reverend father and fathers and brothers we spoke this morning began to speak about the obedience as in our days as a so special or can we say problem we realize the dangers of obedience as long as it is not really understood as a spiritual bond, as a mysterium, but that it might prevent man from making up his own mind, it may stifle the sense of responsibility, and it may in that way, be an obstacle to a process we generally call the process of, natural process of maturing.

[01:11]

It may also, the emphasis on obedience, may in some way push man, without knowing it, into, we call it the field of the law, he has in the realm and under the framework of obedience to prove himself he feels he has to succeed he feels he has to contribute he feels he has to please or if the obedience leads him into a direction which is not according to his natural inclinations or talents he may feel that it may crush his capability and it may in that way throw him back on himself now in order to deal with this problem we have this morning started just to say

[02:23]

make this distinction about the saving obedience or the ascetical obedience and the functional obedience. The functional obedience belonging to the exercising a function of order within the field of natural tasks which need know-how and therefore have to be done according to the law of the thing and of course that is this functional obedience is especially there where in with our work, also manual labor, not only that, also financial administration, and all those things are concerned.

[03:29]

Now, it certainly must always be now I think that it's good to think about that in this context of obedience that it cannot in any way upset and destroy the natural order God is the creator of this universe and the inner order of things, what is a natural order depends on him. To serve this inner order of things is in itself nothing bad, but it is part of our sanctification. And therefore there must be in every community and also for the monk because for that matter the monk fully enters and remains also in the human context a full man we are not taken out of this world hence therefore we have to deal with these realities and we have to deal them in the way God wants us to deal with them according to their

[04:52]

to their inner nature that would belong as a part of our general reverence and of our general obedience to him. And there is in this whole field of functional obedience, therefore, also this, let us say, pooling, this mutual cooperation. There is that one listening to the other. There is, therefore, a certain willingness to learn, which was always and always practiced in all practical things. We know very well how practical things develop, and especially in these, in our days, how things are perfected. We have to learn new ways, and all that is really a part of our obedience.

[05:58]

Naturally, this obedience is then also guided, and by obedience I mean the commanding as well as the obeying, is guided naturally by our natural sensibleness, the way, the common sense, and the know-how in which we approach these things. There is also another element which is very strong, again, in the cenobitical context, and that is, of course, that to do things well is and has a good, positive, constructive effect on the community. If things are not done well, it has to a certain degree, it would be in the longer run, it would be demoralizing for a community.

[07:03]

Again, one can see there the difference between the, what one may call, the aramidical obedience and the cenobitical obedience. The cenobitical obedience, the whole of the community has to be taken into consideration. And of course, many of these functions with which function obedience is concerned also have to do with the welfare, the well-being of the community. And of course, if this well-being of the community is really at the heart of those who are working in these fields. Again, we have there certainly an act of obedience. We have an edifying power. We have something that binds the family together. We have something that provokes the gratitude of the brethren.

[08:07]

and therefore again another very constructive element in the monastic life, and certainly also in a contemplative community, because the contemplation is the coinciding or the ordering of all the various realms of life in which a community is concerned. Naturally, also there, it is at times it is difficult to find the practical right line, especially for a monastic community. For example, there's the question of poverty. There is the question how, for example, in the whole, one important point, you know, in a community certainly is always the meal.

[09:09]

And therefore there comes the big, you know, shall we call it the problem of the kitchen comes in. And there are other fields there, you know, that, for example, the whole problem of cleaning and so on, of housework, you know, that has to be done. And all in all these various fields, you know, and of course one purpose is really in these various fields to establish a solid and good order, which doesn't go haywire either in one way nor the other. In Maria Lach, we always, we had one brother, he was very famous, was brother, our brother Bernward. God bless him and I recommend him, his good soul, to your prayers. But he at times wasn't quite inclined, you know, to do things in a way which would please the community.

[10:17]

But he was always then preaching very loud that everybody in the monastery had to slaughter his Isaac. But he never mentioned that he was the one who slaughtered his various Isaacs, you know. So for us, you know, we always remember him. You have to slaughter your Isaac, you know, especially It was especially felt, you know, as soon as the kitchen was entrusted to his care, you know. It was very much for everybody slaughtering his Isaac. And that is, of course, you know, it's a very sensitive field, you know. It has a great influence, you know, the care, and then in Mount Saviour, there's our dear Brother Andrew, you see now, he is a little inclined, I think, to go on the haywire side.

[11:23]

The other day he took a course, you know, how to cook tomorrow's food today. That was the latest, you know, in a special course, you know, for religious institutions, you know, how to cook the food of tomorrow today. I advised him to go rather and take a course how to cook yesterday's food tomorrow. He didn't want to move in that direction too far. He likes the little frills. All kinds of, I don't know, jet steamers or what it is, you know. So there one has to put on the brakes, you know.

[12:24]

But on the other hand, one appreciates and it's an element, you know, of course, in the community life and for that matter. really, a spiritual service, an act of obedience, because a meal, especially the kitchen, you see, it's a sensitive point, you know, there, but it is a function of charity. It is something that really, where one can express one's charity to the brethren, again provided it doesn't destroy the whole monastic context and doesn't fall out of the framework, you know, which is always put by Saint Benedict under the headline, the key word of Parchitas. You know, that Parchitas, how could one translate it?

[13:27]

It's to avoid, before all things, surfeiting. So the part she does is therefore to keep the right medium, keep the right measure, so that everybody realizes, you know, that there is now, that is, if when he gets up from a meal, you know, that there still would be room for something more. I think a part of the whole monastic existence. But, as I say, it is, of course, for a community very important. We had in Mariala, we had another, the brothers who was in charge of the garden. And he was a very influential member of the community. And because he had a certain influence, too, on the desserts, you know, that were served, and he always strictly struck to the line that for the community, only the fourth grade, you know, food was really reserved.

[14:40]

Everything first and second grade was certainly sold, you know, rather than served. But I mean those things give and have a tremendous influence really on the community and can contribute a lot you know to the mutual, to the spirit of brotherhood. In this whole connection there comes one word you know that I would maybe we could just inject here tonight and it's words that and always stuck with me. It's really one of the Kassidic sayings. It's an old Jewish saying, and it is this, and I think it gives a very good a kind of view, conspectus, you know, of this aspect of the contemplative life, that the contemplative life too is built, of course, in the, let us say, in the natural stages.

[15:50]

one cannot simply disregard the natural stages. Certainly the monk is the man of the absolute, and the contemplative wants to turn completely to God, but this turning completely to God has to be done in the framework and within the order of our human nature. And mortification never destroys this order. It only, in a certain way, makes it, and in some way also, let us say, breaks it open for the influence of the Holy Spirit. But this word is this. It runs this way. It says, and make your body the throne of your, oh, there comes that word nefesh, excuse me for mentioning it, but that is soul, that is life.

[16:52]

Make the body the throne of your life. That means your organic existence. Make your life the throne of your mind. Make your mind the throne of your heart. and make your heart the throne of God's glory. Now that's, of course, thought. This whole thought is typical, and you realize that within, say, this context of an ordered construction, building of one's life. But that is, of course, also that is necessary, and especially in the community. We think about it, make your body the throne of your life. Now we realize then, in a special way in the monastery through our body is and carries the manual labor and the manual labor is in the community the throne of the life.

[18:02]

Of course the manual labor belong all this, belongs to cooking, and there's the farm, and there are all these, there are the vegetables, you know, and so on, and the garden, all these various, the apple trees, and all these various things are there, and of course they're all taken care, then in one's own life, the body is the throne of life. Therefore, the body, also mortification, always, still, keeps that basic function of the body. It carries our life, and therefore we have to take care of the body so that it's able to carry the life, just as the manual labor in that way in the community does that. And it is, of course, this manual labor, just to mention that in this context of the order of things, you know, that the manual labor is in itself and belongs, you know, into the completeness, is part of the completeness of obedience.

[19:18]

Obedience is and takes in the body, has to take in the body. That is the reason why I always have great misgivings if, as in the 19th century, under the influence of Albert Butler writing about Benedictine monasticism, it became the kind of common idea in Benedictine circles that the work for the monk of the 20th century is really essentially mental work and that this mental work of course is also as such is an effort and because it's an effort it has in itself also the element of mortification now there's no doubt about it that wherever mental work, you know, is seriously followed, let us say, in a scientific way, let us say, history or other fields, you know, that there is indeed a great deal of self-discipline and therefore of labor, mortification, of renouncement is contained in it.

[20:41]

However, the body is in the structure of man as he was created by God. The body is really, as the Old Testament has always considered it that way, the contact somewhere between the mind and the reality. And the body as such, and also the obedience of the body, and that means man your labor, is not only also, naturally, a great help to humility, but it is at the same time also, it confronts the monk with the basic, say, realities of life. If you run with your head against a beam, now that is confrontation with reality. But you realize it, and in that way, it's the waking up, and so too, you know, in the

[21:42]

The man in the man, the man you labor, that's one of the reasons why, you know, people ask me when they come to Mount Saviour and they ask, oh, why now, if you have people there taking care of cows, you know, why don't you, wouldn't it be much better if those people would take care of seminarians, you know, and you would have your seminary, or you would have a school taking care of boys. completely different, absolutely different thing, you know. Because there, first of all, as soon as you do that, you know, then you really, for that matter, have to become a professional, and in the mind, and you have the gifts for it, you know, you have to have the gifts for it, and you are simply then in a work, you know, which in the end will run the monastery, you see. And that, of course, is the difficult thing.

