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.