Now I must tell you that the conference this morning had such an impact on Mother Wendley, that he saw his fault. The breakfast wasn't good. So we got salmon steak tonight. Out here from the creek. Now, maybe we do better on that sound mistake tonight. The topic we were discussing was that of the contemplation and this concept of contemplation you realize, and I emphasize it.

[01:02]

for this reason, that it gives to, it seems, at least seems to me, it gives to our life, lets our monastic life appear in a degree of comprehensiveness, which at times, under the influence of, let us say, a more Eastern and a more psychological concept of contemplation, may not be the case. One could write, I think, a whole history of the church would be too much, but I mean, in looking at the history of the church, I think one could enumerate quite a lot of things which have developed in the present practice of the church, and the influence of the of a concept of contemplation which seems to me is too narrow, because it is essentially connected with a withdrawal.

[02:14]

with a certain dualistic attitude towards matter, towards the visible thing, this visible creation, it tries to establish a state of recollection which would be considered as one of the – and of course I'm not against that, you understand that – as one of the main, let us say, functions of the spiritual life. which certainly, to a certain degree, is certainly true. For example, the whole crisis we have today in the education of the clergy, I mean the diocesan clergy, and the discussions that have taken place in the council concerning the formation of the clergy. in a spirit, one tries to instill in the seminaries, a spirit in attitudes, the influence, let us say, of Tancre, and his spiritual life, which later on, when they are followed in the world and in the function that they have to exercise as priests, may not always be very useful.

[03:37]

What one tries to establish or enable these young clerics is to live, let us say, spiritually on their own steam. And the way in which it is done is to get accustomed to certain times of meditations and times of mental prayer and things like this. which very often, in the reality and in the dealings with the hard realities of life, gives not always to the priest that, let us say, broad basis for his Christian existence that he would need in order to tie together, in order to bind together in order to overcome the contrasts and contradictions of the world today, and in its relation also to Christianity.

[04:44]

Christianity is in the danger to become a kind of a hothouse affair, a thing which doesn't seem to stand really the meeting with the realities of modern life. So it seems to me it is important, also for us as monks, because in our own monastic life, you realize that as well as we do in our place, that one of the, for example, one of the great problems is that of the expansion, the maturing of the monk through the monastic life. What is necessary to give the monk, let us say, that inner space for maturing, what is the direction one should give to the monk, that he, instead of withdrawing and, let us say, arriving at a state of introversion, he may be able to expand, and in that way, again, mature.

[05:46]

So it seems to me that this concept of the contemplative life that I'm trying to explain is taken, as you realize that, really, I try at least to do it, from the inner structure of Holy Scripture. One of the sentences we found this morning also the place, it's Ecclesiasticus in the 42nd chapter, and it's the 25th verse. where all things are created double, one towards the other. And in this way, the world, that is the basis for the perfection of the world. Now that is a very, very important, decisive sentence indeed, and which, you know, points into the same direction, that really, Life of perfection is not producing more and more of some kind. As we have it in the world today, we are accustomed in the world of sports, perfection means something that breaks a record.

[06:59]

Therefore, there's always that inner tendency breaking the record. getting, you know, to a higher level, something more. Perfection in the biblical sense is a meeting of the two things which are created for one another in such a way that the two Templar cover one another, that they are united, and in that way constituted in their sufficiency. That is, of course, very evident, you know, in the case of man. Man himself, I repeat that just for a moment, I said already this morning, formed out of the dust of the earth, and then animated with the breath of the spirit, and so constituted out of these two elements,

[07:59]

In these two elements, naturally, come penetrating one another, and within the power of the spirit, man facing God as his maker and as his father. And in the moment in which now the spirit is always the element of glory, the dust is the element of, let us say, of humility, lower, lowly qualities, so to speak, the combination of the two constitutes man in his totality, in his wholeness. And then we go from there, we go further, and we see that at the moment in which man turns away from God, and this contact, you know, this towardness of the spirit, the towardness toward God, is lost. At that moment also, the two qualities, as I say, the glory quality and dust quality, kind of fall apart.

