Now I will tell you that the conference this morning had such an impact on Father Wendley that he saw his port. The breakfast wasn't good. So... We got salmon steak tonight. Now, maybe we do better on that salmon steak tonight. The topic we were discussing was that of the contemplation and this concept of contemplation, you realize, I emphasize it for this reason that it gives to, it seems, at least seems to me, it gives to our life, let our monastic life appear in a degree of comprehensiveness, which at times,

[01:23]

under the influence of, let us say, a more Eastern and then a more psychological concept of contemplation may not be the case. One could write, I think, a whole history of the church would be too much, but I mean, in looking at the history of the church, I think one could enumerate quite a lot of things which have developed in the present practice of the church under the influence of a concept of contemplation which seems to me is too narrow because it is essentially connected with a withdrawal with a certain dualistic attitude towards matter, towards the visible thing, this visible creation, it tries to establish a state of recollection which would be considered as one of the, and of course I'm not against that, you understand that, as one of the main, let us say, functions of the spiritual life.

[02:46]

which certainly, to a certain degree, is certainly true. For example, the whole crisis we have today in the education of the clergy, I mean the diocesan clergy, and the discussions that have taken place in the council concerning the formation of the clergy. In a spirit, one tries to instill in the seminaries, is spirit and attitudes, the influence, let us say, of Tanqueray, spiritual life, which later on, when they are followed in the world and in the function that they have to exercise as priests, may not always be very useful. What one tries to establish is to enable these young clerics is to live, let us say, spiritually on their own steam and the way in which it is done is to get accustomed to certain times of meditations and times of mental prayer and things like this.

[04:10]

which very often in the reality and in the dealings with the hard realities of life give not always to the priest that, let us say, broad basis for his Christian existence that he would need in order to tie together, in order to bind together in order to overcome the contrast and contradictions of the world today and in its relation also to Christianity. Christianity is in the danger to become a kind of a hothouse affair, a thing which doesn't seem to stand really the meeting with the realities of modern life. So it seems to me it is important also for us as monks, because in our monastic life, you realize that as well as we do in our place, that one of the, for example, one of the great problems is that of the expansion, the maturing of the monk through the monastic life.

[05:23]

What is necessary to give the monk that inner space for maturing, what is the direction one should give to the monk, that he, instead of withdrawing and, let us say, arriving at a state of introversion, he may be able to expand, and in that way, again, mature. So it seems to me that this concept of the contemplative life that I'm trying to explain... is taken as you realize that, really I try at least to do it from the inner structure of Holy Scripture. One of the sentences we found this morning also the place, it's Ecclesiasticus in the 42nd chapter, and it's the 25th verse, where all things are created double, one towards the other. And in this way, the world.

[06:24]

That is the basis for the perfection of the world. Now that is a very, very important decisive sentence indeed, and what you know, pointing to the same direction. Naturally, the life of perfection is not producing more and more some kind. As we have it in the world today, we are accustomed in the world of sports, perfection means something that breaks a record. Therefore there's always that inner tendency breaking the record, getting, you know, to a higher level something more. Perfection in the biblical sense is a meeting of the two things which are created for one another in such a way that the two Templar cover one another, that they are united and in that way constituted in their sufficiency.

[07:31]

That is of course very evident, you know, in the case of man man himself, maybe I'll repeat that just for a moment, I said already this morning, formed out of the dust of the earth and then animated with the breath, the spirit, and so constituted out of these two elements. And these two elements naturally compenetrating one another and in the power of the Spirit, man facing God as his maker and as his Father. And at the moment in which now the Spirit is always the element of glory, the dust is the element of humility, of lower lowly qualities, so to speak,

[08:34]

The combination of the two constitutes man in his totality, in his wholeness. And then we go from there, we go further, and we see that at the moment in which man turns away from God, and this contact, you know, this towardsness of the spirit, the towardsness toward God is lost, At that moment also, the two qualities, as I say, the glory quality and dust quality, kind of fall apart and get into contradiction. This duality, to some degree, is continued in the meeting of man and woman. It is man who develops, as I say, the glory quality. It is the woman that, shall we say, has more the dust qualities. Not only that the woman is a housewife, you know, has this constant battle, you know, with dust and with dishwashing.

