One
of the great difficulties in the life of prayer is the problem of the wandering
mind. The opposite side of the coin is
the practice of the Presence of God. St.
Benedict however does not approach prayer from contemplative heights, but
rather from a practical and humble assessment of the experience of the average
person. One reason why he tells us to
keep our prayers “short and pure” is because most people have the more
immediate problem of maintaining their focus for the brief time of one prayer
office. In the quotes from the Rule
below (Ch. 19, 20, 43) and in order to clarify the quotes below, I have
included texts from the English Standard Version, The Book of Common Prayer,
and the Septuagint [LXX] in blue, along with the texts from the Rule. Where the context is important I have
included the context.
Chapter
19: On the Manner of Saying the Divine Office
We believe that the
divine presence is everywhere and that "the eyes of the Lord are looking
on the good and the evil in every place" (Proverbs 15:3). [“The eyes of the
LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. [ESV] But we should believe this especially
without any doubt when we are assisting at the Work of God. To that end let us
be mindful always of the Prophet's words, "Serve the Lord in fear" (Psalm
2:11-12). [Serve
the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath
is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. [ESV] and
again "Sing praises wisely" (Psalm 47: BCP). [For God is King
of all the earth; * sing praises with all your skill.] and "In the
sight of the Angels I will sing praise to You" (Ps. 137:1) [kai. evnanti,on avgge,lwn yalw/ soi. LXX,
trans. in the sight of the angels]. Let us therefore consider how we ought to
conduct ourselves in sight of the Godhead and of His Angels, and let us take
part in the psalmody in such a way that our mind may be in harmony with our
voice.
St. Benedict’s
understanding of the nature of prayer is founded on the reality the Presence of
God is everywhere. Where Brother
Lawrence would Practice the Presence of God, St. Benedict would rather have us
practice the awareness of the perpetual Presence of God. God is always with us, even when we are not
consciously with him. This for St.
Benedict is a matter of faith and understanding, before it is a matter of
experience. He tells us that the “eyes
of the LORD are in every place.” That is
the abiding reality of not only spiritual life, but of all life.
Psalm 139: TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID
1 O LORD, you have searched me and known
me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my
thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are
acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold,
O LORD, you know
it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your
hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I
cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I
flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed
in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the
uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right
hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness
shall cover me,
and the light
about me be night,"
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright
as the day,
for darkness is
as light with you.
We should understand
and believe this when we are assisting at the Work of God, the Opus Dei, and in
all the times of praying, whether corporately or individually. In all of these we are not the primary
officiant, we are merely assisting at the Work of God; the primary officiant is
the Holy Spirit, and following the Holy Spirit, the Community of the faithful,
at work or at prayer. When praying we
are never alone but are surrounded by a whole host of witnesses.
We are to serve God in
and with our prayers with holy awe, recognizing to Whom our prayers are
directed. Not only that we are called
to, “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with
trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be
angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are
all who take refuge in him.” In prayer
we are to “rejoice with trembling.” The
text also brings to the fore our love relationship with the Son of God, “Kiss
the Son!” “You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and
with all your mind” (Luke 10:27). Prayer,
love, and adoration, are inseparable. Prayer
is meant to engage the whole person.
We are instructed to, "Sing
praises wisely" or perhaps better translated to “sing praises with all
your skill.” When praying exercise your
mind, your body, and your voice. One way
of doing this is to pray, or sing a prayer office aloud, deliberately, with all
the skill you can manage. For this
purpose it is very helpful to learn some of the Benedictine chants that are
available to you. Even though some are assigned to specific Psalms in our
Offices, if you learn three of four of the chants you can use them with almost
any Psalm. The benefit of doing this is
that you have to work harder at prayer and it increases your concentration.
We are to pray with an
awareness of the extended unseen fellowship of the angels. In your prayers,
You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God,
the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to
Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a
better word than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:22-24).
Focus in prayer is a
matter of practice and deliberate focus.
St. Benedict says, “let us take part in the psalmody in such a way that
our mind may be in harmony with our voice.”
It doesn’t happen accidently, one has to desire to keep heart, mind and
voice in harmony, and persist; and as often as we wander we are to recall
ourselves to a conscious active practice of prayer. Sometimes this cannot be done praying
silently; one often has to literally give voice to our prayers in order to
maintain that focus.
Chapter
20
exhorts us to be aware of to Whom we are praying. The focus is on the identity and majesty of
God. Praying with focus requires a
conscious awareness of Who God is, and who we are. Such awareness brings with it humility.
Chapter
20: On Reverence in Prayer
When we wish to suggest
our wants to persons of high station, we do not presume to do so except with
humility and reverence. How much the more, then, are complete humility and pure
devotion necessary in supplication of the Lord who is God of the universe! And
let us be assured that it is not in saying a great deal that we shall be heard (Matt
6:7). [“And when you pray, do not heap up empty
phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their
many words” ESV], but in purity of heart and in tears of compunction.
Our prayer, therefore, ought to be short and pure, unless it happens to be
prolonged by an inspiration of divine grace. In community, however, let prayer
be very short, and when the Superior gives the signal let all rise together.
The
analogy is phrased in formal language; but what if you, in our more egalitarian
age, were to ask for raise from your boss?
You would know, unless you are a fool, that attitude is everything, and
if you are asking for a raise you ought to make your request with respect for
the fact that your boss is the boss. How
much more if you are asking for daily bread from the King of the Universe? Prayer
also calls for simplicity rather than complexity. The more complex our prayers, the greater the
difficulty in maintaining focus. Often
at prayer our minds wander to other tasks that may beckon for attention. Keep an index card handy and write down one
word only when a task comes to mind to remind you of the task later, rather
than getting trapped into dwelling on the task instead of your prayers. Having done that put the index card aside and
return immediately to your prayers.
Chapter 43: On Those Who Come Late to the Work of God or to
Table
At the hour for the
Divine Office, as soon as the signal is heard, let them abandon whatever they
may have in hand and hasten with the greatest speed, yet with seriousness, so
that there is no excuse for levity.
Benedict establishes a
simple precedent. Establish your own
regular time of prayer and having done that, when your internal bell rings, do
not delay but go immediately to prayer rather than dilly dallying, or puttering
around. Prayer is serious work, and it
is work that you do in companionship with the Holy Spirit. Your commitment to pray is not a commitment
to yourself, nor just in a general sort of way to God, but rather a commitment to
the Holy Spirit Who waits for you to assist in the work of prayer with Him as
you present yourself to the Father and the Son.
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