[09:08]

and get into contradiction. One sees that this duality, to some degree, is continued in the meeting of man and woman. It is man who develops, as I say, the glory qualities. It is the woman, shall we say, has more the dust qualities. Not only that the woman is a housewife, you know, has this constant battle, you know, with dust and with dish washing. And you see there right away how the monk tries to be the two in one. It's a very important thing, that dishwashing is one of our functions. Now that leads us into some applications, maybe for later. But there it is, you see, there is man and woman. Man is certainly, as St. Paul says it clearly, he is the glory of the woman.

[10:13]

On the other hand, you know, too, The woman is the glory of man, but subordinate, therefore, is the reflection of the glory of man. And, of course, in the fall and after the fall, these two qualities are, as it were, isolated in themselves, turned away from God, and therefore become, in man, pride, and the pride of Lamech. I mentioned that example this morning. And in the woman, the subserviency, the subservience to man. The woman is subservient, because that is, her longing will be for man, and man will be her lord. That is the order, as it were, that follows and that establishes and rules, then, this fallen nature. So that woman has lost, in that way, her real original capacity and becomes somewhere closer to the dust.

[11:17]

And then we see that, of course, then later on, this tendency indeed. Old Testament is very clear. For example, if you take the prophet Isaiah, and you take Isaiah in the background of his time, the Assyrian kings are there. The Assyrian kings are simply the incarnation of the emancipated the glory of the male, therefore they have all these tremendous beards, you know, they are higher than everybody else. The crown still has something to it, you know, and there he is, you know, and glories. I take, you know, the treasures of the nations, Like, you know, taking eggs out of the nests of the birds and they don't dare to chirp, as this famous inscription from the King of Assyria, you see, it says there in the, I think it's the eighth chapter of Isaiah. So, the pile on the other, and this background, and this, let us say, the Assyria, simply constituted for the people of the time of Isaias, was, let us say, the incarnation of organized, emancipated, the glory, the power, the omnipotence of the male.

[12:38]

And then in this background then, of course, for the new world to be born appears, as the sign, the woman and the child. The woman and the child. Why? Because there a new order appears on the, one can say, on the background of, let us say, the dust side of man. What appears, it is the mercy, it is the agape of God. So they are the woman and the child in opposition to the other. And that is then of course very clear in the very act of the incarnation, where the Holy Spirit, that is the glory, overshadows the virgin. And in that way again, you know, constitutes the real unity of glory and of dust, let us say, overshadowing the Virgin. And the term overshadowing just taken also in this and under this aspect.

[13:44]

And then our Lord himself, who then is the, let us say, is the man. Behold the man. Why is he the man? Because in him, in a very special way, glory and humility, glory and dust are united. He takes on, he does not think it properly, to be equal to God, but he empties himself. And in that way, he counteracts the fall. He empties himself and he takes the likeness of sinful flesh, and that is the dust. Dust are thou unto dust, thou shalt return. So there, and therefore in that, in this unity of these two, Christ is the man, the man. He really fulfills, let us say, the whole function of man after the fall.

[14:50]

And in him, then, these two aspects of the glory and of the dust, you know, are completely united. He is at the same time the one who appears in his heavenly divine glory on Mount Tabor, and here is the one who on Golgotha, on Golgotha enters into the nothingness of the likeness of the flesh of sin and death. So in this way, then, what is the monk, if we may make one step further? He is the perfect man, one can say, because he is the imitation just of this quality of Christ as the man. Christ, too, in this here on earth, he is in a high humble of heart, the monk wants to make his heart just like his heart, and enters into his footsteps.

[15:54]

The monks, therefore, and if you consider the life of the monk, if you consider, say, the whole spirit of monasticism. It is a deliberate, in that way, deliberate tendency to enter with Christ into the to die again the death of Christ. Therefore, the basic, absolutely basic importance of the virtue of humility for the monk. Humility, humus, is dust. Humility is that virtue which is, so to say, the taking on, the deliberate taking on of the loneliness of dust. And that is what the monk's life in that way is, that he resigns, he in himself, the way he lives, one can say the totality of the life of Christ. He is not emancipated man.