[09:46]

And you see there right away how the monk tries to be the two, you know, in one. It's a very important thing that dishwashing is one of our functions. Now, that leads us into some applications, maybe for later. But there it is, you see. There is man and woman. Man is, certainly is, as St. Paul says it clearly, he is the glory of the woman. On the other hand, you know, too, the woman is the glory of man, but subordinate, therefore, is the reflection of the glory of man. And, of course, in the fall and after the fall, these two qualities are, as it were, isolated in themselves, turned away from God, and therefore become in man pride, and the pride of Lamech. I mentioned that example this morning. And in the woman, the subserviency, the subservience to man.

[10:50]

The woman is subservient because, that is, her longing will be for man and man will be her lord. That is the order, as it were, that follows and that established rules then this fallen nature. So that woman has lost, in that way, her real original capacity and becomes, as it were, closer to the dust. And then we see that, of course, then later on, this tendency in the Old Testament very clear. For example, if you take the prophet Isaiah, and you take Isaiah in the background of his time, where the Assyrian kings are there. The Assyrian kings are simply the incarnation of the emancipated glory of the male. Therefore, they have all these tremendous beards, you know. They are higher than everybody else.

[11:52]

The crown still has something to it, you know. And there he is, you know, and glories. I take, you know, the treasures of the nations like, you know, taking eggs out of the nests of the birds and they don't dare to chirp. as the famous inscription on the king of Assyria, you see, it says there in the, I think it's the eighth chapter of Isaiah. So the pile on the other, and this background, and this, let us say, the Assyria simply constituted for the people of the time of Isaiah, was, let us say, the incarnate, the incarnation, of organized, emancipated, the glory, the power, the omnipotence of the male. And then in this background then, of course, for the new world to be born appears as the sign the woman and the child.

[12:52]

The woman and the child. Why? Because there a new order appears On the, one can say, on the background of, let's just say, the dust side of man, what appears it is the mercy, it is the agape of God. So there the woman and the child in opposition to the other. And that is then, of course, very clear in the very act of the incarnation, where the Holy Spirit, that is the glory, overshadows the Virgin. And in that way, again, you know, constitutes the real unity of glory and of dust, let us say, overshadowing the Virgin. And the term overshadowing just taken also in this and under this aspect. And then our Lord himself, who then is the, let us say, is the man.

[13:56]

H-O-O, behold the man. Why is he the man? Because in him, in a very special way, glory and humility, glory and dust are united. He takes on, he does not think it robbery, to be equal to God, but he empties himself. And in that way, he does the encounter and the fall. He empties himself and he takes the likeness of sinful flesh. That is the dust. Dust art thou, and unto dust thou shalt return. So there, and therefore in that, in this unity of these two, Christ is the man. The man. He really fulfills, let us say, the whole function of man after the fourth. And in him, then, these two aspects of the glory and of the dust, you know, are completely united.

[15:01]

He is at the same time the one who appears in his heavenly divine glory on Mount Tabor, and he is the one who on Golgatha, on Golgatha enters into the nothingness of the likeness of the flesh of sin in death. So in this way, then, what is the monk, if we may make one step further? He is the perfect man, one can say, because he is the imitation just of this quality of Christ as the man. Christ, too, in this here on earth, he is in a high humble of heart. The monk wants to make his heart just like his heart, and... enters into his footsteps. The monks, therefore, and if you consider the life of the monk, if you consider, let's say, the whole spirit of monasticism, it is a deliberate, in that way, deliberate tendency to enter with Christ into death, to die again the death of Christ.

[16:16]

Therefore, the basic, absolutely basic importance of the virtue of humility for the monk. Humility, humus, is dust. Humility is that virtue which is, let us say, the taking on, the deliberate taking on of the loneliness of dust. And that is what the monk's life in that way is. that he resigns, he in himself, the way he lives, one can say the totality of the life of Christ. He's not emancipated man. He's not therefore one of the reasons why the monks, you know, in the beginning didn't want to be clerics. Why? Because... Clerics means to have an office. It means to have authority. It means to have power in the spiritual sense.

