in following up the meditation this morning, this day of Sunday between the Ascension and Pentecost. Celebrating it as a day of recollection, we remind ourselves in the life The Doctrina Abartis, the word of the abbot, to help in that way, to help the faith, to make light shine out of darkness.

[02:28]

And I just wanted to remind you so that you see that. of the first epistle of St.

[04:04]

John. among yourselves, that you may be a family among yourselves.

[05:35]

That's the gathering word, you know, that St. John has to announce. And what is this message there? will be. And these days, nobody can predict anything whatsoever. So, in this specific situation, I wanted to do to help that, you know, that light may shine out of darkness.

[06:46]

Now, what is the first thing that makes light shine out of darkness? It is the message do in the first step of the school is just this basic act of faith through which light shines out of darkness and therefore debates the tremendous importance of that and and in that way to our community as it were is now is enhanced there it seems to me as renounce the feast, renounce the fact, you know, that we as Christians that we have here in ourselves, we have an anchor, that is the anchor of faith and of hope.

[09:02]

But the end of this anchor, the other end of the chain of that anchor is in the sanctuary, the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ, the curious, the high priest, our life constantly in the light of Christ's resurrection, to experience all mortification and all renouncement which the monastic life entails, to see it as having in itself already the power of the resurrection, to see it in other words, not in a negative of Saint Caesarius in his sermon. Christ ascended into heaven. Therefore we let us ascend with him.

[10:07]

And if our mind is not there, then we have also rest Christian, essentially Christian, universally Christian, absolutely Catholic, from the first word of Holy Scripture down to the last, from the genesis but not identical with anything that is otherwise, you know, here and there preached around the church in our days, let us say, out of

[11:15]

that we will become and are disposable. Maybe you say that. I mean, disposable, of course, that's, I think, a wrong English expression in that way. But that we are at the disposal of the Holy Spirit. Not disposable. Everybody is disposable in that way, it's true. But that we are at the disposal of the Holy Spirit. That was the third thing. Now, this thing to be at the disposal the Holy Spirit. That may entail in reality, in the practical life, that may entail that maybe here and there appear as a certain vagueness. You know, we may try this, and we may try another thing. But where does it come from? It's not simply and only of the moment, not to fix, let us say, the monastic life, and right in the beginning, the reason why we didn't start with the congregation, that's the reason why we didn't start with constitutions, that we keep, you know, that inner being at the disposal.

[13:06]

The Holy Spirit, it's always, you don't know when it comes, nor do you know with that, of always the holy rule. And we kept ourselves open, we kept ourselves open to the principles of the rule, to, let us say, return to the original spirit of the rule, and we kept at the same time up-to-date, not to be modern, not to be, you know, to say the voices of the time, but any development a constant invitation, you know, to adapt or to adjust or to try this direction, try that direction.

[14:48]

But I think today it's tremendously important and I think the whole situation which has in the simplicity of our being, and then the simplicity of our being will also prompt itself to a greater adaptability to various circumstances. So then that is only concerning that I say this.

[15:48]

our hearts, through Christ with the Father. That's God. That's our prayer life. That's our prayer life. Now concerning this prayer life, let us just mention a few again and as the return. He descends and he takes her serious self-searching, and that is the first condition without a prayer life in a community cannot flourish, and that is of course the problem of attendance.

[18:16]

Let us look at that, you know, and let us look at that squarely. I do that myself, I know, and that is one, to me, is one of the greatest do is just to offer myself to the father's judgment and to realize you know that if i do the one thing i just can't do the other thing the uh the uh the the possibilities are simply limited and i think that in this time especially in the summer First of all, to be there, to be as much as possible with members of the community, and then to have the possibility to speak to the community, not in improvisation, but to speak to the community in a systematic way.

[19:34]

know, many ends that are hanging round loose, and it all, of course, exerts pressure. So I know, on the other hand, that the members of the community haven't realized that, you know, and that their judgment in that way is not a condemning one, you see, but there it is that you will be also before God, just in this If he can stay away, why can't I stay away? first of all, at vigilance, you know.

