Monday, January 15, 2007

Benedictine Prologe

I am going through the Holy Rule of St. Benedict on the reOrient. I am fascinated by monasticism and love to think about the integration of sacred and secular clergy, neo-monasticism and the theology of the desert Fathers. So, I am going to be using the 1949 Edition translated by Rev. Boniface Verheyen, OSB of St. Benedict's Abbey in Atchison, Kansas. My hope through this process is to gain insight into the movements of God through monasticism and see how it can reOrient a person in the postmodern shift. There is a prologue and 73 parts. This is going to take a while.

Prologue: Many would assume that the monastic way is less active - more still and "do-nothing"; in the prologue that is argued against. The monks are to pray in earnest and not waste time away sleeping and "do-nothing-ing". Rather, they seek the Lord and earnestly try to tune into His voice. The rule, then, is not to create a false spirituality through aceticism, but is to guide the monk into the rythyms of the voice of the Lord. May we, more and more, move in the rythyms of the Spirit of God.

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