the new priesthood, the new priesthood of our Father Luke is that every such priesthood is a good opportunity to express and to materialize and also to That God, and praise God, who are the members of the community, whose patron divine image one separates from them. I think it's important that in the monastic community like ours, that we have a vow of stability where people are bound to live together for That you realize is a very essential part of our monastic life. In monastic lives we hear that now in the article there, from one of our steers, that in the refectory is there a life that isn't designed to be just a kind of play life or a kind of a joy ride, but it is designed to carry the burden.

[01:29]

to carry Christ's cross. Now then, also naturally, this is life, which is designed to carry one another's burden. And that really is brought out in the, uh, in the bulk salute. Yeah, well, it's just like the, uh, marriage bond. The marriage bond again is, uh, devised after the bond which exists between God and his creation, and especially between the Father and his people. They say that every day at Holy Mass, it's a new and it's an eternal covenant. So it isn't something that can be just kind of evoked at will, something that stands. Just because it stands, it is apt to bring deep fruits, really very good fruits, but fruits also of the cross.

[02:32]

Fruits that are not only the result of the other one's virtues or the other one's love of nature, not ability or things like that, but it is a fruit of the cross to God. It's a healing living together. But that healing living together requires this kind of mutual support. You cannot live on mutual credit. You live on mutual support. And you know well that in the literal a camaraderie of your heart, very often you discover suddenly that maybe you need more on criticism than you need on mutual support, mutual admiration and respect. And that's bad. That's a thing that has to be fought against, has to be overcome, has to be overcome in a healing way.

[03:35]

Lord, in which Christ took upon himself our sins and carried them, carried through that way. But that's a feast day like this day, a feast day that man stand on the sign of this mutual, this job, this brother, it is stone in the temple, living temple of Christ. My favorite, you all realize, I'm certainly speaking in the name of the entire community, especially in the case of our Father Luke, everybody realizes the contribution, the service, the devotion, day by day. In life, he's been here a month. We respect that, especially also because in the course of the last year, there was that situation where the guest master or somebody else had to take care of the guest, and all was a day job.

[04:42]

of being kind of moved, not by one's will, but simply by the circumstance in a certain way in the outskirts of the community. Therefore, that also has been the case with Father Luke. He suffered. So this is a day where the whole community, one heart and one spirit, gratitude and real love and affection It kind of turns into a game that holds a lot of questions, news that the community was able to do in and with them throughout, you know. rather than on the beautiful, and there's all these Indian summer days, this beautiful fall we had in these last week, always reminds us of the, it's like a symbol of that good old age, the in the best sense of the,

[06:07]

of the world where the various, let's say, the excitements and all the ups and downs, you know, where other ages have quieted down and then the The wine has the chance to mature, to take on its, how do I say, power, my friends around the world. And that reminds us of the monastic life. You remember that with Charles of Aulnes, especially also in relation to St. Benedict. The office of St. Benedict, what was his characteristic feature was that while he was young, he already had the maturity of the Senex.

[07:09]

And that is so typically monastic, and that's what monastic life strives to experience, and also on a human level, on the level of perfection, in a deep, humane sense. that transfigured and happy-making love, eternal love that is filled with blessing and with light and is transparent so that the blue sky can kind of shine into it and be the dome under which this meeting of brethren can take place. We spoke yesterday about it in relation to the priest of St. Luke. It's one of those, the evangelist who has that maturity of the experience then of the love of Christ, the doctor, the healing love of Christ.

[08:19]

And he, the voice of one Edward, so kind of plants, the depth and the beauty of the of the early life of the Lord, of the dawn which proceeds, Our Lady, St. John the Baptist, and all these things. And that is, I wanted to say that because in this present gathering that we have here before us, how much of it is there. We greet in our gifts, we greet friends that already Several of them for a long, long time are in contact in the living. contact, the contact of friendship with our monastic family, with Mr. Vine, and then to my great joy when he's come up to Harold Dolan this morning, and they, they reflect to me. Now, that goes back to Kepo days. I mean, that's, that's, that's one of the fringes of memory.

[09:25]

Once they do it, therefore, on the, on the the rim of eternity. And so, and then the fact that we greet today among us, you know, also those who have come for this little symposium that we have organized about the child, the singing. And I greet all those who participate in in this little gap. And then we have Our Father Ewen, he has of course a special joy, and I wanted to just make him feel, let him realize that all the parts of the community have just turned towards him, and the fact that he's looking us out to be here, it's a wonderful gift to him.

[10:28]

And you have expressed that yesterday already, I thought it was applause, you know, so let's today express it also in the little quiet words of the hum. So, in kind of aoretic ask, exceed to my request to give a little, speak a little word to us in the news morning. And that's the voice of the wilderness. I don't hear me. Only one word, really, which I became capable of expressing this morning, and that is a word of tremendous gratitude to be here. One of those, of Lord, those gifts which come down from above. I hadn't expected to, this gift at all, for some time,

[11:37]

I had planned, as I think you know, an unexpected little one-way trip, but I didn't dare think of coming this far east. It was quite unexpected that I was invited to plus a marriage in Boston on 2nd October, and so it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. For the opportunity to come all the way east and see some people who lost part of the world, both with you or with Paul and some of our leads. I also have a chance to come here to have a say in it. I love the Christ in deserts very, very much. And I believe a very nationalist future. I think in some ways that future will be slow, but I think there is a very real future in the headquarters.

[12:46]

But still, in coming here yesterday, I felt I was really coming home. And there is no happier feeling of the land, the feeling of coming home. It's a real anticipation of heaven. And I've been so conscious of it since I arrived yesterday afternoon. Whatever difficulty and problems You may have whatever anxieties you may have about your future. We all have difficult anxieties of one kind or another. But this place, our Savior, is really full of the mirability of God, of so many

[13:57]

Wonderful things have happened here right from the beginning. What happened all the time are happening now. And your happiness and peace, your security, is lost. You're remaining truly young with lust, which is so important. It depends, I think, on your living and growing awareness of the durability of God in which it would be. I think it's George Bergenhoutz who said this, the opposite of a Christian people is a people who are both upset. And so, especially in the months where you must never grow old and you must never grow sad, there is simply no reason for it.

[15:03]

Everything depends, really, I think, on you and on your joy. I remember when we first went to Mexico almost a year and a half ago, So much of what was there was the desert and the comparative duplicity of the life, the absence of certain pressures, the lack of case. All of these things seem to suggest a perfect setting for the living of a Christian life of the plastic light. But one finds, as one always does in this light, and one goes a little deeper into a thing, there are always other problems.

[16:08]

There is a certain lassitude in the whole media out there, a certain inertia. a certain romanticism, in the sense of making a kind of post, what counts, what feel this perhaps especially in Santa Fe and the immediate environs of Santa Fe. One feels that really any place in the world where there is a rather culture-like cultivation And this, of course, is not good for the Church. So what this amounts to is there is really no political situation, no historical situation anywhere, not even the desert, which is a natural, so to speak,

[17:18]

leading the Christian and the monastic life. On another and far deeper level, every historical situation is perfect in the natural for leading the Christian and the monastic life because it is certainly of the very nature of Christianity to inform and to sanctify absolutely everything, to convert everything that is in opposition to it. I ask you to please continue to pray for the desert, as I know you have in the past. We certainly pray for you. Believe me, we miss you more and more, and now less and less, which is one of the extraordinary twists of human life.

[18:38]

With closing, I just want to say again, But it means just so much to me to be here and to see so many old friends of it. It's a reality, but you know that I can't express really in words. On a somewhat more personal note, I wrote to Reverend Butler two weeks ago. He suggested that I not break this up this morning. I wrote to him some weeks ago on the subject of stability or hope of death. As far as the report was concerned, we returned it by probation, which was a good five years.

[19:45]

It would come to an end with this past summer. And so I'd like to put before the chapter, before my petition, or to be admitted, to this community. And so I leave you with that request. I wish that I could stay far beyond today. I'm afraid it's impossible. I'm already several days behind schedule. But I go away feeling But I have been held on that, or for that great strength, I know. What they could buy and get. Thank you very much.

[20:47]

Thank you. We've traced our progress. I've seen another one. Thank you. [...] The feast of St. Gertrude is for us always a kind of a special day, not only because It reminds us of Gertrude Newman, who has done so much for this house, who owed so much to her generosity, which, by the way, when they asked that, you know, was done in a very neatly deliberate way, rather than the

[22:00]

She knew what she was doing. She completely knew. But, I mean, what she did, you know, was done as part of the, in support of the program, let's say, the idea which has, which Martelio stands. The idea is... all know this, the men's concordat voce, in other words, it's the idea of powering between the letter and the spirit. The idea of, for example, now in this chapter on food, on the part of St. Ben. You see there, right away, there is not a definitional kind of iron rule set up, but it is set up something now, two dishes that somebody could not take from the one, but they may take from the other.

[23:09]

See, it's this regard for the individual. And all that, if you cannot, I mean, enlarge on that, but if you want to put it in one word, simply that of Christian culture, of Christian civilization, that monasticism is not a movement within the church which through a one-sided radicalism destroys the balance of balance and the balance of living. He founds it and carries it and brings it to live. day by day. And that was exactly the idea which was so, appealed so much to Gertrude Newell, and that she saw that Marseille had a special mission in this country, that we start on a

[24:20]

monastic foundation, but on a monastic foundation which has a certain inner largesse, which has a broadness, which is open to the values, which God wants it, and it certainly is the will of the Heavenly Father that his children should rejoice in the good things that that he has put before us for our use and for our enjoyment in this way. And our enjoyment, of course, is the thanksgiving that rises out of a life which is striving under the white balance, the truthfulness of things, what we call a Christian humanism, but a Christian humanism, the right sense, a humanism that grows out of the cross and of the willingness to carry the cross, but then, too, it's not destructive and does not develop into a content of, let us say, the weaker walls of the

[25:42]

the trainings of creation and all these things, but which when we really, when we can rejoice in God. And that, of course, is also so important for St. Gertrude as a person. In the past, we have often considered those two saints, St. Hildegard and St. Gertrude, in their in their relation, in their diversity also. And Hildegard is still completely in the 11th century stance in the big eschatological movements that in those days filled the Western church. Her whole attitude, her whole mind was turned to the to the curious, to the majesty of Christ, who comes again on the clouds of heaven to judge the living and the dead.

[26:46]

I think Gertrude is the representative of another age, of an age in which the individual, the heart, the personality, what we The heart, in the biblical term, becomes the dwelling place of Christ, and where this inner personal relation between the soul that Christ has chosen, and where he wants to take his nesting place, and it's said in one of the adornments of the feast of St. Gertrude, and there he rejoices. While at the same time, the love which repels this nesting place for him is stronger than dead ends. Therefore, perhaps that is true, the union between the soul, the individual soul, and Christ as the right group of the soul. As you may call it, the devotio moderna.

