The Benedictines Strike Back

[puellapaschalis]

[color=blue]24 days, 1 hour[/color]
[quote]April 4
[b]The reception of guests[/b]
All guests who present themselves are to be received as Christ, for He will say: [i]I was a stranger and you took me in[/i]. And to everyone fitting honour is to be shown, especially to those of the household of faith and to pilgrims.

When, therefore, a guest is announced, he is to be met by the superior and the brothers with every ceremony of love: thus first they are to pray together, and thus be united to one another in peace. But this kiss of peace is not to be offered until prayer has first been said on account of the illusions of the devil.

And in this very salutation all humility is to be shown to all arriving or departing guests: by bowing the head or prostrating the whole body on the ground Christ is to be adored in them just as He is received in them.

And having been received the guests are to be led to prayer, and afterwards the superior or anyone he appoints is to sit with them. The divine law is to be read to he guest for his edification, and afterwards all kindness is to be shown to be him.

The superior is to break his fast for the sake of the guest, unless it happens to be a principal fast-day which cannot be broken: the brothers, however, are to follow their customary fast. Water is to be poured on the hands of the guests by the abbot, and the feet of all guests are to be washed by the abbotad the whole community. After the washing they are to say this verse: [i]We have received your mercy, O God, in the midst of your temple.[/i]

In the reception of the poor and of pilgrims the greatest care and solicitude should be shown, because in them Christ is more especially received: for the very awe we have of the rich ensures that they receive honour.[/quote]

A friend and I were once sitting in a bar at College, talking about whatnot. Somehow the conversation turned into such that my friend made the following statement: "Out of the following two situations, it's better to be saved and hungy, than be filled with both food and despair." I quite like that.

There's a pretty fine line to be walked here. To over-emphasise our spiritual needs to the detriment of the physical could lead ultimately to gnosticism, in which the physical creation, our bodies included, is seen as evil. But go too far in the other direction and you lose sight of what's really important. A balance must be struck (and Benedictine life is famed for its moderation), but it's not an equilibrium where the scales are equal, so to speak.

In the above scenario, of course, there are actually four situations (this is the mathematican coming out in me): fed and saved, hungry and saved, fed and despairing, hungry and despairing. By happy coincidence, I typed them out in a nice order: out of those "options" I would rather be fed and saved. Of course, in the materially luxurious Western world, I am already both (well, I'm still working on the second one )

Both our physical and spiritual aspects need to be nurtured and brought to maturity, but when push comes to shove, it's the non-physical creation that will last forever: we will rise with [i]glorified[/i] bodies, not simply the ones we have now with a few patch-ups. Moreover, as human beings, we cannot care for everything: we have to pray and discern in what way it is that we are called to look after those around us.

Monks and nuns, it transpires here, are indeed to care for people who come their way. None of this "Shove off and leave me alone to pray in peace" (one wonders what the prevailing monastic attitudes were like to elicit this sort of reaction from Benedict.... ) attitude. But it's not a swank hotel either! Prayer is the order of the day, deep respect is shown, as the guest is Christ. So whilst the monastery is tending to a traveller's bodily needs, more attention is given to his spiritual needs. And why not? A monastery is surely a little like an icon - a window into Heaven.

[quote name='VeniteAdoremus']To me, the best monestaries are the ones where the spirit of prayer is almost a living being, which you can feel at every moment. After some time it's like it has permeated into the walls. Last year, when that camp I lead every year (except not this year because apparently I'm in England then ) had to go to a convent somewhere in Eastern Russia (they say it was Gelderland but I don't believe them) because the seminary was being re-painted and all, I felt it even while playing soccer in the gardens. It was lovely. The children felt it, too, I'm quite sure.[/quote]

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why anything I splurt out is nothing compared to the marvellous friends I have! VA, [b]absolutely[/b]. I totally agree - and it's a very potent demonstration of the abundant graces that God pours out onto people who fully dedicate their lives to Him.

Paphnutius - where? :

I have waffled excessively this evening, please forgive me. I don't even have a decent excuse! Apart maybe from the fact that this evening I finally finished off my undergraduate marking!

Please feel free to talk about what you glean from these Chapters: I'm no expert, after all, so I'm eager to hear others' thoughts.