[16:57]

is not therefore one of the reasons why the monks, you know, in the beginning didn't want to be clerics. Why? Because clerics means to have an office, it means to have authority, it means to have power in the spiritual sense, and that is where the monk kind of shrinks away from it. Mung is in that way more the hidden man of the heart. He veils his glory, let's say, in the veil of humility, and the instruments for that are the obedience, the instrument for that also is silence, we know very well, and speech, you know, and so much. of our talking has to do with our self-exaltation, in some way publicizing ourselves and all this kind of thing, the monk withdraws from that. Why? In order to restore in himself, after the fall, the totality of man.

[18:04]

the glory qualities together with, really, the dust qualities. And that is what we call, this aspect of the monastic life, is what we call the penitential aspect. And certainly that aspect is, if you want to consider it that way, is the female part, so to speak, of our existence. While at the same time, this, our existence in humility, too, is really full of glory. The most certainly is directed through obedience by the will of somebody else. You have put men over our heads, and that situation is the situation of the dozen. But at the same time, too, this relation is a filial relation. Therefore, it has an inner glory. It's not only, let's say, emancipated humility, that means self-humiliation or lowering of oneself, but it has a glory in it.

[19:12]

It means that the one who in this way has somebody else's will over him is related to this one as a son is to the father. And then naturally, on the other hand also, it requires of the monastic father also the combination of these two qualities. let us say, of the quality of leadership and of the quality of motherliness. Some way, the abbot, too, has to be, has to strive after that, to be a combination of these two, and in that way to send or to inspire the monk with the real experience of that totality of that father and mother in their working together, in the ordinary order of things, would give to the child. And in this totality, the monk grows. The monk has there the freedom as it were, the space to breathe and the space to develop, but to develop always in the totality, not in emancipation.

[20:25]

As soon as somebody enters the monastery in order to make a career, That is on the line, let us say, of the emancipated glory of man, as such. And it leaves out the other aspect to which the monk, in a special vows, really kind of to which he devotes himself explicitly and explicitly before God. That is the obedience, and that is the stability, and that is the conversion of morals. This trinity is in itself that pledged, you know, in his life to constitute this totality, and to avoid, in any possible way, the emancipation of the globe. That's what we call pride. But in this, as I say again, this specific obedience isn't ennobling.

[21:27]

It isn't enriching. It's a means of growth. And that way also has to be handled. I mean, those who are It is just as superiors, and as it is said, for example, again, now in the document on the religious, the decree on the religious by the council, just these aspects also of the superior are emphasized. You know, that the superior should, for example, listen. It's that quality of being able to listen. And that is, of course, right away, as you see there, that is in some way is the quality of the mother. Because the mother is usually the one that is able to listen to the child. The father is always ready to talk to the child. The mother is ready to listen to the child. So we work, you know, and I think in these things, you know, the whole concept, this original concept of contemplation has its immense, you know, infinite variety of application, practical application.

[22:31]

And it would be so good, you know, for us if we see the monastic life just in this totality. Because if we don't, if our monastic life is simply, as I say, the isolated encounter of the individual soul with God, if it is just this kind of vertical relation, and then meeting between the soul and God in a certain exclusiveness, you know, then of course we are in danger to lose the totality of our human existence. And therefore, in the monastery we should see our monastic life not only as the attempt to, let us say, what we call to constitute or to achieve, A union with God, of course, you must care for. Of course, union of God is, but not a union of God which in any way is exclusive, but the union of God between man and God, and that means between the whole man and God.

[23:40]

And not only, let us say, the upper, let us say, the arch here is meant, it's the upper part of his spirit there where he, let us say, touches or is immediately confronted with God, but of his entire man. That is the importance of the rule of St. Benedict. But he says, we cannot achieve this union. That means, if we want to achieve, we have to climb the ladder. But what kind of ladder is it? It's a ladder that has these two posts. And the one post is the body, and the other post is the soul. And then this ladder itself, what is it? When you descend, then you really ascend. You want to ascend, you really descend. So that is the mystery of the ladder. That's the mystery of our monastic life. So the ladder, that was the great, you realize that was the great misunderstanding, for example, for a man like Luther concerning the monastic life. He had, monastic life was for him connected and of course very understandable because that is the, let us say, the catechism teaching of the day, of the time, that is

[24:51]

The monastic ideal is incorporated in John Climacus, John of the Ladder. And then, of course, in these Byzantine icons, you know, of Mount Athos, you can see it up to now, all full of ladders, you know, all with John Climacus and the ladder. And, of course, Saint Benedict and the ladder, too. But not realizing, you know, really, what kind of ladder it is. And therefore, this ladder is by no means the way in which the emancipated male makes his way up. That was the misunderstanding of this whole picture. And instead of that, the ladder in the rule of Saint Benedict doesn't constitute anything like this. It's not an invitation, as Luther thought, to the human will for self-discipline, self-control, and in that way achieve, you know, that ascent, you know, to likeness with God.

