The two meet, and I think in this way too, what we have here has not lost anything, all the thoughts and the fruit of the thinking that has been done during these last years, but it incorporates these things in the way in which the monastery idea is ordered. We have a group, you know, an area for the visitors. We have an area for those laypeople or priests, you know, as oblates, you know, connected in a real deeper way with the monastery, with the monks. We have the ordered, you know, and concentrated place where people go in and go out. And again, for monastic order, monastic order, an extremely important thing. And we have the areas which, as I say, the quiet area, and we have the activity area.

[01:05]

And this is, in some reason, other thing, which is in monastic building really a step forward. It really is the separation of the activity area and of the sleeping and reading area. Because the activity area, we know that more, it works on our own paths, various experiences of the monastery in the setup in which the repository and the kitchen and things like that are right, you know, drawn into The quiet area, the overlapping of the mutual disturbance is unavoidable. I think that here the distinction of building, which, however, at the same time, that's the beauty of it, is part of the whole.

[02:16]

It's not simply a separate unit, but it's part of the whole. where the refectories, where the conferences and so on, the chapter can be held, where the kitchens, the infirmaries, the offices are, the speaking area and all these things, all that separated from the sleeping and reading area is for the whole of the monastic life. I think a great step forward and a great gain. Now, if we go to the, you can see that really in the scheme, as we have it in mind, one of the main purposes is, and I think always has been a purpose, and I think in that all the members of the community agree there is really a common

[03:16]

deep longing for greater concentration, for greater seclusion, for greater silence, and that I think it is not in any way impaired by the present scheme and especially by this living area as it has been proposed in the plan. There is an area set aside And in this, which is set aside, those activities are done that don't, that demand silence. They are combined. And that, of course, is for the sleeping as well as for the reading and the studying. Just demand silence. And that is here achieved in a wonderful way. We have the... arrangement in such a way that the sleeping area is the outside, the outside of this hole, that the reading area is an inner circle.

[04:27]

The whole thing about, you know, a cloister which in itself is also such an element, which as we know so well, you know, adds to the recollection and the functioning, so to speak, of such a place. So within this, therefore, within this area, we have separated the sleeping and the reading area. And then, of course, also we have done that not to make it and the reading, so on, difficult and make the recollection for the individual difficult, or to make the sleeping for the individual difficult. But we have done this separation in order to further both. Because I think one of the great sources of disturbance in the life, as let us say, the cell provides it, is the mixing up of these areas.

[05:30]

And therefore, one is reading while the other one is sleeping. or one is talking while the other one tries to miss, or one is typing while the other one tries this, and there is that constant, you know, that constant conflict. One may, of course, say, yes, all this, you know, could be done by strict regulations, you know, but then with the strict regulations, then again, you know, maybe those who don't like too much the idea of too much rigidity or too much regimentation, may have their misgivings for those. And then maybe again, you know, that this conflict between various activities may in the end also lead to certain restriction of both activities. But here, the separation of those two areas, and to that, of course, one has interiorly, one has to see that, you know.

[06:31]

And one has to see it as such and accept it, and see the inner logic, you know. So, I mean, for anybody who is concerned, you know, of any monastic tradition, one can really say that is long, century-old monastic tradition. The dormitory is the place where one sleeps. And the cloister is the place where one reads. And that is really that old principle. We have to try to adapt that to our modern times. In the old times, there was the cloister. And in the cloister, there was a little thing. And in that thing, there were the scrolls under lock and key. And then one got them out. And then one was sitting down in the cloister and reading it. What the new building provides is really the same thing, basically only translated into our modern needs.

[07:36]

Because that is the one thing which we have to face and which we want to face and which we are in some way happy to face. And that is, of course, the development of the study of the theological and philosophical knowledge. And we cannot today simply put it into a kind of armory in the cloister. That's impossible, you know. Sixty scrolls, those times have passed. But if that is the case, then, of course, what we do is extend, you know, keep to basically the same idea, but extend it, you know, and then try to find the architectural form in which a library And there, of course, again, we make a difference between the reference library, that means between the books, you know, that have to be accessible to everybody, and the research library, I think, that are more specialized books, and books that are more at the disposal of the scholars, books also sometimes that are and should not be made accessible to everybody.

