Beauty, chant bring life to monastery

A Visit To The Holy Mountain Athos

The Desert Monks

The following comes from Brother Marcus:

What is a monk? The word ‘monk’ is derived from the Greek word monakhos which means ‘alone’ or ‘solitary’. In the early years of the fourth century, which are generally accepted as the embryonic years of Christian monasticism, individual Christian ascetics migrated into the desert wilderness of Egypt to engage in a solitary life of spiritual discipline. Their extraordinary way of life became an inspiration to great numbers of Christians who, following their example, withdrew from the secular world and entered the desert wilderness. Why this migration took place, how such Christians were perceived and why so many over so many years followed the way of the monakhos are issues too complex to be studied here.

Nevertheless, we should reflect upon how in the preceding centuries the persecution of Christians throughout the Roman Empire had become ever more frequent and violent, culminating in the Great Persecution instituted by the Emperor Diocletian in the year 303. It was to last for more than eight years, during which time thousands of Christians were killed and many more abused in the most terrible of ways, and it is reasonable to assume that during those years many Christians fled into the wilderness to lead a Christian way of life free from oppression. The Great Persecution finally came to an end when Constantine became emperor in the year 312.

That earlier Christians, of the second and third centuries, may also have looked to the desert as a place of refuge is a matter of speculation as there are few records to guide us. It is probable, however, that during this period numerous Christians, albeit unrecorded, left the main centres of population and entered the wilderness to engage in the spiritual life free from religious intolerance, thereby establishing a precedent for the later solitaries of the fourth century. Another factor to be considered is the effect of the Edict of Milan, issued by Constantine and Licinius in the year 313. This edict granted religious freedom to Christians throughout the empire, and returned to them any properties previously confiscated by the state. As a consequence, the fortunes of the Church were reversed and the power of the bishops increased. This unexpected turn of events was not without its problems, of which one in particular stands out.

In many cases the motivation for spiritual perfection took second place to the desire for wealth, power and status. The result was that nominal Christians were to be found everywhere whilst spiritually aspiring Christians were just as few as before the time of Constantine. Furthermore, conflicts arose within the Church concerning orthodoxy, heresy and the parameters of authority. In the light of these seismic changes it is easy to understand how spiritually minded Christians of the fourth century fled not so much from the material world but from the materialism infesting the Church, and from court bishops who were fighting each other for choice territories. One can imagine the traditionally minded Christians, fleeing from the unseemly politics of the Church, entering the wilderness of Egypt and Palestine to return to the ancient prescribed life of simplicity and spiritual purity.
 

The word ‘monk’ was not then a commonplace name as it is today. Initially, the term ‘monk’ (monakhos) was used specifically to describe a man living a spiritual life in solitude. Other terms were also used to describe these solitary ascetics, such as the word ‘hermit’ or ‘eremite’ (from the Greek eremos, denoting an ‘inhabitant of a desert’). They were also called ‘anchorites’ (from anachoréo, I withdraw). Eremites or anchorites were predominantly men who withdrew from the company of other people to dwell alone in isolation, although it is apparent that not all of them sought complete solitude as it is recorded that many were accompanied by a disciple. As the fourth century progressed many inspired Christians of both sexes were forming religious communities in the Egyptian desert. These communities were called coenobia – a term derived from the Greek word koinobion indicating a shared or common life. Their members were known as coenobites, but as time passed they were also called monks.

In the early years of the fourth century, the most renowned ‘solitary’, St. Anthony (c. 251–356), introduced a form of community life known as the eremitical, when he undertook the spiritual direction and organisation of the many spiritual aspirants who had gathered about him. At about the same time St. Pachomius (c. 292–348) founded what may be considered the first conventional monastery, or coenobium, at Tabenna in the far south of Egypt [see map]. These community models or systems spread rapidly and in a relatively short time were firmly established throughout the Levant. Eremites or hermits were not specifically bound to a Rule such as that undertaken by those dwelling in a ceonobium and, unlike the coenobites, were generally free to wander at will.
  

Read the rest here.