[27:51]

Of course, it's the beginning of it, really. But at the same time, it's not the kind of only the fashion of an age, but it brings out an aspect of Christianity which is so important and everlasting. We, of course, we deeply, interiorly agree and we deeply enter into that whole world of the Christian antiquity, that scale of values as we see it in St. Hildegard and her writings. But naturally also, we have gone, the Church has gone through this entire period of a greater personal devotion That's why I think it's very significant that here at Monsanto, that we have the bell that calls to the office is called St.

[28:56]

Gertrude. So St. Gertrude calls to the office. And that means that we are all invited in the office and through the office. So then as far as the mind is in harmony with the world, to reach this inner intimacy between the heart and the bridegroom of the heart. And that's where every one of us, we realize that it all has its difficulties and we are working on these things, but we must work on them with great patience and in working on it, you know, let us also always remember that it's not the forms, you know, it is not the external change to us. It is the inner attitude of the heart, that inner weightiness.

[29:58]

My heart is weighted, my heart is rooted in you, or however one wants to to translate a word like that, which is so difficult to translate. But it's simply the readiness of the heart in the Old Testament, it's simply that readiness of a deep-seated, deeply rooted love, which has its characteristic sign, loyalty, fidelity, which is stronger than death. which lasts while all the other things pass by. This love is the one that calls us into the office and that also during the office, especially during the celebration of Ferdinandus, should and is called upon to penetrate through the veil of, let's say today, the Latin language or the The pencil man, the time it takes in the mass, penetrates through the various, through the ritual as such, and reaches the inner heart of things, which is so clear, because what do we do?

[31:19]

This is my body, take it and eat. This is my blood, drink it. That is the invitation of the Why do we meditate naturally to the heart? Because how else could we approach a mystery like that if not through the depth of our heart, that core of our heart that is ready and willing to listen. How could we then receive the body and the blood? It's so beautiful that we have this opportunity as a community to receive the Lord under both Why? Because it brings it closer, it makes it more evident, more of the sign that the Lord wanted us to have and that he wanted us to appreciate that he is that absolute love of God in which we are. that we are not only his life, but also his suffering and his death.

[32:22]

For us, take us into it in that way, make us really and truly his children. And that is the, we must always think of it. What I said yesterday, some of those things that today seem to be sometimes disturbing also in the introducing of the English language, and sometimes they make things even more evident and more painful, and you must take that in the spoiler. It's no use, you know, to change from the Latin to the English, if this English is dead evidently and truly, and in such a way that it becomes a sign to all of those who listen, or have to listen to it, the expression of the heart. That it gives a reverence, a devotion, a recollection, so that we try to convey this inner life of the heart through the mother language.

[33:30]

That is really the reason why we all wish for the vernacular in the liturgy, because we realize that there is a possibility for the poet to participate, to be imbued in a much deeper way by the words of the vernacular. If it were done in Latin, we had always, you know, kind of switch on various gears, switch from Latin to English and so on, and go through this whole process, which is indeed a difficult one. But let us then also take the responsibility and let us internally, you know, kind of take that in our decision. My heart is waiting that this opportunity that is given to us is given to us for the edification, for the strengthening, the deepening of the hearts.

[34:37]

That in my mind really leads into the depth of contemplation. Of course, you realize that if the act of thanksgiving would be just limited to the good things we have received, now then, there's always a stillness, you know, to a certain degree of, what do you call it, of self-love in it. Satisfying self-love expressing itself. But if we go to the depth of St. Paul and St. Paul points out in this verse, he always gives thanks. Then thanksgiving really comes from sin.

[35:53]

Then it really becomes all-embracing. And therefore also all-transforming. What I'm driving at in this connection is this, that we, on one hand, we are happy in these days, and next, coming Sunday, we want to celebrate that. Remember, while the Hewlett-Packard members have become members of the community, And then on the other hand, just in these last days, I received from Ron the dispensation for our Father Boniface. And so we have the Father Boniface and Thomas, you know, with two, and we can imagine that it's for you when this is sorrow, and certainly also for me it's sorrow. but vile in one way,

[36:56]

And we, being that materially receiving power, human power, then at once we do it with thanksgiving, not because we receive something. On the other hand, we have lost something. And we give thanks there, and the thanksgiving would be an invitation to us to So to take that situation, these two situations and cases a little more also in depth so that they become to us we need also a source of grace. Remember that the The characteristic sign of the Messianic age is that the swords are changed into plowshares. That means that the weapons and the instruments of revenge and of wrath and of violence become sources of waste.

[38:09]

That is, of course, one of the main things that are constantly going on in the monastery. I think looking back this year, too, the community as a whole realized that. And looking to the future, we interiorly are ignited in the same result. that all sorts may be changed into plowshares from the very wounds that go in heaven with fallen nature. Sources of grace may be changed into instruments of God's grace through the spirit of thanksgiving. In the case of the Cardinal von Krams, just thinking about it in the piece of Quartz, I really can't help thinking that I think it's absolutely sure that the monastic life and the life that he has lived here in our midst was a

[39:24]

it was bliss that it was something which in the whole structure and the whole plan of his own life, I think, placed a very different, very important, very central role from his own letters and in the way he after he receives the dispensation, one can see that in a result, that not the form, the specific form of domestic life is not his fault, but the inner impulse, the inner law, the reality of the Holy Spirit is there. And I think God steps in a very deep and very positive way.

[40:27]

And now we can never be absolutely of course what we know about the development in the life of an individual. But God is our Heavenly Father. He knows us. And if we don't know, if we really love God, He knows us. He knows that we know. And so here, in this case, too, what we say, of course, just tentative, and it's hypothetical to speak. It's spoken out of the dim light that we perceive. and we have the little insight we have into the inner workings and life of another human person, but still I think that he had to go through this phase of monastic life. He had to go through it in order to reach and in order to be what he is now.

[41:35]

And he, at this very moment, realized that so deeply. And I think that's part of it too, the fact that he realized it so deeply at this moment. It is due to that, that in this crisis to which he went, that we, as it were, spiritually went with him. Nobody here in the community will kind of turn away, and kind of pervade that, but really interiorly turn to him and carry him. So that this, you say, canonical change of its canonical status, any way a part of excommunication. It is simply a putting things into their place, as they are, and as we advise, we can see, intended by God.

[42:42]

So that the monastic life was a faith. And he had to go through it and he gained by it and he came to that firmness and that depth in which he had now started founding and building up the house of his own life, which he really understands as a calling. In Father Thomas' case, the things are in some way more difficult. And they are thinking of him, our thanksgiving. He also must be, must be and has the tendency to carry him and offer him and hold him up. to guard our heavenly Father, holy Father. It's not the only way we can deal with things, you know, because the hearts are out of our reach.

[43:48]

But we all realize, and you realize, that with all the good zeal that they have brought, There was also tremendous amount of hostility out of that, of impatience. And I would say that when Brother Thomas said, we look at the workings of our own community, I think he in some way is a scientist. We barely think it. to be buried away of the danger that is in every one of us. It's not only for the tongues, it's in everyone. It's a great deal of hostility. The subtlety receives a certain more into a soul if it is connected with perfectionism and with the same mercilessness.

[45:05]

striving for certain standards and connected, therefore, expressing itself in a contempt for, let us say, accomplishment, either of the past or of the contemporary environment in which one lives. That is something that for us, too, is of great importance that we realize. Because we as a community, the Iotans, we feel that maybe we are too much keyed up to be tops. And that brings out a certain, I don't think that we indulge too much in running other monasteries around the world, or in general, running them down.

[46:11]

But in the monastery itself, it might be in our personal relations with one another. There might be that tendency which then makes it very difficult, especially for officials who are responsible for certain accomplishments or for ways in which things are being done. And they are opposed, they are exposed more than the While it's been a servant of God, to the criticism of this protection, and therefore then also to be our outlet for the potential and actual hostility that is working in our And that was, I think, the greatest difficulty that Dr. Thomas had in the past.

[47:20]

And he doesn't, he's not alone with that. But somehow he presents us. And we see also in him, and that is what we have to pray for, that this tendency may not isolate him more and more. As life goes on, that's a deep, very important intention that we keep there. But you realize that, let us say, the reality of our prayer does not depend, as the scripture says, on our words. But praying is, again, it's a contemplative act. That means it's an ontological act. immediate cons are the dip of our personality. And therefore his people, or a bunch of people, that is given, let's say, to a top's perfectionism, and it becomes a victim, you know, of various hostilities, you know, in the community life, then prays for the peace of the soul, like Father Thomas did, just it may not wake quite true in the ears of God, as we can easily imagine.

[48:38]

So you see, all these things are life in one. And Thanksgiving Day makes life one and reminds us of the oneness of life. So let's thank God for all things, the good things and the bad things. The good things which come to us are immediately there. They are the source of our joy. And we should appreciate them. We should stop. We should look at them and admire them. See what they say too often, the litany of God's mercy. And then the bad things, that means the difficult things, the sufferings, that are in us, let us have our eyes open for the ways in which these sufferings, and what causes these sufferings, returns.

[49:43]

of the daily life, which St. Benedict mentions in his rule, that they also may become a source of grace through that spirit of thanksgiving, which sees in all of these things the intention of a fatherly and healing love of Almighty God. How at least you can hang on for your dear sons in Christ. You realize, I think we all realize that on this first Sunday of Advent, there's a new beginning. It's a coming and a new beginning. You come and we greet you and we greet you with great joy. The daughter of Jerusalem rejoices.

[50:44]

For you, you too, you rejoice because it is the end of a long pilgrimage. This morning you alluded to that, to the past. The coming of the Lord is an event which fills up with joy. It also leaves us and surrounds us at times that darkness goes through the valley. Still, it is all one and the same concept, all one and the same law. And I think you realize that at this moment, where after a long pilgrimage, The coming of the Lord becomes, in a deep sense, a reality that is sealed at this moment through your transfer of stability and the promise of obedience to the superior of this house.

[52:00]

When we celebrate this first Sunday of Advent, a beginning, then we realize that the beginnings of the Christian and the beginnings of the monk, they are not in any way made. They are not an undertaking that we enter into through our own initiative. But it is a coming And the coming of God is something that is done and is feeling interiorly with the tremendous power, the omnipotence of God. God as King, Christ as King, coming on the clouds of heaven.