[22:45]

And at the same time, which will be essentially its mental, you know, because the bodily aspect of education has been reduced to a minimum in our days. The rod has been eliminated. So in that way, you see, of course for us, the farm is simply our monastic setup, you know, is a very important thing, you see, because they are not only for the maintenance, the material maintenance of the monastery, but for this inner confrontation, you know, with that specific reality. The reality of the cow is not always a pleasant reality, actually. They have their moods, you know, they have their good days, and they have their bad days, and there is a tremendous amount of patience, therefore, needed, you know, and there is also of love,

[23:52]

cow is not really just knows that the cow is not loved, then that's already half the milk is gone. So that must be there, you see, and therefore it's in that way a real meeting with reality and the same with other things. The whole question, for example, of as you have it, of waking and the way it is always that meeting, you know, with a reality which then requires on the part of man real, true humility and is also a constant education to a certain realistic approach to things, while the academic the academically trained mind, you know, so easily loses the contact with reality.

[24:56]

Sometimes one thinks one hears that too through the lines of the biography of Newman, you see, that there is where the mind is so predominant maybe the contact with reality suffers a little. But then In that way, you see, the body is the throne of life. And that is, of course, that's so true, and that also comes in this whole kind of work, in garden work and all these things, forest work, among the trees, you know, it's all, it serves life. Life then is the throne of the mind. Life is, of course, too, is the whole, all the things that go with the flesh. There are the passions, you know, there is, there's the, our emotions. There is the whole, the whole field of our, of our moods.

[25:58]

Yeah, that is also, and that's of course for our days, is a great and very critical thing also in the monastic life. The monastic life in some way must have a certain possibility for this level of reality, which we here call life, that somehow, you know, to expand. But mainly, this life, you know, must be made the throne of, and the next step is the mind. And that is, of course, how does the life become the throne of the mind? And therefore, of course, there we have in this whole field, you know, we have the, for example, the whole problem of maturing. I think one of the great factors, really, of maturing is the well and deeply understood, freely understood mortification.

[27:06]

It's a step towards maturing. This is why, because what is this maturing? Through maturity, the life becomes the throne of the mind. That means of the spiritual activities of man. What there is, for example, in this whole field, so tremendously important for us, you know, is the whole thing of memory. We suffer today, we suffer so tremendously from a lack of continuity. People forget so easily. Don't remember. The lack of continuity, of course, is partly also a result of our over-artificial civilization. This artificial civilization takes us away from the

[28:11]

constant organic repetition that is an ingredient, it's an essential part, integral part, of the whole course of nature. And that again helps, a tremendous amount helps the memory. I always can see that in our little group, the little team that kind of directs our farm operation. There is one thing there which is so evident, and there are many things that have to be, but one is that there is a constant round of the seasons. This constant round of the seasons has to be, day by day even, it has to be put down, it has to be remembered. How was it this year, this day, the 21st of March on this day, on this year, and then the next year?

[29:17]

And all these things are constantly remembered. How was it last year? Yesterday we had the same drought, you see, and probably have a drought here again, you know, and so on, and all these things. How many years did we have drought? Yes, four years ago it started, you know, and so on. And probably three more years, three more years of drought. So what can we do? What can we do? But try, try. So that is a monastic occupation too. So that will be part of this, you know, of this function, of this whole rhythm, which is also taken out completely out of our control. And I think that is very, very important. And I think it's a big difference, for example, with Greece. Educational activity is always ruling. It is essentially governing. It's essentially directing. while, for example, the farm activity is in that way a serving—what they call servile—work.

[30:25]

Not servile here in the right sense. It is serving. That means the farmer has to and takes, as I say, his directions from the weather, from the soil, from the circumstances, from the climate, and all these various factors, but how they all work together And what will be the outcome in the end? What will be the harvest that is completely taken out of his hands? He does not know. Therefore, what is he, God, forced to do? He has to put it into the hands of God. And therefore, the little possessions, you know, through the fears and so on, asking for rain and all these things, To my mind, they are a very good ingredient, an absolutely organic part, you know, of a monastic contemplative life, provided that one has this idea of the two Templar.

[31:29]

So in that way, then, also the memory, that thinking, that remembering, remembering of past experiences, you know, remembering of, yes, there might be a long period maybe of no rain, but there will be rain again, you know. Or there are rainy days, yes, and there will be also again days of sunshine. And in all these ways, See, our life, this whole sphere of life activity within this world, within this cosmic rhythm, is, through the power of memory and so on, lifted up. And there comes then the mental activity, the activity of the mind. And again, there, the mind itself, you know, again is a gift. We spoke about it the other... just yesterday.

[32:35]

The mind is naturally is a gift, and the mind, for that matter, too, has to be developed. But what is the meaning of the developing of the mind? What is the mind being developed for? And there comes then this beautiful concept, the mind is being developed for the heart. And what is the heart? The heart is simply the inner, the inner man, the center of the human person. That what is deepest in him, one can say, is his inner identity as person. And the heart then is the throne of God's glory. The heart is in one way the organ through which all these various activities of man are gathered into one and are then presented to God in prayer.

[33:40]

In that way the heart is made the throne of God's glory. But the important thing seems to me is that as much, you know, that we keep, you know, the essential order of nature, and that also the idea of contemplation and the idea of the confrontation with the absolute is in this way maybe a dangerous idea because it may lead, especially in immature people, it may lead to a false, a wrong withdrawal. so that this contact with reality is considered as a distraction. And that, of course, can be, in certain cases, a tremendous illusion. and can be really very dangerous, you know, too, for the development of especially of young people.

[34:42]

So often I have seen that in these years, here of my own experience at Mount Savior, how often the idea of the contemplative life, you know, draws There are certain people, also young people, who suffer, without maybe their realizing it, from deep inner psychological conflicts, and that seems to be the haven, and that seems to be the solution, and the solution I can reach as long as I have a minimum of contact with the reality around me. And that is the thing, I think, which we have to watch very carefully. And it is obedience. I can see that all again and again and again. that it is the community life, is the obedience which regulates the community life, which through the various functions to which then the one is delegated in obedience, he serves in this field, he serves in another field,

[35:58]

He has to deal with this reality. He is thrown into that reality. Somebody, you know, after the, let us say, the honeymoon of the monastic life, boom, there he lands in the farm, you see, on the farm, you see. And that is, of course, is quite a change, you know. And there, then face that reality. And in that way, then, in this, you know, contact and really, say, the inner maturing, the expansion of the person, the wholeness of the person, is in that way helped, at least, in its development. So let us keep that in mind, you know, again, you know, the beauty of the contemplative life, which the monks don't, I mean, take care and they don't go into the wild places, you know, and they don't take care of the fields, you know, to make a contribution to civilization, but the monks go,

[37:11]

In some way, one can say, I think it is true, you know, especially in our world today, one says, yes, you go into the monastery, and you're going into the monastery, that is fleeing, that is running away from the world. To my mind, seems that is not true, you see. that the monk who enters the monastery, he enters definitely and comes even maybe into a much closer contact with the world. You know, I mean the sense of nature, the reality, the God-created, objective reality which is given to man, you know, to, as it says in Genesis, to lord over it. And that is, of course, in the monastery is given. For example, if you take also in the old days, in the beginning of monasticism, the man who left Alexandria.

[38:22]

He left, of course, the big city. What did he leave with the big city? He left with the big city a caricature, really, of human civilization, of human living. What did he do? He goes into the desert. But what is the desert? The desert really is the world, you know, and is the world in a very acute sense. Because what is the world? That is the field, you know, where God has placed us, you know. But for what purpose? That we realize our poverty. that we realize that we will work in the sweat of our brows, as Holy Scripture says. That, therefore, that is the place where we should look, you know, for the bread from heaven. It is the desert. Just as the people, the chosen people, when they were led out of Egypt, were led into the desert.

[39:27]

For what purpose? In order there, in the desert, to be prepared, you know, to become God's people. But, of course, here in this earth. And I think that is also the case with the monastery. In some way one can say that The monastery is a world in miniature, and therefore one doesn't leave the world, but in a certain way one really meets the world. But thanks be to God, one meets the world in terms of the Spirit. One meets the world in the power of the Spirit. One meets the world, you know, not as a lesser reality or something like that. but one meets the full reality of the world, but in the fullness also of the Holy Spirit.

[40:28]

And of course that bond, you know, this what enables us and leads us, you know, from this confrontation with the reality of the world to the victory of the Spirit, that is the obedience of faith. Let us pray, one say unto us, O Lord God, that we may stand before you in purity and holiness, and with knowledge and fear, in the beauty of spiritual order, may serve you, the Lord and Creator of all, to whom worship is due from all, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen. 11,000 dear fathers and brothers in Christ we have yesterday night we spoke a little about the

[41:30]

about this, the breathing of the monk, breathing into his depth, the necessity of constantly going back to Christ, the custodia cordis in that very, I mean, elementary sense, time flies, you know, one doesn't know where it is, and so many things. to talk about. But we did that following up in this whole line of the act of faith and nature. The act of faith and then that of... the monk is by his profession, he is the Homo Pachis. I must say that in the past one of the things that struck me very much when I lived at Marialach was the fact, not as a criticism, but just as a kind of problem to me was the, you know it was the time of the

[42:47]

liturgical movement, and then we spoke a lot about what they call objective piety. That means, of course, not a piety. Piety is always essentially subjective, you know, but a piety which is turned towards the object. Clearly, we give you thanks, O Lord, for your great glory. That is the subject. Then also, of course, a piety which is turned towards what Christ has done for us, this whole line. But I always felt, you know, that there was an Abbot Ilfons in his relation, maybe that is different in your order, but Abbot Ilfons always saw his function as a spiritual father, first of all fulfilled in giving the doctrina, the word, the good word to the community as a whole.

[43:58]

he was not so much concerned about the individual, he didn't feel that that was so his function, his vocation in the development, the spiritual development of the monastery in that specific stage in which he was called to to take care of this monastic community. But I always felt that there was a certain too much of a kind of improvisation. lack of attention given to the systematic custodia cordis, the custody of the heart. That means the constant, not a scrupulous and not an introverted kind of thing, but a, one can say, a systematic and determined development of the inner peace of the soul, and to act and also to face decisions that man has to face, and the monk too, always in, out of Christ, not only taking it, you know, at our

[45:20]

time in these first years and also in the Abbott uniforms. The accent was very much put. There was, of course, a certain reaction against what we may call the Devotio Moderna. on the habitual, the character of grace as habit, that means as an ontological quality, which certainly has absolutely its right in the New Testament. The spirit rests, that means an ontological union which is there, what we call, try to call, gratia creata, as habitual grace. sanctifying grace. Therefore it was there, it was not so much, one can say, on the graces, the accent, the emphasis, but on grace. More on the habitual union with God than on the actual union.