Saint of the day: Sharbel Makhlouf

The Saint of today is Sharbel Makhlouf. This great monastic saint is a wonderful patron for the Church of the Middle East. He is one of the wonder workers of the 20th century! Here is the story from CNA:

Yussef Antoun Makhloof --later and forever after known as Sharbel-- was of humble birth.

Yet Sharbel belongs to more than his village, monastery, church or country. He belongs to the Universal Church and all Christians. When he was beatified on December 5, 1965, His Holiness Pope Paul VI announced that Saint Sharbel is "a new, eminent member of monastic sanctity [who] through his example and his intercession is enriching the entire Christian people." (Saint Sharbel: The Hermit of Lebanon 1977: 27)

Yussef, who later took the name Sharbel, was the youngest of five children born to Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf and Brigitta Elias al-Shediyaq. His father died when he was three years old. Like many of the Christians from the Lebanese Mountain, his father had been taken away from his family [by the Turks] and forced into hard labor.

Yussef studied at the parish school and tended the family cow. He spent a great deal of time outdoors in the fields and pastures near his village and he meditated amid the inspiring views of boundless valleys and proud mountains.

From early childhood, Yussef showed that he loved prayer and solitude. In 1851, without informing anyone, he left home. Tanious, his uncle and guardian, wanted Yussef to continue working with him. His mother wanted him to marry the young woman who loved him. (Daher 1952: 18-19; Sfeir 1995: 72-75)

When Yussef became Brother Sharbel, he was filled with determination and walked all the way to his new home, "the monastery," his new family, "the Lebanese Maronite Order," and his new bride, "the Church." He followed in the footsteps of his maternal uncles, who were already hermits at the hermitage of Mar Boula (Saint Paul) in the Holy Valley of Qadisha, across from the Monastery of Our Lady of Qannobine. (Daher 1993:48-49)

The Lebanese Maronite Order of monks is the embodiment of the ancient eastern monasticism, which since early Christian times existed and thrived within widely dispersed, independent monasteries.

At Mass on November 1, 1853, Sharbel took the monastic vows. Neither the monk's family nor the public were allowed to attend this solemn occasion.

After his ordination, Father Sharbel returned to the Monastery of St. Maron. During his 19 years there, Sharbel performed his priestly ministry and monastic duties in an edifying way. He dedicated himself totally to Christ to live, work and pray in silence.

As he worked the land and performed manual labor at the monastery, he continued a life of purity, obedience and humility that has yet to be surpassed. In 1875, because he showed "supernatural power," he was granted permission to live as a hermit at the Hermitage of Saints Peter and Paul, which is near the monastery.

It was in this secluded sanctuary that the monk Sharbel spent the remaining twenty-three years of his life practicing severe mortification.

Father Sharbel suffered a stroke on December 16, 1898 while he was reciting the prayer of the Holy Liturgy:

His tomb has been a site for pilgrimages ever since the day he died. Hundreds of miracles were performed through the intercession of Saint Sharbel in 'Annaya, Lebanon, and throughout the world.

At the closing of the Second Vatican Council, on December 5, 1965, Sharbel was beatified by Pope Paul VI who said: "Great is the gladness in heaven and earth today for the beatification of Sharbel Makhlouf, monk and hermit of the Lebanese Maronite Order. Great is the joy of the East and West for this son of Lebanon, admirable flower of sanctity blooming on the stem of the ancient monastic traditions of the East, and venerated today by the Church of Rome.

BENEDICTA: Marian Chant from Norcia by The Monks of Norcia

Saint of the Day: Benedict of Nursia

Today is the feast of St. Benedict of Nursia! Here is some good info on him! I got most of it from the Monastery of Christ in the Desert website. This is a really beatiful monastery that I have visited for a retreat. Enjoy!

Saint Benedict was born around the year 480 in the district of Nursia (present-day Norcia), in Umbria, central Italy. He is regarded as the "Father of Western Monasticism" and is "Co-patron of Europe" along with Saints Cyril and Methodius.