[21:17]

If less than half of the community is in the morning at vigilance, then that is a great and serious threat, you know, to the presence of the Holy Spirit in the community. Those who are there and are regular in their attendance cannot again missing i would say one thing there in that in that direction and that is that all those who are there you know should for heaven's sake not allow the devil other people are not

[22:20]

are there obligations that may hinder you or do they? For an important reason, reason of health.

[23:51]

saying, yes, but dear mother, I'll have to call your attention to the fact that already tomorrow, quite a few people have asked me, you see, to be absent, you know, formally, and maybe you could, you know, and do it and wait still and defer to another time. So then also to not to present the superior and also to indicate

[25:30]

maybe is it not necessary. So I think the presence, you know, and vigils is really is of great importance. I would say that is of greater importance than any of the other offices, of course, but there certainly is a difference between vigils and little hours. Little hours as such, you know, that is more in the day and so on, but the way in which little hours course of the day they come up kind of natural they are at the beginning of the day's work they are when people come together for lunch and they are later on when the work is being taken up again after this yes so that they have kind of their place you know in themselves but that is the one thing you see that i wanted really very much mind is for example also the attendance I mean the little hours you know then there's the question of the attendance at prime and I would say there too I mean we have I have said that you know that the fathers may take advantage if they have to say private mass in the morning on top of the conventional mass some people also may some may be

[28:04]

milkers and then things you know get a little tight then there is for some the problem of giving of teaching and sometimes just in the late moments of the morning maybe some preparation still is needed and therefore in this we have been to say lenient member never proclaimed any principle like that for either for the whole nor have I said that for any individual you see in within in the community and I think we cannot simply take you know and say oh the council has dropped prime now the council hasn't dropped prime in that way not right it certainly hasn't dropped prime for with the explicit statement

[29:20]

not, you know, and no one in the community should simply make it a law, you see, that never to come to prime. And the next thing is the way in which we celebrate the Divine Office, the way in which we celebrate the Divine Office. Now, the way in which we celebrate is, of course, again, you know, we must and I think we are making maybe progress, or we try at least in this direction, and we have always there, do we have naturally the, let us say, the basic difficulty, you know, here's that, of course, the divine office, also the divine office which is celebrated in common, In one way it is what we say a duty as a pensum servitutis.

[30:52]

However, the essential meaning of all prayer in the Holy Spirit of Christian prayer is not that we become in any way prayer mills. That may be good. I mean, I don't know if one church who that role that plays in Buddhism and so on. in Christianity it doesn't and therefore the prayer should be also common prayer should be an inspiration it should have element you know of the presence of the Holy Spirit in it now we know very well and one element in a difficult element in that direction very difficult is the question of the vernacular the question of the Latin see that there are of course many who are in that way might make it easier, really, that the mind would be in harmony with the voice.

[31:59]

That is the way in which St. Benedict expresses the spiritual character of any office of the whole. the office of the miniatura to drop prime and to drop two of the of the canonical hours you know also for the monks I just can't bring myself to that I think that's at the present moment in my conviction it's not a moment you know to do that now which it will in time it will come I think any job

[33:37]

other hours or little hours is not the time is not seems to me is not right for it and we should be as moms especially in our situation where things are not to make some experiences, you know, in the line of relatively, let us say, conservative line of keeping the 150 Psalms, but in the distribution of these Psalms, you know, make certain changes, and that still, you know, is of course also now in discussion, but as you know, that in the spirit you know that in that way the whole development and evolution of the monastic office may be done in the spirit of peace and of obedience to the uh

[34:56]

the things at least that he has told us have a good effect and that they contribute to a certain degree in this whole question of making the divine office for us more alive but there are still other things many other things that could be considered Psalms, you know, Psalms are, as the terminus in Hollywood is, Now, as clearly the form, let us say, of the psalm is so clearly there, also the way in which it could be presented, you know, that the counter would say, for example, in that case, you know, what the, let us say, the invocation, the announcement, and the whole community comes in with a burden quogna min eterno misericordiae.

