In the fourth century, the ancient Roman world order, which had stood for a thousand years, teetered on the edge of collapse. Imperial Rome was being battered by enemies from without and rotting from corruption and social decay from within. The Roman state had become ‘Christian’ in name, whichonly furthered the resolve of Christian spiritual pioneers who stepped away from the collapsing society and fled to the wilderness. There, they built a new social order founded on radical fidelity to the God of infinite love and mercy. These pioneers became known as ‘The Desert Fathers and Mothers.’ They developed a system of spiritual practice that I believe has profound significance for our time.
Read moreCulture for the Spirit
As I finish my last few bites of ‘jungle squash’ and set down my fork, I look out the glass door frame across our hillside. It’s only a few minutes past seven in the evening, yet already the light of the sky is fading. The work of the day is done, and our family is settling into the slower rhythms of the darkness. It’s September, and there’s lots still left to do before winter comes. I feel the anxiety of wanting to push my active work into the night as I pull out the kneeler and light the candle to start Vespers. There will be time the next morning to create and control. Right now, it’s time to let go.
Read moreThe Way of Christ
Every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. Each of us comes into this world bearing the infinite, and we all have unlimited potential to manifest this divine presence in the world as vessels of divine light, life and love. Yet, without conscious practice and discipline, our human experience of God is fleeting at best, and one of the great agonies of modern life is a pervasive sense of God’s absence. Even those who have momentary breakthroughs and encounters with God find that, without a discipline, these experiences remain rare, transitory, and elusive. So, to unlock our human potential as bearers of the divine image, we need a ‘way’ that can guide us to outwardly become who we truly are in the depths of our being.
Read moreCreating New Rhythms
By Lisa Kutolowski
A bizarre side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding school and business closings, gathering suspensions, and stay-at-home orders is many of our former ways of marking the hours and days of the week have been upended. We still have the sun’s rising and setting, our clocks, and possibly online meetings for work or school—but many of us are left with day after day of largely unstructured time stretched out before us. This doesn’t imply we have less to do. In fact, many people—health care workers, farmers, lab technicians, parents, etc.—have more on their plates during this time. Many other workers and students have a new burden of figuring out how to continue their work or schooling in this new environment. It can all be a little crazy making.
We are creatures of habit and most of us thrive on some degree of rhythm and routine. I have already begun to hear people talk about “the new normal.” I’m sure you have, too. We can only tolerate the whole-sale disruption of our routines for so long before we settle into new grooves. This interruption of our daily routines, then, is an unprecedented moment to reorient our lives—to intentionally order our days and our weeks around a more life-giving, spirit-nourishing source than previously seemed possible.
The last three years Mark and I have been experimenting with this very thing. We have been seeking to structure our waking hours around the Benedictine way of following Christ—a monastic discipline of life that is shaped by prayer, work, and study. One of the key commitments in the Rule of Saint Benedict is ‘stability of life’—to commit to a physical place. Those of us who are relegated to our homes now have this key element of the Benedictine life thrust upon us. With the scattering of our normal routines, the well-worn, centuries old Benedictine path offers a rhythm and intention of life that both nourishes us and offers an opportunity to serve the world at the very time when we must stay put in one place with the same people day in and day out. What are some of the gifts of the Benedictine way?
1. Morning to morning: The gift of silence (especially when living in close and consistent company)
Benedictine communities keep what they call “the grand silence” from Compline (the bedtime prayer) through mid-morning the following day. While monastic life typically does not include a lot of chit-chat, these nighttime and early morning hours are especially free from conversation in order to create the spaciousness needed to listen to the wisdom of God, our hearts, and creation.
We have adopted this practice of silent mornings when we guide River of Life Pilgrimages, and the act of moving silently through the morning with a group of people has been one of the most profound experiences for many of our participants. Mark and I have also taken on this discipline within our home, often refraining from speech until 10am (the hour of Terce—see below). We have found that this practice supports relational harmony given our living situation in which we are both home most days and sharing 314 square feet of inside space.
As the stay-at-home orders continue and our homes begin to feel too small and the physical nearness of our family and roommates begins to feel suffocating, taking on a kind of “grand silence” may provide some needed psychic space and a softer entry into each day. Of course, this isn’t a complete substitute for total alone time—especially for parents and introverts—but it is a simple way of creating just a little more space in each day.