[17:19]

And that is where the monk kind of shrinks away from. The monk is in that way more the hidden man of the heart. He veils his glory, let's say, in the veil of humility. the instruments for that are the obedience, instrument for that also is silence. We know very well that speech, you know, and so much of our talking has to do with our self-exaltation, in some way publicizing ourselves and all this kind of thing. The monk group draws from that. Why in order to restore in himself after the fall the total of man, the glory qualities with, together with, really, the dust qualities. And that is what we call, this aspect of the monastic life is what we call the penitential aspect.

[18:21]

And certainly that aspect is, if you want to consider it that way, is the female part, so to speak, of our existence. While at the same time, this our existence in humility too is really full of glory. The monk certainly is directed through obedience by the will of somebody else. You have put men over our heads. And that situation is the situation of the dust. But at the same time too, this relation is a filial relation. Therefore, it has an inner glory. It's not only to say emancipated humility, that means self-humiliation and lowering of oneself, but it has a glory in it. It means that the one who in this way has somebody else's will over him is related to this one as a son is to the father.

[19:28]

And then naturally, on the other hand, also requires of the monastic father also the combination of these two qualities. Let us say of the quality of leadership and of the quality of motherliness. Some way the abbot too has to be or has to strive after that to be a combination of these two and in that way to... or to inspire, the monk with the real experience of that totality of that father and mother in their working together in the ordinary order of things would give to the child. And in this totality, the monk grows. The monk has there the freedom, as it were, the space to breathe and the space to develop, but to develop always in the totality, not an emancipation. As soon as somebody enters the monastery in order to make a career, that is on the line, let's say, of the emancipated

[20:41]

glory of man as such and it leaves out the other aspect to which the monk in a special in special vows really kind of to which he devotes himself expressively and explicitly before God that is the obedience and that is the stability and that is the conversion among this this trinity is in itself that pledge, you know, in his life to constitute this totality and to avoid in any possible way the emancipation of the glory. That's what we call pride. And therefore, as I say again, this specific obedience is an ennobling. It is an enriching. It's a means of growth. and in this way also has to be handled. I mean, those who are exasic superiors, and as it is said, for example, again, now in the document on the religious, decree on the religious by the council, just these aspects also of the superior are emphasized, you know, that the superior should, for example, listen.

[21:57]

It's the quality of being able to listen. And that is, of course, right away, as you see that, that is in some way, is the quality of the mother. Because the mother is usually the one that is able to listen to the child. The father is always ready to talk to the child. The mother is ready to listen to the child. So we work, you know, and I think in these things, you know, the whole concept, this original concept of contemplation, has its immense, infinite variety of application, practical application. And it would be so good for us if we see the monastic life just in this totality. Because if we don't, if our monastic life is simply, let us say, the isolated encounter of the individual soul with God, if it is just this kind of vertical relation, and then meeting between the soul and God in a certain exclusiveness, then, of course, we are in danger to lose the totality of our human existence.

[23:09]

And therefore, in the monastery, we should see and see our monastic life not only as the attempt to, let's say, what we call to constitute or to achieve A union with God, of course, you must care for, of course, union of God is, but not a union of God that is in any way exclusive, but a union of God between man and God, and that means between the whole man and God. And not only, let us say, the upper, let us say, the archies mentis, the upper part of his spirit there where he, let us say, touches or is immediately confronted with God, but of his entire land. That is the importance of the rule of St. Benedict. But he says we cannot achieve this union. That means we want to achieve, we have to climb the ladder. But what kind of ladder is it? It's a ladder that has these two posts, and the one post is the body, and the other post is the soul.

[24:17]

And then this ladder itself, what is it? When you descend, then you really ascend. If you want to ascend, you really descend. So that is the mystery of the ladder. That's the mystery of our monastic life. So the ladder, that was the great, you realize that was the great misunderstanding, for example, for a man like Luther. concerning the monastic life. He had monastic life was, for him, connected and, of course, very understandable because that is the, let us say, the catechism teaching of the day, of the time. That is, the monastic ideal is incorporated in John Klimacus, John of the Ladder. And then, of course, in these Byzantine icons, you know, Mount Athos, you can see it up to now, all full of ladders, you know, and all the John Klimacus and the ladder, you see. And, of course, St. Benedict and the ladder, too. But not realizing, you know, really, what kind of ladder it is.