[25:55]

It's not the middle of the ladder. The ladder is really, it presents us with the two ideas, the totality of man, his body, one goes, the soul, the other one, and then the rungs of the ladder, what are they? The steps of humility. So it is therefore redescending in the way that Christ, who emptied himself, did not think it, robbery to be equal to God, but emptied himself, became in this way and for this reason man, and one of us, and a servant, and obedient unto death. And therefore God exalted him and gave him a name over above all other names. So in that way, this totality, as I say, affects immediately, for example, also the quality of obedience. It affects the way in which

[26:56]

The Father, the representative of Christ, meets his children. It affects the way in which the children, the sons, meet the Father. The sons naturally reflect, the nobility of obedience means that the son reflects the dignity and glory of the Father. This kind of thing, you see, sometimes also meets today, that this whole problem of the relation of the superior to the monk is seen, let us say, on political lines, kind of what we call democratic lines, where then immediately the superior or the authority is seen as a threat. or as something that is, of course, in the state of fallen nature? And with all Christianity, what else can we do but try to establish a precarious balance between authority and between service?

[28:00]

And what is it? The only way to do it is put checks there, you know. And then what are the checks? You know, the executive power, the legislative power, and so on, judiciary, and so on. You see, all that what the American democracy has tried to develop, in which in itself is of greatest value, naturally it is. Of course, monastic, for that way, a monastic community works in a different way. What the democratic government in that way tries to establish is this precarious balance with checks of two, let us say, tendencies, the tendency from below which is, let us say, the volonté générale, you know, the common will of the people, and the tendency from above, let us say, the leadership, which is necessary in order to start and in order to make the unity of the people effective in a certain direction.

[29:07]

And that, of course, but the two things are seen, a priori, as enemies, you know. At least they are envisioned, you know, with apprehension. Now, of course, that has its great and very good reasons in history, historical experience of the nations through the centuries, you know, also the Christian centuries. But there it is. It's therefore a checking thing, you see. It's like establishing peace with, as it was pointed out, you know, in our days, so important for us, establish peace, you know, on the basis of the power of retaliation. That means the atomic power, you know, an energy storage, you know, here. Part of it, I think, is even in the Rocky Mountains, I don't know. I mean, there it is. You see, that is a completely different approach. That's not an approach in the realm of redemption.

[30:07]

And of course, our monastic community life is in the realm of redemption. And therefore, the monk is considered as the redeemed, as the man. It is simply not, for that is the beautiful thing, you see, that also according to Holy Scripture, that basic idea, it is not good for man to be alone. But what does this sentence mean? That sentence is a warning concerning the emancipation of man. It is not good for man to be alone. As man, that means the emancipation. But what is the perfection of man? It is the meeting of man and woman. And of course virginity for us, after Christ the man has shown to us the way of virginity. But what is this way of virginity?

[31:08]

It's not the way of the bachelor, that is for sure. I'm always against, you know, any kind of monastic life in which then monasteries, you know, appear in the end, you know, as great, wonderful apartments for bachelors. Bachelor apartments. And it develops rapidly. I mean, it becomes a little sweet, you know. Every bachelor, he has his bathroom, he has his sleeping room, he has his... workroom, you know, his office and so on. You just go into modern monasteries, you know, built on the power of the recent boom, and you will be surprised, I mean, what you see. So not a monastery is not a bachelor apartment house. But in that way, why? Because that is, you know, again, that is in that way is not man alone. You see why? The monk, you know, is for that a part of that, let us say, order of redemption in which our hearts are created for one another.

