Fratres, sobrii estote et vigilate

"Quaerens Quem Devoret" by Jean Leon Gerome
"Fratres: Sóbrii estóte, et vigiláte: quia adversárius vester diábolus, tamquam leo rúgiens círcuit, quaerens quem dévoret: cui resístite fortes in fide." - I Peter 5: 8-9

I often repeat this verse to myself in a time like this. I don't know what is going on, but the devil seems to really be active of late. It seems like all sorts of you-know-what is hitting the fan in things going on around me. So, the above verse helps me to keep things in perspective and to not let my guard down.

I guess the devil is really getting wound up before this Christmas. In this case the old saying of "it's always darkest before the light" is spiritually true too. So, stay vigilant, friends.

(Brethren, stay sober and alert, your adversary the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour, resist him being strong in your faith.) - I Peter 5: 8-9

RS

Summer Vocational Discerment Program, Norcia, Italy

Basilica and Monastery of Saint Benedict in Norcia, Italy.
The monastery of which I am a novice oblate is having it's annual summer vocational discernment program for young men considering monastic life. The subprior just sent me this notice, asking to spread the word.

The Monastery of San Benedetto in Norcia will hold its 10th annual summer vocational discernment program in 2008 from July 1 – July 31.

The purpose of the program is to offer young men (usually age 18-30) a time to discern God’s will for their life in a more concentrated way than normal worldly circumstances permit.

Attendees will be invited to participate in the life of the monks as a way to guide their decision. The program also includes the following aspects:

Readings and discussions on vocational discernment based on texts from Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the Magisterium.
All the states of life (i.e. marriage, priesthood and religious life) are considered.
Spiritual direction with the monks
Weekly outings to important places in St. Benedict’s life (Subiaco, Monte Cassino)
Weekly hikes in the mountains surrounding Norcia.

Requirements:
Open to men ages 18-30.
A letter of recommendation from a priest.
A $300 donation would be helpful but is not essential.

Participants should try to arrive a few days early to get over the jet lag. For more information please visit the monastery website: www.osbnorcia.org. To apply please write to the Subprior, Br Benedict at benedict@osbnorcia.org.

The community is mostly made up of monks from the United States, however, it is intended to be an international community. It would be ideal if candidates can speak either English or Italian, however, for any questions contact Br. Benedict at the address above.

Having gone through the program I can say it is well worth it and gives you a very good and extended experience of monastic life. The community is solid in it's doctrine, liturgy, and monastic observance. I would highly encourage any men who are even slightly interested.

RS

Robbed by the "reform"

Traditional Trappist Divine Office Book
As I had mentioned in a previous post, I got a Monastic Diurnal and have been trying to pray the Benedictine Office from that.

While I can't say all the Hours of the Divine Office, I have been getting a bit more in lately.

I must say that having the Latin/English side by side has really helped me in reading the Psalmody. Not only does the English help me to understand the text more quickly, but since I am reading the Latin, I see the actual words and sometimes see the the fuller meaning that a translation can't quite reveal.

One thing I have also noticed is how the modern Liturgy of the Hours has been "censored."

I cannot believe that the official prayer of the Church has been edited so that certain lines in the Psalms have been removed. (Actually it doesn't surprise me that much with all the improper implementations of the liturgical renewal of Vatican II, the Divine Office being one of the victims).
I was also slightly aware of this ever since I read the General Intruction of the Liturgy of the Hours.
"#131. Three psalms (58, 83, and 109) have been omitted from the psalter cycle because of their curses; in the same way, some verses have been omitted from certain psalms, as noted at the head of each. The reason for the omission is a certain psychological difficulty, even though the psalms of imprecation are in fact used as prayer in the New Testament, for example, Rv 6:10, and in no sense to encourage the use of curses."

I cannot believe this. The word of God has become inappropriate!?!? "Psychological difficulty?" What the heck does that mean? A bit of catechesis can do wonders for the faithful.