[46:21]

However, that has its limitations. It may, that may end easily in some kind, let us say, of either complacency or in some kind of attitude of taking the union with God in Christ for granted. While in reality, of course, our monastic life, the daily life, lived from moment to moment, is lived in the ups and downs of the actual graces. And that seems to me, for the monk, is of greatest importance that we carry, because what does it mean if we're dedicated to perfection? It means then that every fiber of our being should constantly, what we call the oratio continua, be in confrontation and in actual confrontation with God. Too much, you know, we either, when we rely on the habit, we might go to sleep somehow.

[47:29]

If we rely on the act, you know, from the moment to moment, then we realize that we have to return to Christ, back to Christ, all the time, practically at every moment of our life. And maybe it was this sacrament of the moment that requires of us the actual contact, and seeking the actual contact with Christ, maybe that was not so much emphasized. So that is the reason why I just yesterday touched upon this, let us say, problem of the custodia cordis. So it's always this way, I mean, there are many ways through which we are thrown out of the peace of Christ, but when, for example, we begin to complain, when a kind of heavy, listless, ungrateful feeling begins to invade the soul, then the monk should not begin to study the devil's message.

[48:44]

There's always a kind of a calling card of the devil, this kind of thing, this heavy, listless, ungrateful feeling, calling card of the devil. It's one of many others. It's always written on it, you know, this time you may be sure that it's not me. Always written. But we should then not read the devil's message, we should not enter into conversation with him. But we should immediately return to Christ, who loves us, who knows all our helplessness and all our weakness, and still loves us. One can even say that our spiritual progress, it's always a kind of problematic term as you know, could best be measured, another problematic term, by the promptness with which we realize that we were on the point of start talking to the devil and measure it

[50:02]

according to the rapidity with which we return to Christ as the One who understands and loves us. so this then this obedience of faith and this peace of heart all that is in last analysis of course not for us and not for our own self gratification but it is for the glory of God so it necessarily all is a preparation for prayer and I want to just maybe do touch and give some points one can never in any way exhaust such a topic, but I thought we should note this retreat on the general topic of contemplation, of the bringing together of the two Templar clothes without a reference to prayer, because prayer is that contemplation.

[51:03]

There the two Templar are really together. You all know, and I might start out with that general When we call it definition of prayer, the real general definition of prayer is as it is in the Greek anastasis, the resurrection of the mind. It's a little Greek color to it. But the resurrection, the rising, that is our usual definition of prayer. There is that beautiful hymn, so to speak, to prayer by John of the Ladder, Johannes Klimakus. But the monastic ladder, the main thing is going down. The prayer is, in its essence,

[52:06]

union with God. In its power, it is the conservation of the world. It is the mother, and again it is the child of our tears. It is satisfaction for sins. It is a wall of protection against temptation and against all kinds of adversity. It is the work of the angel. It is the food of all bodily, of all spiritual beings. It is the joy of the future. That means the anticipation of the messianic happiness. It is The operating operation in the infinite is the source of all virtues.

[53:15]

It is the giver of all graces. It is food of the souls. It is the illumination of the mind. It is the act of hope. It is liberation from all sadness. It is the true riches of the monk. It is the revelation of the true measure. It is the revelation of our own personal being, and it is the illumination of the future, and it is an anticipation of glory. Prayer is for the one who truly prays.

[54:16]

Judgment, even before the last judgment is constituted. So that is, let us say, that leads us into the general field of prayer, evidently the heart of our whole life. That is why we become monks. Now when we consider maybe first just a few thoughts about prayer in the Old Testament, In the old days, I was struck just the other day in studying a rabbi, exegete, Samson Wafel Hirsch, who is a man who lived around 1870. So, not, let us say, the Dernier Krieg. Not the latest, you know, in exegesis, but in the Romantic period.

[55:21]

But in many ways very interesting and to me very useful because he is as a rabbi and as an outstanding leader of what we call the neo-orthodox movement among the Jews of our times. He is thoroughly acquainted with the whole Jewish tradition, the Midrashim, the Talmud, and so on. And he, speaking about prayer, starts out with one distinction, which seems to me is very important and very useful. Because I think we all somehow, and especially as monks, and especially in the beginning of the monastic life, we sometimes suffer, and we are in a certain quandary.

[56:26]

We are inclined, as people or men of the 20th century, to take prayer as the most intimate personal relation with God. And because a personal relation, therefore also an expression of that what is alive in our soul, in relation to God. Therefore we consider maybe prayer more from this aspect. We speak, is our prayer sincere? And what we mean by that does correspond to what we feel. A prayer is a rising of the mind. Now, sometimes we don't feel like rising. And then, of course, the problem comes. And there is the common prayer.

[57:28]

And this common prayer naturally cannot be subject to the, let us say, the law of the individual person. But there is an objective order It's a pensum servitudis. It is at certain set times. There the bell rings, and there we go. Do we feel like praying? That definition would just not hold. Here is some, a bigger thing is there. Another approach is evidently, is underlying such a practice. Not only, it seems to me, the, let us say, the law of prayer in community, which naturally has to be ordered, and therefore for a community has to be at certain set hours. But there is something else which struck me just in reading this dear Samson Reifel. Hirsch, he makes a distinction.

[58:32]

And he says that is the common distinction expressed in the different terms of what the Jews call tefillah and what they call shiach. Tefillah is a prayer which means and is in itself a process of rising. Shiach is a prayer which is an effusion of the fullness of the heart. Shiach comes out of the abundance of the grace present, of the Holy Spirit stirring and moving us. It sails, as it were, on the clouds, on high. The tefillah is a prayer which, first of all, we find already formulated.

[59:41]

It is a word. It is, therefore, the expression there, objective, written, let us say, the Psalter. Many Psalms of the Psalter indeed are just of this nature. It is not an expression of what is there, but it is arising to something. If one takes, for example, and in that way I think the psychology of Saint Benedict is very realistic, when we arise in the morning What is the beginning of our prayer? Simply this, open you my lips. Open my lips. And the first prayer that we then say is Psalm 3.

[60:49]

Now Psalm 3 is not an expression of enthusiasm. But it starts this way, O Lord, how many are they who afflict me? Many are they who rise up against me. There are many who say to me, there is no salvation in God. But Thou, O Lord, art my shield, my glory. thou who liftest up my head. I have cried to the Lord with my voice, and he has heard me from his holy mouth. I lay down, and I slept. I arose because the Lord upholds me. So I will not fear thousands of the people who surrounding me are marshaled against me.

[61:53]

Arise, O Lord, Save me, O my God, for Thou hast struck the cheek of all those who oppose me, Thou hast broken the teeth of sinners. Salvation is of the Lord, may the blessing be upon thy people." So it's arising. Evidently this prayer is, one can say, a Pascha prayer. It is in that way contemplation in this sense which I referred to before. It is the one who is enthroned over the cherubim, gazes into the abyss And we cry, we cry out of the abyss. Out of the deep I cry to Thee, O Lord. O Lord, hear my voice. Let Thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If Thou didst keep count of offenses, O Lord, O Lord, who would endure it?

[62:58]

but with Thee is forgiveness of sins, that man may serve Thee with reverence. In the Lord do I hope. My soul hopes in His word. My soul waits expectantly for the Lord more than night watchman for the coming of dawn. More than night watchmen for the coming of dawn does Israel await the Lord, because with the Lord there is mercy, and with him there is plentiful redemption, and he shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities." This I only indicate as the kind of prayer which evidently is tefillah. Tefillah means a formula, let us say. A prayer which, a voice, which is meant to penetrate us, to kind of act like a leaven in us.

[64:03]

It's men's concorded voce. The mind should be brought into harmony with the voice. Where does the voice start? It's like an anticipation of the incarnation. It's like the anticipation of the Pascha. It's like the Lord descending at Infernos and there getting and taking Adam in the depth, taking him by his hand and leading him up. It is therefore does not suppose anything in us. It does not suppose any what the Germans call Stimmung. Famous Stimmung. The mood, you know. Nothing, even it's supposed that you are not in the mood. But then when you are not in the mood, start just there. Out of the depth, I cry to Thee, O Lord. Nothing is supposed.

[65:05]

The famous zero point is there. And it's simply made the starting point of prayer. By whom? By the Holy Spirit Himself in the Son. We pray with David, as sons of David. We pray in the Spirit, or in the Old Testament, of the Incarnation. So not as an expression of inner exuberance, but as the voice which cries out of the depth, but then is and goes in such a way as disposed that we may through this death and out of this depth rise into the light of hope, what through the remembrance of God's mercy and in this way then end in a hymn, in a word of thanksgiving. So therefore, this kind of word, you know, is meant to act like wings, but wings to the poor one, wings to the one who died.

[66:21]

I slept, and I arose, and as a new creature then, the Son of God, I addressed myself to Him in words of thanksgiving. That therefore should be, I think, in our... and that is, you know, our... the daily prayer, as you know, is taken from the Psalter. in the Psalter, the great, I'm going to say, the majority of the Psalms are on this level. Not that they ever leave us down in the dumps, you know, but they very often start from there. And that, of course, this kind of prayer is not bound, you know, to any kind of inner disposition. It is something that can be started at any, every moment. then is the other, naturally, in which our inner fullness expresses itself.