[08:54]

And so that's what that is. also making the special provisions but have the what we call the reference library also there imagine the great increase you know of the periodicals as was pointed out the space which is needed for these things today and here we have done it in a way in which really all this you know becomes it is in one continuous unity with the cloister and surrounds, you know, this inner heart of the cloister. It is, of course, clear that in such an area, you see, this whole area is absolutely devoted to silence. I mean, that is the law of this house. But here again, I must say that to my mind, monastic discipline

[09:54]

And the monastic spirit would not suffer from it. Even if in such an area one would not go around, you know, in one's heavy boots, you know. But if one would go around, you know, there, in one's socks or whatever it is, as the old monks of old did, that's what they did. It was absolutely forbidden either to go into the dormitory in one's shoes. with everybody back there. So, I mean, that, I think, is not a thing, you know, which would impede anybody. If there is any necessity of, for example, for the holding of classes, for teachers, you know, meeting their students in a more private way, for all that provision has been made. Special rooms have been set aside for classrooms and for listening to radio and so on.

[10:56]

Special rooms have been set aside, you know, where the professor meets with the students in private explanations and so on, talks that may be necessary in connection with the whole student program. Special rooms have been set aside where people who want to type their notes may type their notes, but in such a way that they don't interfere with the general atmosphere and with the norm of this community room, especially. And so we have put these things into the corners. It's a very logical way of doing it, and a very beautiful way again of doing it. And again, providing in that way, you know, a sound balance between what is the common norm in a room and what are the necessary activities and exceptions that in that way have to be taken.

[11:57]

But then they are separated by walls. There is a door and there is another room. While the general room, where the silence is the room, that is open, you see, in every direction. Everybody has provided, you know, and sees himself provided with monk and need. Monk must ask himself, what do I want? And the superior must ask himself, what does the monk need? And he needs certainly a place for sleeping. He needs a place for reading. Both are provided, and I think, in a way which is not in a... nakedly way or in a skimpy way, but which is provided in a very generous way. And as far as the sleeping is concerned, the very fact that this whole assembly or accumulation of 40 or 50 or 60 people in one kind of big room, which then is divided into little cubicle holes, you know,

[13:07]

which is not a very satisfactory arrangement anyhow, is avoided. We have organically in the world of this quadrangle one dean array of ten on this side, one dean array of ten on the other side, one dean array of ten on this. So four sides with four deans and four dean arrays. I think personally that the certain, you know, I think the... We also have used the experiences which we have made during these years at St. Joseph. I have a certain even, I mean, intentionally not put up, let us say, any kind of a system of supervision, because that really goes not very well with the sale idea as such. have the cell then that means that the individual is there and the individual is his own rule and one can be sure as in fact basically it's the idea of the heritage that's the idea it is but they are making a life and what starts with those people one is absolutely sure you know they are completely under the rule of the holy spirit and they are therefore

[14:34]

not against the common life, but one can say they are beyond this norm of the common life. And there is this. Now, we have seen, of course, that the cell and also the practice of the cell is something, you know, which is in some way a situation which lends itself on the level, and as I would repeat, as long as the community is on the level of the common life, on the general level of the vita comunis. That means not in the hermitical stage, not in the stage of perfection, but in the stage of purification, in the stage of conversion, as St. Benedict clearly puts it, the stage of conversion. lends itself, you know, to all kinds, you know, of individual, let us say, handlings of what the cell means, how and to what degree the privacy of the cell has to be observed, you know, in what way, you know, people can communicate, go into the cell when they speak at the

[15:56]

door, the open door of the cell and so on. All this kind of is a great number of problems, you know, which develop there, especially in our days where anyhow it is technically nearly impossible to abide cells which offer a complete isolation for the individual. So we can see that, you know, as St. Joseph's. the discipline, also the observance of things have, one cannot say that they have been, to say, developed for the better. In many ways they have listened, you know, and many monks and good members of the community have an eye for that and see that very well. But then hope, you know, the salvation from stricter rules. Now, one habit may sit down and make very strict rules, and maybe the next habit doesn't enforce them anymore, or maybe after a while of renewed, you know, and strict observance, they kind of peter out again.

