my assistance," the continuing reminder that even prayer is a gift from God.
CHAPTER 18. THE ORDER OF THE PSALMODY-Continued
Feb. 22 - June 23 - Oct. 23
On Monday at Terce, Sext and None, the remaining nine sections of Psalm 119 are said, three sections at each hour. Psalm 119 is thus completed in two days, Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, three psalms are said at each of the hours of Terce, Sext and None. These are the nine psalms, 120 through 128. The same psalms are repeated at these hours daily up to Sunday. Likewise, the arrangement of hymns, readings and versicles for these days remains the same. In this way, Psalm 119 will always begin on Sunday.
In the minor hours, the psalms carry us from hardship to joy, from inner captivity to liberation, from despair to trust. It is a message to us all that remembering to trust in God can be enough to carry us for a lifetime.
CHAPTER 18. THE ORDER OF THE PSALMODY-Continued
Feb. 23 - June 24 - Oct. 24
Four psalms are sung each day at Vespers, starting with Psalm 110 and ending with Psalm 147, omitting the psalms in this series already assigned to other hours, namely, Psalms 118 through 128, Psalm 134 and Psalm 143. All the remaining psalms are said at Vespers. Since this leaves three psalms too few, the longer ones in the series should be divided: that is, Psalms 139, 144 and 145. And because Psalm 117 is short, it can be joined to Psalm 116. This is the order of psalms for Vespers; the rest is as arranged above: the reading, responsory, hymn, versicle and canticle.
The Benedictine is not to pick and choose at ransom the psalms that will be said. The Benedictine is not to pick some psalms but not others. The Benedictine is to pray the entire psalter in an orderly way, regardless of mood, irrespective of impulses, despite personal preferences.
CHAPTER 18. THE ORDER OF THE PSALMODY-Continued
Leap year - Feb. 24 - June 25 - Oct. 25
The same psalms-4, 91 and 134-are said each day at Compline. The remaining psalms not accounted for in this arrangement for the day hours are distributed evenly at Vigils over the seven nights of the week. Longer psalms are to be divided so that twelve psalms are said each night.
Above all else we urge that if anyone finds this distribution of the psalms unsatisfactory, they should arrange whatever they judge better, provided that the full complement of one hundred and fifty psalms is by all means carefully maintained every week, and that the series begins anew each Sunday at Vigils.
For members who in a week's time say less than the full Psalter with the customary canticles betray extreme indolence and lack of devotion in their service. We read, after all, that our holy ancestors, energetic as they were, did all this in a single day. Let us hope that we, lukewarm as we are, can achieve it in a whole week.
We are to tap into every human situation that the psalms describe and learn to respond to them with an open soul, an unfettered heart, and out of the mind of God.
CHAPTER 19. THE DISCIPLINE OF PSALMODY
Feb. 24(25) - June 26 - Oct. 26
We believe that the divine presence is everywhere and "that in every place the eyes of God are watching the good and the wicked (Prov. 15:3)." But beyond the least doubt we should believe this to be especially true when we celebrate the divine office.
We must always remember, therefore, what the prophet says: "Serve God with reverence (Ps. 2:11)," and again, "Sing praise wisely (Ps. 47:8);" and, "In the presence of the angels I will sing to you (Ps. 138:1)." Let us consider, then, how we ought to sing the psalms in such a way that our minds are in harmony with our voices.
Prayer in the Benedictine tradition, then, is not an exercise done for the sake of quantity or penance or the garnering of spiritual merit.
CHAPTER 20. REVERENCE IN PRAYER
Feb. 25(26) - June 27 - Oct. 27
Whenever we want to ask a favor of someone powerful, we do it humbly and respectfully, for fear of presumption. How much more important, then, to lay our petitions before the God of All with the utmost humility and sincere devotion. We must know that God regards our purity of heart and tears of compunction, not our many words. Prayer should therefore be short and pure, unless perhaps it is prolonged under the inspiration of divine grace. In community, however, prayer should always be brief; and when the prioress gives the signal, all should rise together.
The fact is, of course, that Benedict does not theorize about the nature and purpose of prayer. All he does, with every choice he makes of the versicles and Alleluias and Jesus Prayers and psalms and length of it, is to demonstrate it and steep s in it until the theory becomes the thing.
CHAPTER 21. THE DEANS OF THE MONASTERY
Feb. 26(27) - June 28 - Oct. 28
If the community is rather large, some chosen for their good repute and holy life should be made deans. They will take care of their groups of ten, managing all affairs according to the commandments of God and the orders of their prioress. Anyone selected as a dean should be the kind of person with whom the prioress can confidently share the burdens of her office. They are to be chosen for virtuous living and wise teaching, not for their rank.
If perhaps one of these deans is found to be puffed up with any pride, and so deserving of censure, she is to be reproved once, twice and even a third time. Should she refuse to amend, she must be removed from office and replaced by another who is worthy. We prescribe the same course of action in regard to the subprioress.
What Benedict is inveighing against, then, is the spirit of the coup d'etat, that war that is waged against authority by the very people named by the authority to uphold it.
CHAPTER 22. THE SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS OF MONASTICS
Feb. 27(28) - June 29 - Oct. 29
Members are to sleep in separate beds. They receive bedding as provided by the prioress, suitable to monastic life. If 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 elders. A lamp must be kept burning in the room until morning.
They sleep clothed 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; each 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 to each other, but interspersed among those of the elders. On arising for the Opus Dei, they will quietly encourage each other, for the sleepy like to make excuses.
The 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 limited spiritual value in denying the body to the point where the soul is too agitated to concentrate on the things of the spirit.
CHAPTER 23. EXCOMMUNICATION FOR FAULTS
Feb. 28(29) - June 30 - Oct. 30
If anyone is found to be stubborn or disobedient or proud, if she grumbles or in any way despises the Rule and defies the orders of the elders, she should be warned twice privately by them in accord with Christ's injunction (Mt. 18:15-16). If she does not amend, she must be rebuked publicly in the presence of everyone. But if even then she does not reform, let her be excommunicated, provided that she understands the nature of this punishment. If however she lacks understanding let her undergo corporal punishment.
It is community that enables us both to live the Christian life and to learn from it. Human growth is gradual, Benedict knows--the grumblers and defiant are to be warned about their behavior twice privately--but grow we must. Otherwise those who do not honor the community, those in fact who sin against the development of community in the worst possible way, by consistent complaining, constant resistance, or outright rebellion, must be corrected for it.
CHAPTER 24. DEGREES OF EXCOMMUNICATION
March 1 - July 1 - Oct. 31
There ought to be due proportion between the seriousness of a fault and the measure of excommunication or discipline. The prioress determines the gravity of faults.
If anyone is found guilty of less serious faults, she will not be allowed to share the common table. Anyone excluded from the common table will conduct herself as follows: in the oratory she will not lead a psalm or a refrain nor will she recite a reading until she has made satisfaction, and she will take meals alone, after the others have eaten. For instance, if the community eats at noon, she will eat in mid-afternoon; if the community eats in mid-afternoon, she will eat in the evening, until by proper satisfaction pardon is gained.
Obedience is not a license to destroy another human being for the whims and fancies of an authority figure....The nature of the punishment is always to be weighed against the nature of the offense.
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