As a young man, Benedict was sent to Rome for studies but left after a short stay, desiring to dedicate his life to God. He went to live in an isolated place near Subiaco, not far from the ruins of Emperor Nero's summer villa, about fifty miles from Rome. Today the cave is the celebrated shrine called "Sacro Speco" (The Holy Cave) and is one of Europe's most beautiful sanctuaries. At Subiaco, Benedict lived a life of solitude and prayer for about three years with the support from a monk named Romanus. Benedict's time as a hermit was interupted for a short period when he became the superior of a group of unruly monks. Ultimately unhappy with his guidance, they tried to poison him. He then withdrew to the cave at Subiaco once again.

Eventually, Benedict's sanctity attracted disciples and in time, twelve small monasteries were established around Subiaco, with Benedict as the spiritual father of them all.

Around the year 530 Benedict left Subiaco with some of his sisciples for Monte Cassino, halfway between Rome and Naples, where he began a single, close-knit community on a mountain top. There he remained until his death around the year 547. Is was at Monte Cassino that Benedict completed his "Rule for Monks," basing it on earlier monastic literature as well as his own original material. Today, the "Rule of Saint Benedict," as it is commonly called, is considered one of the most important factors in the development of Christian Europe. In time, the Rule became the norm for all monks and nuns in the West. During his lifetime, the monastery at Monte Cassino grew and a foundation was made south of Rome, at Terracina. The monasteries at Subiaco continued as well.

Benedict had a sister, Scolastica, who was consecrated to God from her youth and died shortly before her saintly brother. Both of them were buried at Monte Cassino in the oratory dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. Saint Scholastica's feast day is on February 10th and Saint Benedict's is on March 21st and July 11th. The March date is generally considered to be the date on which he died.

The life of Saint Benedict is found in "The Dialogues" written by Pope St. Gregory the Great some forty years after Benedict's death. It is not a biography as we know the genre today, but the details supply us with a basic outline of the life and times of Saint Benedict. Among the titles given to Saint Benedict over the centuries are the following: "Messenger of Peace, Architect of Unity, Teacher of Culture and Civilization, Father of Western Monasticism, Herald of the Christian Faith, and Father of the Whole of Europe." Today, Benedict's disciples, both men and women, can be found on every inhabited continent of the world, leading lives dedicated to "Prayer and Work," as the holy father Benedict taught in his rule and by his life.

For more on St. Benedict check out the Patron Saints Index!

Amor et Passio Chant

Quaerere Deum

In the Jubilee year 2000 the monks of Norcia breathed new life into the birthplace of St Benedict. Armed with only their faith and zeal they founded a monastic community which has been attracting men from all over the world to follow St. Benedict's ancient Rule. Many of their friends have long wanted an insight into the inner workings of their life and so they have produced this high quality up to date film which shows the monks as they go through the daily ora et labora. The title of the film, "Quaerere Deum", means to Seek God. This is the true calling of all monks, the first and most essential quality of an authentic monastic vocation, as laid out in the Rule of our Holy Father St. Benedict. 

 For information, please contact: 

 Monastary of San Benedetto monastero@osbnorcia.org

Chant: Music for Paradise Revisited

Where is Stift Heiligenkreuz?

The Cistercian Abbey Stift Heiligenkreuz, in the heart of the Vienna woods, is located about 10 miles south-west of Vienna, Austria.

Being so near to the city and at the same time in the idyllic rural landscape of the Vienna woods makes the Abbey a popular tourist destination. With some 170,000 visitors every year Stift Heiligenkreuz is the most popular tourist attraction around Vienna.

How old is it?

Stift Heiligenkreuz is 875 years old this year. Although pillaged by invading Turks in the 17th Century, and persecuted by the Nazis from 1938 to 1945, it has never been destroyed or dissolved. It is the only Cistercian Abbey in the world to exist so long without interruption.

One result of this continuous life can be seen in the buildings of the Abbey, a spectacular and harmonious mixture of all the styles of the last 900 years. The Gothic and Romanesque monastic complex of the Middle Ages is preserved, complemented by magnificent Baroque elements.

When was it founded, and by whom?

Stift Heiligenkreuz was founded in 1133 by St. Leopold III, Margrave of Austria, following the advice of his son Otto. St. Leopold had sent his son to Paris to study, where the young prince heard about a new reform movement of Benedictine monks: the Cistercian Order. On his way back to Austria Otto visited the Cistercian Abbey of Morimond; he liked it enough to end his journey there and entered the Abbey as a monk. He subsequently persuaded his father to found a Cistercian Monastery in Austria: Heiligenkreuz.

