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.)

Time and again I find Benedict telling his monks to recite prayers or whole readings from the Bible as part of saying the daily hours. Or, telling them to recite from heart if they are out in the fields and unable to come to the oratory. What is it that I can recite from heart? A few poems, a few prayers, some lyrics to hymns or popular songs? It's not an impressive inventory. I must take to heart that memorizing sacred text is the right use of my mind, and a shield against trivial distractions.