[32:16]

And you realize naturally, too, that that means in Christ, you know, it means for him as the head of the church, the incarnation of the totality of man. Man and woman, one man, really. And that is also in Christ. And that is the meaning of the Lord's virginity. The fruit of the Lord's virginity is then his death, that he alone, he alone offers, because he is the only redeemer, the head of the new. Therefore the unity comes, our unity of the church is derived of the unity, but a unity of totality on the part of Christ. And this totality is in Christ represented in this way, that he has, let us say, the husband of his bride. The church dies for his bride. That is the transcending of the, let us say, of the male qualities into the totality of the human, the true human existence.

[33:26]

So therefore, he surrendered. The beautiful last, the end of our Lord's life is inclinato capita, with his head bent low. He surrendered his spirit. That is, of course, you see that right away, that is the intimate union, intimate union of the life-giving power of man together with the in finado capito, with this incline of the woman. These two things in one. And then is the meaning of the existence of the monk. That is, of course, it's also odd on that, you know, that the community life of the monk, you know, is based just on this, you know, just as I'm a lord. When he sends out his disciples, what does he do? He sends them beanie and beanie, two by two.

[34:30]

What does that mean? That's the totality principle. It's the community principle. that it is in the discipleship and the missionary activity, which by itself, again, if you want, in its very character, is the activity of man. But beanie and beanie, two by two, they go out on their mission. In order, in that way, do it, let us say, in the truly contemplative spirit. Unfortunately, we realize now, perhaps it's too late, that the 19th century missions, you know, did to a certain degree neglect this principle, that these missions were too individualistic, and they were too much concentrated on the individual person of the missionary, of this preacher. who goes here and there and directs mission station after mission station, where he makes an occasional appearance, then later on, instead of going beanie and beanie, instead of showing, you see, the monastic missions of the early of the 7th and the 8th century, did establish a center where monastic community spirit is lived.

[35:53]

where therefore the Ecclesia exists for everybody to be seen. And then from this center that takes its roots and sinks the roots of stability into the soil where it has been founded, and then from there it radiates, and from there then it has created the Christian civilization of Europe. It's the monastic principle that has created a civilization which was really earthbound. which was rooted in the very soil, which therefore made the monastery, the templum, or the point, where heaven and this earth really and truly met in the visible ecclesia, the visible community of the monks. That was the principle. And that should be the principle for our life today. What is our life is based on, it is based on the vowels.

[36:57]

What are the vows? The vows are this inner, solemn, complete surrender. Man in itself, a man in his, let us say, emancipated nature, he tends, you know, constantly to roam around, you know. He is the one who travels. He is the one who expels. The woman is the one that stays at home, you know. She has the kitchen, you know, and she has the drawing room, and so on, and she has the home as her realm, as it were. Man goes out as a merchant, as a salesman, and whatever, you know. He may do into every direction. Therefore, he has in himself, he has that character. He is restless in some way by nature. He flies from one flower to the other, you know. While the woman is the one again, you know, seen in her very nature, the mother is the one who gives to the home.

[38:03]

His stability and the element of continuity. And that is, of course, again in the monk. If the monk, for example, vows stability, it's not easy for him, you know, but if he vows stability, he really sings his roots down into the earth. And that makes also for the stability of the church. I have in that way for the future great misgivings if the community principle for any kind of expansion of Christianity is disregarded. I don't see what is the whole restlessness of the South American continent. Now, what is it sometimes? I'm tempted to say that they never knew anything, they never had any activity, missionary activity really, directed by monasticism. Now, of course, there are some, you know, there are some monasteries, you know, you yourself have there, Argentina, Chile, and so on.

[39:10]

But there again, the difficulty there is, you know, that then these monasteries may be, and that's another problem, I just put that for your consideration, I think it really is a problem, is too much in that way shut off from the people, you know, that are Why are they shut off? It's again a concept of contemplation, which is rather psychological than it is really ontological. An ontological concept of contemplation is, for example, the concept that Gregory the Great had. And for him, there was absolutely no difficulty. For him, it was the monk, you know, who would be sent out as a missionary. And of course, for that matter, to preach the word, you know, to preach the gospel. And why was that? Because it is the monk at the time of St. Gregory who has, you know, this inner, one can say, rootedness, and at the same time the detachment.

