A tremendous decline in fervor for monastic life happened
during the latter half of the last Century.
An old Benedictine monk once told me that the beginning of
the decline coincided with Vatican Council II [1962-1965]. Vatican II did bring
about a lot of significant changes. Changes are still taking place as a result of that Council. Someone once coined the phrase, “Change is a good thing.” I’m not so sure that all changes
are a good thing.
Whether or not Vatican II directly influenced the decline in
monastic fervor is yet to be finally determined. There was a huge social
revolution developing along the same timeline where we find this Council. I
have no problem seeing how the sweeping changes of the Council, coupled with
the social changes brought about by the 60’s Revolution, affected interest in
and fervor for things monastic.
Dom Prosper Guerange, Abbot of Solesmes and author of a
little book entitled THE MEDAL OR CROSS OF SAINT BENEDICT, gives us insight into Saint Benedict, into his life and work as the founder of
Western Monasticism, and into the blessings attached to the Medal of Saint
Benedict.[1]
[The footnote takes you to a pdf of the book that can be downloaded.]
The small book was translated from the French and published
in English in 1880.
One of the things pointed out by Dom Guerange is an ancient
tradition which says that God revealed to Benedict that his Order should not
disappear from the world’s stage until the Last Day, and that, in the fierce
times preceding the Judgment, it should prove a support to the church and
strengthen many in the faith.
In the zeal that accompanied my discovery of Benedict, my Oblate Novitiate, and Final Oblation in 2006, I could not
help but to think that Saint Benedict, his Rule, and his monasteries offered the
world, and the Church, the solution to their multiplied modern problems.
The solution is not an easy one.
There is nothing easy about structuring a lifestyle that is
centered in and enlivened by the principles contained in the Rule of Saint
Benedict. We progress and we regress. We fall down and we get up. There are times
when we are neither up or down and honestly doing nothing but growing mold and
going nowhere in particular.
The very first monastic principle is the hurdle that most
people will never clear … the first stumbling block.
Simply put, the very first monastic principle is to withdraw
from the world and the world’s way of doing things. This principle is not isolated to monasticism. It concerns all things related to Christ, the Church, and Christianity. Benedict's model of monasticism, when we see it for what it is, is a microcosm representing Christ and his Church.
Only in withdrawing
from the world and its way of doing things are we truly able to see who we are
… to see ourselves as God sees us and to seek him and him alone in the total package of the good, bad, and ugly of ourselves. It is terribly easy to see what we need to
do and then run away from it because doing what we need to do requires much
from us.
Saint Benedict encourages inquirers that they “not be daunted
immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation.”[2]
I believed it during the early stages of my formation as an
Oblate. I believe it even more so now.
Saint Benedict, his Rule, and his monasteries still offers
the world, and the Church, the solution to their multiplied modern problems.
Pray for professions to the monastic life.
No comments:
Post a Comment