step in the formation of our monastic life. You realize that up to now we have always suffered from a certain or maybe a sense of improvisation in the external realization. So monastic life as far as the liturgical celebration and the celebration of the divine office is concerned. It is very interesting that even those congregations who are in a special way devoted to the celebration of the divine office, seems to be very difficult to arrive at any kind of set ceremonial. And it's one of the things that are most in flux today.

[01:06]

For example, the congregation of Solene, so prominent in the field of the liturgy class, never arrived at the formulation of the ceremonial. And with good reason, because all those who ex-professor study the things of the liturgy these last decades, they realized more and more how many things we have to learn where and which of the things which we practice in our days are indeed not authentic. There is also a constant tendency or desire to do things in such a way they correspond to the needs of the times and so on.

[02:13]

So these considerations, considerations which concern and are based on our historical knowledge of the development of the liturgy, the divine office, and also pastoral considerations, are keeping the whole life, ceremonial life, of Christianity the monasteries, as well as the Church as a whole, the Western Church at least, in these days in a constant flux. Now, we have a purpose, as you can remember, we have a purpose not up to now, not really codified too much. of our practices and the way in which we celebrated the divine office.

[03:16]

Just because we realized how many problems there were which are not always clear and in which we also need the help and the assistance of those who have concentrated on the study of the Divine Office as well as of the Mass. And that was the reason why this year I invited Father Ravel to come to us and to spend a good time with us in order to help us to formulate the principles and the way in which we would celebrate the divine office and then also the celebration of our conventional mass. Now I'm glad to say that after months and months of real intensive work, especially during this last week, together with Father Gregory, who has carried

[04:31]

great part of that burden that the two in cooperation have come to certain conclusions which we then have first proposed to the council and we have been unable of course to discuss them in detail. The only what we wanted to do is to find out also how the reaction in general would be on the part of the community. And now the time has come that we wanted to put these things into practice. Now in order to say, you see, it's so important that in a thing like this, like the ritual, let's say the external manifestation of the community worship, that in this the members of the monastic family are initiated into it, that they understand it,

[05:49]

and that they then, understanding it, can get behind it. And then it becomes part of our conviction, of our spiritual treasure, that patrimonium, so to speak, that we as monks then also can share with those who come here and who may ask questions of all kinds. And it is necessary that if then, you know, members of the community will start shrugging their shoulders and say, yes, we'll do it that way, but why the heaven knows? Something like that. That wouldn't be right. And then, of course, we as those who celebrate it day by day and are subject to it, as long as we don't know what we are doing, the effect of lifting us up, of forming us, of helping us in our union with God, its effect would not be achieved.

[06:56]

And so also we have to think of it that we, and as I told you before, in this little place, in the sticks, we have a certain obligation because As it is today, one of the reasons, for example, why it is so difficult to formulate ceremonies today for a whole congregation of monasteries is the fact that these various monasteries have already various traditions, various approaches, various different ideas. And the abbots have different opinions. There is no unity, you know, when you realize that the monastic life is a life which has to be constantly discovered again. It's a constant, we are, as long as in some way we are where it belongs, to, as they say, also to the burden that we have to carry, that we have to rethink.

[08:11]

things again and again. So the difference of opinions very often stifles the limit, the possibility of putting things into practice. Now we here in the South Wales, we are literally But that is not the, as you understand, you know, sometimes they say it's a flippant word. It doesn't mean it that way. But we have a certain, as I said, told you before, a certain obligation and a mission. We are still a community which is in the process of formation. And that, of course, also brings with it that our minds are not yet completely fixed and so on. If we had to deal, let us say, a superior had to deal with a community, let us say, of 60 monks and 30 of those are all veterans of the spiritual battle, then he has a

[09:22]

It's a difficult time, you know, to introduce any new customs and so on, because the older ones ask, we have never done this, we were good monks, are we not? It immediately becomes that question, you know, I mean, after all, why don't we introduce something different? Because it's better, therefore what we had was bad. So we are bad monks, something like that. All these reasonings very often impede the evolution, the progress of a monastic community in this field of the external ritual. But there was also one of the reasons why I was not eager at all up to now to get into any kind of too fixed a group Because then, with that, we would immediately renounce at the very beginning to any new possibility developments, which for this time really would be too bad.

[10:37]

Because, I told you before, to realize that you're still We are at the moment in which we come to a new external expression, especially in the field of community worship, in the church and in the monastic life. Now, there are two factors that I say this evening I would like only to touch upon some more theoretical elements. And then maybe tomorrow we can go into some and explain some of the concrete customs that we would for future. And as far as the theory goes, you realize that we have to take account of two things. One is The, to say, rediscovery and reinterpretation and re-understanding of the theological background and essence of the literature, of the public worship of the Church.