[53:10]

And still, while on one side our beginning is this receiving God's coming in His power, it is on the other hand also, and that is for us as monks, it's so essential it is a coming in a way in which Mary received the Word. and conceived the world and brought forth the child in humility and in obedience and in silence. Let us always keep these two things together. Our monastic life is a beginning with every new day. But it always has, all through, it has these two aspects. There is the, one can say, explosive power of God that calls us into completely new dimensions and horizons and wants us to be open, wants us to be open for the humanly impossible.

[54:32]

No world is impossible with God. And so there we are as knots. Obedience opens to us the way into the impossible. And then there's the other, the stability. The stability is our inner rebirth being as if we're in the womb of our living, the mother of God, in silence. and the humility. The stability is the vow through which this family becomes really and truly your home and there you receive the care, the goodness, sweetness, the patience,

[55:37]

earnestly nourishing, raising love. That is the great wish that we all have in our hearts, that your transfer of stability here to this house may mean that You will see that real inner support, that loving care, that understanding that you can let down your roots, And that at the same time also in this humble and under this humble form, in a renewing, absolutely renewing power of divinity may be at work.

[56:43]

and he came here to New York as the messenger of peace, said in his beautiful talk to the United Nations that we are called to completely new dimensions of human existence, of man. We haven't really, and that is always the characteristic thing, I think it's also a thought that feels at this moment that feels you are lost, that we haven't yet And maybe we never can as long as we are pilgrims here on this earth and as long as we live in this, our present bodily abode. We cannot conceive, we cannot see the new man in all his dead weight.

[57:54]

that is a matter of faith. But in the form of faith, this renewing, really revolutionized power that is so beautifully described in the apocalyptic vision of today's gospel really takes a hold of us. The coming of God in humility and the coming of God in glory both, as you said this morning, are in last analysis, are one and the same thing, are always together. But they are a claim upon us. Christ comes as a Lord to establish a kingdom, and therefore his coming is taking possession And that you may, and you feel that, and you realize that, you know it, you have made your decision to be not long, long ago, and in a full awareness.

[59:10]

that God's coming means God's taking possession of you. Here I am, oh Lord, ready to do your will. And that is also for you the meaning of this hour, that you come again in that full way and with that deep desire that the power of God We lead you to a new unknown horizon of newness and newness of method. And all that in a humble form of a monastic life, in silence, in obedience, in prayer. So, my dear Sons in Christ, in the name of the entire community, we say from the bottom of our hearts, we say yes to your demand to become our brothers.

[60:21]

Let us be brothers in Christ. Let him, the Lord, be our King and our Father. And in this unity, we can all together rejoice. And then you may lead your transfer. In fact, the conviction Amongst, it's like in some way our own beginning. Several of us on this day have really begun their monastic life through the profession and we think of them and commemorate them and carry them in our prayers instead of God. You may start, so they are, Father Joseph and Bernard and Michael.

[61:28]

The, what I wanted to say today in connection with this feast, this mystery, which is for us so difficult to grasp, but still at the same time such a fruitful a mystery in which we can really think into, because to appear that we map the conception is an exception of endowments that our Lady received, but as a creature, in any way to appear with her creatures, creature. It is, therefore, we ask ourselves what would be then, let's say, the actual inner consequences of certain endowment.

[62:34]

We know that it is not only a preoccupation from the state of original sin, but that it is a positive inner will. It's an adornment. the soul, as we sing in the liturgy that Our Lady has been adorned with many jewels, that's a bride. And we think about that aspect of it. The other day on a Sunday, Father Bersin gave us the Rehoboam, which fits so well into the Advent season, there is a word about belonging, about the desire that we are, and we feel it, especially in this Advent season, in the darkness of winter is upon us. cold of the winter surrounds them, then, of course, we are apt to be exposed to, how should I call it, to the realization, stronger, more acute inner realization that we are in exile.

[63:55]

The longing, yes, the longing for hope. I think that is really, it's immersed so deep. But that is maybe not the last thing. Where is our hope? Our hope is God's love for us. Our longing is there for the realization that we are As St. Augustine put it so beautifully, we are made by him. Our heart will be restless until it is able to rest in him, in God. It seems to me that the endowment and the grace of the specific fullness of grace of marrying also can in some ways affect us in this direction. To be a man of longing and of great desires, to have that inner space, so to speak, that inner openness, is not only a defect, it is on the contrary, it is a gift.

[65:12]

If we think of ourselves And we realize that this openness is constantly threatened and even destroyed to a great extent through our complacency, the fact that we are so easily centered in ourselves and that we then see all other things in relation to ourselves. If we give in to this, which is, of course, a result of our poor nature, really, which is the temptation which leads to pride, which leads to isolation, which leads to the tendency to live this world, to live this life exclusively for myself, This tendency in us constantly prevents us from remembering that we in our very beginning, beautiful thing also of today's liturgy, lead us into that absolute beginning.

[66:33]

God leads us out of nothing. Even that fact, you know, makes and enables us there, when it is remembered, we are able to play before God on the surface of this earth, as the epistle said this morning. But that is what prevents us, is this tendency that we center things around ourselves. And that makes us forget our beginning. And before we know we are drifting helplessly on the waves of the chaotic waves of the exile of the world that is away, forgets its creator. And that seems to me is in Our Lady through her immaculate conception that fullness of grace doesn't take away

[67:39]

in any way the realization of her future. She is handmaid of children and she realizes that God does great things to her and has done great things to her. And all this fullness of great skills in Our Lady also and corresponds to her stature as in the pilgrimage here on earth. She is, because she is creature, therefore she also is on the Void. This is a happy feast to all members of the community. family of our Holy Father Benedict as the Father.

[68:44]

In the celebration of this feast, actually, Question arises, what is, what binds us to our Father? And certainly this world, you know, this is his rule. I think we should not have any doubt about it. That's the foundation on which we stand. It's not so simple. And a feast like this, naturally, you see, is a profession of faith. I, um, it was, sad, you know, that the, I can't understand, the handing out of the Christian Neonate up at Urban Center Hall concerning the Divine Office, various Christians, yes or no, this Christian Neonate was and is directed to the entire Order.

[69:56]

And the meaning of that Christian Neonate was for to find out what is the situation or what are the opinions that are there. To my mind, it brings a very good and gives a very good introduction of the survey, as I may call it, the various approaches and the various solutions and various questions that at this moment concerning the divine office are alive in the Confederation. It is absolutely necessary to come to any kind of or any kind of speaking about it, that one knows, that one has a picture of these various tendencies. That was not me, you know, at all in my mind, that I would like to make that clear. that we as a community would proceed on this and we would ask, you know, now what is better, you know, should we have

[71:04]

I mean, the whole sort of once a week, or the whole sort of twice a week, or now the latest, the whole sort of in four weeks, something like that. I think that this has an approach, you know, one has an approach, for example, for a community to take a stand, especially for a community like ours, which was founded, you know, with this intention to go back to the original, meaning of St. Benedict. That's part of our whole mission, of our whole raison d'être, that for us, such an approach, which to my mind is completely anarchic, you know, has no principle that really guides it, except, it seems, the St. David principle of, how can I say, of of convenience for a monastery. Such an approach, I think, is on the whole, for the Confederation as a whole, is not good, you know, but certainly it wouldn't be our approach.

[72:18]

I'm here to explain this, I think, just before this questionnaire came, you know, and our approach wouldn't be that way, it couldn't be. We cannot simply go out into a vacuum, into an orbit of simple convenience and then try to make up, you know, a kind of an office. An office like that isn't made anyhow. It's impossible. It cannot be made. It must have some kind of an objective foundation. It must stand in some kind of a continuity. It must have, therefore, contact, an organic contact with the tradition. And one cannot simply go on, I mean, in a responsible way, treats these things.

[73:21]

One cannot simply go about it in a haphazard fashion. That, to my mind, would contradict really our whole step. The rule of St. Benedict is for us, as I tried to explain that in the Past is for us a canon. And a canon means something that is a norm, which is a living norm. It means it's a norm which goes into the understanding of those who follow it. And therefore, through this understanding, becomes a living thing. Because also, of course, because it is living, The living thing also becomes a thing which then, if this original, this print is stamped as a matter of principle, is clearly taken,

[74:25]

Then when this understanding really takes place, also is certainly, especially with the general character of the rule of St. Benedict, where discretion and these things are kind of built in the rule, is then also adaptable, but it's adaptable not in absolutely chaotic and anarchic ways. I think we cannot, if we profess the rule of Saint Benedict, then we cannot simply, I mean, understand, you know, the certain amount of liberty that certainly breathes in the spirit of, in the rule of Saint Benedict into some kind of just arbitrary approach, you know, that wouldn't even be willing, let's say, to submit, you know, the

[75:30]

the mind and the heart to the word that is put before us in such an urgent way. Listen to the voice of the teacher, of the master, of your father. And in that way we turn through The obedience, the labor of obedience to the one you have left, through disobedience, of course, but they could not essentially disregard it. That's impossible. You realize, therefore, this print, this fundamental rule or role of the rule, you know, must be preserved. It's really can know, to know, to guide, you know, to our feet, you know, to guide to our feet, so that we may walk, but as I always say, really in understanding, so that

[76:36]

Now, what, of course, through the understanding belongs, and that is one part of it that I always, you know, would add so much, of course, we would see that, you know, that the very understanding of the rule would lead us also to see that there are certain absolutely basic things which really constitute the monk, and that there are of these basic things, let us say, this clearly spiritual then has its concrete applications or its, in the practical details of the life. And of course, therefore, as soon as we go into this field, there absolutely necessarily, there must be, certainly is, a difference, so to say, of importance, of, so to say, of sexuality, and certain things have in our life.

[77:51]

And there is somehow, there is a principle also. Therefore, based on the fact that there are, let's say there are, that there are essential things and that there are accidental things. Also, I think the profession of the rule of severity is not of such a comment that it would exclude, for example, all kinds of what we call parvitas materiae. There must be a certain hierarchy of things hierarchy of values. That doesn't mean by any means that the application in the concrete circumstances and also the rules and guidelines which St. Benedict has laid down in this rule, in this direction, that these guidelines could simply be disregarded, you know, as a kind of

[79:02]

accidental, he put them down because he just lived in the sixth century and therefore he didn't know what a man was, and therefore a kind of a priori, you know, consider them as just not binding. That, to my mind, is again, is an attitude which is not right. That this would be much better not to take in. let us say, any profession under the rule of St. Benedict. And so therefore you can, you realize that what a difficulty this whole field is, and especially also what a difficulty it constitutes for the superior. for the one who is the representative of the continuation, as it were, of St. Benedict, who in one way clearly, by the rule, is obliged to follow in his regimen and in his own way of acting, following the rule.