How many monks are there today?

Nearly 80 monks belong to the monastery. Stift Heiligenkreuz has been blessed with many vocations in recent years. It is splendid to see so many young men discover this ancient way of life, but we are beginning to run out of space for them!
About half of the monks live in the Abbey itself, while 14 live in a sister monastery, founded by Heiligenkreuz in 1988 in Bochum-Stiepel in Germany. The rest of the monks do pastoral work outside of the monastery—especially in the 20 parishes for which Stift Heiligenkreuz is responsible (it is typical of the Austrian Cistercians to have some monks engaged in the pastoral care of souls outside of the monastery).

What does your daily routine consist of?

Our primary activity as monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz is prayer. Our prayer is not a private search for individual enlightenment, but rather public praise and worship of God. Our prayer is, as Pope Benedict XVI said on September 9th 2007 during his visit to Heiligenkreuz, “free of any useful purpose.” That is to say, we don’t pray for health or success or such things, rather we praise God simply because He is good. We do this on behalf of the whole of creation, and especially for all men and women, most especially those who have lost sight of the final horizon of their lives. We monks pray for the Church and for the whole world; that is our service, our duty, our office or officium.

The Rule of St. Benedict teaches that the monk also has to work: “Ora et labora: pray and work.” The work which we do takes many forms. We have twenty parishes, in which we give pastoral care to more than 30,000 people. We are engaged in pilgrim and youth ministry in the monastery itself. We also do scholarly work: in 1802 Heiligenkreuz founded a Philosophical-Theological Academy and Seminary, which today has about 180 students. Pope Benedict raised this Academy to a Papal Athenaeum on his 2007 visit to Heiligenkreuz. Many monks teach as professors in the Papal Academy and many of the younger monks study there—a rather intense form of “work.” There are monks who attend to the economic sustenance of the Abbey; monks who take care of the many guests that visit us; and then there are special areas of work. One monk for example works as an artist and sculptor.

Tell us about Gregorian chant.

Gregorian chant is a form of sung prayer which has been tried and tested through the centuries. It has pre-Christian roots in the ancient Jewish Temple Liturgy. The early Christians adopted many of the ancient chants and developed them further. The Roman Church had the core of what we now know as Gregorian chant by the 7th and 8th centuries. The name “Gregorian chant” comes from Pope St. Gregory the Great (died 604) who founded a “schola cantorum,” a chant school, which collected all the existing chants.

Gregorian chant is always sung without accompaniment, and in unison; that is, there is only one melodic line, without harmony. This frees the chant from the rhythmical constraints necessary to keep several melodic lines together, allowing for an intricacy of rhythm practically unknown in later music.

Instead of being composed in strict rhythmic beats, the chant is composed in a free musical rhythm that rises and falls in accord with the inner meaning of each piece. Moreover, instead of being composed in major or minor keys, like music of later centuries, Gregorian chant is composed in eight “modes”, key-like tonal structures, which allow for a wide range of musical moods. The chant is written in an old system of notation on four lines.

The peaceful and other-worldly (to some ears “eerie”) tonality of Gregorian chant, and its free rhythm, make it the perfect music for unfolding the meaning of the sacred texts that are sung in it. These texts are generally taken from the Bible, the word of God. Thus the monks sing back to God the words which He has Himself given us…joining Heaven and earth. Most of the texts are taken from the Old Testament Psalms. The music is always at the service of the text—unfolding its meaning, and disposing the soul to enter into its spirit. Thus Gregorian chant is not merely “music,” rather it is “sung prayer.” Gregorian chant is the music of the Western Catholic Church. As monks of Heiligenkreuz we are happy that we have such a valuable tradition, and one so dear to the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.

What language is used?

Gregorian chant is sung in Latin, which is still the official language of the Roman Catholic Church. The serious but melodious language of ancient Rome is perfectly suited to chant. Latin has many simple vowels, and this allows a range of notes (often more than 20) to be sung on a single syllable, make it the perfect language for the musical meditation of Scripture.