[40:14]

which is necessary in order to go out for this specific task, very specific task, which is what they call plantare ecclesia, to plant the Christianity into new grounds. That was considered, you know, in the antiquity, one had a very good and very clear picture of what a monk, let us say, would do and what he would not do. You see, the antiquity was convinced that the monk was not for what we call the cura ordinaria animaru, the ordinary. That is the orcura ordinaria animarum, that is in the established church. Established under the bishop, established with the clergy that belongs to it, established in a territory. And this church, you know, and its administration, to enter into it is not a matter for the monk.

[41:18]

That is strictly the matter for the diocesan clergy, and that also demands a way of life which is, in itself, incompatible with the monastic life and the rules, the rule of sympathy. Why? The other thing, you see, the extraordinary care of souls, that is a different story. This extraordinary care of souls has two aspects. In one way, it doesn't commit a whole community for good, you know, to a certain work. It has the other aspect that this extraordinary care of souls always demands what we would call a heroic degree of surrender to Christ. That means an aiming, what we call aiming at perfection. Because going out to plant a church, one leaves one's country and one's father's home, and one goes into a land that God will show.

[42:23]

And in this land, to plant the church, there means to be ready to shed one's blood for this purpose. And therefore, the blood of the martyrs, that is the real seed of the church. And therefore, under this aspect, that it therefore demands from the part of the missionary, this, let us say, what we may call status of perfection, as far as the intention of absolute surrender to God is concerned, you know, the willingness to martyrdom, that was expected of the monk. And therefore, he was the one who was sent, you know, into pagan countries, because that was the risk he underwent. And the clergy at that time, especially of Gregory the Great, you know, to that diocesan clergy simply was not prepared. And therefore, the whole field of the mission, you see, is a field in which the monk as monk, you know, is active, of course, at the demand also of the ecclesiastical authority and so on.

[43:31]

But, you see, all this, you know, forms part, and that is the main point I wanted to make, forms part of a bigger, more comprehensive picture. It comes from the picture of the original meaning of the word contemplation. That it is for the monk, you know, it simply means to constitute in his life the totality. This totality also, in many other ways, for example, if you take the work of the monk. You have on one side, we have the Lectio Divina and the Opus Dei. And you have in the Lectio Divina, that is the part of Mary, that is the sitting at the feet of the Lord. That is for that matter is the woman's part. The Opus Dei is conceived in monastic tradition in another way, as a labor too. Therefore as a real, in that way, as a real work, an opus. And therefore it represents, if you want, represents the part of the man.

[44:37]

Later on you have the same thing also in the demand for manual labor. Manual labor, why is it a part of the monastic life? Again, because the monastic life is the composition of these two posts, you know, of the spirit and of the flesh. And the spirit unfolds in Lectio Divina, and in the Opus Dei, and the other one in manly labor. And these two things really constitute the totality of man. And that is, of course, absolutely true. Is manly labor, in many ways, is a factor which brings the monk into, let us say, confrontation with the realities of this world. That is why we have our cows. It's rather far-fetched, but it isn't so far-fetched, you know, because I clearly remember, you know, I mean, our days in Mariana and so on, we as fathers, we had no idea, absolutely no idea.

[45:42]

We were living in our books, you know, but if there was a question of turning on the heat, you know, in a room, we didn't know how to do it, you know. Why? Because the lay brother did it, you know. So it was absolutely, and that is one of the things under which our education today of the clergy as a whole absolutely suffers. Too much intellectual, simply and only on the intellectual side, you know. These men are simply not being confronted with the realities of life, and therefore so much immaturity. There was so much talking and preaching to people who say, of course, you can't preach about it. You have no idea what it's all about. Because what do you have? You don't have to work in that way. And at the same time, whatever you get, you know, for you, on the money side, it's gravy, you know. You can spend it in a nice restaurant, you know, which is very often the case.