[80:11]

The rule is above in that way. the individual average, I think. But you can imagine, you see, things come into this field of the practical, everyday applications. many difficulties there develop. This is absolutely inevitable. And to my mind, one cannot solve these difficulties then either by simply disregarding all the externals, So that, for example, somebody would come in here and the community, and then, by the way, the sector is all external behavior, kind of show you what the heck, you know, I mean, what you are doing or what you would have said better and so on. This is, of course, impossible. That would immediately cause an absolute destruction of the community as any kind of,

[81:15]

body, because therefore any kind of content, any kind of, let us say, contentious neglect in, for example, Otsuri, and we have certainly in the past, you know, in times we have not observed, you know, this border, But to simply tackle a problem that comes before us without the consideration of the rule, just on the plane of convenience, this is not in order. We must see that. We must give in all our decisions I would express it this way, the rule is full chance to kind of exercise its spiritual power in guiding our life. And that is absolutely clear that also we see that there, I must confess, I'm too myself, I mean, one is constantly a disciple of the rule, and I think that, you know, especially as long as I'm here, one never learns to say it comes to an end, you know, with learning, just seeing these things.

[82:37]

But there are these external things, you know, are... really taken, and we must make that an objective of our study. Also, any introduction of the young novices into the world must follow this line. That's the practical rules concerning the material life of the community. have been conceived by the author of the rules, St. Benedict, with the intent of making our life in every realm a spiritual life. Put it under the domination, as it were, of the spirit. Channel the spirit into everything. And therefore, one cannot simply consider it as a matter .

[83:41]

Why? Because at his time, and I can remember at the time when we discussed these things, The main argument there was that St. Benedict simply lived at a time when people, the Romans, didn't have any idea and didn't enjoy, to say, the privacy of the bedrooms because the Roman civilization just wasn't on that level. people, you know, lived, you know, calm-headed, skeptical, you know, together in a hut, you know, or something like that. Of course, that isn't true. St. Benedict himself came from a, from what we know, was handed down to us upon, certainly from what the world calls that, a very aristocratic articulate, you know, family,

[84:46]

And anybody who takes a look just, you know, over superficial look at Pompeii, you know, can see that any Roman family that, you know, I mean, lived, so to speak, on the level of Roman civilization had the privacy that was certainly The desire within the state was also, you know, this, you know, just now published in the last issue of Studia Monastica, a very interesting article, just on the dormitory. And to my own truth, I feel that this thing of the dormitory for St. Benedict in some way, under his circumstances, in some way constitutes a novel. It was not something that was simply taken over because that's the way people live, but it was introduced in even, say, an opposition.

[85:48]

to the existing and the predominant monastic tradition, which the monks of the desert and so on, and the oriental monks on the whole, much more they preferred to sail as the basis of life. for the monk and therefore the dormitory is not simply something that St. Benedict didn't know any better. I think any approach to the rule of that, an ordinance of the rule is what one says today, nothing but. And that goal are extremely rare, I must say, of this approach to things of tradition, the documents of tradition, this kind of it's nothing but. I think it's a terribly ,, this very arrogant approach. gives room at least for all kinds of arrogance and for all kinds of their professions and conclusions and doesn't really in that way live up to or confront or move in the spirit of tradition.

[87:07]

See, I mean of tradition as we know it, you know, as being carried in the Christian sense. But there is, of course, right away the other thing, you know, and you must see that too when there's a difficulty, that now is the consequence, the conclusion from this, is that absolutely in every way you have to follow the letter of the rule. That is, of course, that, again, has great dangers in it. It would take that, you know, you know, attitude. Of course, it's one thing is clear that in the Moon itself there are certain things where, let us say, the Lord himself distinguishes clearly between things that seem to him, you know, really essential and other things that are free.

[88:14]

You take the example, for example, of the Divine Office. where St. Benedict sits now, comes down, he has a very clear, knowing idea about the distribution of the sound and so on, then comes up in the end, you know, the description, but if somebody ever has a better distribution fine provided, you know, that we as monks, you know, keep, you know, the hundred and fifty sands of wheat. Now, there is a clear distinction made there. And therefore, as soon as it must be clear, if one approaches the ruler of St. Benjamin, our own question of the office, if one If one leaves, you know, plainly, you know, the, let us say, the foundation of the moon, then, of course, one is faced with a completely new situation.

[89:18]

And with the situation, it simply brings up the question, you know, if your life is so that it doesn't simply have room for 150 psalms a week. Is it then weird, and should it then, or is it possible then to say, well, this is the Benedictine line? And that is, of course, one of the reasons for the present chaos which exists, where everybody claims, I mean, of course I'm a Benedictine. And nobody or anybody comes that into doubt, you know. I mean, immediately the spirits are rising, you see. But, of course, that brings the question, you know, I mean, then how long can you claim to be a Benedictine? And there seems to be in some quarters today, I mean, the doors are so wide open, I would personally recommend you, I thought you'd write a new rule, you can do that if you want.

[90:29]

But those things are decisions, and there are decisions which we also have to face, you know. I would now, in this whole business, I think we would really not correspond to the spirit of St. Benedict, and there is that danger, you know, that I just wanted to point out, and that you all realize, you know, That on one hand, it is clear to my mind, if Saint Benedict makes certain applications, he is enduring the practical application, enduring it directed by the Spirit. He is not simply directed by a temporary convenience. And therefore receiving him on the letter saying with the categories of convenience would not correspond to the whole tenor of the rule, it seems to me. On the other hand, you know, of course, it is, as I say, there are degrees of importance.

[91:36]

There are also certain, as soon as it comes into the material ordering of things, one gets into a realm where really the time, the circumstances of the time may change very drastically. And, of course, then you see a kind of, I would say, a kind of inner, how could I say it, you know, an inner or get kind of interiorly stuck, you know, on the letter, you see. Then, of course, there's the danger that the whole attention and the, as I say, the energy expenders, you see. gets stuck and involved, you know, in relatively minor things, you know, of minor observance, of minor echo. And that is what I fear so much.

[92:38]

I fear that also here for the community, for any kind of We have to avoid, you know, reading, as I say, this complete anarchic approach, you know, that would be counter. That's not what we were founded for. But at the same time, it is a real danger that we get lost in the questions which are in themselves, you know, not, as I say, the center of the sphere. Take that simply the way we are built as human beings. Take that tremendous influence. And at that point then become the divine. Here at this point, you know, don't do it. And then everything concentrates. Should we do that or should we not do it?

[93:40]

We have an analogous situation, as you know, that is analogous, seems to me, to the divine office, where we have liberty, the effort of, say, an expressively, explicitly a canon established. We have a similar situation, seems to me, in the question of eating fish, where St. Benedict says, yes, now, General not, but then if there are people to arm, with the abbot's permission, you need that infirmary somewhere, somewhere. meat may be served, but it's just from two-footed animals. And then when it comes to four-footed animals, you know, then one gets, you know, the impression that St. Benedict bans, you know, all four-footed animals with absolute heroics that couldn't be served, so that one is there in a similar situation, and

[94:51]

Now, is it really here that one follows, you know, let's say, a usage that, I mean, this whole, as you know very well, this whole chapter on food, although it is so, I mean... humane and soul in itself. Again, you know, there's such a discretionary reading of the Spirit, it is written, you see, but as it has caused, you know, tremendous amount of controversy and one can see that, for example, if one reads, I'm just now reading, again, David Knowles, you know, of the development of the understanding of the rule and so on in England. He puts it, I must say, with great, let us say, inside knowledge of the weaknesses of a monastic milieu.

[95:57]

He puts it there. Then comes the Roman cook, and the Roman cook delegates, and they say, The English, you know, point out what I mean here in our climate. You are Italians, you can say that, you know, things like that. And then, you know, all of us, yes, but not in the same room. So when I had two rooms, you know, one could go, let us say, up to two, maybe up to two-footed hands, you know, but in the other room, you also put your four-footed hands, that... stealing that way, the rule was absurd. See, I mean, I've only lived an example of what, for example, this is just this kind of thing, which to a great extent, one can see that really drove Luther to this kind of thing. I mean, I don't advocate he called it Luther. Luther was, you know, really

[96:57]

This whole thing, the rule aspect of monastic life, in the way it was understood, you know, what stood in, one of the factors that kind of drove him into the, how can one say, into his soul of faith and love. without the works, that means without the observance of him, that means into his opposition, is taking part in putting himself on the side of the Spirit against, you know, That is really a very great danger for a monastic community here. So, of course, again one must say, what is the liberty of the Spirit? The liberty of the Spirit is that liberty with which Christ has liberated us.

[98:05]

But what is the liberty that Christ has liberated us with? That is, of course, the liberty of what I tried to say yesterday, which is inherent in the messianic secret. There is that kind of liberty. And what is the messianic secret is, on one side, the decree, you can say, of the Father to send his Son to die for the sin of mankind. That's the one part of the messianic secret. The other part of the messianic secret is that obedient to this will, it is glorified and he has exalted the ease and influence of the Spirit. To that is the liberty with which Christ gave away something. To it is not the liberty of our people, it is the liberty of conformity with the cross. Of course, you can see why Stratum and the Holy Wound too, which is dedicated to that, tries to bring this about and channel that into all various decisions, situations of the house.

[99:18]

This, and of the wrong especially, this thing to die and rise, the participation in the messianic secret. And that should be the always there. I take that as a comment. But I mean, that is, you know, the danger. I'm so afraid that we should not get stuck in that way. Because there you probably, I think you understand, not, you know, simply out of contempt. Never contempt. Never near convenience. But always take the rule as the canon. But a spiritual canon, and that means understanding. That means understanding not only the spiritual things only, but the rules simply incorporates all the material things too.

[100:25]

And therefore, also this reverent understanding of the material things. to a non-faceted interpretation on a level which proceeds from a level on which the rule simply wasn't conceived. But then, if you go into that, naturally, to my mind, the only solution for that is that The rule, and again that is inherent in the rule itself, because the rule clearly indicates that, you know, that no monastery is an absolute island. But every monastery is still part of the church. There are other monasteries, there are other Christians, you know. you know, make their influence, bring their influence to bear if, for example, things in the monastery don't go quite.

[101:32]

And there is then the episcopal authority. See, that means the authority of the church. And so this is the rule. The rule is to be under the general authority of the church. But that is the, that of course gives the possibility, this thing, you see, that we are not on an absolute island, that also the individual which makes profession to the rule doesn't do that just, you know, between the rule and me, that way. But, as a member of the church, we are kind of in and taken into his own existence, as it were the existence of the church, and therefore there is a possibility for certain changes that can be brought about. Now, our, and I agree completely with that, our attitude here in this monastery would not be, you know, I mean to again do it in what one might say would ask of the church, you know, follow, you know, what to say, our practical situation, our convenience or so on.