[25:18]

And therefore, this ladder is by no means the way in which the emancipated male makes his way up. That was the misunderstanding of this whole picture. And instead of that, the ladder in the rule of St. Benedict doesn't constitute anything like this. It's not an invitation, as Luther thought, to the human will for self-discipline, self-control, and in that way achieve, you know, that ascent, you know, to likeness with God. It's not the meaning of the ladder. The ladder is really, presents us with the two ideas, the totality of man, his body, one of the soul, the other one, and then the realms of the ladder. What are they? The steps of humility. So it is therefore the descending and the way that Christ, who ended himself, did not think it,

[26:25]

robbery to be equal to God but emptied himself became in this way and for this reason man and one of us and a servant and obedient unto death and therefore God exalted him and gave him a name over about all other names so in that way this totality as I say affects immediately for example also the quality of obedience It affects the way in which the Father, the representative of Christ, meets his children. It affects the way in which the children, the sons, meet the Father. The sons naturally reflect the nobility of obedience means that the son reflects the dignity and glory of the Father. This kind of thing, you see, what one sometimes also meets today, that this whole problem of the relation of the superior to the monk is seen, let us say, on political lines, kind of what we call democratic lines, where then immediately the superior or the authority is seen as a threat.

[27:44]

or as something that is, of course, in the state of fallen nature. And without Christianity, what else can we do but try to establish a precarious balance between authority and between service? And what is it? The only way to do it is put checks there, you know. And then what are the checks on? You know that the executive power and the legislative power and so on, judiciary and so on. You see all that what the American democracy has tried to develop in which in itself is of greatest value naturally it is, but of course monastic for that way, a monastic community works in a different way. What the democratic government in that way tries to establish is this precarious balance with checks of two, let us say, tendencies.

[28:45]

The tendency from below, which is, let us say, the volonté générale, you know, the common will of the people, and the tendency from above, let us say, the leadership. which is necessary in order to start and in order to make the unity of the people effective in a certain direction. And that, of course, but the two things are seen a priori as enemies, you know. At least they are visions, you know, with apprehension. Now, of course, that has its great and very good reasons in history, historical experience of the nations through the centuries, you know, also the Christian centuries. But there it is. It's therefore a checking thing. You see, it's like establishing peace with, as it was pointed out, you know, in our days, so important for us, established peace, you know, on the basis of the retaliation.

[29:51]

The power of retaliation. See, that means the atomic power, you know, and energy storage, you know, here. Not part of it, I think, is even in the Rocky Mountains. I mean, there it is. You see, that is a completely different approach. That's not an approach in the realm of redemption. And, of course, our monastic community life is in the realm of redemption. And therefore... The monk is considered as the redeemed, as the man. It is simply not for, and that is the beautiful thing, you see, that also according to Holy Scripture, that basic idea. It is not good for man to be alone. But what does this sentence mean? That sentence is a warning, well, concerning the emancipation of... It is not good for man to be alone. As man, that means the emancipation.

[30:54]

But what is the perfection of man? It is the meeting of man and woman. And of course, virginity for us, after Christ the man has shown to us the way of virginity. But what is this way of virginity? It's not the way of the bachelor. That is for sure. I'm always against, you know, any kind of monastic life in which then monasteries, you know, appear in the end, you know, as great wonderful apartments for bachelors. Bachelor apartments. And it develops rapidly. I mean, it becomes a little sweet, you know, where every bachelor, he has his bathroom, he has his sleeping room, he has his... workroom, you know, and his office and so on. You just go into modern monasteries, you know, built on the power of the recent boom, and you'll be surprised, you know, I mean, what you see. So not a monastery is not a bachelor apartment house.

[31:58]

But in that way, why? Because that is, you know, it's again, that is, in that way, it's not man alone. You see why? The monk, you know, is for that, a part of that, let us say, order of redemption in which our hearts are created for one another. And you realize naturally too that that means in Christ, you know, it means for him as the head of the church, the incarnation of the totality of man. Man and woman, one man, really. And that is also in Christ. And that is the meaning of the Lord's virginity. The fruit of the Lord's virginity is then his death, that he alone, he alone, Because he is the only redeemer, the head of the new. Therefore, the unity comes. Our unity of the church is derived of the unity, but a unity of totality on the part of Christ.

