Solemnity of St. Benedict - 11th July 2024
Our hymn for St Benedict starts:
Silence and solitude he chose,
A craggy rock for cell,
Hidden from all.
There’s something rather appealing about this just now – maybe not the craggy rock, but the idea of a bit of silence and solitude after all the activity of recent weeks is very attractive. But even secluded in our monastery such silence and solitude is not easily found. Indeed I believe God’s call to us in monastic life as for any Christian is to embrace the two poles of solitude and engagement, finding a balance between them. Jesus exemplified this in the way he moved between times of intense engagement with others and times of solitary withdrawal in order to spend time praying to his Father.
Benedict withdrew from the city to seek God in solitude but very soon people gathered around him, attracted by his holiness and wisdom. Christianity is inherently communal, we are called to be the Body of Christ. That is not simply a nice metaphor but a concrete reality lived out in our relationships with others and the world around us. God’s call to Benedict was to find a way to maintain his relationship with God whilst also coping with the demands of managing communities of monks. As we have been hearing in the refectory1 running a monastery was (and still is) a complex business, not some ethereal super-spiritual activity but grounded in the realities of earning a living, keeping food on the table and a roof over one’s head. His Rule provides guidance for living a life that balances the demands of everyday life with the need for space for the spiritual life.
For us at the moment there is the challenge of managing our relationships with our friends who love and support us in so many ways whilst not eroding the silence and solitude within which we deepen our relationship with God. The hospitality we offered last week was so greatly appreciated by the many who came, being allowed into our cloister where few of them had been before. It was also important that we made space for others to express their gratitude for the life of Sr Mary John in their own ways. We have also allowed people to live within our enclosure in a way that would have been unthinkable not so long ago. Now we need to re-balance our lives with some ‘ordinary time’, living our simple daily rhythm.
The gift that Benedict has given us is a structured life, each day having the rhythm of the offices and time set aside for prayer and reading as well as for work. We are never far from a time set aside for prayer, although I know sometimes it can be hard to let go of what we’ve been doing in order to pray. I may be physically present but mentally somewhere else. The busy time of the last few weeks is continuing to have its impact on me and probably all of you. I have been in over-drive and now it is hard to slow down to a more steady pace. But I know if I am patient that will come. Sticking with it through those distracted times of prayer will eventually lead me back to a quieter place.
We are bidden to ‘love one another’ in our reading at 2nd Vespers of this feast [John 15:12-17]. This reading follows on from Jesus saying ‘I am the vine’ and his teaching that we should dwell in him as he in us. This mutual indwelling is the foundation of our ability to love one another. I was praying with this passage last week and was struck by the paradoxical sense that I need to dwell in Christ who dwells in me. If Christ is deep within me, in my heart, then to dwell in Christ I have to dwell deep within myself. I find that the Eastern Orthodox teaching about putting the mind in the heart leads me into this place. Can I keep my mind in one place, in my heart, rather than flitting around all over? Can I live inside myself, in the ‘cave of the heart’, as Benedict did in that cave of rock? Not easy when there has been so much to distract me.
When we feel very distracted in prayer it can be tempting to distract ourselves still further, or go to get on with something ‘useful’. But there lies the madness of the world where the professionals set about keeping us distracted from what matters and persuade us to buy their products, ranging from political ideas to the kind of food we eat. If we can remain still and keep letting go the distractions we will become more able to be present to the reality around us and hear God’s call to us through all that God has created. This ability to be still and present to one another is a gift that the world desperately needs if humanity is to live wisely on this earth, if we are to find peace between nations and develop the ability to live more simply in order to make space for all God’s creatures.
Mother Anne - 11th July 2024
1We have been reading in the refectory ‘Saint Benedict in His Community’ by Richard Newman (Gracewing Publishing)