[17:10]

You know, so it is a constant up and down. The great, I mean, it's a, to my mind, it's an essential part of the rule of sin. that it is not written for the perfect ones, but it is written for beginners. And to Saint Benedict, it was clear, after all this, because he had experienced all the blessings of the colony of hermits in Vikogalu, where everybody lived in his own little cave. And after that, it was clear to him that for the stage of the common life as a school of the divine service, where the individual is a student but not a master of perfection, that in such a setup, the architectural setup must help and carry its activities.

[18:12]

Therefore, sleeping in the dormitory, eating in the refectory, praying in the oratory, Absolutely everything points in that direction. So, I think that we have, although we are members of the 20th century, still we are human beings. And as human beings, we are just the same as Saint Benedict has to deal with. There is not much of a difference. And therefore, the same tenancies are also innocent. So I think what we have tried to do in this sleeping and reading area is to keep the idea of the common life, but at the same time, give a maximum of protection for the individual, but do not make the individual the norm. That's, of course, then the difference with the .

[19:16]

And that is, of course, very well and very good, as long as the individual is on the hermitical stage, where he is ruled by nothing but by the Holy Spirit. So, then, as I said, you know, this perfectionist, for example, as far as the sleeping is concerned, is given by this loosening up groups of ten. You can easily imagine that in grouping ten people in various ways, one can eliminate already many difficulties that may result from the fact that one snores and the other just cannot sleep if somebody else snores. Now, one can group these various things in various ways, you know, put those who are compatible together and then in their ways, you know, I think it's also, you see, I want to hold attention to it.

[20:18]

I mean, it is true that in the history of Benedictine monasticism, the idea of the dean, although it was and it is in the world, has not developed. It seems to me that one of the reasons is the nature of the medieval common life and the lack of the common life in modern Benedictine. Those two things have prevented the grouping, I mean, the forming, the forming of denarii. But I think it's a great hit. I don't see it at all. Why? And I think it's a beautiful thing if an average, you know, can delegate, you know, his authority to mature monks, who in their part, you know, become models, become leaders, become fathers in their own circle and take a special, for example, care of the younger ones who enter into a group like that.

[21:29]

And it's for the abbot a tremendous—I see that, you know, I can see that. Well, from my own experience up to this moment, the current community grows, and again, you know, the contact with the individual is very difficult, you know. Keep it up. The Abbot Columban, when we were talking about it, he said, the one thing I'm sure that it's absolutely impossible, an Abbot cannot be the spiritual father of such a big family. It's just impossible. Now, that is very true. If 40 monks, you know, are there, and 40 monks demand the time of one individual, this is a great burden to carry. And if he can delegate that for the sake of maturity, to be a dean in a group is at the same time is taking part in responsibility, is a preparation for somebody later on to take over.

[22:34]

If that is the will of the Holy Spirit and of the community, the office of an habit. One of the great things nowadays is, the great needs of our days, is the lack of people who, if one, appetites, are spiritually formed enough, mature enough, and so on, to take up the regimen of the monastic family. Why is that? Because there is no opportunity for it. There's no school, there's no preparation. A monk is, either he is an abbot, or he is, you know, just, you know, kind of trotting along. And that is, you know, it's not an idea, is it? So, therefore, in that way, and also we have taken care, we have, for example, the denaries of ten are subdivided again into groups of five. And five are delegated, you know, to one bath and change room the other time, and that goes to another bathroom.

[23:40]

So that even there, these, let's say, more delicate functions, you know, one is not exposed, you know, right away to an indefinite, how to say, audience. Smaller things are very up there in that way have really a certain, I would say, a certain intimate, you know, which is not, I mean, a thing. And then, of course, as far as that goes, also the changing goes. I hope so, did you? There is nothing in it, you know, what in any way. I mean, it has been done by the centuries of monastic traditions. Nothing in there, which is... by nature and essentially opposed to propriety. On the contrary, you know, it is something that, of course, the way and the concrete way in which these things are being handled, also those things, you know, we have to think over, you know, and we have to, in that, to learn, you know, in one way or the other.