[102:46]

But what I will understand also in this whole question for our own development is that here we are, and we are at this moment, we are a body, and that body has been brought about and has been brought together by the Holy Spirit. We live under the moon. the Holy Spirit, however, is in us, you know, suddenly the letter doesn't quench the Spirit. Therefore, whenever, you know, the practical circumstance or the development of the times or the development of the of the human situation and also the monastic situation, economic situation, all kinds of things, you know, that we are going to be confronted with in the next future. There will be absolutely revolutionary changes, you know, in our external situation and affect man as a whole and society as a whole.

[103:49]

That in these various things, you know, we must not simply everybody according to his own will. We must do it in charity, in mutual understanding, and talking together. wave things, not immediately cutting somebody off, you know, when you feel, let's say, at us, you know, a something that may be not quite, you know, I mean, according to the line, something, but a certain largeness of the possibility of mutual understanding and discussion. So that something out of our common life, you know, certain things crystallize or arise, you know, that may really perhaps lead to the to the adoption, you see, to some changes, you know, in the rule, which, however, would not be done. First of all, they wouldn't be pursued, you know, in that way.

[104:53]

This is, we have to carry the banner, you see, of development, and we have to be ahead, you know, and we have to be modern monks and monks of the 20th century. Of course, first of all, Benedict. And then, out of that, not in the same arbitrary way, but with the, of course, also sanction of the church, you know, such things could be laid down, and that is, of course, then would be what we call the constitutions, which accompany practically every application of the rule in the entire Benedictine monastic realm. See there is in fact no monastic that doesn't live that way in constitutions which in various ways also change and adapt the sometimes the letter of the word to the particular circumstances of this community but that is done in that inner organic way which the authority of the church provides for us.

[106:00]

Now I think that for us it's a tremendous, I would say, factor of elasticity, of largesse, which is not anarchy. The fact that there is the authority of the church, which has approved the rule, and that's the reason why we can follow the rule. And by approving the rule, outside media has declared that she is above the rule. and, I mean the Church, doesn't even want to make a professional rule, but the Church, and that therefore she also has the possibility out of her authority to agree to, but now what you prescribe, as that also has been the case, prescribe certain changes in which then the rule can live under those circumstances and in that

[107:06]

say a missionary country, or in the United States, or here, there are many people of various ages. So I just wanted to indicate that as just to express, you know what, mind about this thing, which you can also see right away that this attitude cannot absolutely be down or in a clear form. It simply involves, you know, also a certain trust. I must say that I have a great trust, inner trust, in the workings of the Holy Spirit within our community. because I see that there is a great desire, you see, not simply, you know, to do what one wants, but there is a real weight, you know, of opinion and of conviction and of action, and one might say of sanctity, which really corresponds, you know, to the inner attitude of the ruler, and I'm sure that that

[108:20]

There's a compass and there's a power which will carry us through this whole process of finding our concrete way of life. In this connection, I also wanted to still extend our greetings and wishes to Benedict, who carrying that name, of course, carried also a great deal of just that responsibility that I They're just an outline. Now we have this year, we have Father Benedict and also Father Francis, you know, want to give them permission to to go and to study the things of the monastic, the same monastic tradition more deeply, various places, to get a better, you know, also inside view into the

[109:31]

various tendencies strong within Benedictine monasticism and monasticism as a whole, also here in the United States, as in Europe, get, let us say, a first-hand knowledge of these things, but it is absolutely clear, and I am sure that Charles Benedict as well as Father Franz is real on this, you know, that to be confronted with such A task, you know, doesn't mean, it isn't only, I'm so glad that that also was expressed in this morning's verbiage. It's of course not merely an intellectual thing, it's a thing of life. cannot separate these two things, and that is certainly the type of scholar that here in our milieu just wouldn't fit. I mean, a mere intellectual sitting down and theoretical or merely historical study of things without

[110:44]

a living, immediate contact with our monastic existence. That was very characteristic in the 19th century, but in our context, in this country, and for us as a community, it isn't, you know, the word. It isn't the thing. For us, it's a, we are going into the secret treasures of monastic tradition is not a theological thing, it's not a historical thing, it's not a matter of simply superficial theoretical or intellectual curiosity, it's a vital matter. It is therefore geared, you know, to bring fruit not in the theory, not in the book, so that everybody then admires for the number of footnotes, but it is, you know, contributes to the life of the community.

[111:46]

And therefore, in last analysis, Easton is intended to lead to what we call edification, to the building up of that city that St. Benedict had in mind when he wrote his book. And then it is fixed for this day of the Annunciation and yesterday also. opened by the little sermon, a good word that we heard at Mass. I think we all fit, however, it was a word spoken with great inner conviction and at the same time with a great spirit, a real paternal spirit, so it

[112:52]

touched us and the message itself was really a true Eulogialism, a proclaiming of the glad times. And that is the essence of today's feast. So beautiful we remember that this feast in the Easter church is called Eulogialism, the glad times. And as soon as we realized that, And then there are two things. One is that this Feast opens up to us the wholeness of the messianic secret. It is made known here. It begins. The messianic secret is the totality of our Lord's kenosis, of his emptying himself, and that is today.

[113:58]

The incarnation, emptying himself, taking on the form of the servant, and it is... dead, the passion, and the resurrection. It hit me so much yesterday in the copy, he would realize that in our Martyrology, which I think is kind of, in many ways, a modern product, But yesterday it's followed the old tradition known as this day of the Annunciation is also the heavenly birthday of the good thief, of this person. And why is it? Because there is the old tradition in the East as well as in the West that this 25th of March and today we celebrate it on Friday. So it has already, we would read the texts of the Mass, the Lenten season, the ordinary Mass, we realize how close we are.

[115:07]

And this, every Friday now, every Friday there's a celebration, you know, of the Lenten season. It's foreshadowing of the Good Friday. Good Friday, which again is such a beautiful name. Good Friday. So that is the day of the denigration of the good thief. Today you shall be with me in paradise. And that word again in Serbian was such a beautiful expression of the totality of the death of the pasturist, the pasturist. Today you shall be with me in paradise. This is love. the day of the resurrection begins. Why? We had to cross the death of our sin. So, ladies and gentlemen, today these things go together. tradition of the church, you probably noticed that today, and I just want to call your attention to it, that the post-communion, there is evidently a post-communion, which is originally certainly not a post-communion.

[116:24]

You'll use the text part of the month. It isn't a kind of blessing that people receive after the reception of the sacrament, but it has the character of the connect. therefore is a real gathering together of the whole work of redemption. And you see there also the objective vastness, objectivity, the greatness of the whole work of redemption, incarnation, passion, resurrection, ascension in glory. That greatness is also what you will recall great, marvelous. One only thinks about that, you know, as we have heard it in the gospel today. He will be called great, marvelous. And then it takes, you know, from that word, you know, the Old Testament background, Godot,

[117:25]

What is loveliness? What is greatness? In the Old Testament, the greatness is the one who sits to rest enthroned upon the caribbean and looks and gives. That is the great one. That is the idea of greatness. So who is the giant? The giant is the Lord Jesus, who, as St. Gregory describes that, so vividly and completely in the spirit of these words, is the one who made us that big step from the heaven down to earth, and then again from earth into heaven. the mountains, the one who will exhaust me for a dimension, the magnitude of the human existence. Eva et suma. The lowest and the highest are in him what?

[118:29]

That is the real idea of greatness. Greatness is not illusions. Greatness is not just and only the throne. Greatness is Christian greatness, the two things together. Listen. For fourth, we beseech thee, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection. The beauty of this incongruent trait is the greatness of the object, the work of redemption, and at the same time the greatness of the subject, which certainly is not Mary alone. But we, we ourselves, we are married, we are involved.

[119:30]

In fact, it was these glad tidings by Isaac called the Feast of Glad Tidings. Not because the tidings were brought to Mary, but because these tidings are the times that he brought to us. that we to whom the incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an angel, by his passionate cross, brought to the glory of his resurrection. So you've gone to one side, you have the greatness of Christ, the giant, who descends and who ascends, who joins together, he must submit to the highest and the lowest. He lives, and our greatness is that too, that all the members of Christ's mystical body, we as people of God, It is our actuality, this moment of our life that we may be with the interior, the atmosphere, the mirror.

[120:38]

So that is that we are the created mirror of this. uncreated eternal glory. And that means, of course, that we enhance that this messianic secret has in us its realization, that we enter, that we heal, message of the angel, with humility, that we say with her, our fear, needy, may be done to you, that in this way we enter into passion, the cross, and the glory of his resurrection. That is the greatness of this beautiful feast that we are, I'd say, contemplative character of. me celebrating to tell you my thoughts are constantly today in a special way with the little community there in the Redwoods, you know, Our Lady of the Redwoods.

[121:41]

I haven't told you much about it yet, if anything, about this visit, but maybe it's better not to speak in recreation, also speaking in this context, because it is In that way, recreation. This was exactly recreation. It was really a spiritual meeting. It was the meeting of this totality, of even community, led by real spiritual mother and the same incarnation, what I call the natural regime. See, to the incarnation belongs not virginity, you know, in that sense, you know, of the priestesses of Vesta, you know. Not therefore, not in the sense, you know, of the icicle, you know, that has begun to all human emotions.

[122:48]

But it's not true virginity. Not true virginity. That's the key word for that kind of virginity, which is destined, which is called by God. But God, our Heavenly Father, waits and knows what to find so that he may, as it were, send his Son that's in the womb of this virgin then, this womb where he will truly be a bridegroom. That is what has taken place. That's the beauty of this feast. That is the beauty also of that community. One has to be gone. One has to be gone. Just that, into this aspect, all these things belong, like now having the sacred dance as to our accomplice. You see, by the dance with lights, you know, this whole, the dance is that the same time, as it were, an authoritative procession.

[123:55]

And so, in their depths, and then the connection, mother, daughter, you know, All that there implies, involves, that is the natural regime. And then in the church there is the passion and the cross. And that is why they are outside there, next time three hours away, the wee town, and then half-pound, you know, one hour and a half, take the doctor all together, three hours, you know, just going back and forth to come to the solitude, you know, but the solitude field, in fact, tremendous majesty of these streets, 300 feet high, 2,000 years old, you know, and children who look at them, you know, through these glass windows, you know, behind the altar you see this whole world, God's world.