How did you get the opportunity to record the album?

On February 28th 2008 a friend of our monastery in London sent an e-mail to Father Karl Wallner, who is in charge of the Abbey’s website and our press spokesman. The e-mail contained only the words “quick, quick, Karl!” and a link to the notice from Universal about their search for Gregorian singers. Father Karl did not take the matter seriously. He hadn’t even heard of Universal and did not know what it is… but the following day—the 28th of February, the last day of the competition—he sent an e-mail to Universal with a link to the Gregorian chant samples on our website, www.stift-heiligenkreuz.at. After hearing the samples and watching a clip of Heiligenkreuz on youtube the people at Universal were excited.

We never thought we would win the contest, but Tom Lewis, the Development Manager of UCJ (Universal Classic and Jazz) was totally enthusiastic about our chant. So that’s how the project began. After Universal called Father Karl, and it slowly began to sink in what a great opportunity we had been given to share our tradition, we were thunderstruck. To be clear, we monks did not seek this out ourselves; we did not ambitiously climb try to push ourselves on the world. Rather, it is really the hand of God which brought us this opportunity to give Him glory. Since the beginning was so providential we decided to carry on with the project; we have no desire to become music stars; we will remain monks.

What was it like recording the album?

At first it was not so easy to take up this project. We have some experience in media attention because of the visit of the Pope in 2007; but none of us joined the monastery in order to be constantly filmed, interviewed or photographed. And the media attention was fairly intense at first. Some of our young confreres were also concerned that our sacred music could be used inappropriately, or that we could be portrayed as a “boy group.”

But the people from Universal were very sensitive to our worries and respected the religious atmosphere here. Moreover, through this project we are fulfilling a mission from the Pope. Pope Benedict XVI loves Gregorian chant, and it will certainly please him if it can become more widely known through us; we think of his words to us on September 9th: “Deep within everyone’s heart, whether they know it or not, is a yearning for supreme happiness and thus, ultimately, for God. Such a primordial human longing for completion is fulfilled by a monastery where the community gathers several times a day for the praise of God.”

So we decided to give this witness and record some of our prayers for the album. It was a really good experience to work with such professional people. We got to know each other well in the three days of recording sessions. Those three days were a bit stressful, as seven hours of recording were added on top of our normal rhythm of prayer which begins at 5.15 a.m. It was a joy for us, but also a bit of a sacrifice.

What does recording the album mean for the monastery?

The whole experience has become a grace of God for us. We did not seek this opportunity; it was really given us by God. And it is a good sort of thing for us: we actually don’t have to do anything other than what we always do: we pray. We don’t travel around the world, and we don’t distract ourselves from our vocation. And yet the world is fascinated by precisely the activity which is our “job.”

And now we are of course curious to see whether the CD is successful. It was interesting to see that in just a couple of days after the first press announcements tens of thousands of people watched the video.

The Life: An Oasis in the City of Chicago

The Life Documentary from Cautious Horses on Vimeo.

Monks of St. Bernard Abbey

The Benedictine Monks of St. Bernard Abbey from Electric Peak Creative on Vimeo.

The Benedictine Option for Today

The following comes from the Catholic Exchange:

If it wasn’t clear before that the culture of the West is opposed to the Gospel and the teachings of the Catholic Church, the recent decision to legalize “gay marriage” in the United States made it quite apparent. The decision was decades in the making and cannot solely be blamed on the homosexual agenda. It goes back to contraception and no fault divorce, both of which have eroded marriage in profound ways over the decades. For Catholics, much of it is due to dissent from Humanae Vitae by clergy and laity, as well as an abandonment of moral teaching. The question for Catholics today is: Where do we go from here? The reason we need to ask this question is because there is little doubt that we will be pushed to the fringes in the coming decades. Our moral understanding and focus on Christ means that we are in opposition to the world. Christ told us:

“I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword…” Matthew 10:34

The world has always been in opposition to the Good News. The world crucified God. The Church has been set against the world since her founding by Our Lord, and that was no different during the life of St. Benedict whose feast day we celebrate on Saturday, July 11.

