Chapter 52: The oratory of the monastery
The oratory must be simply a place of prayer, as the name itself implies, and it must not be used for any other activities at all or as a place for storage of any kind.
(From Ch. 52 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
What are my distractions to the practice of selfless attention, except for accretions of the ego?
It's rather a simple question for me: where is the place of quiet that is free from distractions that nourishes my soul? In that place do I find silence and a reverence for the presence of God? And as Chittister notes, from that place do I become more conscious of that Presence in every other space and place in my life as well?
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