For example, probably the most shocking line out of the Psalms comes from Psalm 136 verse 9:
"Beátus, qui tenébit, et allídet párvulos tuos ad petram"
(Blessed is he who takes their babies and dashes them against the rock)

Although this sounds rather frightful, we must look at the spiritual meaning. Saint Benedict says that this refers to how we should deal with temptations: while they are young we should dash them against the Rock of Christ so that they do not grow and harm our souls (Prologue:28). Saint Augustine says that "we dash the little ones of Babylon against the rock, when we mortify our pssions, and stifle the first motions of them, by a speedy recourse to the rock, which is Christ."

I am starting to see why, when Pope Benedict wrote Summorum Pontificum, he not only allowed the old Mass to be said, but also allowed priests to say the traditional Roman Divine Office too.

BTW, I highly recommend this Monastic Diurnal if you are interested in saying (or just learning) the traditional Benedictine Office. This is very helpful in learning the Psalms better and all the rubrics are in English, so it makes figuring things out much easier. I have a full Breviarium Monasticum and an Antiphonale Monasticum, but since they are completely in Latin, I have to struggle with the rubrics. And, although the Abbey is in England, I (in the United States) had no problems purchasing it through their website.

RS

Monastic Diurnal

I just got my paws on the Monastic Diurnal from Saint Michael's Abbey Press (the same press that has Adrian Fortescue's book "The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described" updated for the 1962 Missal. I ordered it for my birthday (EDIT - with the B-Day money sent from Mom and Dad. Thanks!), and it just arrived today (2 days "late" isn't bad when it came by cheapest shipping from the United Kingdom).

This is the traditional Benedictine Divine Office. It has all the hours of the Office except for Matins (and I have a set of Breviarum Monaticum if I ever do want to say Matins). It basically has everything that the old Antiphonale Monasticum has except for the chant music. This was the Divine Office we prayed when I was a novice at the monastery in Norcia. I have an old Antiphonale Monasticum, but since I'll just be reciting this privately as I am able, I really don't need the chant. The other nice thing is that the Monastic Diurnal has the Latin and a good translation of it into English. It's also nice that the rubrics are in English, which makes figuring out what I have forgotten a bit easier.

Why am I starting to try and say the traditional Benedictine Office? Well, from what I have read, the traditional Benedictine Divine Office is probably one of the best preserved examples of the Divine Office of the old Roman Rite. The old Benedictine Office is practially the same as the way Saint Benedict laid out the structure in his Rule for monks. And he based much of it on the structure of the Roman Office of his day.

In Laszlo Dobszay's "The Bugnini-Liturgy and the Reform of the Reform," one of the things he looks at is the reform of the Divine Office, which after Vatican II was given a major overhaul and turned into the Liturgy of the Hours. Yet, interestingly enough, he notes that some of the changes of saying the Office more "efficiently" (which could be negatively translated as "not having to spend as much time praying the Office) had been made to the Roman Office with the reforms of Pope Pius X. And not only has the Liturgy of the Hours been watered down (you can say an entire day's required hours within 60 minutes), but the English translation of the Liturgy of the Hours is just annoying. I really don't like the Grail Psalter. It is a bit better than the NAB Psalms we have at Mass [cringe], but I just feel like I am missing so much with the Grail Psalter.

Unfortunately, with the reform of the Roman Office (from about 3 hours of prayer a day to less than one hour), many monastic communities abandoned the traditional Benedictine Office for either the Roman Liturgy of the Hours or some "homemade" office, which more often than not doesn't follow Saint Benedict's insistance that all 150 Psalms be recited by the monks in one week. This includes Cistercians and Trappists since their Offices were based on Saint Benedict's.

Plus, it's hard to understand the idea that the new Liturgy of the Hours frees a priest to do more. I would think that extra two or three hours praying to God could bear much more fruit than a priest "busying" himself with pastoral things.

Anyway, if I'm going to continue on to become a lay Benedictine Oblate, this Diurnal is a good way to be a bit more united with the monastery prayer-wise.

The quality of the book is nice (yes, it's nice to have most everything in one volume too), and the layout is pretty easy to figure out. I'm looking forward to using this.

RS