[33:03]

And this totality is in Christ represented in this way, that he has, let us say, the husband of his bride. The church dies for his bride. That is the transcending of the male qualities into the totality of the human, the true human existence. So therefore he surrendered. The beautiful last, the end of our Lord's life is inclinato capita, with his head bent low. He surrendered his spirit. But that is, of course, inceptive. You see that right away. That is the intimate union, intimate union of the life-giving power of man together with the inclinado capita, with this incline of the woman.

[34:06]

These two things in one. And there is the meaning of the existence of the monk. Of course, it's also out on that, you know, that the community life of the monk, you know, is based just on this, you know, just as our Lord, when he sends out his disciples, what does he do? He sends them beanie and beanie, two by two. What does that mean? That's the totality principle. It's the community principle. And it is in the discipleship and the missionary activity, which by itself again, you know, if you want, is in his very character is the activity of man, you know. But beanie and beanie, two by two, they go out, you know, on their mission in order in that way. Do it, let us say, in the truly contemplative spirit. Unfortunately, we realize now that it is too late that the 19th century missions, you know, did to a certain degree neglect this principle, that these missions were too individualistic, that they were too much concentrated on the individual person of the missionary, of this preacher.

[35:25]

who goes here and there and directs mission station after mission station, where he makes an occasional appearance then later on, instead of going beanie and beanie, instead of showing, you see there, as the monastic missions of the early of the 7th and the 8th century, did establish a center where monastic community spirit is lived. where therefore the ecclesia exists for everybody to be seen. And then from this center that takes its roots and sinks the roots of stability into the soil where it has been founded. And then from there it radiates. And from there then it creates, has created the Christian civilization of Europe. It's the monastic principle that has created a civilization which was really earthbound, which was rooted in the very soil, which therefore made the monastery the templum or the point where heaven and this new earth really and truly met in the visible ecclesia, the visible community of the monks.

[36:49]

That was the principle. And that should be the principle for our life today. Our life is based on. It is based on the vows. What are the vows? The vows are this inner, solemn, complete surrender. Man in itself, and man in his emancipated nature, he tends constantly to... to roll around, you know. He is the one who travels. He is the one who expands. The woman is the one that stays at home, you know. She has the kitchen, you know, and she has the drawing room and so on, and she has the home is her realm, as it were. Man goes out as a merchant, as a salesman, and whatever, you know. He may duel into every direction. Therefore, he has in himself, he has that character. He is restless in some way by nature.

[37:51]

He flies from one flower to the other, you know, very easily. While the woman is the one, again, you know, seen in her very nature, the mother is the one who gives to the home instability and the element of continuity. And that is, of course, again in the monk. If the monk, for example, vows stability, it's not easy for him, you know, but if he vows stability, he really sinks his roots down into the earth. And that makes also for the stability of the church. I have in that way for the future great misgivings. If the community principle... for any kind of expansion of Christianity, you know, is disregarded? I don't see. What is the whole restlessness of the South American continent? Now, what is it sometimes? I am tempted to say that they never knew anything.

[38:55]

They never had any activity, missionary activity, really directed by monasticism. Now, of course, there are some, you know, there are some monasteries, you know, you yourself have there, Argentina and Chile and so on. But there, again, the difficulty there is, you know, that then these monasteries may be, and that's another problem. I just put that for your consideration. I think it really is a problem. There's too much in that way shut off from the people, you know, that are around. Why are they shut off? again a concept of contemplation which is rather psychological then it is really ontological an ontological concept of contemplation is for example the the concept that Gregory the Great had and for him there was absolutely no difficulty for him it was the monk you know who would be sent out as a missionary

[39:57]

And, of course, for that matter, to preach the word, you know, to preach the gospel. And why was that? Because it is the monk at the time of St. Gregory who has, you know, this inner, one can say, rootedness and at the same time the detachment, which is necessary in order to go out for this specific task. very specific task, which is what they called plantare ecclesia, to plant the Christianity into a new ground. That was considered, you know, in the antiquity, one had a very good and very clear picture of what a monk, let us say, would do and what he would not do. The antiquity was convinced that the monk was not for what we call the cura ordinaria animarum. The ordinary, that is the cura ordinaria animarum, that is in the established church.