[11:51]

And the other one is the re-understanding of the essence of the monastic life. What is a monk? These two things who are in our days, anybody who reads the theological journals will realize that they are being discussed and they are in a status of evolution. However, I think that today we can safely say that we have a while at certain sure, evident conclusions. And there is another element which also pleased me very much in the cooperation of Father Rayford and Father Gregory, that they always follow the principle that if we are not sure of something, Cosmos cannot always arrive in these things at some absolute, let us say, metaphysical assurance.

[12:59]

Ceremonies are just not of that nature. And one must also be aware of the fact that our sources, for example, espies the interpretation of the Holy Rule, is concerned to the Holy Rule itself. is not and does not give us a detailed description of liturgical principles. And therefore, much of what we say is a set of ground of accumulation of probabilities or accumulation of certain evidences. without reaching to see that, to say, absolute assurance. But that was the tendency, and that's the tendency, not to introduce anything of which we are not really historically, and let us say also, I would say, essentially sure.

[14:01]

We are looking for the authentic thing. That is what already the Cistercians did in the 11th, 12th century. The authentic things, that is. When Josephus developed the Cistercian fathers, you know, with all zeal, were out, you know, were out of this, that they would not chant but what was really and truly authentic. And then there is this concept of authenticity that is also the concept which governs this attempt at formulating a monastic ritual. The authentic, as you know very well, is to us, is not only, let us say, an archaeological restoration.

[15:03]

It's not that we want the old things because they are old. That would be, in that case, we would make the same mistake that today so many make in this field of the literature of ceremonials because we have practiced it in the past. Dostoevsky very often doesn't know how long in the past. Because we have Baptistism in the past, therefore we are not going to change it. And that principle is not much better than another principle to say, because that was the way in which it was done in the 6th century, and therefore that's the way we have to do it. Both these principles are equally wrong. Archaeologism and conservatism. Let us say this conservativism of simply remaining with what you are doing. No, the monastic one can see that so clearly in the Cistercian movement, which for that matter was a real monastic movement, because this, I said before, the monasticism is

[16:20]

that force in the church, which in a special degree is exposed to the influence of the Holy Spirit. That's the meaning of the old monastic life. Therefore, it is a specially sensitive organ for the emotions and directions and powers of the Holy Spirit. And therefore, it is that, this, let us say, dynamism of the Holy Spirit which moved the Cistercians out to, as I say, protest or revolt against the mechanism of forms which had accumulated, as I say, in the century, in the monastic era, in the century before they came out of sync. So a monastic reform or a monastic restoration is not guided by, let us say, the interest of a New Zealand director who would like that his monastery should look just like the monastery looked at the time of St.

[17:36]

Benedict. That cannot be the purpose of any act, of any head of the community of monks in our day. that would be superficial, that would be deadly, that would be a dead-end road. Everything. No, what we do, what we try to do is to come back to certain forms, but not because they were in the 6th century, but because according to our present well-founded judgment, they express in a better, more essential way the original monastic values, tendencies, and all of life. That is the wisdom. And therefore, there is a going back to the essentials. But every going back to the essentials, it will lead evidently, as I say, to a change in the accidentals, which have accrued during the time.

[18:42]

But it is always a step in the future. The essence is what carries us into the future. And therefore, any step nearer and closer to the center is in itself a typically and deeply monastic tendency. So I said there are these two things, you know, which today are, let us say also, through the light of historical research, have become in many ways clearer to us. One is the general concept of the liturgy, theological essence of the liturgy, and on the other hand, the essence of the monastic status, the monastic life. and the understanding, therefore, also of the Holy Land. If we consider the first point, the liturgy, the essence of the liturgy, then you can remember very well that not long ago, liturgy was considered as a complex of external ceremonies,

[19:52]

imposed upon the clergy by way of liturgical law. And you know that in the encyclical Mediator Dei, Pius XII, of blessed memory, has fought just against this concept. And as I said, we cannot stay with this concept. We have to have a deeper concept of the liturgy. And therefore, he comes and he goes right into the sector that the liturgy is the reenactment, the continuation, the symbols and signs, the sacraments of that work of redemption which Christ, the Word of God made man, has offered to his Heavenly Father for the salvation of man. here on earth, and which culminates in the cross and in the resurrection.

[20:58]

This opus redemption is that work of redemption that provides the word of God made man offered on the cross and was accepted in his resurrection. That is the inner nucleus that is in essence of the liturgy. This applied to the whole church throughout the ages so that all the members of the church are able to enter into this liturgy of their high priest, Christ the Lord himself. Let's see. The church is essentially, what is it? It is the unity of those who enter, participate, enter through the apostolic authority into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. We are all united in that way that we celebrate, we celebrate the Paschal Doctrine.

[22:04]

That is healing. They are full, naturally, the liturgy, first of all, of the Eucharist, but then also the other sacraments in their own way. They are, therefore, belong into the essence, the most inner life of the Church, into the inner life of the Church. This work of redemption, Then our Lord Jesus Christ has destroyed the office of the cross, which is sacramentally readapted. In the liturgy, that office is, as the Church has always said, a divine audience. There is the realization of the Father's merciful design with mankind. And therefore, nothing can be changed in this essence, because this is not an act of man. This is a divine act. This is a redemptive act.

