Chapter 67: Those sent on a journey
Those who are sent on a journey should commend themselves to the prayers of all the community as well as of the superior, and, at the last prayer of the work of God in the oratory, there should always be a momento of all who may be absent. (From Ch. 67 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
"May the divine assistance remain always with us/And with our absent brothers and sisters," we say at the end of an office and mediation at a WCCM retreat. As an Oblate of WCCM, I often feel that I'm on a journey, and not just the spiritual kind, but also a geographic one -- sometimes traveling great distances to retreats, but mostly meeting other Oblates from around the world on the internet, and staying in touch with many others through other electronic media. I find that in this kind of journey, I feel a great sense of absence, as we are a monastery without walls, and often far-flung from each other. But it seems to me that part of the mystery of our Oblate community is to find the presence in the absence, watching with wonder and gratitude as the Spirit finds new ways to create community among us.
My job requires that I travel a lot. But I try to say a prayer at the same time as the office is being sang in one of our monasteries here. If I cannot say the full office because of the circumstances that I am in, I stop and say one Glory Be. That way I felt connected to fellow monks, me being a monk in the marketplace.
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