St. Benedict is most widely known for his rule and as the “Father of Western Monasticism”. He lived circa 480-560 and his influence on the world was great. Even though his rule was not the first, it was the most widely used in the west for centuries. St. Benedict’s rule was comprised of several rules which could be applied to a variety of monasteries and locations. His rule’s primary emphasis was on: moderation, the integration of prayer and work, and the socialization of the monastic life.

Once monasticism was introduced to the west by St. Athanasius, it spread quickly. By the time St. Benedict composed his rule, monasteries were in Africa, France, and even Ireland. Monasticism preserved much of Europe during the Dark Ages when there was much tumult and chaos. It was through monasticism that manuscripts were preserved, as well as art, architecture, and music were developed. It was here that culture survived and lived for many years. St. Benedict could not have known how great of an impact his rule would be on the west. Blessed John Henry Newman said of him:

“St. Benedict found the world, physical and social, in ruins, and his mission was to restore it in the way not of science, but of nature, not as if setting about to do it, not professing to do it by any set time, or by any rare specific, or by any series of strokes, but so quietly, patiently, gradually, that often till the work was done, it was not known to be doing…Silent men were observed about the country, or discovered in the forest, digging, clearing and building; and other silent men, not seen, were sitting in the cold cloister, tiring their eyes and keeping their attention on the stretch, while they painfully copied and recopied the manuscripts which they could have saved. There was no one who contended or cried out, or drew attention to what was going on, but by degrees, the woody swamp became a hermitage, a religious house, a farm, and abbey, a village, a seminary, a school of learning and a city.”

St. Benedict found himself in a world of decay and difficulty. The Roman Empire had collapsed and Barbarians were wreaking havoc throughout Europe. In response, he chose to establish small cultural centers that would profoundly impact the culture when the Zeitgeist proved to be receptive. He did not know the exact changes it would bring at the time, but slowly and deliberately, by living holy lives, the culture was changed. How devastating was the collapse of the Roman Empire? Rod Dreher points out:

Rome’s collapse meant staggering loss. People forgot how to read, how to farm, how to govern themselves, how to build houses, how to trade, and even what it had once meant to be a human being. Behind monastery walls, though, in their chapels, scriptoriums, and refectories, Benedict’s monks built lives of peace, order, and learning and spread their network throughout Western Europe.

Today

It is here that we shift to today. Once again the Church is looking at a culture in a state of decay, moral confusion, and nihilism. The West is falling into ruin once more. The societies of Europe and North America have largely abandoned Christianity in favor of secularism and now we live in a post-Christian age. As Catholics, how can we look to St. Benedict as a guide in such times? The answer is what is called the Benedict Option, which has come into usage through the work of Alisdair MacIntyre and Rod Dreher.

According to Columbia University professor, Russell Hittinge, St. Benedict taught the world of the Dark Ages: “How to live life as a whole. Not a life of worldly success so much as one of human success.” This is where our call as Catholics now lies. People have given themselves over to this age and to the pursuit of worldly success and pleasures, in doing so, they have forgotten what it means to be fully human. The culture has become so confused that even matters of nature are no longer accepted as truth. Alisdair MacIntyre paints a grim picture of the culture in his book After Virtue. Rod Dreher summarizes MacIntyre’s view:

“For MacIntyre, we too are living through a Fall of Rome-like catastrophe, one that is concealed by our liberty and prosperity. In his influential 1981 book After Virtue, MacIntyre argued that the Enlightenment’s failure to replace an expiring Christianity caused Western civilization to lose its moral coherence. Like the early medievals, we too have been cut off from our roots, and a shadow of cultural amnesia is falling across the land. The Great Forgetting is taking a particular toll on American Christianity, which is losing its young in dramatic numbers. Those who remain within churches often succumb to a potent form of feel-good relativism that sociologists have called “moralistic therapeutic deism,” which is dissolving historic Christian moral and theological orthodoxy.”

MacIntyre insists that we are now called to build, “new forms of community within which the moral life could be sustained”. How is this accomplished?

