Chapter 13: Lauds on ordinary days (paragraph 1)
On ordinary days Lauds should be celebrated like this: the sixty sixth psalm should be said with its antiphon but rather slowly, as on Sunday, to make sure that all are present for the fiftieth psalm which is said with its antiphon.
(From para. 1 of Ch. 13 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
Starting out slowly, and building to a rhythm over the week, the psalms are like a river of praise. In the same way, it seems to me, meditation requires patience and fidelity to merge with the divine energy that directs the flow of life.
"First, Psalm 67 is said without a refrain and slightly protracted as on Sunday so that everyone can be present for Psalm 51, which has a refrain."
ReplyDeleteSome things I can do by myself and others I can only do with others. Meditation includes both the solitary and the group practice. One complements the other, just as the refrain complements the verse.