The Connection Between an Orderly Prayer Life and Our Work - 2

Last time St. Benedict carefully laid out when the Divine Office - specifically Matins, aka, the "Night Office" - should be prayed/chanted. The very next passage details the content of Matins. 

"...there is first the versicle Domine labia mea aperies, et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam (O Lord, open thou my lips and my mouth shall declare thy praise), to be said three times, then must follow the third psalm and the Gloria, then the ninety-fourth psalm to be chanted with an antiphon, or at any rate to be chanted. Let the hymn follow next, and then six psalms with antiphons."

Notice nothing is left to chance here. The instruction is quite specific. Indeed, if you were to check the text used by Benedictine monks today (at least the serious, traditional monsateries), this is how Matins begins - 16 centuries later!

From there, we read: 

"...let three lessons be read from the book on the lecturn by the brethren in their turns, and let three responsories be chanted between them..."

So not only are we presented with the content, but also who says what when. 

Given that Matins begins the monk's day, prayer is followed by study. The monks read Scripture and informative commentary that will deepen their understanding of it.

"...The books to be read at Matins shall be the inspired Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and also the commentaries on them which have been made by well-known and orthodox Catholic Fathers..."

This pretty much sums up the beginning of every day for a monk. And let's not forget it all starts around 2 AM!

Over time, I've been able to draw quite a few lessons to apply to my work life. But for now, let's stick with our desire to explore how specific passages of the Rule can establish and enforce stability in the workplace. 

Right off the bat, note the consistency of the beginning of each day. While most of us probably start our days more or less the same, we might incorporate the melding of prayer and study. As you will recall, these are essential parts of our spiritual discipline. If you're familiar with the phrase "Norms of Piety," you know these are some of those norms. With this repeated, consistent beginning of the day, we've energized our spiritual life, even as we get ourselves ready for our work day.

With such a beginning, we've set a solid foundation for the dynamic weaving of ora et labora - prayer and work - similar to the daily routine of Benedictine monks. Indeed, the biggest difference between us and monks may be their communal prayer. They gather for the Divine Office in an oratory and commence to pray and chant each "hour": Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline. 

(While I suspect most of us don't stop our workflow for a communal gathering of prayer, this reminds me of a meeting I attended many years ago at a client's office. The business was run by a Jewish family. As we commenced our afternoon sit-down, one of the sons explained that at a given hour, the family would stop work and gather for communal prayer. We made it our business to finish up beforehand. I recall picking up my things in the conference room as the family was filing in. I was impressed.)

Even without communal prayer, as we saw in our last post, we can carve out specific times for personal prayer, perhaps even some quiet meditation. My experience has been that having a fixed plan works best. That means definite times, with specific prayers for each time.

Of course, all this depends on the type of work we do. We have to adjust to our personal circumstances. And if on a particular day we need to change the times, so be it. Indeed, St. Benedict adjusts the times for the liturgical hours in response to the changing seasons. And monks did travel outside the monastery from time to time. In such cases, they basically were expected to do their best to pray the Office wherever they might be at a given time. We can certainly do the same, especially if we're bound to a desk and computer as is the case for so many of us these days.

St. Benedict's extended instructions about when to pray and what to pray no longer seem irrelevant or arcane. I read them now as I do the other daily entries of the Rule. They have helped to establish a firm and fertile connection between and orderly prayer life and work.

That connection plays an important role in maintaining stability in my workplace. No matter the day's workload I try to keep to my schedule of ora et labora. It's especially helpful when the world lobs a monkey wrench that in the past might have derailed the diligent performance of my duties. With all that's going on in the world these days, you can imagine how valuable this has been. That connection between an orderly prayer life and work serves as a kind of glue that keeps everything in place and humming along as it should in a relatively calm and peaceful manner.