Close-knit Christian Communities

We must abandon the wrong-headed rugged individualism of our age. This is especially true for Americans. The call to radical individualism and self-determination is diametrically opposed to the Gospel and the communion we enter into upon our Baptism. The Mystical Body of Christ is an organism in which we are all intimately connected with the head, who is Christ Himself. As the culture begins to more aggressively attack the Church, we need to come together in close-knit communities all focused on the same goal in Christ. Does this sound familiar?

Most of us cannot become monks. We are members of the laity and we have to provide for our families, but that does not mean that we cannot live in a quasi-communal state where we can help one another. This communal state will vary depending on the area you live and the infrastructure in place. This will become essential when people lose jobs for their faith or struggle to make ends meet. This is the call to live in authentic Christian love and community, not as separate people who just happen to come to Mass together each Sunday. Priests and laity need to be involved. In fact, priests will need to take a direct role as spiritual leaders of these communities. Yes, priest are already stretched thin, but as the Church moves to the fringes, the unfortunate by-product will be more people falling away from the Faith. The Church will get smaller for a time.

Many of the people who have already begun living the Benedict Option live in close proximity to their church or even a monastery where they can pray, attend the Liturgy, and live where a religious community is established.  Some become Oblates or Lay members, but many do not. Lay Orders are no guarantee of this community either. There must be an intentional establishment and way of life within these communities. A life that is devoted to prayer, work, humility, evangelization, and holiness in a community, rather than solely as individuals or families.

What is certain is that people will need to band together in ways they have never considered before in our lifetime. We will need to focus our days on prayer, virtue, and work as we go out into the world. Rod Dreher admits when he coined the Benedict Option through the influence of Alisdair MacIntyre’s work that he did not have a clear definition. What is obvious, however, is that we Christians need to live holy lives in community as we take the onslaught that will grow in momentum over the coming decades. We must be willing to sacrifice and take care of one another as we live and serve Christ.

Holiness

In my mind, the Benedict Option is essentially a call to holiness. It is a call to deep prayer, virtue, regular reception of the Sacraments, and self-sacrifice in a community setting. That is what St. Benedict was asking of his monks and that is just as true today for monks or members of the laity. Holiness is what the Church is calling us to and we can no longer do it in isolation. Close-knit Christian communities are nothing new and find their greatest model in the Early Church. We need to learn to live together, faults and all that we may serve Christ in hard times; that we may become holy and perfect as Our Heavenly Father is perfect. In fact, communal life can help us greatly on the path to holiness. Holiness is the whole point of the Christian life.

So, whether it is Rod Dreher’s suggestion or another, it is time for us to come together as Christians and live The Way, instead of in isolation and mediocrity. We will need one another in the coming decades. It will be through our witness and striving for holiness that others will be evangelized. The Benedict Option cannot be seen as an abandonment of the Church’s mission to bring the world to Christ. The most powerful witness is a person fully alive who is living a saintly life. St. Benedict, ora pro nobis.

“The age of casual Catholicism is over, the age of heroic Catholicism has begun. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead be Catholics by conviction.”  

Fr. Terence Henry, TOR, president of Franciscan University.

Fraternité Monastique de Bethléem

The Wisdom of God

The following comes from the Beginning to Pray site:

I once asked a Carthusian why he embraced a life of silence and anonymity.  It seemed to me that he could have done more for the Church if he were actively ministering in the world.  I was thinking with the wisdom of men.  He answered me with the wisdom of God. 

The Carthusian explained that by entering into silent anonymity God could make his prayer more fruitful for the salvation of the world than anything else he could possible accomplish on his own.   He understood the primacy of contemplation in the life of the Church, a truth which today is often neglected.  This primacy derives from the fact that the life of the Church is essentially the life of grace, a life freely given by Christ.  No method or technique or program or anything else born of human industry compels the Blood of the Lord -- but the humble petition of a repentant sinner always moves Him to act.  Such is the wisdom of God.

