Tag: spirituality
Little Motifications are the most important
Louis de Montfort points out that interior mortifications are more important than exterior ones, even though the latter are not to be disregarded. The conquest of selfishness, or self-will, is the greatest challenge. Even the good results of difficult practices of mortification may be spoiled by self-seeking. Hence he recommends that all exterior acts of… Read More ›
Benedictine Spirituality: Peace in the Monastery of the Heart
Turn away from evil and do good; let peace be your quest and aim.” Over the archway of medieval monasteries were commonly carved the words Pax Intrantibus, “Peace to those who enter here.” These words were both a hope and a promise. Benedict’s vision of the peaceable kingdom was a real one. In a society… Read More ›
What’s playing on St. Benedict’s iPod?
A Benedictine approach to technology Several years ago, as I was preparing to enter the monastery, I asked my soonto-be novice master if I would be allowed to bring my laptop computer with me. He responded that the Rule says that every monk should have a stylus and writing tablet (cf. RB 55:19). In so… Read More ›
Resent Somebody
The moment you start to resent a person you become their slave. They control your dreams, absorb your digestion, rob you of your peace of mind and good will, and take away the pleasure of your work. They ruin your spirituality and nullify your prayers. You cannot take a vacation without them going along! They… Read More ›
St. Benedict, Patriarch of Western Monastism
[St. Benedict] . . . perfected the form of this project at Monte Cassino and wrote it down in the “Rule”, his only work that has come done to us. Seeking among the ashes of the Roman Empire first of all the Kingdom of God, Benedict perhaps unknowingly scattered the seed of a new civilization… Read More ›
Path of Descent: Where do you Find Meaning
The spirituality behind the Twelve Steps is a “low Church” approach to evangelization and healing that is probably our only hope in a suffering world of six-and-a-half billion people. Do we really need to verify belief in atonement doctrines and the Immaculate Conception when most of God’s physical, animal and human world is on the… Read More ›