[46:46]

And then so on, what do you talk, you know, there to us, so that their virginity, I mean, the celibacy among the secular clergy simply is not the celibacy, for example, of St. Paul. Because St. Paul said that he absolutely was ready, you know, to come into contact with the dust, you know. But the clergy today really doesn't come into contact with dust, you know. I hope you understand. But at the same time, you know, there are other things, you know. For example, the unification of the monastery. What we do now, and what you too is, I mean, what you is in store for you, you know. The unification of the monastic community, for heaven's sake, let us not think of this unification of the monastery simply as a kind of going with the times, you know, and now this two-class system that belongs to the feudal age, you know, and after all, the feudal age is finished, you know, and now the lower classes have come of age, you know, and the monastery must finally recognize, you know,

[47:58]

that the lower classes have come of age. That's not the point at all. I mean, that would simply turn the whole thing into a political thing. It is an evident return to the letter of the rule of St. Benedict. And the rule of St. Benedict simply doesn't know this, doesn't recognize this, you know, division, you see, of these two classes. You know, the only way that That one could, in the old times, get away from it, also in the Baronese congregation, was simply to say, the brothers do not really make profession on the rule, you see, because they don't make any profession on the rule, therefore they also don't belong to the chapter and have no chapter rights. And that, of course, in itself makes sense. That makes sense. But, of course, if then, as in the Bolognese congregation, you know, really, I mean, no, I don't want to judge, you know, but one finally settles down and says, all right, the brothers should take solemn vows, you know.

[49:03]

So they take solemn vows and the rule of St. Benedict, but then don't get the chapter rights, you know. Now that makes this added confusion, confusion confounded, you know, really. So therefore we cannot march. That is not the reason. The reason is the Holy Spirit. Everything in the monastic life has to grow out of the root of the Holy Spirit. It has to be done for the Spirit. and for the greater unfolding of the power of the Spirit in the monastic life. And that is, of course, here too. Why did St. Benedict not envisage two classes? Why did he not want two classes in the rule? Not because, you know, I mean, he wanted to be democratic. But why? Because his rule was a spiritual rule. And he says it himself, St. Paul says it, you know, in the spirit, you know, in Christ there is no free man, no slave, you know, but we are all one in Christ, you know.

[50:08]

So it is therefore, what is it? It is the fullness of the messianic age which the monastery presents in its totality. That is the real reason for this, you know. And I still remember, you know, talks, you know, I was for the unification and for that, you know, from wide I got to kind of an It kind of was one of my first difficulties in entering the monastery. I had two difficulties. One difficulty was the Latin language and so on, which I thought was not good for the people. And the other thing, or for the harmony between mind and letter, as Saint Benedict demands it. And the other difficulty was, you know, that I, as a little postulant, Just simply and only because I came from a university, I had the precedence, you know, before every lay brother. There were lay brothers in my allowance, wonderful white beards, you know, and I mean, really seasoned, holy men, you know.

[51:17]

Men, they were totally, really, one can say, men of God, you know, therefore had achieved, and that was given to them, that unity, you know, but in a way which gave immediate witness to it, also in the dignity of this whole thing. And they said, no, please, you first. Why? Because eventually, you see, and perhaps, I mean, seven years, I would become a priest, you know. So I had already the precedence. I said, is there something wrong here? This doesn't just, doesn't square with the rule of St. Benedict. And later on when I learned theology, you know, then I thought, oh my, yes, of course, that is strange, you know, because monasticism wants to, to witness to the fullness of the spirit of the messianic age. And you should take the descriptions that is given of this new world of the messianic age, and lo and behold, you know, these class things, you know, are in the spirit, in the unity of the spirit, you know, are transcended, you know, simply.

[52:25]

But when in these discussions, you know, sometimes I said, my dear Albert Ham, Father Albert Hamstien, novice master, I met, you know, We had some discussion, you know, I mean, for me, now think about recreation and what can I say to Brother Isidore in recreation, you know, that's it. I can't, I don't know what to say, you know. So, because he was from the university and Brother Isidore evidently was not, you know. So, therefore, that now the recreation is not a decisive element in the monastic life, you know, either. But you can't see that, you know? I mean, that is what we say, salva reverentia, because, you know, I realize I'm deeply devoted to him, because I also hated so much him. What was it? These things are simply what we call, you know, all the vestiges, you know, of the bourgeois spirit that's still, in some way, the Victorian age, you know? I absolutely, I must confess, in Montserrat, find not the slightest difficulty

[53:28]

to talk in recreation to every member of the community, but maybe that here in the United States, thanks God, because this here is the country of education, if there's one God to whom one sacrifices gifts, you know, it's education. and therefore it's education, you know, and therefore that has brought about, you know, greater unity. And it is just one of the other, you know, clear indications that in the monastic life too, in the monastic life as such, should be sensitive to, and that is the other part of the contemplative character of the monastic life, that it should be sensitive to Now, not of course in the sense, you know, that he's a Negro and therefore whoop, you know, and I'm a white and therefore, you know, glory, glory, glory. And so not in that sense, you know, but sensitive to, I would say, to the spiritual mission of a nation. And it's absolutely clear, you know, that the United States as a nation, the mission, you see, in this and in the church today and for Christianity today.