[124:59]

It's the tree, the tree, the tree of life, the tree of the cross, the tree of life, but that is a prayer, that's a healing, that's a Something there for them is not done, no, with our teeth gnashed, you know, and so on. Unwillingly, but the same thing it says, that she'll forgive us the one God loves. That you can see there, you see. Just as you have natural virginity as the totality that conceives the world, So you have this joyful, cheerful obedience as the other stage of participation. Because good pride is able to receive the good thing in the middle of the event, bring him, conduct him, accompany him into paradise. And they were so reasonably able.

[126:01]

Poverty, real and true poverty, real and true great passion to us in everything, in the entire life. The burden of hard work, too, of continuous work. Every sister has to work six hours a day, mainly labor, in order to be able, in that way, monastery may exist, you know, and may be able to make ends meet. It's hard work with the investments, but then the poverty of the surroundings, you know, Now, I don't want to go into details, but really, it's a balance, you know, it's a balance in which we live, don't you? looking forward naturally to have a place certainly where the Holy Mysteries can be celebrated and meaningful and also harmonious surrounding.

[127:13]

That is the other point, you know, is that this poverty there that you see there in the real spirit, you know, seems to make those who live it, at least here at the Wings, you know, so inventive. So we're looking, you see, for the little things that God in his goodness, the Creator, puts in our doorsteps, you know, that he himself has made, you know, the virginity and beauty of his creation. And to put that, you know, that into a service, of the Creator and Redeemer, and have an eye for the, for the simple beauty of the things that God has made, you know. Maybe man helps a little, you know, but now, you know, all, the same meal is all over, you know, and so on, something like that. Meals that, you know, it has And that is, of course, always the choice and the ways of the resurrection.

[128:17]

That's, of course, also what the quality will be of these vestments, you know, as they come. So grateful and glad that we have won, we received such a gift, you know. Just that is expressed, you know. The beauty which comes out of the incarnation and action. There is, so all these things, you know, go through the mind today. Let us think also about it and let us enjoy interiorly today also that little community in the separation of the oil and the isthmus of the land. We have today that famous gospel, not so crazy.

[129:18]

It knows that we're going to celebrate this evening. We sang for the benedictus ade from that word, intelligitur traditionis, understand the conditions. that is, you realize for us in our present time, with the way change is drawn in the air, it seems to me it's for us, and especially us monks, just an absolutely necessary way to understand what has been handed over to you. The word of God made flesh in the Holy Scriptures, but also in all the Tradiciones, which then in one way or the other

[130:23]

I derive from this new goodness, from this essential kano, this rule, this law that St. Paul says that so beautifully in the epistle to the Galatians. The sixth chapter is the, what is the kano? It's the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who died for us and rose for us. That is our canon, that's the norm. That is what we have to understand. It's the first object of that faith, which because it is faith in love, it cannot be a blind faith, but it is a faith that is... in understanding with Gnosis, and therefore with an inner understanding, entering into the meaning, the divine meaning of this Gipna Isi.

[131:29]

Only then we really and truly appropriate it. And that is of course necessary also for us, for example, the understanding of Holy Scripture. Yesterday we came to this area, the moment also very much a problem of the Resurrection, the historicity of the Resurrection, and the ideas of Bultmann that he called the demythologizing of the, how to say, Christian tradition. There it is for us, I think, what would be the first step into the inner understanding of the traditions, in this case, the witness of the evangelists, of the resurrection, and of the apostle, of St.

[132:46]

Paul, and of the church, and to understand it in their own, let's say, on their own terms. That is so tremendously important. We are not willing, you know, to enter and understand tradition on its own terms. That we really just cannot reach that faith, you know, which is a real surrender, which is a real only surrender and enables us to enter into it. Therefore, It is there in the beginning, one can say, the act of love that opens up the inner meaning, the understanding of the tradiciones. that is so important in the understanding of the testimony of the Evangelist.

[133:52]

First to see what is the evident tendency, what is the meaning, what is the inner The will, you know, which is behind the proclamation of the evangelists about the resurrection. And, of course, also, for example, in the case of Woodland, you also don't understand why and what blocks, what kind of block is there, what kind of... of assumptions, for example, the whole question of how far and in what way or can faith and the act of faith be bound to any kind of concrete historical event.

[134:54]

Now there, of course, we come right away into things, and that was so good also yesterday, in front of Barry's point about that behind very often these hesitations and so on is an assumption, a philosophical assumption. It is this philosophical assumption which then blocks really even the listening, even the understanding of the verb, of the traditio. And that is also the case, for example, in the liturgy. liturgy and today we are in the stage of changing here and there, this and that. Again, we cannot possibly, especially as the monks, proceed in this matter of, oh, wouldn't it be nice to do this?

[135:56]

Wouldn't it be nice to do it this way? Wouldn't this be nice? Of course, because this word nice might, you know, it often is, not so, a spiritual, a certain spiritual element. design, spiritual need, and all that in some ways expressed. And that should certainly be respected. But there must be a confrontation, not just as between us and the word of Scripture, between us and the word of God. There must be a confrontation at first experience. I say that confrontation, that meeting, cannot take place, you know, on our terms. That meeting must take place on the terms of the thing we mean. That was the wonderful, I mean, to my mind, alliterating discovery, so to speak, of the historiography of a man like Wolcott.

[137:04]

I mean, the growing, in that way, growing deeper understanding of modern historiography to write history on the terms of the historic events and not on your own terms. Of course, that is what we call objectivity. that objectivity is the only thing that makes encounter possible. But in order to reach this objectivity in some way, the historian as a person has to disappear behind the object. And it's also this, for example, in the literature. must understand, it's of course true that we should not, Christian tradition should not simply carry on a ritual which, as I say, doesn't fulfill its function anymore.

[138:13]

That's true. But before we really decide upon it, a real deep, also personal, confrontation has to take place. And to that point of attention, of course, is certainly knowledge. Very often, of course, quite in the maldom, knowledge is really necessary, study of tradition. And that is in the liturgy. In the liturgy, we cannot simply, if we come to something, the acclamation of the curiae son, or that mercy, we cannot respond. jump around with it, we have to take it in its historical meaning, in its objective meaning, what kind of function does it have, what kind of a cry is it, an individual cry, is it an acclamation, what is an acclamation? All these things we have to really deal with. We don't want simply to tear and to lose what has been handed over to us.

[139:24]

So in the liturgy, and of course there is also the case there with the Holy Wool of St. Mary, certainly too. cannot be simply, for your right, you know, be treated as an interesting kind of witness, you know, of the past time, but because it's past, therefore it probably All probability doesn't fit our times and in wounds. There is the presupposition that we are in great danger to miss the point, counter a confrontation really, with the rule, not even with the spirit of the rule, can take place. Because before we even meet the spirit of the rule, we have already declared our own spirit as though we have known, and not the rule. And therefore, in that way, too, in the Legitimation, understand the tradition of standard rule,

[140:31]

And again, you know, on its own terms. That, of course, then means and doesn't mean, of course, in the whole of Christianity that, as I say, the letter dominates to an extent that it's a huge spill. And again, another question. I'm just kind of thinking about these things and I'm just... reading several texts, you know, and that famous controversy between Petrus Veneravelsen and St. Bernard. Petrus Veneravelsen had two famous letters that he wrote, you know, to St. Bernard just about this subject, the authority of the rule. There it is beautiful to see, to have a land like Dios de los Ángeles, who in its whole deepest immorality is, let's say, a man of the realms for the traditio, and therefore entering into it.

[141:41]

but into the spirit of it, but at the same time also then, and just on that, penetrate into the inner norm, you know, which is, of course, the norm of charity, the use of the Holy Spirit, working in communities, and therefore seeing it in that light. They were coming to us into a kind of concept of the rule, which then would avoid, you know, or transcend, you know, kind of the bickering about this thing and that thing, and do you observe it or don't you observe it? And to what degree did you observe it? That is the great danger, has been the great danger of monasticism. and the whole religious life. It was all what is, in that way, so much connected, you know, the canon, the spiritual canon, so much connected and necessarily connected with certain rules and so on, which bearish, regulated, the behavior of the community and the relations between the members of the community.

[143:00]

have to in these things, we have to combine, you know, first that inner deep, inner loving reverence to what is being handed over to us. And then from that entering into it, then also to see, understand, that kind of understanding that we really need what is handed over to us in an objective way, in a real confrontation, then we may also then, with the help of the Holy Spirit, come to a solution which then meets the needs of the specific time in which we live. In the last week or so, I must confess that I think we did not sufficiently respond to the season, especially as far as the science is concerned.

[144:26]

I don't accept myself at all in anything that I said to you, but I simply appeal to all of us to be worthy of that respect. I think this whole agency has been very conspicuous, you know, and the frequency with which the silence is being broken. And there is, especially in the chakra, I think, this period there between vespers and The maps, I think it serves a wonderful and precious time. This is kind of the ending of the day. It's the end of the work. And then what has this interval there to prepare for the maps.

[145:34]

But if this interval develops simply into a period of kind of You know distinguished talking and that's all Just here they are possible And while we're running off at this direction another one that this doing that then really the meaning of it is so lost I would especially recommend not to make this play splitting and our colors the placed upon for Considerable times of stands together and talks together, I think, especially on a day which the outside is much more inviting than the inside. It would be better to be outside and not to. This room is immediately sponsored of the chapel.

[146:35]

The door is very open. There are people who, after Vespas, want to be recollected and stay in the chapel during that time. If then, in this room there for the cults, And before anybody's eyes, you know, on the people who take their cards off, of course it isn't very practical because one needs a little space even to take one's card off. And if there is all kind of clogged up by people who talk, it just doesn't make sense. So maybe we could eliminate that. It would be a good contribution to the... And that's also in other ways the place, the west building, the northwest building was thought as a place where one should keep the silence very carefully.

[147:41]

It's here and there, maybe in one of these rooms where the telephone is. Of course, there's two parts of the telephone or something like that. It's clear. Even then, I would recommend to close the door, not prevent from any trouble going through the building. So that is a part of another, as you know very much of my mind, and that is the whole idea of the traditio, of the passionis. You must speak more about this in order to become a hero, because the The meaning of monastic traditio cannot be separated from the other one, the closing of the doors. The connection with that is, as somebody called my attention to it, and it's very well explained in this book by Henri-Alain Leur on the Sundays and Lenten days.

[148:56]

We had on Tuesday, we had the widow, the widower, that means the one, the empty one, the widower standing before Elias and confessing that he just, she doesn't have anything in her house with her, just a little kind of rent of oil and all that. And then the prophets, the commencement, now get vessels together, get that inner readiness of the heart. Then not only that, but also close the door. Close the door. That means the closing of the door towards those who are uninitiated, who are simply not ready to receive the purpose of the divine tradition.