2. Hour to hour: Regular opportunities throughout the day to return to our hearts and God
Life in a Benedictine community is defined by its rhythm of prayer and work—also known as ‘ora et labora’. Benedictine nuns and monks pray together seven times a day—pre-dawn (vigils), at sunrise (lauds), mid-morning (terce), noonday (sext), mid-afternoon (none), at sunset (vespers), and at bedtime (compline)[1]. Work, study, and meals takes place in between these times. This daily routine creates an ebb and flow of work and prayer that becomes as cyclical as one’s very breath. The regularity of these set-apart times of prayer invites the awareness of God’s presence to infuse the rest of the day, ideally making all other activities prayer as well.
In these weeks, when our typical markers of time and routine have been removed, we can adopt aspects of this Benedictine rhythm as a means of structuring our own days. Seven times a day can be a really overwhelming place to begin, but perhaps a morning, midday, and evening prayer that corresponds with mealtimes could work well for you and your family. The times of prayer also need not be long, especially the three midday prayers—terce, sext, and none. Even in monastic communities, these times are quite short and are known as the ‘little hours.’ They serve as a simple return and reminder of God’s presence with us.
The most important thing about these regular times of prayer is that they help us dip back into the wellspring of Christ’s love. Keeping the Liturgy of the Hours isn’t about a sense of righteousness stemming from duty or obligation. Rather, they are an incredible tool to pick up when we are aware of our own weakness, forgetfulness, and need. In the midst of a lot of chaos, frightening news stories, and insecurity, they are opportunities to return to our own hearts nestled within the infinite love of God.
You may have the very legitimate question of what to do or how to structure these prayers. There are many options. Benedictine monasteries sing or recite the Psalms at each time of prayer. Depending on your responsibilities,[2] keeping these hours could be as simple as setting a watch for the times and when the bell rings breathing five deep breaths or saying a short prayer, such as the Jesus Prayer (‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner’). At our home, times of prayer include song, readings, spoken prayers, and silence. Click here to find a downloadable copy of the format we use.Follow them as is, adapt them as works for your home, or use them as inspiration to craft your own home liturgy.
3. Moment to moment: The eternal and infinite power of prayer
The radical notion implied in the very existence of a contemplative monastic community—like a traditional Benedictine community—is that prayer is a powerful gift and service to the world. This idea was so offensive to early American ideals that all monasteries established in the United States before the 1950s were required to have an outward expression of service—a school, hospital, orphanage, etc. Most American Christians are children of this thinking—that to minister to people’s needs I must be physically (or at the very least, virtually) present to them. This kind of service is good, beautiful, and true. However, the goodness of outward and active ministry does not negate or diminish the need for the ministry of prayer.
It is a painful sacrifice to be physically isolated from our families, our friends, our elderly or ill loved ones, our church community, and our students—especially in a time of so much need. The outward expressions of care still available to us—video calls, phone calls, cards—are precious ways of connecting. At the same time, our current situation is an invitation to lean into and discover anew the gift of prayer—prayer that reaches toward, encounters, and dwells in the Spirit of God who is nearer to me than any other relationship. Prayer is eternal—transcending all time—and infinite—transcending all space—because the God to whom we pray is greater than the limits of time and space.
This is a time of great suffering that extends far beyond those falling ill from COVID-19. People are afraid. People are lonely. Our social systems are shaky. It feels like there may not be enough—enough masks, test kits, money, food. Most of us feel like we can’t do much about it.
But we can. We are already deep into the season of Lent—forty days set aside to spiritually walk the path of Christ that leads to the cross. As Christ bore the sufferings of the world, so too are we being called to carry the sufferings of our world in this time to the eternal and infinite love of God—to be vessels through which Christ’s healing can flow.
We invite you to pray in this way as you are able. We also extend the invitation to share your concerns, your prayer requests, and your intentions with us so we may together carry these concerns into the realm of God’s love. Click here to share—anonymously and confidentially—your prayer intentions with us.
[1] Mark, the ‘Benedictine nerd’ of the family, informs me that there are technically seven daytime ‘offices’ of prayer (including ‘prime’) in the Rule of Benedict, with Vigils counting as a separate ‘night office.' For what it's worth.
[2] Those of you suddenly juggling full-time parenting, your child’s schooling and working from home—I see you.