Chapter 18: The order for reciting the psalms (paragraph 4)
Vespers each day has four psalms to be sung.
(From para. 4 of Ch. 18 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
St. Benedict's simple statement about Vespers helps me to reflect on that late afternoon/evening part of my day. In my family life, late afternoon/evening can often be a tired, hectic, or "mood accommodating" time. Benedict says simply, there are four psalms to be sung. I know simply, it is time to say the mantra. In loving fidelity to discipline may come the "even-ing" or balancing that is the fruit of selfless attention.
(From para. 4 of Ch. 18 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
St. Benedict's simple statement about Vespers helps me to reflect on that late afternoon/evening part of my day. In my family life, late afternoon/evening can often be a tired, hectic, or "mood accommodating" time. Benedict says simply, there are four psalms to be sung. I know simply, it is time to say the mantra. In loving fidelity to discipline may come the "even-ing" or balancing that is the fruit of selfless attention.
In Chapter 18,the minor hours of Terce, Sext and None are also featured. These are the hours of a working day and are often ignored. Psalm 118(119)rules those hours. The words are simple and can be summed up in the plea of the psalmist, "Do not forsake me." By remembering the mantra, I realize that I am not forsaken.
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