[67:24]

The Shiach, we have that, that is, for example, we have that in Psalm 102. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. who forgives all thy faults, who heals all thy diseases, who redeems thy life from destruction, who covers thee with favor and kindness, who fills thy life with good things, thy youth is renewed like the eagles. That is naturally, that is a psalm, and of course, we know very well that this kind of this shiach, the classical shiach, is that of the Magnificat of Our Lady. Magnificat anima dea dominum et exultat spiritus meus in deus salutare meo. My spirit, my ruach, exults in God my Savior.

[68:30]

But of course, with this prayer of Our Lady, we are already in the realm of the New Testament. One thing maybe would be good to remember also in the prayer of the Old Testament, that there is, let us say, a third kind, maybe we can distinguish it, which is based on the relation on the pact, the covenant idea, which the God of Esau has made with his people. And it is, as it were, a prayer which takes the Lord by His word. That is, for example, very clearly is that expressed in the first of all prayers that we find formulated in the Old Testament, and that is the prayer of Jacob, God of my father, Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac, Lord who said to me,

[69:40]

comes the promise, return to your land and to your kin, and I will deal well with you. I am not worthy of all the kindnesses and the constant solicitude which you have shown your servant. With only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and see, now I have grown into two camps." Save me from my brother Esau, for I fear that he is coming to kill me and all my family. But you have promised. I will surely deal well with you. I will make your descendants as the Sands of the Sea, too numerous to count." So that is an appeal. That prayer is, one can say in some way, is a prayer that that is said by the partner of the covenant. The covenant is a pact, and it's a pact between friends.

[70:43]

It establishes friendship. It establishes, out of the grace of God, who is the author of the covenant, a certain equality. And it gives the assurance, gives the pledge. And that is here expressed in this prayer of Jacob. Remember what you have done to me. Remember what you have promised. And that, of course, is later on after the establishment of the Covenant on Mount Sinai. That is then, one can say even, the favored position on basis for prayer. And that is the reason why then After the establishing of the covenant, prayer is, also in the New Testament then already, essentially it is community prayer. Why? Because the covenant was made with the people, and therefore the individual has this basis in its dealings with God, which is given to him by the fact that he is a member of Israel, the Son of God.

[71:56]

Now with that, we already approach then, we already approach the New Testament. In the Old Testament, as you know, there are in the relation between God and the world, you know, there are these two relations. One is God as the creator in, let us say, the covenant, what one might call the covenant of creation. And the other one is the relation between God, Yahweh, and His Son, that means the chosen people. And that, of course, is the line which then comes to its fulfillment and flowering in the New Testament. We know, we can see that in the Old Testament, this development, and this son, the firstborn son of God, that means the people of Israel, is then more and more concentrated in one, let us say, at the time of the kings, in David, and in his, the sons of David, in the kings.

[73:12]

of Israel or the kings of Judah, and in that way already the people kind of fuse into one person, until this idea then is fulfilled in the Messiah, the Son of God and the Son of David, as St. Paul then announces him to the Romans in the beginning that we have read just the other day. So there is a new basis then for prayer in the New Testament. And I think for any prayer in the New Testament spirit, we have to make clear to ourselves, first of all, our new relation to the Father, God the Father. That is, of course, in our whole entire, let us say, religious functioning, is of essential importance. We know very well, and we see that practically every day, how often, for example, a wrong or a somehow distorted father concept

[74:26]

or let us say, farther complex, interferes, you know, as all the new psychology tells us, with our picture of God, with the idea of God, and therefore also affects the attitude, our attitude to God. Thank God I never suffered from that. Because my father was simply goodness itself, you know. I think he once gave me a thrashing, and that was for something, and I brought back a very bad, extremely bad, notes, you know, marks from school, but that's the only time he ever lost his patience. So my mother made some attempts, you know, but she always referred to my father, but my father then in decisive moments always broke down. So I was swimming happily along.

[75:28]

And maybe that prevented me from getting any complexes. So in that way, you see, there is, you know, sometimes, there is that. I think the modern father is, the modern, let us say, American father is not apt, you know, to inject many complexes, you know, into the hearts of his sons. But maybe a stricter age has done so. I don't know. Anyhow, it's a fact. One of our most basic attempts and basic things in the monastic life is the establishing of a relationship between the soul and God, the Father, the Father of the New Testament, That Father who is to us, you know, just this morning in the Mass that we are going to celebrate now, we can see that so beautifully it is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[76:36]

At that time Jesus spoke and said, I praise Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent. and didst reveal them to the little ones. Yes, father, for such was thy good pleasure. All things have been delivered to me by my father." and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and Him to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." That is our new, see, that's the Magna Carta of our relations to the Father. And that is, of course, also the basic things in preparing and developing our life of prayer is the deepening of our, say, the concept of God as the Father, which is the Father as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[77:47]

And then, of course, together with that is the other one in the New Testament, you know. So, the new concept of God the Father, and that means the Father of the Son, and the son-made man, that means absolutely God for us, what the Old Testament calls Emmanuel, God for us. This God for us, then, and God for me, really and truly, again on the level of the hypostatic union, the specific reality Into Him we are planted, Into the Son of God made man. so that we are, in our relation, New Testament relation to our Father, we are, as Master Eckhart always used to say, thorns in the sun.

[78:51]

Thorns in the sun. Now I think that's such a beautiful formula, which really refers, that is our situation, thorns in the sun. Now, as soon as we realize that, that our incorporation into the Son of God made man, that as sons in the Son we are related to the Father, then we also immediately realize that our Christian prayer is essentially addressed to our Father who art in heaven. There are many explanations for the Our Father, and there is a great emphasis being put on the Father concept there. But I think it's also necessary to put emphasis on the Our Father, as, for example, Saint Cyprian has done it in his beautiful explanation of the Our Father. So it's Our Father. Our Father means, not for us, in the New Testament,

[79:57]

Our attitude and our approach to prayer must be basically, and always, a community approach. One can say a family approach. With the New Testament, we enter into the family of atmosphere, from the people to the house, as we said before. And there we are, therefore, what is, you know, We always say that, you know, that the essence of the New Testament prayer is, it is directed in the Holy Spirit, through Christ, to the Father. Now in this, if we take that, you know, really seriously, and we translate it into the reality of our daily life, then we learn what does it mean in the Holy Spirit. Where is the Holy Spirit? It's in this unity among the brethren, the unity of the family.

[81:00]

And in this, therefore, before we really, let us say, in the Eastern Church, is even more clear than in the Western Church. In the Western Church, we give the kiss of peace before approaching Holy Communion. And there, in the typical, let us say, Western way, you know, the kiss of peace has the function of a kind of mutual absolution. The old teaching, which of course is also Old Testament, you know, that absolution is always in two directions, that is, between God and me, and of course also on the horizontal. For all those in which I have offended my brethren, I cannot simply ask God, forgive me for offending my brethren. but I have to ask my brethren for forgiving me that I have offended them. Therefore, they are the pax, you know, as this one can say, this second dimension of any absolution, that peace given right and left on the horizontal to those who are with me.

[82:10]

And then in the O, in the Oriental liturgies, of course, it's given before the people, the gifts of the people are being brought to the altar. There it is done in this way that these gifts are brought and can be brought to God only and can be pleasing to God only if they are brought there in the Holy Spirit, in the unity of the Spirit. And therefore, the case of peace, before one goes to the altar, before you go to the altar and you remember your brother had something against you, go and make peace with your brother, so that then your offering is really a spiritual offering in the unity of the family. That is where the spirit resides, that is where the spirit manifests itself. in that mutual unity and forgiveness. And in that way, then, we go to the altar, and that is then the second step of our prayer, and that is through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[83:20]

And He, represented to us in the altar. And there it is per ipsum, et cum ipsum, et in ipsum. It's through him, and with him, and in him. And that too should be in our prayer, should be very, very clear and become very conscious to us. Per ipsum. That means through his sacrifice for us, through his shedding his blood for us, through him as the mediator, through him who has become sin for us, as St. Paul says. Through him. With him, with him as our brother, with him in the atmosphere of the Covenant. I don't call you servants, I call you friends. With him. And in him, incorporated into him, reborn really into him.

[84:22]

In him. Then, in that way, we go the risen Savior. And in that way, we go and we pierce as it were, go through the veil and go into the sanctuary and we approach the throne of mercy, our Heavenly Father. So in that way, the New Testament really, as you can see that right away, in its own way repeats, you know, the teachings of the Old Testament. But in its own way, and again in a different way, there is the tefillah, you see, per Christum. There is also the in the spirit, you know, and in the enthusiasm of the spirit. in the community of the brethren. For us, you know, this, our prayer, you know, is of course very much, it is, in one way, it is prepared and we are disposed by, through the fraternal, through the brotherliness that we have, you know, towards one another in the Holy Spirit,

[85:37]

And then it is that, weising per ipsum com ipsu et in, in ipsu, that means in the present saviour, he is the one in whom we are, he is our head, and there naturally, too, is for us, just that I may touch upon it, The great importance for us as monks is virginity. Virginity is one of the dispositions, let us say, a basis for our prayer. Because what is virginity for us? It's not only a renouncement, but it is a fulfillment. The fulfillment in this way that we are children of the resurrection, that we are in the risen Savior, and as virgins in the risen Savior in this, let us say, eschatological, last and definite way. taken out of the generations of history and incorporated in him, and therefore tasting already, as St.

[86:46]

Paul says, the sweetness of the new age. And as virgins, we sing the canticle, the new canticle. following the Lamb wherever it goes. So that then, just through that, our prayer rises, let us say, above the level of the Old Testament, let us say that covenant level. Into that what can be, we can only characterize and indicate with the words of the wedding feast of the Lamb. Let us pray. O God, who has made all of those who are born again in Christ a royal and a priestly race, give us the will and the power to do what you command, that your people, being called unto eternity, may have one faith in their hearts and one law in their lives, through Christ our Lord.