[41:05]

Established under the bishop, established with the clergy that belongs to it, established in a territory, and this church, you know, and its administration to enter into it is not a matter for them all. That is strictly the matter for the diocesan clergy, and that also demands a way of life which is in itself incompatible with the monastic life and the rules, the rule of sin. Why? The other thing, you see, the extraordinary care of souls, that is a different story. This extraordinary care of souls has two aspects. In one way, it doesn't commit a whole community for good, you know, to a certain work. It has the other aspect that this extraordinary care of souls always demands what we would call a heroic degree of surrender to Christ.

[42:10]

That means an aiming, what we call aiming at perfection. Because going out to plant a church, one leaves one's country and one's father's home, and one goes into a land that God will show, and in this land to plant the church there means to be ready to shed one's blood for this purpose. And therefore, of course, the blood of the martyrs, that is the real seed of the church. And therefore, this aspect that it therefore demands from the part of the missionary, this, let's say, what we may call status of perfection, as far as the intention of absolute surrender to God is concerned, you know, the willingness to martyrdom, that was expected of them not. And therefore, he was the one who was sent, you know, into pagan countries because that was the risk he underwent.

[43:10]

And the clergy, at that time especially, of Gregory the Great, you know, to that diocesan clergy simply was not prepared, that's all. And therefore, the whole field of the mission, you see, is a field in which the monk as monk, you know, is active, of course, at the demand also of the ecclesiastical authority and so on. But, you see, all this, you know, forms part, and that is the main point I wanted, to make forms part of a bigger, more comprehensive picture. The picture of the original meaning of the word contemplation. And it is for the monk, you know, it simply means to constitute in his life the totality. With totality also, in many other ways, for example, if you take the work of the monk. You have on one side, we have the Lectio Divina and the Opus Dei. And you have in the Lectio Divina, that is the part of Mary, that is the sitting at the feet of the Lord.

[44:17]

That is for that matter is the world's part. The Opus Dei is conceived in monastic tradition in another way, as a labor too. Therefore as a real in that way, as a real work, an Opus. And therefore it represents, if you want, represents the part of the man. Later on you have the same thing also in the whole work, in the demand for manual labor. Manual labor, why is it a part of the monastic life? Again, because the monastic life is the composition of these two posts, you know, of the spirit and of the flesh. And the spirit unfolds in Lectio Divina and in the Opus Dei and the other one in manly labor. And these two things really constitute the totality of man. And that is, of course, absolutely true. Manly labor, in many ways, is a factor which brings the monk into, let us say, confrontation with the realities of this world.

[45:27]

That is why we have our cows. But it isn't so far-fetched, you know, because I clearly remember, you know, I mean, our days in Mariela and so on, where we as fathers had no idea, absolutely no idea. We were living in our books, you know, but if there was a question of turning on the heat, you know, in a room, I didn't know how to do it, you know. Why? Because the lay brother did it, you know. So, because absolutely, and that is one of the things under which our education today of the clergy as a whole absolutely suffers. Too much intellectual, simply and only on the intellectual side, you know. These men are simply not being confronted with the realities of life, and therefore so much immaturity, therefore so much talking and preaching to people who say, well, gosh, you can't preach about it. You have no idea what it's all about, you know, because what do you have?

[46:30]

You don't have to work in that way, you know. And at the same time, whatever you get, you know, for you, on the money side, it's gravy, you know. You can spend it in a nice restaurant, you know, which is very often the case. And then so on, what do you talk, you know, there to us, you know, so that their virginity, I mean, the celibacy among the secular clergy simply is not the celibacy, for example, of St. Paul, because St. Paul's celibacy absolutely was ready, you know, to come in contact with the dust, you know. But the clergy today really doesn't come into contact with dust, you know. You understand. But at the same time, you know that there are other things, you know, for example, the unification of the monastery, what we do now, and what you do is, I mean, what you, is in store for you, you know, the unification of the monastery community, for heaven's sake, let us know.

