Another Prayer, Another Rule(er?)

St. Scholastica Chapel

     A Typical Day in the Life

           Matins - 6:30am

           Mass (Holy Eucharist Rite II) - right after Matins

Silent Breakfast

Silent Meditation/Prayer/Study

            Terce - 9:30am

Working usually

             Sext - Noon

Silent Lunch (which they call "dinner" - no end of confusion for me)

Working

Tea Time - 3:30pm

Work/Study

              Vespers - 5:30pm

Silent Dinner (which they call "supper" - which is a word that makes me think of my friend M.J. and his dog, Jasmine (may she rest in peace), who wouldn't eat until he said, "Eat your supper.")

                Compline - 7:30pm

Post-Compline to Terce, we observe silence for meditation and prayer, or study, and all of our meals are silent (also for prayer or something - this has probably been the biggest adjustment for me and I was not aware of it when I first arrived! I did not however do anything embarrassing in my ignorance so no good stories there-sorry!) Amendment to this is that on Sundays, we get to have non-silent Dinner! Woot. And let me tell you, they love the silence, but they also love the talking. Love. So, we had a fun dinner on Sunday, even busted out the potato chips and carbonated water with Pomegranate!

I have learned that these are more "guidelines" than hard and fast "code," as it were. Especially should a guest need something, as per the Rule of St. Benedict, they speak as oft as needed. And many times a Sister or two will need to do work between Breakfast and Terce and must speak to other people or animals. One of the more humorous parts of this to me is that in fact, many of the Sisters are near deaf and so if something is communicated, it is actually at a much louder volume than the average "inside voice" which sounds positively like yelling when interrupting periods of observed silence. It's great, it really gives the whole thing character and I'm pretty sure God finds it endearing and funny, too.

               

All the silence and prayer is ruthlessly monotonous! I mean that in the best way possible, but it seems to me the most apt description of it and not unlike what many of the nuns here have said about the life. Sister Mary Elizabeth told me about a Junior who ended up leaving before her profession because she just could not handle the ordinary, in a sense. Each day was more or less the same level of intensity, the work demanding the same amount of rigor and so very little heights or high seasons of productivity on which so many of us Americans thrive, seek and consider successful. 

Even the prayers are said with the same ruthless monotony (think ENTS!). However, look out for the lectionary readings and the changing Psalms, and often the BVM antiphon and the occasional Common of Holy Men or Women-things can get a little exciting. And of course, I actually do mean that because I think ruthless monotony is pretty adventuresome actually.

What I have found is that unless the balance of the Benedictine tri-focus of study, prayer and work remains in symbiotic balance, the life is simply monotony- in the acedic (yeah, I just made it into an adjective) sort of pointless sense- or ruthless, in the legalistic, workaholic sense, you know, like with the Trinity, if we over or under emphasize, He becomes different from who He is. Like I said before, this is just sort of the built-in stability of the Monastic Life, not that there isn't temptation to overdo one or the other but I suppose that is why they ruthlessly pray "save us from the time of trial/lead us not into temptation" 6 times a day, eh? Or at least in part.