Chapter 18: The order for reciting the psalms (paragraphs 5-6)
After all, we read that our holy Fathers had the energy to fulfil in one single day what we in our lukewarm devotion only aspire to complete in a whole week. (From para. 6 of Ch. 18 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
I fear that "lukewarm" may be too apt a phrase to describe my own devotion at times, sodden with frailties and distractions. But it's best that I don't think about that too much. Better that I faithfully return my attention to the divine energy that is always sustaining me.
"It is the faithful repetition of our word that integrates our whole being," writes John Main in Word Into Silence(p.12). This is what helps me with prayer , as in reciting the psalms. The one word repetition throughout the meditation brings me back to the Spirit within me. The mantra helps me with my attention and consciousness, enabling me to open my mind and heart to the love of God. It brings me before God, that little word.The mantra repetition during meditation makes me more ready to dive into the psalms, to be bathed in them and to step out into the banks of life with the Spirit of God in my mind and heart. The little word prepares me for prayer with words, as in the psalms.
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