[47:38]

Think of this unification of the monastery simply as a kind of going with the times, you know, and now this two-class system that belongs to the feudal age, you know, and after all, feudal age is finished, you know, and now the lower classes have come of age, you know, and the monastery must finally recognize, you know, that the lower classes have come of age. That's not the point at all. I mean, that would simply turn the whole thing into a political thing. It is an evident return to the letter of the rule of St. Benedict. And the rule of St. Benedict simply doesn't know this, doesn't recognize it. This, you know, division, you see, of these two classes. You know, the only way that one could, in the old times, get away from it, also in the Baranese congregation, was simply to say, the brothers do not really make profession on the rule, you see, because they don't make any profession on the rule, therefore they also don't belong to the chapter and have no chapter rights.

[48:45]

And that, of course, in itself makes sense. You know, that makes sense. But, of course, if then, as in the Bionese congregation, really, I mean, now, I don't want to judge, you know, but one finally settles down and says, all right, the brothers should take solemn vows, you know. So they take solemn vows on the rule of St. Benedict, but then don't get the chapter right, you know. Now, that makes this added confusion, confusion confounded, you know, really, you know. So, therefore, we cannot not. That are not the reason. The reason is the Holy Spirit. Everything in the monastic life has to grow out of the root of the Holy Spirit and has to be done for the Spirit and for the greater unfolding of the power of the Spirit in the monastic life. And that is, of course, here too. Why did St. Benedict not envisage Two classes. Why did he not want two classes in the rule?

[49:50]

Not because, you know, I mean, he wanted to be democratic. But why? Because his rule was a spiritual rule. And he says it himself. St. Paul says it, you know, in the spirit, you know, in Christ, there's no free man, no slave, you know, but we are all one in Christ, you know. So it is therefore, what is it? It is the fullness of the messianic age which the monastery presents in its totality. That is the real reason for this, you know, and I still remember, you know, talks, you know, I was for the unification and for that, you know, from why I got to kind of, it kind of was one of my first difficulties in entering the monastery. I had two difficulties. One difficulty was the the Latin language and so on, which I thought was not good for the people. And the other thing, for the harmony between mind and its letter, St.

[50:54]

Benedictine Manzi. And the other difficulty was, you know, that as a little postulant, simply and only because I came from a university, I had the... precedence, you know, before every lay brother. There were lay brothers in my land with us, wonderful white beards, you know, and I mean really seasoned, holy men, you know. Men, they were totally really, one can say, men of God, you know, therefore had achieved in that way, was given to them that unity, you know, but in a way which gave immediate witness to it, also in the dignity of this whole thing. And they said, no, priest, you first. Why? Because eventually, you see, in perhaps seven years, I would become a priest, you know. So I had already the precedence. I said, well, there's something wrong here. This doesn't just, doesn't square with the rule of St.

[51:55]

Benedict. And later on, when I learned theology, you know, then I thought, oh my, yes, of course, that is... Strange, you know, because monasticism wants to witness to the fullness of the spirit of the messianic age. And you should take the description that is given of this new world of the messianic age, and lo and behold, you know, these class things, you know, are in the spirit, in the union of the spirit, you know, are transcended, you know, simply. But when in these discussions, you know, sometimes I've said... My dear Albert Helm, Father Albert Helmstil, Norris Mars, and I met, you know, we had some discussion. Yeah, no, I mean, for me, now think about recreation and what can I say to brother Isidore in recreation? I can't, I don't know what to say, you know, because he was from the university and brother Isidore evidently was not, you know. So, therefore, that... Now, the recreation is not the decisive element in the monastic life either.

[53:03]

But you can't see that, you know. I mean, that is what we say, salva reverencia, because you know very well I'm deeply devoted to him because I also hated so much for him. What was it? These things are simply what we call, you know, all the vestiges, you know, of the bourgeois spirit that's still in some way the Victorian age, you know. I absolutely, I must confess, in Montserrat, I find not the slightest difficulty to talk in recreation to every member of the community, but maybe that here in the United States, thanks God, because this here is the country of education. If there is one God to whom one sacrifices gifts, you know, it's education. And therefore, it is education, you know, and therefore that has brought about, you know, it's greater unity. And it is just one of the other, you know, clear indications that in the monastic life too, in the monastic life as such, should be sensitive to, and that is the other part of the contemplative character of the monastic life, that it should be sensitive to.

