Chapter 53: The reception of guests (paragraphs 5-6)
The kitchen to serve the superior together with the guests should be quite separate, so that guests, who are never lacking in a monastery, may not unsettle the community by arriving, as they do, at all times of the day.
(From para. 5 of Ch. 53 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
My household isn't large enough to contain two kitchens. And yet, I respond to the parallel arrangement that Benedict describes, of hospitality and stability standing side by side.
(From para. 5 of Ch. 53 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
My household isn't large enough to contain two kitchens. And yet, I respond to the parallel arrangement that Benedict describes, of hospitality and stability standing side by side.
The "unpredictable" can be disturbing and unsettling. It can be a medical diagnosis, a new demand at work, or another person's need at an uncomfortable time. This particular season of Advent underlines the work of meditation and the mantra--quiet and trusting acceptance.
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