What do you seek? Rise in the name of the Lord. Dear brother Francis, I hope this morning will stay in your memory as the morning of the feast of St. Scholastica and a feast which always rings in our heart with a special sound as a kind of messenger, first messenger, early messenger of spring and the dawn of a new life. And I think her self, her own life and the monastic life as such, You must see it, and I hope that in the months to come that you also, that you clearly see that, that the, say, the specific form and way of the monastic life, some way always then today indicated and symbolized by the dog,

[01:26]

The dove which always stands out in the tradition of the Old Testament as the first for what we call meditation, for the illuminating and the remembering of the word of God, and it stands out as the bird of the temple who makes his home in the crevices and the various nooks and holes of the temple walls and makes, as it were, the altar its habitation, the place of rest. So, and then, of course, the migrating bird that indicates and heralds spring, also the poverty and the participation in the general misery of man,

[02:47]

All these things go into this symbol of the dove. All that, what the dove shows, being, as it were, meeting in simplicity. which is possible only when there is depth and with depth the endurance of being. So all these things come together in the monastic life and especially in our days in order to come to a clear decision which would affect the rest of our lives, it's very necessary to see this specific mission and position of the monastic life in the church as representing not lack of sensitivity, not a kind of stony indifference to the needs of the day,

[04:02]

But on the contrary, a great inner sensitivity to it. Why? Because the last heart of the monastic life is love. But it is that love which remains, which rests, which stabilizes, which builds, the building. It therefore is stronger than any chain. and stronger even than death. That we must see. Virginity, monastic life, community life, our whole withdrawal, this kind of tactical withdrawal for the world has a meaning only, is even allowed to us only, if it is motivated by a deeper love, that absolute love which especially in this messianic age, puts us into the presence, makes us face the presence of the coming of the Lord, so that we realize our love is that oil which is the food for the flame which enlightens and warms the darkness of this

[05:31]

world until the moment when the Bridegroom comes. And therefore it's the yearning for the face of the Lord and the monastic life in that way is making, opening wide the doors of our hearts that the King of Glory may enter in. for that matter every day in the monastic life, I would say every decision which is made in the monastic life is done in this, in the light of what we call this eschatological expectation. The kingdom of the Lord is near at hand. It is right in our midst that is really the inner longing, the ethos of the monastic life. So I hope and we all pray for you and try to support you in this, your own search and try also through

[06:43]

The life that you are living, going to live, to see the depth which is inherent in it, but most of all, I mean, that love which is stronger than death, and may also then your own seed and your own example be like a little spring for ourselves.

[07:10]

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