An oratory is a physical structure constructed to demarcate a sacred space dedicated to prayer. There, members of a community can come and go freely to pray individually, without disturbing or being disturbed by the bustle of ordinary life. Without the interior compunction that recognizes the worth of the sacred, no physical structure can by …
Tag Archives: Christian
Cultivate Silence
My children, “…diligently cultivate silence…” (Be still and know that I am God.) Rule of St. Benedict 42 The spiritual discipline of silence has an age-old history. In the spectrum of spiritual disciplines, it belongs to the category of fasting. Exercises such as fasting–from food or from mental stimulus–not only benefit our physical and mental …
Character Of The Chef
Temperate Definition There should be chosen from the community someone who is wise, mature in conduct, temperate…. If any brother happens to make an unreasonable demand of him, he should not reject him with disdain and cause him distress, but reasonably and humbly deny the improper request….knowing for certain that he will be held accountable …
Comfort The Wayward
The abbot must exercise the utmost care and concern for wayward brothers . . . . Therefore, he ought to use every skill of a wise physician and send in . . . mature and wise brothers who . . . may support the wavering brother, urge him to be humble as a way of …
From St. Thomas Aquinas
Each new human creature receives existence directly from Being and is therefore radically new. Each human being is determined by antecedents as regards matter and form. But each is radically undetermined by matter and form as regards existence. At every moment, radical newness is not only possible but actual. New persons come into existence, summoned …
Hold Your Peace
The ninth step of humility is that a monk controls his tongue and remains silent. . . . for Scripture warns, In a flood of words you will not avoid sinning (Proverbs 10:19). [Rule of St. Benedict 7.56-58] When you get to the point of being able to hold your tongue, you know that the …
Choose Your Destination
Choose your destination before you set out on a path. Their law is what they like to do, whatever strikes their fancy. Anything they believe in and choose, they call holy; anything they dislike, they consider forbidden (Rule of St. Benedict, 1.8-9) So . . . if you’re thinking that this is a description of …
Finding Saint Peter’s Bones: Podcast
Listen to John O’Neill tell the story of the search beneath the Vatican: Read the book review About the interviewer
Forbear
In truth, those who are patient amid hardships and unjust treatment are fulfilling the Lord’s command: When struck on one cheek, they turn the other; when deprived of their coat, they offer their cloak also; when pressed into service for one mile, they go two [Matthew 5: 39-41]. (Rule of St. Benedict 7.42) If you had to …
Persevere
For Scripture has it: Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved, [Matthew 10:22]and again, Be brave of heart and rely on the Lord. [Psalm 27:14]. (Rule of St. Benedict 7.36-37) Discipline for a goal always was, and still is worth it. People with ordinary faces get up every day and keep going: for the sake …