[24:54]

That is, I think, is clear. But then we have, in the library again, you know, provided individual carols for reading, which also is a great, in some way, is a great, you know, I can say, is a great luxury. Most people who also deal today work scientifically have to do this work in libraries with dozens and dozens and dozens, sometimes hundreds of people sitting around and walking around on various tables. in a big reading room. So it isn't that. But the whole, what is so important, I think, and what you should keep in mind, you know, is the arranger which is there. You can right away see.

[25:56]

It's an architecture, the form, established program, you know. With the sales, you absolutely don't know, you know, what direction will it take. It can take the direction of greater and greater individualism, you know, that is probably considering the greater of human nature, that is what may easily happen. But here you have something where the building itself clearly expresses it's a It's a profession, you know, of monastic faith, really. And it's an allegiance, you know, to silence. It's a yes, you know, to the common life. And therefore, also, one must say, a school of the monastic life, a school of the divine service, it is also a preparation for something That, I think, is an element that you should, we should keep in mind.

[26:59]

It is a preparation for something higher. I think everybody, again, you know, has to regret, you know, so much the status in which Benedictine monasticism finds itself, you know, today, that it is kind of, again then, stuck with the common life. Then the common lie is the last word. Then it isn't. And I think very often, if you listen into the deepest of your soul, if you ask yourself, now, why do I love the self? What is it? The ideal, the longing for that era-medical perfection, for that One can say, St. Thomas puts it for that self-sufficiency of the Holy Spirit. The self-sufficiency of the Holy Spirit. And I don't see why we should exclude that.

[28:01]

Absolutely don't see that. Some people I know here in the house, they say, oh my gosh, now, if we look around, if I look around and see my brethren here, who is, you know, there, a potential candidate for the hermit, you know. And then if there are so few there, then why do we make so much stress about it? It isn't practical. Now, to that I would say, you know, then of course, there may be at this moment, you know, we are all going to think more on the line of the vita comunis, on the level of the purification and of the conversion of morals. We haven't reached that stage of perfection. Too young, it's clear. But why put limits to the grace of God? Why put limits to the spirit? We don't know. The spirit leads where he wants, leads where he wants.

[29:07]

So, then another thing is also this. And if, you know, looking around, we see few, you know, or maybe nobody, you know, who would, you know, be able, you know, or move on the line of their medical life, how many there are, that's not, that is a historical or political question. It's the question of the principle. If our life, our common life, is open to that, It gives already to this, our common life, a completely new aspect. This is not the last word. So it gives into the common life the element of dynamic, constant striving for higher perfection. And that is good. That's the best way to obviate any stagnation or any self-complacency, or also to lowering the standards.

[30:10]

Then one also must say that if the status of the hermit, you know, may be reached only by a few and very late, nevertheless periods of hermitical and solitary life may be absolutely, I would say, in the economy of salvation of an individual. And there again I would say yes, if there is there, but not give to the individual monk that possibility, you see. The grace may easily, you know, move in that direction, and if the abbot recognizes it, include together with the monk, you know, not for all and forever, you know, but as we have it today, we have it for a day every month, you know, maybe for weeks, you know, maybe for a longer time. It really, maybe, absolutely again, in me, and again, is a tremendous means, you know, of, as the Hermetic Alive is, of deeper confrontation with God.

[31:25]

Therefore, for times, there may be also, and I would like to say that in connection with this whole thing, that there may be very well among us, there may be certain individuals Who really, before God, you know, but I emphasized before God, you see, not in one's own personal, un-transfigured and untested preferences, but before God, need a greater seclusion and a greater degree of solitary life. as a setup as we have it now, may provide, you know. And if the advocacy is there, I don't see any reason, you know, why it should not be provided. But that, I must say, has to be, of course, also subjectively to a certain consent, you know, of the council or even of the chapter.

[32:27]

Those are things which we just have to work at, you know, so that's the moment where we come to our... Really, our life takes the form and the maturity in which we can sit down and write constitutions for it, and that is a necessary thing too. So, therefore, also in the present, I realize, you know, I realize very well that this setup may be a setup which has not been envisaged by everybody, and which the one or the other, you know, may think is a serious really a serious obstacle for himself to the perfection and union with God that he is longing for. And if that should be really the case, I think we have seen in the past that I would be the last, you know, to simply disregard it, you know. That's true. So, and therefore, so much in secret.

[33:25]

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