[87:57]

Dear brothers and sisters, dear fathers and brothers, this morning we spoke about the obedience of faith, the inner, the heart of that aspect of the monastic life which is devoted to that to the contemplation, to the putting together of the two Templar, the will of God and the will of man. We are certainly so often, this question leaves us and exposes us to many doubts and to many conflicts. And what I wanted to just to indicate is just to see the inner, the heart of obedience as this act of faith and which is well let us call it the obediencia fidei where therefore which corresponds in its own very nature to the object of this faith

[89:16]

And the object of the faith is not a teacher, and it is not a prophet, but it is the Word of God, the Son of God Himself, made man who died for us and rose for us in the power of the Spirit of Holiness. This act naturally a grace. God works and gives us this grace. But this act of faith has a specific, unrepeatable, incomparable inner reality. It is the moment of our inner rebirth. And therefore it is necessary that throughout our daily life we constantly return into this depth. Monasticism, of course, carries, let us say, its justification also in this, that it is concentrated on the systematic, systematic, one can say professional custody of the heart, as we usually call it in monastic tradition, the custodia cordis.

[90:42]

monasticism starts deliberately from within and concentrates on the puritas cordis brought about, protected, deepened by the custodia cordis so I think, and then of course it's also the meaning of our contemplative life it is in the stage of the beginner for which the rule of Saint Benedict is written. In this stage it is not only the keeping out of distractions, but it is the developing of this inner power, of this inner virtue, virtus, which through the act of faith, lives in our souls, Christ who died for us, Christ who rose for us, and as such opened to us the access to the Father, and in this way gave us, reconciled us, and gave us peace with the Father, called us into the kingdom of the sons of His agape, of His charity.

[92:09]

That is the inner, the monastic life, not without reason, as you know very well that Saint Benedict's basic idea of his rule was in the tradition and condensed in the word Pax, the word Peace. And that is really, that is the heart of our monastic life. We don't, as we have seen that before, and we all agree on that. The monastic life is not something that serves as a means for something else, but it is a way, has its value as a way of life. But what is the last purpose of this way of life is to establish the heart of the monk in peace.

[93:14]

And that is, of course, for the monk that is a matter not of improvisation. And that's a matter not of, you know, to be tackled in a kind of haphazard way. But the monastic life is the art of the spiritual life. That means the art of living in peace. And let us this evening, just in a short way, you know, And I would like, you know, just to give you some ideas concerning the Scola de Custodia Cordis and the deepening and preservation of the peace of Christ in our hearts. That is the monks' business.

[94:19]

He does not live his life to compete in the efficiency of all kinds of cultural aspects or intellectual things. He is not there to be a teacher. He is the homo pacis, the man of peace. But of course we realize also at the same time that very often and constantly, in fact every day, we lose this peace. It depends on our, so much depends on our temperament. Somebody might be by nature irascible. And the slightest provocation makes him lose his peace. Somebody else might be timid. At the slightest provocation, he's frightened still, loses his peace.

[95:24]

He is bothered by many various anxieties and things. So all kinds. Then there are the injustices that one has to put up with. There are the opprobria. There are the tasks, you know, that are demanded of us. All kinds of things. Even the face of our neighbor and his expression may sometimes make us lose our peace. sometimes even the way he catches or doesn't catch the right tone, you know, in singing. I'm sure that I have been the occasion for much loss of peace in that way, because of my monastic life. So, all things, especially things that we do and that we are supposed to do as a group, you know. There is always the great danger. There's Father So-and-so, Brother So-and-so, and he has this little idiosyncrasy and so on, and constantly maybe a cause of provocation, you see, or other things in the monastic life, constantly.

[96:42]

And since we are kind of protected or cut off, from the bigger things, from things that really would be a challenge, or would really take possession of our imagination, of course we are become sensitive to every little thing. Every door that is a little, even now, Mind you, they're banked quite a lot these last days, but it's one of the fruits of functional obedience, you know, that is now in peace. But I mean, there are many of those things, and as I say, In the monastery there is this, let's say, the contemplative idea may lead, you know, many people to become very sensitive, too much concerned about their health, too much concerned about this little thing and that little thing that is not quite in order, and so there are constant occasions for losing our peace.

[97:52]

The question is, of course, that, first of all, all these occasions of losing our peace are not put before us simply by God as snares, you know, and he, the hunter, and then would kind of laugh is again caught, you know, in it or something like that. But they are material. They are material for our spiritual growth. They are material for the deepening of our peace. The more the surface ripples disturb us, The more dangerous it is to focus our attention on them, but go deeper, see them then in their relative unimportance, and in that way concentrate on the unum necessarium. I say that's even in a monastery sometimes very difficult, and there are dangers to it.

[98:59]

Now, how do we proceed? in this whole question. And it seems to me that, of course, again, you know, the occasions for losing one's peace may also be questions of mood, may be questions of conscience. all kinds of things. The first I would say, you know, that as a general rule, and it's at least the thing that I always try in our community at Mount Saviour, you know, we are as you know, not supported by a strong tradition, by a well-defined, in that way, set up, so to speak, framework. And I've always said to all the monks there that this is simply part of God's providence with us here in the beginning. can't expect anything else, that is simply what we consider as our aspect of our specific situation, of our core, and therefore we have to meet it in a positive way.

[100:16]

How do we meet it? We meet it in this way, that we try to build up in every individual, let us say an inner order, let us say a cloister. You see, we don't know what will be ahead of us in the years to come. I think every superior who in these years receives somebody as a novice or professes for a profession will ask himself, what will this novice see in the course of his monastic life, and in what circumstances will he end? Maybe, you know, the whole world is extremely wobbly. If we can continue, for example, and how long we may be able to continue our monastic life in the framework as it is set up for us, ready-made, you know, when we enter the monastery,

[101:26]

That we don't know. We have to look forward to the possibility, seriously, that we may not be able to continue the monastic life, as I say, in this setup, which now, of course, the grace of God has prepared for us. But we should look forward to it, and we should remember that our monastic vocation as such cannot simply break down with the breakdown of the material setup in which we are. We should not, in the formation of monks, simply and only consider or train people who are only able to exist, you know, in a well-ordered, this kind of precisely setup. We should give them something that is deeper and that would carry them out of their inner, the inner strength and abundance of the grace of the heart.

[102:39]

So when maybe circumstances would lead to the loss of this setup, we don't know. And therefore, I've always said, now let us use the time now. that we are, first of all, not yet, you know, with our traditions and customs, you know, not yet settled, not yet all on paper. And on the other hand, we don't know what is our future. Let us make the best of the situation. Let us concentrate on the inner, the form, custodia cordis, formation of the heart. Because we know very well that the value of our monastic life, of course, depends on what is going on in our heart. Because God does not look at the face and the externals, but God looks at the heart of man.

[103:43]

So then, I think the deepest in the heart of man, in the Christian, is always his faith, essentially faith in Christ's love for me, in God's love for me. So if, for example, I am faced with this fact, that for some reason or another I have lost my peace, the peace of Christ, I am furious at somebody, what do I do? The first thing is, to me, without, because there are, you know, there are two possibilities. One possibility is that I, or three maybe, maybe still more, there is one possibility, you know, that I get furious over my getting furious.

[104:45]

And then, of course, the fury increases, you know, and the peace moves further away. Or I go and I think why I can't get out of this fury before the object of my fury is removed or corrected. Or there is the other way, and that's what I would say is simply the logical application of the things that we know about the act of faith and the obedience of faith. And that is to put the things out of my hands, to leave them there where they are. Not to get more furious about my fury, saying, ah, now I'm again, you know, got so furious.

[105:46]

Again, you know, my temper, you see, ran away with me. Ah, and it has done that so often. And my whole life is just a history of losing my temper, you know. And it seems it's going on all the time. Turning it around and turning it around, you know, and get more and more. Ah, you know, the monastic life is not my salvation either, you see. So in that way, you know, it accumulates, the thing accumulates. Why? Because we stare at it. You know, it's like the child, if it had, you know, a nice doll and the doll was fell down and the head broke off and, oh, misery. And the child, of course, just constantly looks at the broken doll, you know, and just is lost in the loss.

[106:48]

And the more the child sees it, the more, you know, again, the misery piles up, you know. So tears run in every direction, you see, and so great, you know, outbreak of crying, you know, so. But that is not, you see, that is, that's a danger. The thing is, you know, that first of all we should always consider and always be sure of that the first reactions, the first automatic reactions of our nature, to some kind of irritation that comes from the outside, to some challenge that comes from the outside, the first automatic reaction of my nature, we call the motus primo primi, something like that, something more German, can't go into that, leave that to reference. That is not, you see, that is a thing which is material,

[107:53]

for something, for a reaction which now has to be done beyond the automatism, the automatic reaction of my nature. and which has to be done in then the power of faith, in the grace. That is the inner opening of these inner resources of the spring, you know, that I have in myself. And what is that? That is, of course, God's love for me in Christ Jesus. in the power of the Holy Spirit, that inner assurance of my baptism, that is what we call sanctifying grace, this thing that is habitual, habitual thing in me, therefore is deeper than the ripples on the surface, to go down into this depth,

[108:59]

Do say, for example, if I find myself again irritated by something, and everybody has these idiosyncrasies, you know, and therefore gets irritated in these fields. And then all others suffer from it, including syncreses. And you see, to go then into the peace of Christ, not to attack either this kind of interference or disturbance immediately with a frontal attack, trying, let us say, with one's willpower to kind of counteract it or suppress it or something. No. Turn to the one who is the source of all our life and all our power and all our peace, and that's Christ, Christ himself, as he dwells in us. St. Paul says that so beautifully, we feed you through faith dwells in our hearts.

[110:09]

In other words, if I realize that I fell out the window And I found myself outside the house. I simply have to get along, you know, the wall, until I find the door. And I have to enter through this door, and there is no other door but Christ Jesus. And therefore, to Him I go, and Him I remember, in His love for me, in His dwelling for me. And therefore, what do I say then, when I in this way meet him? I say that, how can looking at myself and looking at my misery, How, what else could I expect but this kind of, let us call it, mean reaction, automatic mean reaction of my fallen nature?