Love and prayers,

PP

Edited April 4, 2006 by puellapaschalis

[puellapaschalis]

Ok, even if you don't read German, you should have a look at these photos:

[url="http://www.abtei-st-hildegard.de/kloster/kloster_f/index.htm"]http://www.abtei-st-hildegard.de/kloster/kloster_f/index.htm[/url]

It's a photographic tour around the Abbey. Click on the little solid black arrow to go to the next picture :

Love and prayers,

PP

[HisChild]

PP,

I just visited the PCPA here in AZ yesterday. They said they, on their pilgrimmage to Rome, stopped in England. . .stayed in the guest quarters of the Tyburn Benedictines!

[puellapaschalis]

[quote name='PCPA2Be' date='Apr 4 2006, 09:50 PM']PP,

I just visited the PCPA here in AZ yesterday.  They said they, on their pilgrimmage to Rome, stopped in England. . .stayed in the guest quarters of the Tyburn Benedictines!
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[/quote]



The Tyburn Benedictines ROCK MY SOCKS.

All right, that was a little over-enthusiastic, but you get me.

For all the flack that Europe gets these days, you know, for being all post-modern...it's an incredibly exciting time to live here. As a Catholic who has such strong ties to this continent I can almost feel the power of the Divine possibilities bubbling in my arms (apologies if that's tmi): not only can I pray earnestly for a new blossoming of Catholicism here, but by my [b]life[/b] and presence I can do some more.

It seems that others have caught the bug too - as evidenced by the Tyburn nuns. They really are doing well (although they're not particularly new). God is pulling on this continent's heart strings, and even the most hard-hearted surely cannot hold out against His love for much longer!

Love and prayers,

PP

[puellapaschalis]

[color=blue]23 days, 1 hour[/color]
[quote]April 5

The kitchen for the abbot and guests is to be set apart by itself so that guests who arrive at uncertain hours (and who are never lacking in a monastery) may not disturb the brothers. In this kitchen each year two brothers are to be placed who can fulfil this duty properly. These, if they require it, are to be offered help so that they may serve without murmuring; and when, on the other hand, they are occupied with less, they are to go out wherever they are commanded to work. And not only to them, but in all the duties of the monastery this same consideration is to be shown: that is, when help is required it is given to them; and again, when they are free they obey what they are commanded to do.

And the guesthouse is to be assigned to a brother whose soul is possessed by the fear of God: sufficient beds should be provided there. And the house of God is to be wisely administrated by wise men.

Guests, however, are not to be associated with or conversed with for any reason by one not assigned to do so: instead, if he happens to meet or see them, he is to humbly greet them as we have said; and as he asks their blessing he is to continue on, saying that he is not permitted to talk with a guest.[/quote]

[puellapaschalis]

Evening, ladies and gents.

I've gone all nervous. My visit is more than three weeks away, and [i]now[/i] I get nerves - I shudder to imagine what kind of state I'll be in on the train to Frankfurt.

My heart feels like there's a tempest going on inside. What if I get there and fall in love with them all? What if they don't like me? What if they do like me but I don't like them? What if we all like each other and in eighteen months' time I'm a postulant there? Could I ever be ready - even with God's help - to make such a huge step in my life, even if it were to the path that God wants me to be on?

Ugh. I believe I'm thinking too much. I'm prone to that.

I've emigrated twice so I could certainly do it a third time. I've learnt a second language within two years so I could definitely learn a third. So my blatherings about the practicalities are just that - hot air.

So what's left? Am I simply petrified that I might, indeed, have a vocation to live in this community? Heck yes, I'd say so. I've grown up around a Benedictine community, I've been a little girl around one, a hormonal teenager around one, and a stressing and wayward undergraduate around one (thankfully...the same one throughout). Perhaps I'm nervous that by some Benny trick of communication and foresight, Ruedesheim know all about this and will see me as the little girl that the other place sees me.

Even though that other community probably don't see me as a little girl anymore, much less a silly, flitty, precocious one (which I most definitely was when I was a kid). If they ever did, even. They've probably watched me grow up and now see me just as much an adult as anyone else does, only perhaps moreso, as I'm quite close to them and they know much about what goes on inside my heart. Further, I certainly don't think that they'd contact Ruedesheim to give them all the dirt on me (especially as whilst they know I'm discerning, they don't know where)!

Gah.

Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Sedes sapientiae, ora pro me.

