Benedictine Spirituality 1

Benedictine Spirituality

By Judith Dunham

As we have shared previously with the congregation, Tom and I planned to spend our winter break from school with the Benedictine sisters of Queen of Angels Monastery in Mt. Angel, OR. Not only were we snowed in at the monastery for five glorious days, but all two weeks of our time there were blessed by observing the solemnity of Christmas in this close-knit Christian community.

Tom and I returned with a renewed commitment to integrate some of the spiritual disciplines we experienced at Mt. Angel into our life at home. In addition, we entered a year of Inquiry, to be followed by another year of Candidacy, into becoming Oblates of the monastery. As Oblates, we will be formally associated with the Benedictine monastic community of Queen of Angels while continuing to live in our own home and church community. Men and women of all Christian denominations are welcome.

As part of our preparation, we are studying the Rule of Benedict. We had read it before our summer service, but now we are going slowly and using a daily commentary by Sister Joan Chittister, a Benedictine writer, to explore how the Rule can help us live our lives to “seek God daily through study, prayer, conversion of life, and works of charity, justice, and peace.”

We hope to share our continuing journey with the congregation, inviting others to sample some of the wisdom of St. Benedict and Sr. Joan through regular reflections in the Advent Adventures. In our first week of reading, here are two passages that struck me particularly. In the first, Sr. Joan is referring to the Prologue of the Rule:

The difference between Benedict and other spiritual masters of his time lay in the fact that Benedict believed that the spiritual life was not an exercise in spiritual gymnastics. It was to be nothing “harsh or burdensome.” And it was not a private process. It was to be done in community with others. It was to be a “school” dedicated to “the good of all concerned.” It was to be lived with “patience.”

The private preserves of the spiritual life are far from dead, however. It is so much easier to go to daily Mass and feel good about it than it is to serve soup at a soup kitchen. It is so much more comfortable to say bedtime prayers than it is to speak peace in a warring world. It is so much more satisfying to contribute to the building of a new church than it is to advocate welfare legislation. It is so much more heroic to fast than it is to be patient with a noisy neighbor. It is so much easier to give the handshake of peace in church than it is to speak gently in the family. And yet one without the other is surely fraud if life with God in community is truly of the essence of real spiritual growth. (p. 30)

The second passage is taken from the commentary on the reading for January 10:

The purpose of Benedictine spirituality is to gather equally committed adults for a journey through earthen darkness to the dazzling light that already flames in each of us, but in a hidden place left to each of us to find. (p. 38)

We invite you to share our journey of exploring Benedictine spirituality in the months to come.

A Benedictine Christmas

THE SOLEMNITY AND CELEBRATION OF A BENEDICTINE CHRISTMAS

By Tom Dunham

In the brilliant white silence of a snowy winter landscape, we recently celebrated a joyful yet solemn Christmas cycle filled with the timeless Holy Scriptures known since our childhoods, leading up to the joy of Christmas Day in its deepest spiritual sense.

Our return to Queen of Angels Benedictine Monastery in Mt. Angel, Oregon, in mid-December quickly re-immersed us in the quietly measured cycle of Ora et Labora, Prayer and Work, that marks the world of the followers of the Rule of St. Benedict.

Freshly cut fir trees began to appear in carefully selected spots, both inside and outside the monastery, and bit by bit decorations began to multiply, heralding the approaching Feast of Christmas. Ornaments and lights on trees, the Advent Wreath and candles in the dining room, beeswax and terracotta crèche scene figures here and there on tables that we passed daily, all called for us to stop and gaze at their beauty.

Greenery and Oregon holly on stairwell banisters as well as in the window sills and on the lectern and altar in the Chapel, poinsettias, red, cream and variegated, delivered en masse by a local grower, a hundred-year old wax doll baby Jesus made by one of the Sisters from the past in a small wooden cradle, nestled under a soft blanket, located under a stairwell in an daily traveled hallway, all appearing bit by bit and day by day added to the crescendo of the sense of anticipation of the coming of Christ into our midst.

And finally, the appearance in a corner of the upstairs chapel, the beautifully fresh pine-bough covered, rustic crèche with the colorfully painted figures of Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds, the Star of Bethlehem suspended above, nearly completed the decoration process. The anticipation of family visits scheduled for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day added a sense of humanity to the preparations.

Under-girding all of the above mentioned scenes of growing excitement was the quiet, measured, four times daily prayers, where we chanted the Psalmody and listened to the timelessly familiar scriptures concerning the Angel’s annunciation to Zechariah in the Temple and to Elizabeth and Mary. Having sung the Benedictus and MagnificatBethlehem when the Angels appeared to them announcing the birth of the Savior in a manger in a stable in nearby Bethlehem every day last summer during prayer, this time we listened with a deeper sense of understanding to the song of Zechariah at the birth of John and to Mary’s exultant response to the announcement of the Holy Spirit’s overshadowing and subsequent birth of Jesus, her son, the Savior of the World. We sensed both the fear and excitement of the shepherds in the fields around

As a quiet accompaniment to decorations, add the daily sharing among the sisters about the upcoming Kris Kringle Gift Exchange Party and the evening of carol singing led by the young Benedictine monks coming down the hill from Mt. Angel Abbey for their annual Christmas visit. The artful last touch was the placement of the ceramic figures of the Three Magi in the window sills at the far end of the chapel, waiting to be advanced gradually and daily toward the crèche only finally to arrive on the Day of Epiphany.

For the first time in my life I truly experienced the deepest solemnity and spiritual truths…..the true meaning of Christmas. My heart was filled to bursting with the joy and truth of the faith which, after all these years drew me into the Incarnation as a living member of the Body of Christ. The reality of the Word made Flesh became a tangible part of my being as tears of thanksgiving flooded my eyes and the Angel voices filled the air around me.

Christ is Born, Halleluiah!

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New Year's Day 2009