When and How We Can Pray at Work - 2

Picking up from last time, let's see how things progressed in determining when and how we can pray at work. Again, the examples are personal. Your particular situation may very well call for a different approach, different specific measures. But some items are common to us all.

An ordering of the day's work and prayer - ora et labora - would be one of them. Another would be the humility to get out of ourselves and rely totally on God. Here's how I came to understand and accept this lesson:

It was only when I realized that I was leaning on myself rather than Our Lord that real progress ensued. That doesn't mean I do nothing and wait for God to do the heavy lifting. I do what I think best, but consciously, consistently defer to God's Will, ask Him for grace, for strength, remind myself that by myself I can do nothing.

After all the experimenting and end of day assessment, some order was finally established. Some days were better than others, but the when and how to pray at work finally took some reasonable form.

Now, circling back to the Rule of St. Benedict, we recall that our reference has been the extended daily entries where St. Benedict instructs his monks exactly when and how to pray their communal prayer - the Divine Office. If you're not familiar with this practice, recall that monks gather in an oratory at fixed times during the day and night to pray and chant the prayers of the Office. The Rule references Scripture for those times. In the Old Testament we find that devout Jews prayed seven times a day. Those seven times for Benedictine monks include Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline.

In addition, monks gather at night (around 2 AM if a traditional time) for Matins. (Of course, they get to bed very early, they shouldn't be suffering from sleep deprivation. Whew!)

It seems like a lot. For us non-monks it is, for the most part. Even if you eliminate Matins at 2 AM, it's a lot. The very thought of all this kept me away from the Divine Office for a long time. But all that changed.

Frankly, I don't remember exactly when I reconsidered praying the Divine Office. But I do remember what opened my mind to reconsider. Somehow I stumbled on online streaming of the Office that you can access anytime, compliments of the Abbaye du Barroux in France. If you search, you'll find their website. Click HERE and you'll go directly to the website that streams their chanting of the Divine Office each day. 

Now, I've always had a fascination with the history of monks and the monastic movement. As a result, I've learned about how and why monasteries were originally founded and how they spread in both the Western and Eastern Rites. In the course of my studies, I took a particular liking to Benedictine monks - specifically those who are faithful to he true Benedictine tradition. (Sadly, some monasteries embrace Modernism. I avoid these.)

After listening in from time to time, I took the leap and started listening to Terce, Sext, and None regularly during my work day. These traditionally are prayed morning, noon, afternoon - let's say around 9 AM, Noon, 3 PM, although the times can vary. For a spell I paused my work and listened and read the prayers being chanted. (The text is available on the streaming website.) I even tried Vespers close to its tradtiional time in the early evening.

It was interesting, even exciting for a while. But it didn't really work out that great. While I can plan and control most of my work days, it's not always possible. So I'd miss an Office or two here and there. And if I had to be out of the office (I work mostly from home), that could kill the whole day. 

I won't bore you with drawn out drama that ensued. Suffice it to say that it finally dawned on me that I could adjust the times to work more in tandem with my particular work schedule. Indeed, St. Benedict himself varies the times of the Office depending on the time of year. If he could do that, I surely could adjust times as well.

(Don't ask me why it took me as long as it did to figure all this out. But it did.)

So, long story short, I now pray the Divine Office each day and have even added Compline (prayers before sleep time). It works for me. And it has proved to be the best way to weave together my ora et labora.

Pertinent to the goals of our Stability Project, this all plays out beautifully. I remain faithful to praying the Office at a time and in a manner that allows me to give my work all the effort it calls for. And the combination of mostly fixed times, with the flexibility to adjust based on circumstances, helps establish that stability that keeps me sane in the face of whatever the world throws at me.

Couple of final notes: 

I pray the traditional Diving Office, not the more modern "Liturgy of the Hours." My source for the text - besides that which you can access if you listen to the monks of the Abbaye du Barroux online stream - Divinum Officium can be found online. Not dissing the modern version, but I find sticking with tradition has all benefits and little if any pitfalls. Same can't be said for a lot of the modern, or as I call them, newfangled liturgies we've all been subjected to these past 60 years or so.

You don't need to pray the Divine Office to weave together your ora et labora. As I explained earlier, I had a pretty good system in place before stumbling on and deciding to incorporate the traditional Divine Office. But you might want to give the Office a shot to see if it works for you.

Whatever you decide, if you commit to regular prayer at intervals during the work day, you'll learn to appreciate those entries in the Rule of St. Benedict that explain specifically when and how monks incorporate the Office into their work day.