Chapter 44: The reconciliation of those excommunicated
They should in complete silence simply lay their heads on the ground before the feet of all the community coming out of the oratory and stay there until the superior judges that they have done enough in reparation. (From para. 1 of Ch. 44 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
St. Benedict tells me that true reconciliation is accomplished at the deepest of levels, in humble silence, in my heart.
I can too often excommunicate myself from my fellows, lose my inner peace, and my connection with those I love, through my lack of consideration and unthinking behavior. This passage of the rule reminds me how much I need the poverty of spirit to consistently practice spiritual self-examination, my daily examen.
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