[111:12]

I can't expect anything else. You see, many, many times, you know, the reaction to losing one's peace is dictated also, can easily be dictated by a kind of of hurt pride, we have to interiorly relax. We have to learn how to accept ourselves and how to accept ourselves the way we are in this state of fallen nature. That is what we call humility. That is what we call realistic attitude. It's really to get accustomed to our truth, if we may call that the truth. But then, of course, have our records in thee to the Lord our Savior and his love for me. Because so often we are going in the other direction, you know, and that is what I have against the ascending school, you know.

[112:20]

Always, you know, it's that kind of thing you have to, through your own will, you have to get there. You can't get there through your own will. The first thing is that we should dive, as it were, that we allow our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, to be reborn in the creative power of His Holy Spirit, and that means His love for me. And that is for us the constant, you know, that is our haven in all the perplexities. You know, for example, if somebody commits a sin, then he doesn't know, especially, and this sin, for example, is in the field of the Six Commandments. There's always the things of the body and then the things of the will and how far is, how free is the will in the things of the body and all this kind of thing, you see.

[113:23]

If we realize that through some kind of deed that is either doubtful or if we have lost our peace, If our conscience is disturbed, then the first thing for us to do is, Lord, I can't restore, I can't go back to the Lord, I can't get back to him, I can't present myself to him before I have absolutely, I'm clear, of what is a venial sin, of what is a mortal sin, and this mortal sin, all first I have to go to confession, and then I have to go and do my penance and then perhaps I can go to the Lord. It seems to me that the first reaction to the very realization that I have lost my peace, the first reaction is

[114:26]

right away to go to the one who I know loves me and has taken me on, wants to carry me on his shoulders, has poured out his blood when I was still his enemy. So if I turn to him, in whatever shape I may be, let us say objectively, And the moment I turn to him, he takes me on. He waits for that. It's like the child, you know, that falls on the street and then hurts his knee. His knee starts bleeding. It's painful, and the child starts crying. What does the child do? It runs to the mother. And then the mother takes the child and then puts it, you know, on his lap and then said, now little Lizzie, you know. Let's look, you know, is it really so bad?

[115:36]

I don't think so. Mother can easily take care of them and then the child, you know, still, of course, he is still around and all that thing. But still already, you know, being a mother, it's terrible. Already, you know, she in that way gets, you know, feels the peace because it is taken on, you see. Immediately things and the outside world lose their threatening face, you know. And it all starts a little smiling again. And then the mother says, now you look, you know, and maybe we just wash it a little, you see. And then you see the blood, yes, but it's all outside, it's just... And then, oh yes, it's just a little thing, you see, and then that way. That's also for us, you know. For example, I would say in the whole question of examination of conscience,

[116:41]

I would always say, the examination of conscience should take place in the peace of Christ, not outside the peace of Christ. That means we should examine our conscience in the light of Christ's law for us. But we should not figure ourselves, you know, as prisoners of our guilt somewhere in an isolated isolation cell, you know, all left to ourselves. Who is there at the moment? It's usually then the devil, see? If we try to, we think, you know, now we have to, really we have to, I have to go, I have to get, you know, to the bottom of this thing. Now, how is it, you know? And then we ask ourselves, you know, now how far did our consensus go? And all this kind of thing. Instead of then, the devil is apt, you know, to come and try

[117:46]

to make us see ourselves in his light, you see. That means in the light of the accuser. That means in the light of the enemy. And we know very well that the eyes of the enemy can be very sharp. And they can discover, you see, until the enemy is morally killed. So that we should not, we should not look at ourselves, for example, many people I mean, they come to the point, you know, and into moments, you know, for example, of depression. And they ask themselves, you know, do I really love God? Famous question. Do I really love God? Do I really love God? All kinds of things. I think I always love myself, you know, I always love myself. Do I really love God or do I live in illusions?

[118:49]

See, that's the dearest, the accuser. The light of Christ, you know, This gold source of consolation, that tremendous source of certainty, of light and of joy, all that is excluded. We have the feeling we are not worthy to be in that light. And then the accuser turns on his spotlight. And there's that psychoanalytic spotlight. And that, you know, goes, you know, into where the bone and the mark, you know, meet. Or is it the marrow? To the marrow of the bone. That's mark in German. And that's very dangerous, you know. In a case like that, we should look at ourselves in the peace of Christ. That means know that we are at the moment in which eternal, we are accepted by him as his children.

[119:55]

But of course that does not dispense us, you know, from really looking also at the reality of, let's say, of our sin. Of course not. Doesn't dispense us also from accusing ourselves doesn't dispense us also from doing penance. All that naturally remains, the charity of God in Christ, does not play havoc with justice. That is simply not a spiritual charity. That's a kind of coddling, you see, a kind of of monkey love, you know, as they call it. That is not the case, you know. We are here confronted with God's love for us in Jesus Christ, but we keep it. He has loved us first, and he has loved us when we were his enemies. He died for us when we were his enemies, and this is now the situation, and this is the light of my faith

[121:00]

in this moment and in this light I also look at myself. So therefore in these various ways, you know, let us always keep that in mind. Let us go, let us make it a practice. Of course there are many various ways in which we can do it. We realize that very well also on the level of nature. It's absolutely clear that if somebody, you know, is in what we call in the terms, you know, of this school of peace, what we call an invalid moment, you know, invalid moment when the light of Christ has kind of disappeared, you know, we don't see it anymore. Of course, the first thing that one always says to oneself, I don't see it anymore. But of course, that doesn't mean that it is not there anymore. They are two different things.

[122:02]

If I, let us say, if I go to sleep somewhere in Tuscany, San Gimignano or so, then the night comes down and then I don't see it anymore. In the middle of the night, I wake up. Everything is dark. But then, just a little moment, remember where you are. Oh, yes, San Gimignano, Siena. Oh, that's fine. The sun will come up, and I see it all again. And for us, of course, where are we? See, when the lights go out, we are Holy Mother Church is there. That's our Toscana. The monastery is there, or Tuscana. And it will, the next morning, the lights will go on again, and I shall see it again. So in this way, in all these various ways in which we can lose the peace of Christ, when the lights may go out, they don't see it anymore, always

[123:12]

turn on, dive into that light of faith, you know, that is simply kindled through baptism in our hearts. And every time that darkness settles over us, you know, just always remember that the real object of our faith is that what the deacon cries out at the Easter night when the whole church is dark, you know, and then he goes with that burning candle and he says, light of Christ, and all answer, thanks be to God. Shepherd who does not sleep, keep watch and ward over your flock of souls. And let it be not disturbed by terrors of the night, sanctified by the unseen touch of your hand. Make the frail starboard, lift up the contrite, make the weak strong, rise up by piety, build up by charity, purify by chastity, illuminate by wisdom, save by pity, O Christ our Lord.

[124:27]

Now, we started yesterday, you know, I quoted this word which in some way gives a good synthesis, you know, takes the whole thing together and fits in a way, well, I think in the general context of contemplation, the way we try to tackle it here in the course of this retreat, And it was, make your body the throne of your life, soul, the whole. Make your life the throne of your mind. Make the mind the throne of your heart, and make your heart the throne of God's glory. and then in some ways it beautifully sums up really the life of the contemplative in its totality.

[125:34]

Now today we wanted still, and I just had taken that yesterday afternoon as a kind of digression, so to speak, but still a part of the whole I wanted really to get at this, seems to me so central, the concept of the obedience of faith. I thought we could do it in this way. I had already referred the other day to the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke, and maybe we just read it again. Our Lord comes to the synagogue, and they give him the scroll of Isaiah the prophet, and then he reads from it, and there are these words, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. because he has anointed me, to bring good news to the poor he has sent me, to proclaim to captives' release sight to the blind, to set at liberty the oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of recompense.

[127:00]

Isaiah 61. So these words, as you immediately recognize, give us a whole series of keywords for designating and expressing the specific spirit and the situation of the Messianic Age. which then, as our Lord said in explaining it, today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. There is the idea, of course, the central concept of the Spirit of the Lord. the presence of the curious among his people in his spirit. He has anointed me, the Messiah, the spirit as the oil, the inner substantial union, the substantial anointing of Christ, the Son of God made man, of the Messiah Jesus, to bring good news, the Evangelion, to the poor,

[128:13]

He has sent me to proclaim the captives' release, sight to the blind, light for those who sit in darkness, to set at liberty the oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the annus Domini. and the day of recompense, the judgment, eschatological perspective. And today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. That is the New Testament messianic today. So this terminology determines, actually, the whole proclamation of the gospel, especially as we find it then later in St. Paul. And maybe we could start this little explanation in referring to the first chapter, the beginning, in fact, the first verse of St.

[129:19]

Paul's epistle to the Romans. where you will immediately recognize this whole terminology ad verbum repeated. It's an important moment for St. Paul when he addresses the church in Rome. He warns, as everybody knows that, when we are introduced to somebody we are eager to put forth our best foot, so to speak. and to kind of introduce ourselves, as I say, in our authenticity, to reach the other, to accomplish or contribute to the possibility at least of a fruitful and good encounter, established contact. So here Paul does it in this very important addressing, I say, the Church of Rome, which he was looking forward to meet them.

[130:24]

And he turns to them and he writes in this way, and it immediately gives you the feeling of what the gospel, what the word is. and therefore also then leads us into the inner nature of the act of faith. And then, of course, to the obedienceia fidei, the obedience of the faith. Just let us listen to this and see how we get along. Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ. Now, in the Greek text, I think it's the other way around. The servant of Christ Jesus, the Christos, the Anointed One Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he had promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

[131:31]

concerning his son, who was born to him according to the flesh of the offspring of David, who was foreordained, how we stand to understand that difficult word, defined, you know, manifested, the Son of David, Son of God, by an act of power and through the holiness of His Spirit, by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about obedience of faith among all the nations, For his name's sake, a wonderful, beautiful introduction of this grand, grandiose letter, the manifestation of the Christian faith.

