Tag Archive for ‘obedience’
Do you have any saints?
The story is told of Blessed Basil that, making a visitation of his monasteries, he said to one of the hegemons, “Have you got any saints here?” The Abba said, “Through your prayers, my lord, we all desire to be saints.” And again, Blessed Basil said to him, “No, I mean have you GOT any [...]
Being Beloved Children of God (Part 4)
Dropping our plan. What that Prodigal Son had to accept at that moment was to drop his own plan completely and accept the father’s embrace of love. Accept the father’s way. Let the father clothe him in the new garment—the garment we receive when we receive the habit. Put on his finger a ring, a [...]
The Dangers of Avoiding Regular Times for Prayer
When you have given over the practice of stated prayer, you gradually become weaker without knowing it … Men first leave off private prayer; then they neglect the due observance of the Lord’s day (which is a stated service of the same kind); then they gradually let slip from their minds the very idea of [...]
God Looks for Obedience
The old men used to say, “If someone has faith in another and hands himself over to him in complete submission, he does not need to pay attention to God’s commandments but he can entrust his whole will to his father. He will suffer no reproach from God, for God looks for nothing from beginners [...]
The Virtue of Obedience
They said that Abba Sylvanus had a disciple in Scetis, named Mark, who possessed in great measure the virtue of obedience. He was a copyist of old manuscripts, and the old man loved him for his obedience. He had eleven other disciples who were aggrieved that he loved more than them. When the old men [...]
Pennington on Chapter 72 of the rule (cont.)
Obedience. Benedict goes on, oboedientiam sibi certatim impendant. We obey one another. We obey one another but certatim. Certatim expresses the idea of a certain jostling. If everybody is trying to obey each other, obviously there is going to be a certain competition there. That is what Benedict is saying. You struggle to be the [...]
Who Is Called to Be an Oblate of St. Benedict ?
It is suggested that those seeking to make their Oblation should prayerfully reflect on the following paragraphs taken from St. Vincent Archabbey’s Manual for Oblates. Being invested as an Oblate novice or making full Oblation is not a matter of entering a religious order. Deciding whether to seek novice Oblation or Oblation would, therefore, not [...]
Saint Benedict of Norcia; A Short Biography
Today, I would like to speak about Benedict, the Founder of Western Monasticism and also the Patron of my Pontificate. I begin with words that St Gregory the Great wrote about St Benedict: “The man of God who shone on this earth among so many miracles was just as brilliant in the eloquent exposition of [...]
The Transfiguration
The Lord reveals his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses. His body is like that of the rest of mankind, but he makes it shine with such splendor that his face becomes like the sun in glory, and his garments as white as snow. The great reason for this transfiguration was to remove the [...]
Balance in the Rule
. . . The important thing, and it is what Benedict warns of, is the monastic vice of acedia. Apathetic is the word in English, but the Latin word is acediosus (RB 48:18). The monk has lost the zeal that is looked for in the new man coming to the monastery [1]. The man truly [...]
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