Tag: Pennington
Commentaries on the Rule Of St. Benedict
Several Oblates have asked for suggestions on commentaries on the Rule of St. Benedict (RB). The list is too exhaustive to list. Commentaries can be broken into three primary groups; devotional, line by line (exegesis), and a combination of the two. But before listing various commentaries, please remember that there are also quite a number… Read More ›
Christ, the Way
Benedict immediately goes on, Christo omnino nihil praeponant. Absolutely nothing is to be placed before Christ. This is the crown of it. Christ is first, center, power, and the meaning of our life—the total center. The abbot has this meaning because he is the sacrament of Christ, and we need sacraments. He is there to… Read More ›
Love for the Abbot
What Benedict says next is interesting; it is unexpected. You think now that after he has talked about the fear of God, he will immediately talk about the love of God. Instead, he drops in, abbatem suum sincera et humili caritate diligant. Love his abbot with a sincere and humble charity. This tells us how… Read More ›
Pennington on Chapter 72 of the rule (cont.)
Obedience. Benedict goes on, oboedientiam sibi certatim impendant. We obey one another. We obey one another but certatim. Certatim expresses the idea of a certain jostling. If everybody is trying to obey each other, obviously there is going to be a certain competition there. That is what Benedict is saying. You struggle to be the… Read More ›
Patience
First of all, we honor one another. Then, he goes on (and he is very realistic): infirmitates suas sive corporum sive morum patientissime tolerent. We tolerate, with the greatest possible patience, the infirmities of body and of the way of morum—the way of acting, functioning, the way we present ourselves, the way we live. We… Read More ›
A Burning Love
Benedict goes on to describe this. It is really a description of what he sees as a way of spirituality, a way of growth into the fullness, a way of going into God. Hunc ergo zelum ferventissimo amore exerceant monachi. The monk is to make this zeal his own with a most fervent, burning love…. Read More ›
Zeal of Monks
In this crowning chapter, chapter seventy-two, Benedict speaks of the good zeal of monks. He liked that word zeal. It is a powerful word that is used in the scriptures [3]. There is something about Benedict that is zealous. There is a certain energy to him, a certain vibrancy and vitality. He uses hasten (curritur,… Read More ›
Towards Eternal Life
Happiness consists in knowing what you want, and then knowing you have it, or you are on the way to getting it. What we want is God. Our hearts will not rest, until they rest in you, O Lord [1]. Our minds seek infinite truth. Our hearts are made for infinite love. The purpose of… Read More ›
Balance in the Rule
. . . The important thing, and it is what Benedict warns of, is the monastic vice of acedia. Apathetic is the word in English, but the Latin word is acediosus (RB 48:18). The monk has lost the zeal that is looked for in the new man coming to the monastery [1]. The man truly… Read More ›
On the Observance of Lent: Divine relationship
[Return to part four] As we look at Lent as individuals and as community, it as a time for renewal in lectio. It is a time for opening ourselves in a renewed and special way to letting the Lord open up our lives in relationship with him through lectio. We allow his word be heard… Read More ›