[132:34]

So Paul stervus Christi Jesus, a servant, a slave. That, of course, essentially a Christian can do that only in relation to God. There he is stervus. So that this inner, the use, I think, of this term on the part of St. Paul already is the manifestation and proclamation of his creed into the very nature of this Christus, this Christ Jesus, his Anointed One, the Son of God made man. True God and true man, servant, therefore, because here the divine reality, the divine person, enters into the seed, becomes present And what is our reaction to it? Paul is servus, servant. In that way, not only prophet, servant, because that takes in his entire being.

[133:45]

That is the expression of his own personal, complete obedience. A subjection, but of course a subjection in law, because it is subjection not to man, not to a human creature, not to a human teacher, impossible for a Christian, but to the Son of God made man, the Anointed One, the Christus Jesus. And Jesus, therefore the Savior, to this the servant of Christ the Savior, in itself already immediately the clearest expression of His absolute obedience to God the Savior, Jarvis saves, and therefore a loving obedience. Therefore, a slavery, it is not the subjection to violence, but a saving status, servus Jesu Christi, the servant, the slave of Christ Jesus, vocatus apostolus, called apostolus, the one who is sent, segregatus, separated, set aside,

[135:08]

In the word, of course, immediately for us, you know, we hear in our ears, aphoris menos, we hear the word phariseus, you know, the pharisee. But pharisee in the deeper sense now for Paul, who is converted, who is now a pharisee in the new and full sense of the word. set aside, for what? For the service of the Holy One in Evangelium Dei, for the gospel of God. Not a gospel, therefore, of good tidings, which simply and only treat about God in a philosophical way, or give new, simply, insight, let us say, in God. But God's gospel, that means the gospel that we can say God is, is a genitivus subjectivus,

[136:16]

And actually there immediately we have this completely new world of the Divine Presence. This is not a thing which leaves us simply theoretically interested. It is not an object for our curiosity, but it is a word, good tidings, which are addressed to us and which come and are the immediate authentic expression handed over to us by a means, by an instrument that proclaims itself servant of Jesus Christ, and therefore authentically handing over of that, the acting, saving, divine presence. In this way, therefore, St. Paul introduces himself by telling the Romans who he is and, naturally, then what they have to expect of him.

[137:22]

And we can see that his entire effort and attention is directed to this one thing, that they realize what he has to say is something completely different from anything that had ever been said before. This is a new thing, this is the beginning. Today these scriptures have been fulfilled in your ears. It is the gospel that fills and is the heart and the light of a new age, the messianic age, of which Paul is fidelis servus, the obedient servant. And what is this word, this gospel, which is announced there in the name of Jesus, Yahweh saves, is in itself a saving message, a healing message. Therefore, what does it mean? Good news. Good news in this way can only come out of the goodness of God.

[138:28]

Good news are simply the manifestation of grace, the manifestation of mercy, and in that way, and only in this way, the announcing of liberty. Therefore, the restoration of sight to the blind. Therefore, such a message, such a gospel, is directed to the poor. And therefore the one who announces this gospel is saint. He is apostolos. He is called. He doesn't go there out of his own initiative. He is therefore not an agent of any kind of a revolution in that way, I mean in a political sense. But he is his whole entire action, acting, saying, Speaking is directed and comes derived from the heart of God, we can say, through Jesus Christ.

[139:30]

Therefore called by Jesus Christ as the Messiah and set aside to announce this, not the, one can say, the commanding, for that matter, than condemning word of the law, but this saving message which reveals the presence, the acting presence of God's saving will, the Evangelium Dei, God's tiding. that have come in him and which are the fulfillment of something that has been promised by God, and therefore is an expression of his truth, of his fidelity. In the name of Yahweh I am who I shall be. Christ, here we hold you, and the same also in the future and through all ages, the fulfillment of a promise.

[140:41]

And this fulfillment of the promise through his prophets, who is this? One of these prophets is Isaiah, and it is certainly the 61st chapter of Isaiah, which probably also in this moment was, when he formulated this introduction to his letter very well might have been in the mind of St. Paul in formulating it. And in the scriptures, because the scriptures, one can say, put this promise black on white. Through the scriptures this promise becomes a public covenant. Through the Scriptures, this promise is a pact between God and His chosen people, a public thing." So, in that way, the gospel, St. Paul then continues in explaining concerning his son, who was born

[141:52]

to him according to the flesh of the offspring of David. In the third book of Kings, you know, the house of David, the son is introduced into the scripture. And here it is therefore concerning his son, born to him according to the flesh of the offspring of David, the house of David, who was then proclaimed, manifested, In as Christ Jesus, that means as the Word of God made flesh, and means in this, in his body, this unity of divine and human nature, the one purpose, in the one person, was manifested, Son of God, by an act of power. through the spirit of holiness, not the spirit of sanctification, the spirit of holiness.

[143:00]

Again, to indicate that the resurrection is the manifestation to the world of the inner divine character of the Christ as the Son of God. It's the yes and amen. This is my beloved Son. in whom I am well pleased. By the resurrection from the dead, Christ is the firstborn of many creatures, of many brethren, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received the grace of apostleship to bring about obedience of faith. Therefore, the authority of St. Paul, the divine authenticity of St. Paul, he manifests it, he emphasizes it. For what purpose? To bring about the obedience of faith. And this obedience of faith is naturally obedience to this gospel, to the Son of God, made man, born Son of David, born out of the house of David, and

[144:16]

through the spirit of sanctity manifested Son of God to the entire world in the resurrection as the firstborn in a common general resurrection of the dead. And this is therefore the gospel for which St. Paul pleads, you know, obedience. Obedience has to back away, because always in the Greek language, also in the Latin language, the association with hearing, the hearing. Today the Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. But of course, and faith is the fruit of hearing, but of a hearing which is and which stems from the one who preaches. And the preacher, who is it but the one who is sent? So therefore, faith is, because it is divine faith, because it is not an expression of human aspirations, it is not a human program, this gospel of God, but it is God's work and God's action.

[145:33]

And therefore also the obediencia fidei is in itself, again, a divinely worked grace in the hearts of those who receive his message. And therefore St. Paul continues and immediately says, bring about the obedience to faith, among all the nations, because this is beyond the law, this is now the resurrection, is the beginning of the messianic age, and that means it is a cosmic, it's a universal element. The resurrection of the dead, a universal cosmic event and completion towards which this new gospel of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as the firstborn of a new race appoints, and then, for his name's sake, among whom you, Romans, are also called to be Jesus Christ's.

[146:41]

Therefore, their faith in itself, too, is a work of God's grace in their hearts. Now, if we consider this word, let us just remain with it for a while, the obedientia fide, obedience of faith, because what we would like, you know, to find out, to see clearly, is the true nature of the act, the act of faith. Because we speak, and you know very well, we could not live the monastic life without faith. The monastic life is a constant act of faith. Without that, the monastic life would be simply ridiculous. It would be a farce. It would absolutely have no in itself, no, let us say, saving power whatsoever. It would really be a life, a way of life which would lead, you know, natural man who does not have this dimension, this act of faith, into either losing completely his personal identity, really.

[147:58]

But here is a new dimension opened, and there is faith. Though if we say, and we say that so often, and we say it especially in the whole matter of obedience, Obedience is, and that is clearly expressed in the rule of St. Benedict, is an act of faith, because the abbot is believed to be the vicar, the representative of Christ in the monastery. Therefore it is of such vital importance, really, that we realize and as we dive into the very nature of the act of faith because that is sometimes blocked to us as all concepts which are constantly upon our lips and again you know of course the monastic life there presents a certain danger you know that one speaks all the time about faith and one has to receive that in faith

[149:03]

and in some way maybe the ears and maybe also the minds get a little numb. It's the same thing with charity, you know, too. It can become, because it's constantly repeated, it can become a coin which kind of by used up too much loses all its contours and loses all its shape and therefore makes no impression anymore. And therefore I think also that the time of a retreat is in that way the acceptable time to realize that today this scripture has been fulfilled in our hearing through the act of faith. This act of faith, therefore, if we consider its object, that is for sure, that if St. Paul, as believer, proclaims himself to be the servant of Christ Jesus. Now, that is, first of all, he is servant, slave of Christ Jesus through the act of faith.

[150:11]

Therefore, if the act of faith is and makes him a slave of Jesus Christ, this act must have in itself a comprehensive nature. It cannot, therefore, be simply and only an act of the intellect, and an act, you know, through which I would recognize something, some facts, again, about God. It must be something more total, more comprehensive. And that, seems to me, is expressed just in this combination, the obedience of faith. One can also say the faith that is obedience, or the obedience that is faith. Both here. One thing is true, that these two concepts are interlocked. And they are interlocked how? In a way which is analogous or which corresponds to the very object of faith. And in the value object of faith, what do we find?

[151:14]

We find interlocked, first of all, the Son of God and the Son of David. interlocked the Word of God made flesh, we find interlocked thereto, then, the proclamation in the spirit of sanctity of the Holy Spirit of the risen Savior, of the resurrection. So it is there, here, His mortal body, the Son of David, and He died, and the resurrection, the glory of the resurrection, There is in this whole concept immediately included, and let us say, in the object of our faith, therefore, the divine reality and the human reality, and I say the full divine reality and the full human reality.

[152:15]

in the mystery of the incarnation, the death, and the resurrection. So the Pascha, the transitus, through the sufferings of the flesh of sin, into the glory of the resurrection, where Christ, the risen Christ, with divinity and humanity, is fully, completely Son of God, born in the Easter night, that this object of our faith, therefore, reflects and, one can say, creates the very nature of our act of faith. And because we see the parallel, we see right away how important it is that in the very concept of obedience of faith, these two things, faith and obedience, again are interlocked. In that way, one can say that intellect and will are united into one unit, which corresponds, on the other side, to the all-embracing power of the object, the risen Saviour, who is the object of this faith.