[54:13]

Now, not, of course, in a sense, you know, that he is a Negro, and therefore, whoop, you know, and I'm a white, and therefore, you know, glory, glory, glory. And so not in that sense, you know, but sensitive to, I would say, to the spiritual mission of a nation. And it's absolutely clear, you know, that the United States has a nation. a mission, you see, in this, in the church today, and for Christianity today. Rome had a mission, still has a mission, but the United States also has a mission. And what is it? It's what we would call liberty. But what is liberty theologically? It is the possibility for the free liberty of the Holy Spirit. That is the aim, really, and the purpose. And this liberty of the Spirit and this unity of the Spirit is realized in a monastic community where all the members, you know, are as God created them together.

[55:15]

Where others, and rabbinic teaching distinguishes these two kinds of prayers very clearly, others which were prayers in which the mind would in the process and in the saying of these prayers would rise from the depth to the height of inspiration. We know that the general definition of prayer that we are accustomed to is that prayer is the raising of the mind to God. In Greek that would be the anesthetist, to new. And that would mean the resurrection of the mind. Now there immediately various shades of meaning arise. You see one shade which is determined by the idea that prayer is, if it were, a kind of an effort in which we try to recollect and to raise the mind.

[56:25]

More prayer as a gift. prayer is something that is and comes through the and in the course of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon us. Now when we think that is a very important, I think, distinction. For example, you know very well that Jewish prayer, the prayer of the synagogue, too had these, let's say, these two main categories of prayer. The one which as they were said, on personal inspiration, and therefore is not bound in any way to certain hours, cannot be bound to certain hours, because the spirit just breathes whenever he wills. And the other one, which is this rising of the mind, which therefore starts, wherever man is, it can begin...

[57:26]

and therefore also at a certain set time. If you remember, for example, our vigils. The vigils start, of course, first of all, with the invocation, which is so characteristic for the beginning of prayer. So, Lord, open you my lips. characterizing clearly that our prayer is a gift, that it is something that is not made by us. But at the same time too then, if we start with the third psalm, everybody knows from his own experience that if one rises at a very early hour and the day is not yet there, you know, it's a kind of effort, you know.

[58:29]

You may wake up and say, oh my, there we go again, you know. And it takes some time, you know, until one, you know, until one comes to. The reason why there's a general tendency, it seems, to put the hour of coffee hour a little earlier, you know, move it more into the beginning of all things, you know. It's a curse, the pros and cons of that, you know, but there is certainly wisdom behind it. But I mean... There we are at the beginning of a day, and we are there. At the morning is always the old world and the old man, and the multi, you know, who at this moment come and say, oh my now, there we go, what's the use, or something like that.

[59:36]

All this kind of Pessimism, you know, that one experiences sitting at the edge, you know, on the bed, you know. It enters, you know, again into the rounds, you know, of the hours. So, but, you know, it's a characteristic prayer, just this Psalm 3 is exactly what one character, what one defines in the Old Testament, and also in present Jewish prayer, as one of these prayers which start, one can say, from the zero point, and then rise, you know, to the heights by the very performance of the prayer. For example, the Psalm Miserere. Or when you start de profundis, out of the dip, I cry to you, O Lord. One thing that you immediately realize, and I think which in our days of growing personalism, you know, is very, very important, you know, to keep in mind.

[60:44]

And that is, you know, that this kind of prayer, out of the dip, I rise, I... I cry to you, O Lord, is a prayer which can be said, you know, at any time. It is true that for the, what we would call the oratio pura, it means that prayer which is in the Holy Spirit. And this oratio pura is essentially, according to its own nature, must be left. And of course, if you read the rule, it's absolutely clear. Saint Benedict has no time. set, you know, for the oratio pura. He doesn't say either that the oratio pura has to be every day for half an hour or for an hour or something like that, you know. Why? St. Benedict says, when the impulse of the Holy Spirit is there, then enter simply into the oratory. But then we recognize, and I think that's very...

[61:47]

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