I'm off to pray Vespers. A little late, but hey.

puella

[VeniteAdoremus]

Oh, so they didn't tell you about the Benedictine round-the-world CCCD network?

[quote name='puellapaschalis' date='Apr 5 2006, 10:02 PM']My heart feels like there's a tempest going on inside. What if I get there and fall in love with them all? What if they don't like me? What if they do like me but I don't like them? What if we all like each other and in eighteen months' time I'm a postulant there? Could I ever be ready - even with God's help - to make such a huge step in my life, even if it were to the path that God wants me to be on?

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[/quote]

Yes, you could be ready. And you will. And you'll know it when you are. Even if you don't feel a hundred percent completely sure, because some people do, and some don't - you know you will know it, brainy, so why am I telling you?

Seems like someone forgot for a moment that she's being taken care of.

[puellapaschalis]

[quote name='VeniteAdoremus' date='Apr 5 2006, 10:23 PM']Seems like someone forgot for a moment that she's being taken care of.
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[/quote]

And with that admonition ringing in my ears, I'm sloping off to bed. Thank you, VA *knuf*

PP

[puellapaschalis]

[color=blue]22 days, 2 hours[/color]
[quote]April 6
[b]Whether a monk may receive letters or anything else[/b]
For no reason is it permissible for a monk to receive from hi parent or from any other person - not even the brethren - letters, blessed object, or any little gifts of any kind; nor may he give them to others, without permission of the abbot. For even if something is sent to him by his parents, he may not presume to receive it unless he has first indicated this to the abbot.

If he orders it to be received, it is in the abbot's power to decide to whom it will be given; and this is not to sadden the brother to whom it was sent, [i]so that occasion is not given to the devil[/i] But one who presumes to act otherwise is to be subjected to the discipline of the Rule.[/quote]

[url="http://www.dboyko.info/holyrule/april6aug6dec6.html"]A couple of reflections[/url] on this Chapter, written by Br. Jerome of [url="http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/petersham/index.htm"]Petersham, Massachusetts[/url].

[puellapaschalis]

Oh boy, this thread had slipped my mind! I suppose that's the payback for beginning a countdown on the wrong side of the biggest feast of the year :

Anyway:
[size=7][color="blue"][b]9 days, 14 hours[/b][/color][/size]

VA was supposed to come and visit me this weekend but she can't

I'm possibly extending my trip so that after I leave Ruedesheim I'll travel to Vienna for a couple of days to visit family whom I've not seen in - oh, a couple of decades or so

My current stress (just like books I always have at least two or three on the go at any one time) is that I'll wake up too late on the 29th to catch a train down to Arnhem to connect to the international. It's a very silly stress because I am famed amongst those who know me for being ridiculously early - I once checked into a flight to Detroit [i]four hours[/i] before take-off. The international leaves Arnhem at about 11am, so I think I'll aim to get there at about 9:30...which means leaving here at 7ish. Entirely doable.

Or perhaps I'll get the train at 6:30ish. I just don't trust things to work on schedule when I'm on an important journey!

Having blathered on quite enough, it's time for breakfast. I hope all the Americans are having a good sleep

Love and prayers,

PP

[OLAM Dad]

[quote name='puellapaschalis' post='929606' date='Mar 31 2006, 10:26 AM']

OLAM Dad, whereabouts in Germany were you stationed?

[/quote]
Rereading this thread I realized I never answered this question. Sorry.

I was stationed at Fliegerhorst Kaserne, just outside of Hanau. Hanau is about 20 clicks east of Frankfurt.

[HisChild]

Puella, I'm getting excited for your journey. Be assured of my prayers for you.

[puellapaschalis]

[quote name='PCPA2Be' post='953840' date='Apr 19 2006, 04:48 PM']
Puella, I'm getting excited for your journey. Be assured of my prayers for you.
[/quote]

Sr. Denise,

with your entrance less than three days away how on earth can you have time to be excited for little old me? Nevertheless I'm thankful for your prayers. I'm sure they'll stand me in good stead.

Michael,

ah! Thanks! My curiosity has been fulfilled (I can be a nosy so and so sometimes). I used to be a bit awed at how big German was until I lived in North America....

Love and prayers for you both,

PP

[HisChild]

My life will be that of prayers for others. And all my pham here is on the top of my list. I'm very thankful for all of you, including/especially you, Sister to be Puella.

[Laurentina1975]