The wisdom of God is foolishness to the world, but divine foolishness is wiser than the wisest man.  In the world, to make a name for yourself is important especially if you want to be successful.  In the mystery of God, to magnify the Lord is important if you want to be faithful.  In the world, your self-reliance makes a positive impression on most people for a short time, but whatever you accomplish by your cleverness eventually will be forgotten.  In God, your reliance on Him will be viewed negatively by most people for most of your life, but what God accomplishes by your trust will last forever.  What about when we are unfairly accused and mocked and rejected?  Christ never promised we would be treated fair when He commanded us to pick up our own cross and follow Him.  Yet this is exactly where the foolishness of God comes in.  In the wisdom of the world, such humiliation is a doom worse than death -- but in the wisdom of God, this is a hidden blessing through which new life can flow into the Church by our loving obedience.

A Great Chesterton Quote

"Whenever monks come back, marriages will come back."  G.K. Chesterton

Watchmen in The Night (Abbey at Le Barroux)

The Spirit of Contemplation

The Blind Monk .... Who Sees

Fraternite Monastique de Jerusalem

Tattoo Artist To Benedictine Monk

The following comes from The Statesman Journal:

Six years ago, Mount Angel Abbey's serene hilltop campus shook, as leather-clad Bobby Love rolled in on his motorcycle. Love removed his helmet revealing pierced ears and a mop of dreadlocks. With tattoos on his hands, arms and neck, he looked like an extra on "Sons of Anarchy" not a someone attending a retreat for those who might become Catholic monks.

"One of my biggest fears is being a cliche," Love said.

As a child, Love rebelled against his successful father, a successful businessman who didn't think art was a real career.

"I made a commitment to live by my brushes. I was going to make my living as an artist, and I wasn't going to compromise," Love said. "One of the first things I did was I got my knuckles and my neck tattooed, because back in those days, in the late 80s and early 90s, we called them 'job stoppers.' You are completely unemployable once you get your hands and your neck tattooed."

As he dismounted his bike at the discernment retreat, he was aware of the images on his skin and the absurdity of his arrival.

"It was pretty funny," Love said. "I rode up here on my motorcycle and was just like, 'What?' They were doing the same. They were looking at me like, 'What?' "

Prior of Mount Angel Abbey Vincent Trujillo remembers that moment.

"We tried not to be judgmental looking at his appearance, but it certainly makes an impression," Trujillo said. "We welcome everybody to those discernment retreats."

Love spent the weekend learning about the Benedictine way of life.

"The checking out worked both ways," Trujillo said. "He was observing and so were we."

"I stayed the weekend, had a wonderful time and then kind of went away," Love said. "With an idea that this is a option, not part of my options but an option for somebody."

Brother Andre Love, a Benedictine monk, walks to the church to pray at the Mount Angel Abbey. Love is curator of the Abbey's art collection. (Photo: DANIELLE PETERSON / Statesman Journal )

Monk

Six years later, Love's lean frame sports a black tunic and scapular. His brown hair is trimmed close to the scalp. As he stands in his choir stall praying Noon Prayer with nearly 50 monks, John Lennon glasses and a 3-inch goatee distinguish him from the others. So do his tattoos.

Above the neckline of his black hood, his neck tattoos remain. His hands are marked with a spiderweb, women's faces, an alpha and omega, and "HOLD FAST" on his knuckles. A red heart marks his palm. His name is Love after all.

His first name is no longer Bobby. He's "Brother Andre," named after an uneducated man who wanted to join the highly-educated Order of the Holy Cross. They didn't know what to do with him so they made him the church's doorman. Andre prayed with visitors. His prayers were answered, and he's remembered now as a saint.

Brother Andre Love, a Benedictine monk, offers a tour of the Mount Angel Abbey's museum. Love is curator of the Abbey's art collection. (Photo: DANIELLE PETERSON / Statesman Journal )

Curator

In 2010, Mount Angel's monastic leadership made Love assistant to the curator of the abbey's museum.

"I was supposed to unlock the doors and clean the toilet," Love said.

When the curator was transferred to Portland, Love realized that the collection needed care and stepped up. He had no idea what he was doing.

The abbey's collection is overwhelming and eclectic containing a taxidermy collection of North American animals and pottery from before the birth of Christ. Storage shelves are packed with statues of saints, Japanese artifacts, oil lamps and preserved snakes and puffer fish. There's even a gourd carved by Walt Disney.

"It's like a garden," Love said . "If you don't weed it, you get some crazy plants."

Read the rest here.