[153:37]

is also so, that this concept of faith, in which we, as slaves, completely, but in love and in joy, surrender to Jesus, to God, who is our Savior, in Him and through Him, this act of faith, this obedience of our will in which we are slaves, but at the same time this surrender is a loving surrender. It is therefore not a servile fear that in any way through faith could dominate us. But if the object of our faith is this communication—ontological, essential, self-communication—of the Father's heart, who sends His salt to become a propitiation for our sins, Then our faith is the answer and the jubilant answer, the yes and amen to the Father's infinite, absolute agape, His selfless love for us.

[154:52]

And therefore, our obedience is not in that way an act of slavery. It is not, therefore, that we are as sons or children of obedience, as Saint Peter calls us, children of obedience. Not that we are slaves, deprived of our liberty. We receive our liberty. The act of faith is in that way an act of liberty, because in this act we become, as St. Paul so beautifully later on expresses it, in this act of faith we become sons of God. We are sons of God. And then we should always remember that this act of faith, in the whole language of Holy Scripture, as I try to express here, is, of course, is not a thing which is, let us say, in our power, which we have, let us say, any kind of

[156:01]

of possibility of mobilizing it, you know, or producing it. Sometimes we have and get a little this feeling maybe that the act of obedience and the obedience of faith and also especially the act of faith would have, yes, you must believe, you know, and if things don't work out, you must believe harder. It's something like, you know, it's also that we have so often in the act of prayer, you see, where we say, you know, yes, oh yes, yes, I realize what you are up against. I'll pray hard for you. Sometimes one asks oneself, what is this hard prayer, you see? What makes this prayer hard? And so also in the act of faith, you know, also in our monastic life, you know.

[157:08]

Monastery, yes, is the act of faith, it is. Is it in that way or does it have the character, let us say, of what St. Paul would call a work? Is it a work? No, it is. It is the receiving of a call. It's what we call a vocation. It is, therefore, also as the character of a gift. Therefore, how can this act of faith, let us say, develop or, let us say, deepen in us? Is it essentially simply an opening, an inner opening? That, let us say, that is an integral, essential part, you know, of this act of faith, an inner opening. And that is so often the case, you know, because the monastery is, I think, we all realize that, you know, it's a constant, let us say, I would be tempted to say it's a constant grind, you know.

[158:19]

It's that famous daily round, you know. There's the hours of prayer, there's the hours of work, there's this exercise, there's that exercise, you know, all kinds. And so it goes all day around, you know. Starts pretty early in the morning. A grind, you know, it has therefore. This kind of danger, of course, and that the monastic life, therefore, is seen, you know, as a thing which constantly, you see, has to be done by me. And that is, in some ways, it is a danger as long as we don't, and it can, this kind of thing, you know, this kind of monastic day, and all the various duties can get on one's nerves. Of course, they get on one's nerves the more one concentrates and kind of focuses on the personal effort.

[159:21]

One focuses on the personal effort, then the thing gets in some way heavier and heavier. And, for example, prayer becomes another burden. Prayer is presented also in the monastic life as pensum servitudis, as a certain measure, and one may add to a certain quantity of worship. 150 psalms a week, St. Benedict has in rule. That's about the minimum. Immediately the monk is presented with this kind of thing. Now, I have to at least, you know, give out 150 psalms a week, you know. And if I count them really, what I really do, it comes to about 220, you know. And I don't know why and how, but that's what we land up with, you see.

[160:23]

And then, of course, comes the reform. We have to bring it up to 250. Because in the whole thing of work, quantity is the thing. So all that is up to, not necessarily absolutely. We are in our depth. It's not the case. But it's up to because we are very often in our periphery. We are not in our depth. And then, you know, the quantity of the things, not only the quantity of fire, you know, but also the quantity of things to do, pile up, they pile up. And then comes in us that reaction. I've only had, you know, a little time, you know, just to string into silence, you know, before God. Here I am, just entranced, just to remain in that inner attitude. Now, that is, of course, there is

[161:26]

There is, one can say, the dawn, you know, of the act of faith, you know, which one, because the act of faith is not something, you know, we are not Christian scientists. The Christian scientists will say, you are sick? Oh, I believe, you know, that believe hard that you are not sick. That is a typical psychological gimmick, you know, but that is not our Christian faith, you know, like that. Our Christian faith is not, you know, wishful thinking and make that and load, you know, kind of load up that wishful thinking with everything you have, you know. And then it will work. That's not monastic faith. And anybody who does that in the monastery, he will have a nervous breakdown before he knows it, you see. So therefore it's on a different line, you know.

[162:28]

The act of faith is really, what is it? Let go, you know. Putting things into the hands of God, you know. It's sometimes like, you know, as if this universe and also our personal being is made up of many stories, you know. I've heard speaking about a seven-story mountain. Now let's say we are a seven story mountain, you know, and then what is it? Sometimes, you know, we have because these various stories, you know, are layers of our commitments, layers of engagement, you know, they are layers of obligations, you know, all this kind of thing. And what do we have to do? What is the act of it? just let ourselves kind of sink down, fall as it were. Faith is not to my mind this kind of thing where I give the horse of my efforts a new kind of slap, so to speak, with a whip.

[163:39]

That's not the act of faith. The act of faith is sinking down. and letting go, and being sure that if I land somewhere down in the bottom, as God's poor one, that there are the arms of the Father, and they carry me. That is that famous, again, behind this zero point. In some way, faith always involves that, this courage to first allow ourselves to sink into this zero point, but in that complete inner assurance that there is God's agape, his mercy, that love that doesn't stand there at the top of the mountain and, you know, with his finger outstretched says, you have to get up here, you know.

[164:50]

make the effort to get up here. No, who comes, you know, descends and takes that little lamb, you know, and carries it. That is our situation. And that's not laxity at all. That is simply an act, I would say, of real contemplation, where the little templum of our personal existence, you know, really is and contemplated with what? Of course, with the object of our faith, and that object of our faith is the Son of God made man. That means the Word of God made flesh. That means here in the likeness of our sinful flesh, He has been made thin for us. He is Himself descended into the netherworld.

[165:55]

And therefore the act of our faith is in the canon of the Mass. Therefore we are mindful, O Lord, of your life-giving passion, of your resurrection of inferies from the netherworld. Today sometimes one says, from the grave. Now, I mean, if one understands grave in that word, you know, in that sense, you know, netherworld, it's right, you see, there. But from the nether, of inferies, you know. from the lowest pit in fact like Abe Adam you know in the beautiful oriental pictures of the resurrection Christ you know descends the gates of hell are crashed by him and he takes Adam by his right hand and leads him up you know that is our faith

[167:00]

And therefore we can really, when we come to the realization of our limitations, and limitations, is it only limitations? When we arrive at the realization of our nothingness, That is, you know, the beautiful act of obedience of faith. It takes in, and it is a reflection, and it is the clear image, it's the other side of the seal that the Son of God made man has left in our heart through baptism, through that holy sealing. And therefore it is the concrete, you know, image of his God, divine nature, and his human nature, and of his death, and of his resurrection. Together, the two together, that is really the act of faith, and that is the obedience to faith.

[168:02]

And that is, my dear brothers, that is saving obedience. That is liberty. That is a liberation. That is an act of love. And that is an act of gratitude. In all things give thanks. And in that way, let us understand the obedience, you know, also concretely in the monastery and how it develops there in the same sense. Read the chapter of Saint Benedict, you know, on obedience. And you will see right away, you will see two things. I'll just indicate them. There are two things. One is, one can say, the saving obedience. That means in the encounter between the monk and his spiritual father, the father, the abbot. In this encounter, the obedience is two.

[169:04]

One is sine mora, without any delay. What is that? It is natural. The messianic age does not know delay. Does not know delay. The messianic age is as in, as our Lord said, you know, today the scripture is fulfilled in your ears. So it's today, no delay. Therefore we are what we call eschatological. We are in the last day. And to monk, first of all, The Christian in the world is bound up, you know, by the fact, you know, that he has to provide, you know, he is the head of a family, you know, he has to take care of wife and children, he has to look forward into the future, and by all that the Christian in the world is essentially a thread, you know, in this whole carpet, so to speak, of history.

[170:10]

And he is in there, embedded in it. Because the monk is that. That is a part of the meaning of the enclosure. That's the meaning of our virginity. That's because here we are, and what do we do? We don't face a new generation of children in which I live on, and they should of course have things a little better than I used to have. You know, always this kind of thing. Put one story on top of the other, you see. One generation on top of the other, you see. Until God comes and says, now let us go down and see what they are doing. So in that way, the act, our situation, you know, simply is that. What do we face? We face the day. The day. That's our attitude. That's the meaning of our virginity. There we are in this night, you know, and we keep our lamps burning because there he comes.

[171:19]

That's vigilante. to be awake. That is the attitude of the monk, and therefore, Sthinamora. Because here is the divine reality entering into my life, in this world. And therefore, I can't, you know, turn around. I told you I think before in Marie-Alain, I always spoke about the liturgical movement. This liturgical movement is, if in the morning you see it, when the brethren were being awakened, you know, one would turn to the other side. That is too much, you know, development. There is too much mora, you see. Scene mora, that's one thing. That's the element of time, you see. Which just, you know, through the obedience, so important, you know, because the monk always finds himself without time.

[172:23]

Then is this, the other thing, but I just touched on these things, and the other one is that, of course, this obedience then must be, again, an obedience of the heart. Not with murmuring, and not, you know, thinking, oh my gosh, you know, why didn't he tell it to the other fellow, you know, and so on. Why do I have to do this thing, you know, and all this thing? Or, you see, now, of course, yes, I will do that, you know, after all, I have a thick skin, and I can't, you know, it doesn't touch me, you know, and so on. No. All this kind of thing through which, you know, the heart kind of builds, you know, around itself, a kind of an armor, you know, not to be touched too much, you know, let us say, by the interference of obedience. No, it's this inner openness, you know, to go

[173:19]

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