[54:40]

Rome had a mission, still has a mission, but the United States also has a mission. And what is it? It's what we would call liberty. But what is liberty theologically? It is the possibility for the free liberty of the Holy Spirit. That is the aim, really, and the purpose. And this liberty of the Spirit, and this unity of the Spirit, is realized in a monastic community where all the members, you know, are as God created them, together. Where others, and rabbinic teaching distinguishes these two kinds of prayers very clearly. Others which were prayers in which the mind would, in the process and in the saying of these prayers, would rise from the depth to the height of inspiration. We know that the general definition of prayer that we are accustomed to is that prayer is the raising of the mind to God.

[55:50]

In Greek that would be the anastasis, to new, and that would mean the resurrection of the mind. Now there immediately various shades of meaning arise. You see one shade which is determined by the idea that prayer is, if it were, a kind of an effort in which We try to recollect and to raise the mind to our prayer as a gift. Prayer is something that is and comes to the end, the cause of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon us. Now that is a very important, I think, distinction. You know very well that Jewish prayer, the prayer of the synagogue, too had these, let's say, these two main categories of prayer. The one which, I say, was set on personal inspiration, and therefore is not bound in any way to certain hours, cannot be bound to certain hours, because the spirit just breathes whenever he wills.

[57:10]

And the other one, which is this rising of the mind, which therefore starts wherever man is. It can begin, therefore, also at a certain set time. If you remember, for example, our vigils. The vigil starts, of course, first of all with the invocation, which is so characteristic for the beginning of prayer, Domine labia mea, so Lord open you my lips, characterizing clearly that our prayer is a gift, that it is something that is not made by us. But at the same time, too, then, if we start with the psalm, domine quid multiplicatis unquid tribulant me.

[58:11]

Everybody knows from his own experience that if one rises at a very early hour and the day is not yet there, you know, it's a kind of effort, you know. may wake up and say, oh my, there we go again. And it takes some time, you know, until one, you know, until one comes to. The reason why there is a general tendency, it seems, to put the hour of the coffee hour a little earlier, you know, to move it more into the beginning of all things. It's a curse, the pros and cons of that, you know, but there is certainly wisdom behind it. But I mean, There we are, at the beginning of a day, and we are there.

[59:14]

Multiplicatis unquam multiplicatis unque tribulant me. At the morning is always the old world and the old man, and the multi, the hoi polloi, you know, who at this moment come and say, oh my, now, there we go, what's the use of something like that? All this kind of pessimism, you know, that one experiences sitting at the edge, you know, of one's bed, you know, enters again into the lounge, you know, of the hours. So, but, you know, it's a characteristic prayer, just this Psalm 3 is exactly what one character, what one defines in the Old Testament and also in present Jewish prayer as one of these prayers which start, one can say, from the zero point and then rise, you know, to the heights by the very performance of the prayer.

[60:21]

For example, the psalm is aware of it. Or when you start deep profundities, out of the deep, I cry to you, O Lord. One thing that you immediately realize, and I think which in our days of growing personalism, you know, is very, very important, you know, to keep in mind. And that is, you know, that this kind of prayer, out of the deep, I rise. I cry to you, O Lord, is a prayer which can be said, you know, at any time. It is true that for the, what we would call the oratio pura, that means that prayer which is in the Holy Spirit. And this oratio pura is essentially, according to its own nature, must be lived. And of course, if you read the rule, it's absolutely clear. St. Benedict has no time set, you know, for the oratio pura.

[61:23]

He doesn't say either that the oratio pura has to be every day for half an hour or for an hour or something like that. Why? St. Benedict says, when the impulse of the Holy Spirit is there, then enter simply into the oratory, but then recognize, and I think that's very

[61:45]

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