[37:29]

for example, the way, but that's only one case, you know, there are many others within the whole Psalter, you know, where the way in which the psalm is presented in public, the way it is sung, you know, as there are many possibilities, and we know now the structure of the psalms much better, for example, the Bible of Jerusalem has provided us also with number of possibilities, because while the alternating on one side to the other, you know, has a good, let us say, as a kind of staple, you know, a food or staple way, you know, as a kind of a good way, still one may ask oneself very much if this is not in other ways, and especially in the case of

[38:38]

fully correspond, as I say, to the original life of the psalm. When every psalm is an organism in itself and has somehow its own law and therefore also they are and can see that so clearly there in Jerusalem on that famous Passover feast where there, you know, there is a rabbi standing right in the street with his face. and just listen to him, the way in which he the nocturne when the psalmody starts you know it's like he was an old soldier and he went on that famous retreat of the uh the german armies you know in 1918 and with all these people you know in this endless train after train train after train back

[42:07]

and then suddenly coming to a stop and waking up, you know, and then listening. And he sometimes compared, you know, the hours of vigils with the train ride like that. You see that one goes to the psalmody, and then comes the versicle, and then comes the lesson, and then one listens to it. great danger, of course, in vigils, this whole method that I'm speaking on of imponer of psalm, that started, you know, by a dear fatherly friend, Emmanuel Heufelder, the abbot of Niederhaltig, who said, oh, it's so wonderful, we could never go back to the old way, you know, because it gives that possibility of personal preparing a psalm and of presenting it to the community.

[43:20]

What an art that is in itself, you know. We experience that in every reading that is being done in choir. What an art it is to present things, you know, to the community with the wide inflections and the wide straight, not to the wrong things and so on. So that's an art in itself. the possibility, for example, to have a translation present, you know, and to follow the proclamation, let us speak, of the psalm, you know, with a translation. I could very well think, you see, that especially younger novices or posturans may greet an opportunity if they don't and not may be too afraid that they might, you know,

[44:24]

but I think many people know if somebody is inclined to doze, he might even doze, you know, during the alternating recitation and the song. Now, that is a matter simply of maybe of experience, maybe of attempt, you know, and personally I wouldn't be opposed, you know, to trying it at all, you know, but it must be, of course, and those who proclaim the song, you know, should do it, of course, well prepared, you know, so that the whole thing really wives, you know, one of these vigors, you know, these gatherings of the Christians.

[45:46]

And their gatherings usually really were vigors in preparation for the Sunday Eucharist, you know, the vigors. And there he says, you know, now one has a psalm, and another one has a canticle, you know, and the other one has some reading in tongues, saying and speaking in tongues, but then he gets and therefore you should have an interpreter, you see, because it's all right to speak to God in tongues privately, but to speak to God in tongues publicly, that of course presents difficulties, you know, because how can people say amen to something that they haven't understood, you know, which is part of our present problem with the canon of Roman man. may be a thing that might be really worthwhile to try out.

[47:01]

And so in that way, as for example also in mass, you know, I think simply to have this, as we do it now, did it this morning, the scholar and the whole community now seems to me that there and with the chapel as it is and being a kind of rather on the big side you know for a small community with not too many strong voices in it you know now maybe there is again is a way which makes it the singing easier and at the same time maybe much more uh in with an alleluia. And then the second time the intro is repeated, then the whole congregation, you know, joins in.

[48:04]

All these things, I think, help as ways and methods, you know, to make what we have of worship right now, to make it really in some way, loosen it up and make it really come, let's come closer, Again, you know, this whole, as you can see also, our divine office, whatever we do in the line of the spirit, in some way, it always for us

[48:35]

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