[23:07]

This is therefore not man approaching God, but it is God approaching man. Therefore, it is a gift. And for that matter, this essence of the liturgy is, of what we say, objective. It cannot change. In that way, all liturgies of the Church are essentially, in that way, one. But then, naturally, there is the other element that now this inner nucleus This redemptive work, the death and the resurrection of Christ, that this redemptive work now is brought to us, to the members of the church, in the form of a sign. Because just as the Word of God has become man, and therefore our brother, and therefore the one who has appeared to us, He has revealed to us what no man has seen, only the inner secrets of the Father's heart.

[24:16]

So also this work of redemption is given to us in such a form that we may see it, that we may celebrate it as human beings here on earth. And therefore, there, naturally, another element pops in. That is an element of differentiation. Because there, where now human understanding, human reenactment, this approach and this union with us, the various members of the church's tactics in various nations, in various temperaments, in various climates, in various ages, there is an element of diversified differentiation, call it so. And this, then, what makes the, say, gives to the liturgy its richness, its variety, manifoldness.

[25:19]

And it is also the element which is changed, not only in space, and according to races and climates, but which is changed also in the course, changeable in the course of time, these accidental things. Now then, if we speak about ethics, liturgy, about the celebration of the Holy Mass in a monastic community, or the celebration of the divine office in a monastic family, then naturally we ask ourselves, what is the kind of differentiation which would be demanded or would be justified by the monastic way of life? What is, therefore, and that is the other important question, what is the monastic way of life? And there, of course, one thing is immediately evident, and that is that there is a difference between, let us say, or within, let us better say, the people of God, between the monks and between those members of God's people who live in the world.

[26:39]

The monk, for that matter, has lit the world. And therefore, his way of life is different. What is the difference of his way of life? First of all, that's the monastic status, the monastic life. And such is essentially and primarily turned to God. turned to God. It is what we call eschatological. That's an important point to keep in mind, that the difference between a parish and a monastery. A parish and the liturgy which is celebrated in the parish and which the parish priest leads and which a bishop, he's in the palace, you know, has to a large extent composed himself or they said, or which today they say the papal authority decrees for the church, this liturgy naturally tends towards the needs of the people, I mean, for the people as they live in this world.

[28:00]

Therefore, this liturgy, insofar as it is signed, insofar as it wants to be understood by the people, has also a disappearance and has to adapt itself to them. And therefore, one thing is clear, that the liturgy which is celebrated in the churches is, first of all, it is actually, it has the same essence, I repeat that, but this essence still gives, it has another thought. Why? Because that liturgy of the priest points or is directed towards the people. to save these souls, and these souls under the conditions in which they live. And therefore, it must be very didactic. That it has a didactic character is very important for the liturgy in the parish.

[29:02]

That it is adapted also to, as I say, the general temperament of the people living in the world. That, for example, therefore, it should take account of the limited time of people in the world. That it should, therefore, be not too long that people who are during the day with their whole energy, either of their body or of their brains, or both, are engaged In exhausting, very often exhausting work, we cannot demand very much. As far as time is concerned, as far as the willingness or even the capability of listening to long lessons or to long sermons, or the capability of doing long prayers are concerned.

[30:04]

So the approach there is different. You can see right away it isn't, let us say, in first light turned towards God for God's sake, but it is the consideration of those who are there and who have to take a part in it and their souls have to be saved. The liturgy of the parish is, for that matter, of the chalice. But in the monastery, of course, it is different. The monk has made a conversion. He has turned from the world to God. That is why he entered the monastery. And he has made God the exclusive objective of his entire life. So therefore, this being concerned or being turned toward God will necessarily also influence the way in which he celebrates the worship.

[31:12]

And therefore, for example, as far as the time is concerned, as far as the length is concerned, Personally, I had there a great, let's say, certain misgivings. If you look at the development, and I told you before, if the monologues could see that so clearly at the Congress of the Abbots, a great, great difference and a very variety of opinions concerning the divine office. How it should be set. At what time it should be set. Shouldn't it be short? Or shouldn't this or that be changing? And a complete different approach. And one could see there that there was, in many monasteries, a tendency to cut down on the hymn.

[32:16]

of the divine office, or to, for example, abolish the night office, things like that. And they really see this as, of course, an important question. And they can be solved only, to my mind, they can be solved, of course, only by the individual analysis and looking at the structure of the monastic configuration can be solved in that analysis only by the individual understanding. But there is certainly, there is a thing, for example, say now, the night office. It was something, you know, that was all right to be in the Middle Ages when the monks didn't have anything to do but just this. Fine. But we have to ask ourselves, for example, the split, you know, is it not? That is why a strong picture is a stitch. For monasticism in itself is a pathological act because it is turned towards God for God's sake.

[33:25]

For example, the conservation of the visions. Because there is an endless rising beyond the day into the night. A typical, therefore, expression and anticipation of that wholeness of the spirit, of that fullness of the spirit.

[33:48]

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