Chapter 23: Faults which deserve excommunication

If even this does not bring reform then excommunication should be the next penalty, provided that the meaning of such a punishment is really understood. (From Ch. 23 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

Excommunication carries the terrible implication of shunning. But Benedict guides here with compassion, using separation from the community to help a troubled soul appreciate the power and purpose of community. In my own life, habits of mind like judgment and alienation carry their own misery, as a kind of self-shunning or divided state of mind. Meditation helps me to recognize these self-centered mindsets that draw me away from community.

Chapter 22: Sleeping arrangements for the community

In the morning, as they are getting up for the work of God, they should quietly give encouragement to those who are sleepy and given to making excuses for being late. (From para. 2 of Ch. 22 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

A note of tenderness sounds here, making life sweet. John Main said that small kindnesses are the best way to prepare for meditation.

Chapter 21: The deans of the monastery

If any of the deans are affected by some breath of pride which lays them open to adverse criticism, they should be corrected once or twice or even three times. (From para. 2 of Ch. 21 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

"Breath of pride" seems to me a good metaphor for the subtle way ego can infiltrate even my best-intended actions. I take an opportunity to be of service, but it may become an opportunity to control, unless I continue to grow in self-knowledge.

Chapter 20: The ideal of true reverence in prayer

When we come, then, with our requests in prayer before the Lord, who is God of all creation, is it not all the more important that we should approach him in a spirit of real humility and a devotion that is open to him alone and free from distracting thoughts? (From Ch. 20 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

Meditation teaches me that my "requests in prayer before the Lord" might simply be a turning towards God, without a need to make anything happen, but to discover grace in what is. And then, to go forward from there, without fear.

Chapter 19: Our approach to prayer

All of us, then, should reflect seriously on how to appear before the majesty of God in the presence of his angels. That will lead us to make sure that, when we sing in choir, there is complete harmony between the thoughts in our mind and the meaning of the words we sing. (From Ch. 19 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

I can be fragmented in thoughts, unconscious of my physical presence, and mesmerized by emotions. But Benedict's instructions for communal prayer ring true for me. And in the same way, my interior practice of the mantra is like a harmonic that will guide me towards wholeness in the presence of God.

Chapter 18: The order for reciting the psalms (paragraphs 4-6)

We have no hesitation in urging that, if any are dissatisfied with this distribution of psalms they should re-arrange them in whatever way seems better, provided that one principle is preserved, namely that the whole psalter of one hundred and fifty psalms should be recited each week and that the series should start again on Sunday at Vigils. Any monastic community which chants less than the full psalter with the usual canticles each week shows clearly that it is too indolent in the devotion of its service of God. 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.)

Benedict advises fidelity to a general principle of devotion. The general principle of my devotion is not the recitation of the psalms in the way he describes, but rather, fidelity to the twice-daily practice of meditation. There is nothing for me to accomplish or achieve in the practice of meditation except openness to transformation.

Chapter 18: The order for reciting the psalms (paragraph 3)

Vespers each day has four psalms to be sung. (From para. 4 of Ch. 18 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

St. Benedict's simple statement about Vespers helps me to reflect on that late afternoon/early evening part of my day.  I often experience that time with a tired or distractible mood. Benedict says simply, there are four psalms to be sung. I know simply, it is time to say the mantra. In loving fidelity to discipline may come the "even-ing" or  balancing that is a fruit of the practice.