[150:02]

And you would only treat it with content and throw it away, throw it into the dirt. And the following, after this Tuesday, comes the Wednesday. And this Wednesday, the key word is not clouder, but traveler. And traveler, transdaler, means to hand over. And there's an emphatic thing from you, what you have received, that hand over. But give it to one who takes care of it. That means give it to one who you can trust. And then you can entrust it to him because what you hand over in the Traditio is not simply something that he can take and that he then considers his own and which he feels justified doing with it what he wants.

[151:10]

But the object of the traditio, at least in the Christian sense, is to hand over something that God has handed over to us. And that God, through Christ, his Son, has handed over to us. To give it to our hands, hands that are ready to take it, in order to preserve it, in order to give, to hand it or get it. Therefore, not in that sense, you know, simply any trouble, any giving of word, without distinction, giving it away to just the first place who comes along. In the Latin language, of course, becomes then a traditor.

[152:14]

He betrays. He doesn't hand over, but he betrays. He's a betrayer. And to take it in that way or to give it away is a betrayal. for that is the key word of the whole mystery of Holy Thursday, that Judas and the apostles, Christ and Judas, The one is the traitors, the betrayer. The other one is the one who hangs over as God's trustee. And that is, of course, our monastic Christian. See, we live in these days, and this Wednesday is the day, last Wednesday, is the day in which we Catechumens, that means those who have declared their willingness by putting their name into the book of the church, into the register, on the Monday of Lent, then, you know, because the doctrinal teaching happened over.

[153:27]

in various stages. We have next Wednesday, we have another stage where then I handed over, I said, we are not only the catechism, I mean the ten commandments, I mean what they call the rudimenta fidei, the elements, rudiments of the faith, et menta, as this past Wednesday, The Ten Commandments are holding the same moral line, basic fundamental moral behavior of man, some image of God, but which is handed over then to the world. And the world in these various forms, in the form of the Creed, in the form of the Gospels, in the form of the Pater Noster, for example, the Our Father. These things were solemnly handed over, entrusted into the hands of those catechumens, disciples, who are willing and have shown their willingness to keep this divine treasure

[154:48]

in such a way that without mixing and distortion of human elements, they may hand it over to those who come after them. And all this then reaches its climax at the moment in which the very body and the blood of the Lord are handed over to the initiate those who through baptism have died to the world and have risen with christ and that is of course also in our own in our monastic learning that is our monastic profession is a second baptism the words that we that is handed over to us there it's the rule The school, therefore, is a treasure that we have received and that we cannot simply do with it what we want, which has to be taken as a gift, which has to be taken as a norm.

[155:59]

In these days, I'm just saying that because we see the circular, known as the Preparation of the Abbots Congress, is getting underway in a very promising way, it seems. But there's, Abbott Urban has sent out all the, he's the head of the liturgical commission, in preparation for Lee Hammond's Congress, and he has sent out a whole questionnaire to various monasteries. I'm just translating that into English so that members of the community here too get an idea of these various problems and questions. It gives a very good kind of, I would say, a survey of the problems and the questions that have been raised in the past concerning the monastic worship. So now, if you were sitting there, you are confronted with a tremendous variety, a melange, all kinds of suggestions.

[157:14]

So, less radical wrong, more radical wrong, and so on. I think in one kind of question like this, one has to really first knowing that just as a matter of method for us as to start with the rule of Saint Benedict as a kind of the same norm according to which we proceed as if we put some order into the soul. There is a field which to my mind is absolutely safe and would be a common ground. with any kind of real risk, you know. Part of what's said before, the general indication of the Council, especially in the decree on the religious reform, adjournment of religious life, that the principle is stated, first of all, go back to your origins.

[158:26]

Go back, therefore, to what you have received originally, to that, let us say, that original purpose. That must be the beginning, it seems to me, too, also of our considerations there, just as a method of approaching it. in what takes the very letter of the woman, you right away see there is quite a good field for restoration if one only observes really looks what Saint Benedict says about, for example, the structure of another. Just some time ago last year, Basil and Benedict got together and said a question of conflict. One takes what Benedict says about conflict.

[159:28]

There's a definite kind of way in which conflict has, in its own character, is presented. Any one that would be followed of any kind of accretions or later ages would drop out of the petition. Confiteor and his whole part, you know, there is an original part of the Compline as it is seen by St. Benedict in Rome. So, not only that, but there are things like that. And there is, and we have given that to the operates in New York, so New York, there are things common according to what the New York Times says about them. And so there are others who, you know, I've worked very long on this whole business, and there is a field right there.

[160:34]

Then, of course, another thing, and immediately about Star's things on this line, of course, imposes itself, you know, it's a question of the daily mass, the daily mass. And then, too, it's only the, I don't want them saying, oh, you should get rid of the daily mouth, something like that. That might be not the right thing to say, but certainly it is clear that there is a completely safe field in which at least Benedictines and monks in the line of the rule, can look, you know, at their daily horarium as far as the expression is concerned. For Saint Benedict, it's absolutely clear that the Mass is the thing which is fine for Holy Day.

[161:37]

but which he does not foresee to be performed every working day. So, as I say, I don't want to say we do not therefore get rid of Masses, for example, immediately is the question of the Lenten observance, or the Lenten observance being nowhere to be found. For example, Masses, we had it yesterday on Thursday, It's a very late mass, but Romans always consider the Thursday as a kind of holy day, the religious exercise. They do it up to this morning. It's vacation from God, you know. That's a little... It's going too far, you know. But, I mean, it's a... That is... There's three Thursdays already. Three Thursdays.

[162:41]

Well, it was the pious generation that thought that should be filled in with the last two, the legacy. I mean, there are other gradations. You know, it's so important. If we are today confronted, say, with this whole block of a tradition, of Christian tradition, also of monastic tradition that has developed through the centuries, loosen it up a little, look a little more closely, and you'll find there are layers of different importance. It's a variety of importance. And it's very important to realize that, you know, to kind of loosen up, not to stand before the tradition of past centuries as a mountain, you know. I mean, either take it or die. First, look a little at this little slope, you know.

[163:41]

Maybe we could kind of, you know, it's less important, you know, than another. So we know it exactly, you know, in cases absolutely sure, but really, and the reasons, you know, on the spirit in which this or that usage has been introduced, the historical circumstances under which it has been done, very often we know the historical limitations, you know, that led to this particular solution at this particular time. Now let us, in the peace of Christ, look at these things, you know, and therefore become more articulate in these questions. But articulate doesn't mean to exercise and dwell into kind of vandalism. It's a big difference. The Vandals, their problem was that they were not Arctic.

[164:41]

So they should be careful. Thank you. And you see there, I mean, I would say, you know, there is a whole program, I would, John, well, you know, to suggest, I mean, absolutely to this whole thing, certainly in the reform, not just the author, the author has to go in various order stages. And these stages, you know, are indicated in the very, as I said, by the rule itself. So not to jump at something very radical, which is very questionable even in the whole stream of monastic tradition, and would mean a complete surrender. would therefore come close, not deliberately, but de facto to a traditio, you know, in the sense of betrayal, rather than in the preservation, continuation of something that has been handed down to us, you know, really as a treasure in the economy of salvation in which divine charity constantly provides for us.

[166:01]

So, I just wanted to indicate that, you know, that we need, have definitely, also in any kind of liturgical things, in adaptation, we need thinking. We should not jump, you know, in some conclusion before we really know what we are. At the end, Sonny cried that he had made joy to see his neighbor's scapula for day and edging him out by a two-way monastic family of tissue as it were. In thinking about this at your reception today as an obloque, I thought it might be good just on this Sunday, L'Etat, and with you beginning a word, you start now on a plastic road, this road crosses the road from

[167:24]

for the entire Sunday, to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, to the tomb, to Mount Olivet, to the Resurrection. So it might be good just to go for a moment, repeat the way that we have gone through in these first Sundays of Gilead, and which now comes to this Sunday, the Karah. It is as if today one would be like pilgrims to Jerusalem. We are riding on the heights that surround Jerusalem, from where one can look down and where one sees the holy city, where the pilgrims fall down on their knees and kiss the sword and greet this vision of peace.

[168:36]

Our road to Jerusalem started on Big Lord Jesus' Sunday. And there in the gospel, We were very close. Our Lord opened what we would call a special secret to his disciples that the Son of Man would have to go up to Jerusalem. Let us go. Let us go up to Jerusalem. And there, for what purpose? The Son of Man has to be mocked and spit upon. And he will be crucified, die, but he will rise on the third day. Now at this first revelation of this messianic secret. The disciples didn't understand a word that St.

[169:39]

Luke says so emphatically in his gospel. But that is of course, that is really the secret of Jerusalem. It's a messianic secret. It is the holy place. Why is it the holy place? Because there The Son of God made man, made man, died for us. And so the old temple was torn down and a new temple was built. And that is the temple of the wisdom, the Savior, the Lord, the Curious. And the Messianic Seekers, he has to go into his passion, into his suffering. And then he also may enter into his glory. That's the messianic secret. That is the secret of Jerusalem.

[170:43]

It's also the source of the joy of Jerusalem. You see why this messianic secret is not dead? No, but it is life and death. It's life through death. to dedicate the sacrifice of that love, see, that's not a sin. And there is, of course, the first step. See, again, if you think back, where is the source of your own monastic vocation? It's there. It's the inner being hit by the messianic secret as the source of our peace, and of our joy, and therefore your own desire to go to Jerusalem. And that marks the every single station that we have followed during these four days.

[171:49]

It's as Wednesday. As Wednesday with this gospel, the Lord explains that when you fast, don't be sad like the hypocrites, but anoint your head. so that the crowd of people may not see and admire you, but that the Father who sees in secret, he may rejoice and take his delight in what you are doing. You see, that is another. It is an essential part of our whole monastic and of your way that you, in this way, through whom let us call it, fasting, through renouncement, that you enter into the active prostitution in this messianic scene.

[172:51]

But that you don't do it for any way, for political reasons, to put up a facade, to be admired by others, to live in ways for the life of the social image, not for the sake of conformity. not for the sake of competition, not for the sake of outshining somebody else or others, anything like that. That is, of course, the danger of all the external monastic usage, But the Lord has not said, although he saw that hypocrites may abuse this fasting and may use it for their own aggrandizement, he has not said we shouldn't fast.

[174:04]

But he has said, if you fast, then do it this way. Do it in such a way that what you are doing is really completely the secret between your Heavenly Father and you. So that you do it really and truly as your own in the depth of your sin, in the purity of heart. For the Father and for the Father's sake, that is what we call person. That is what we call mature, acting in a mature way. And that, I must say, is also a great consolation here for me this afternoon that here you are to enter the monastery in the evening of your life. But I'm sure that this evening of your life will be a light for you as you put it to yourself.

