Chapter 12: The celebration of solemn Lauds
Then come the hundred and seventeenth psalm and the sixty second followed by the Benedicite and Laudate psalms, a reading from the book of the Apocalypse recited by heart, the responsory, an Ambrosian hymn, a versicle, the Benedictus, litany and conclusion. (From Ch. 12 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB,1997.)
Perhaps all of these prayers, and not just the reading from Apocalypse, were once memorized -- held -- in the mind and heart. For me, lectio is a form, not of memorization, but of holding the Word in my heart. In perhaps a kindred way, the mantra is held in my heart, holds my heart in reality.
Perhaps all of these prayers, and not just the reading from Apocalypse, were once memorized -- held -- in the mind and heart. For me, lectio is a form, not of memorization, but of holding the Word in my heart. In perhaps a kindred way, the mantra is held in my heart, holds my heart in reality.
Benedict, and Joan Chittister in yesterday’s reflections, remind me of how hectic life can become, even on Sunday, supposedly a day of rest. Today I am rushed. I have a full schedule. Even in this, my “retirement”, how easily I keep on running. How much more I realize how meditation and the mantra and learning to stop, just to be, contrast with all my hectic human doing.
ReplyDelete