[175:10]

So beautifully reminding of the 14th chapter of the prophet Zakat. Because then you understand that, you understand that a child of love doesn't have to, doesn't need, you know, if they're not taken away, which is arbitrary. which is noisy, which is an optimal language, you know, waved by a bunch of children who are quite, you know, distant, but which is kind of impatient and throwing itself around. You know, you experience it in your own way. But you remind the God, you know, that silence can be a tremendous inner source of togetherness, of true communion, of true love, true love, love.

[176:13]

So that even if one has lived together in that calling that meets in the spiritual silence, which our God indicates, you know, from the past, that one has lived, therefore, in secret before the Father's eye that such a life veils up a man's inner, that it bonds, bonds of charity, so that then if somebody leaves one certainly feels, you know, what this quiet but deep life really has created deep personal bonds. And that's what indeed makes me very happy and very confident for the future. Keep that in mind, that we see the secrets and we speak of of Ash Wednesday. If you want to take Ash Wednesday as a kind of symbol for all the things that in the monastic life concern the external behavior and the customs that are to be observed in the course of the monastic life, especially on the side.

[177:36]

At the bottom of it all is a quiet inner for what purpose to kind of enter into the eyes of the Heavenly Father. And then it follows the first Sunday Lent. Now, this first Sunday of Lent is the temptation. And I would say again, you know, because in the center of the temptation is the Messianic sequence. That Christ does not enter upon a role of glory as a king, but that he is there to endure the fire and to serve it. He is the servant. But in the very moment in which he has, as it were, stood the test, there the angels come and they ministered to him, and, Lord, beholds that is the joy of the earth, the tower of Jerusalem.

[178:41]

And the angels came, and the angels are with him, and they said that me, they tested me. But it is the fruit of temptation, and you must understand that too, that there is another essential element of the monastic life, which is to be tempted. And somebody would think, you know, that there isn't anything like that, like Satan and the tempter, you know, that will not just, you know, happy-go-lucky run around and do odd ones. What we miss again, what is temptation? Temptation is a trial. What is a trial? A trial is an opportunity offered, in our case, by God, a task which is given to one, that in doing it, And facing up to it, one may ascend to a higher level.

[179:47]

That is temptation. And that is sin of a toxic life. And that has to be met, and that has to be met with the inner strength of faith. That is the war of Jesus. And then we go further. We go to the next Sunday. That is that day. The Sunday of the birds, the migrating birds that come home, so beautiful that they suddenly should be kind of introduced by a secretary where the return of the prodigal son is set. And so that is the mind-waiting bird who says, oh Lord, turn your eyes, pluck my feet out of the snake. the voice of the migrating bird when he skips far away from the place he wants to go.

[180:55]

But then, of course, at the end in Holy Communion, there the scowl has fined her lips, and the dog has fenced by, where to lay her young ones in your altars with your God, that is Jerusalem. Now what is then between the two, between being far away in a foreign country and crying to God, pull up my feet out of the snare of the compass, and then finding one's nest in Jerusalem for his The root of this, the way that binds the two things together is that we are imitators of God, that we enter on the way of our Lord in this world, who was sent to offer himself as a sacrifice and adoration for our sins. That is the root.

[182:00]

So to speak of the bird that comes from far away and returns home. And that is another. It's another element, you know, which is in your life and in everyone else's life. In some way, one could put it this way, that this Sunday, by the way, is the third Sunday of Lent, you know, the second one, that in this third Sunday of Lent, you know, the The power of this thing is the vibrating bird. I want to see a horse and a snake. What does it mean? It's powerful and worthy. I read that just this morning by chance, you know, in the beautiful passage of the Confessions of St. Augustine, which are in the Walby office. I'll take it, you know, for this Sunday. The Talon, which we've known since.

[183:01]

We never had the Confessions and the Walby record. But there it is, you know, there St. Augustine describes, you know, in the eighth book of the Confession, he describes and says, he, I am, yes, I have that longing, but I'm caught, caught, caught by an iron will, by a chain that my own self-will, you know, has formed. This chain, God says, that makes that. Our same will turns, in that sense, turns to lust. Lust turns into a habit. And a habit, you know, becomes our necessity. And in that way we find ourselves bound. And that is the, in the monastic life, you realize the menace in that anybody who approaches the burning thorn bush, he has to take off his shoes so that his feet, his naked feet may stand meeting and touch, as it were, the holy ground.

[184:17]

There where you are, The shoes that are all the habits, the customary things in which we are caught and so difficult to get away from them, we have to take them off. That chain has to be broken. And the monastic life is geared to that. It cannot be lived if one doesn't have that inner willingness to know that these chains are broken. And there is a special place of you that's in the evening of your life. Usually on Saturday, somebody comes who's more than 40 and says, oh, he's always taking his ways. He's always setting his ways. Therefore, he has a why. So, he's not a migrating villain. He's got all the authority at home with himself.

[185:21]

So, but you see that's a special place. Thank God that we haven't said simply, you know, when you came, said, oh, older than 40, ouch, all kinds of things. But don't. Because we can and you will understand and you are truly willing to take your monastic life really as a constant, you know, the pilgrimage of the light-weighted birth. And then, of course, that brings you up a little out of order. In my presentation, this to the Transfiguration comes before. But I believe the Transfiguration also fits well, you know. It's the glory of Jerusalem. that glory that you then see, in which you rejoice, that joy which we have.

[186:27]

This morning, it is so bright. It lights the central part of Jerusalem. The tombs are in the same place, the pearl of joy, the cushion that this earth offers to the heavenly Father. So there is a glow, and you must think, you know, and realize that, too, that in the monastic life is full of glow. But it is that glory which we see so clearly in the transfiguration. I mean, that glory which is a change that comes over Christ the man, who leads the man. So that is very human being. It comes then from within, really and completely flooded.

[187:30]

And that glory which causes the disciples, the in-disciples, the closed disciples, who see, you know, to say, oh, good things build us. And that glory, that is in monastic life so indispensable. What is that glory, if you translate it into the same returns of your own personal life as a monk? And I simply read to you the words of St. Paul and we have read on the Feast of the Consecration. We beseech you, rebuke the restless. Comfort the faint-hearted. Support the weak. Be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil to anyone.

[188:38]

But always try to do good to one another and to everybody. Always rejoice. Pray constantly. Give thanks in all circumstances. For such is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you all. You see, there is another aspect of understanding the secret. And that may be used in your monastic life. Then you really make what one calls a contribution But all this then ends really in today's Sunday. Today's Sunday, once it seems to me, kind of, I don't want to call it a psychologically prepared one. But prepared by the will of subject, I know, we have followed the secure. Or do I have nothing?

[189:41]

I have my house of a little orange, just sufficient to refresh my faith for a moment. And then close the door. And then behind the closed door, then the oil begins to flow, to flow from within, from within. And then we have this other beautiful encounter of our Lord with the woman, the widow. wine wine and the truth you see there is this yes now I shall give you if you drink of this water I'm concerned about that water and Jacob's wearing and so on you will thirst again but if you drink of the water that I'll give you then not only won't you thirst again

[190:52]

But this water will turn you into a spring, hold on, a spring that jumps into eternity. And then there goes that abundance. We can call it the interiority, the interiority of the, which is so esteemed, that is the void in the lust of life. Not once a year, not once a day, not pushing this and that, you know, but the interiority, that inner life that jumps up into eternal life. But of course, with the doors closed, you know. In Jerusalem, that is peace is in your walls, and abundance in your towers. that you are a city compacted with one unity.

[191:57]

What is that? That is the strength of Jerusalem. What is the strength of Jerusalem? Of course, it's all. It is that all of that faith built, that can be built, you know, when there's an argument and when there are people who cooperate and build. All these things, you know, where we follow, you know, Christ as the architect of our life. That means in intelligente tradiciones. Understand the traditions. Understand. And that is beautiful and beautiful and the sound is so marvelous, you know, which is a cornerstone of that tradition and that way in which Christ as the archetype builds and moves around us. who really could unwash heavens, you know, that does not make man unclean.

[193:00]

That's that beautiful, you see, that's that freedom, you know, that we have. But only, of course, in and through eternity, otherwise. Because what is then, what is then, The continuation of that, of course, from within, our Lord says on this Wednesday, we are celebrating this morning, from within, out of the heart, the thoughts, of course, we have to be careful of the thoughts, thoughts that make unclean, the evil thoughts. thoughts that lead to murder. And therefore this inner life of faith into the heart creates a new heart, a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone.

[194:05]

And that is what makes the joy of Jerusalem. Their Bible graphs, you know, this beautiful screen. Then we eat, you know, bread, it's abundant. See, we have oil, we have water, we have bread, all these things. Multiply, multiply. That is the abundance of Jerusalem. Because what is this abundance of Jerusalem? What is this fish? If it is not Christ the Lord, he eats that roasted fish that he gives to his apostles. That means he himself went through the fire of his sufferings. And the bread, it's not the bread that is broken. He said, take it and eat it. It is broken. My body that is given for you and for the remittance of your sins.

[195:08]

That is the life of the Christian. That's the life of the monk. And I'm so happy, dear brother, that you entered into this life today on this beautiful Natara Sunday in order to make your joy full. Because I know it means a great deal to you. I wanted to give you as your patron saint, Saint Christopher. And so you know that that has the meaning which we just explained, you know, because Christopher is now, he's not exactly He burns, you know, he wanders. He wanders. He has that staff. He goes through the stream. Therefore, but who does he have? He carries. What does he carry? He carries the child.

[196:09]

He carries the child. He is the parent of other senior kids. And so that saying, that should be your saying. And it has this special, for us, connotation from our Saviour, because this is the name of our dear beloved Christ. And to give you that name, of course, you wanted to know that, you know, that Brother Christopher is very close to our hearts, and there's what they say is his presence has, in the course of the years, has not faded away. It has become strong. and deeper, such as through a sign of the end of it. But living in the darkness, you know, of that darkness, of course, astonished also in the soul-bending, external, superficial circumstances of death.

[197:14]

But that should be your patron saint, and you are very much like that. You are Christ the God. He lives on among us. Do the will of God. It acts in itself as a holy thing. That is the thing initially. Creature after creature. Man is God's child, who is worthy in death. And therefore, let us then also fast on this day and celebrate this beautiful feast. Let us think of that. Let us also ask... Okay.

[201:43]

There we go. Thank you.

[208:47]

Sigh. One, two, three.

[213:24]

Okay. Yeah.

[227:04]

I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know what I'm talking about. Mm hmm.

[251:18]

Mm hmm. I'm going to have to do it.

[258:22]

I'm going to have to do it.

[258:22]

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