Rémy Rougeau

These days, a healthy tension exists between young and old monks. Call it a generation gap. But it's an upended version of the broader, cultural generation gap.

PRINTDISCUSSE-MAILRSSRECOMMEND...SINGLE PAGE

FacebookMySpace Mixx Digg Reddit del.icio.us Furl Ma.gnolia SphereStumbleUponCLOSE

Young monks are usually intense men. They've seen the world and don't want it. Faith has led them to the monastery, and they expect to find fervor and good order. In other words, they're zealous. Old monks, on the other hand, have "been there, done that" and know from experience that it's not enough simply to follow rules. The more rules, the easier it is to run on automatic pilot, and they know that being a monk is really about personal conversion to the gospel.

So, here's how our monastic generation gap is unique: In the abbey it's the old monks who push the boundaries and the young ones who tow the line. Visitors are sometimes startled to see two or three of the older monks wearing secular clothes in choir. The young ones almost live in the black religious habit, with its hood, scapular, and big sleeves.

Some tension between generations is good. Extremes balance each other out. Young monks shave their heads and call for devotional prayers to be added to the schedule. Older monks sport unfashionable sideburns, and some of them smoke or watch Oprah.

But Benedictine life is not about zeal or rigor, and it's not about being laid-back. Benedictine life is about balance. The idea behind a good monastic day is to maintain a nice equilibrium between work, communal prayer, and private study. (We call these elements ora, labora, and lectio divina.) This balance is not necessarily reflected in perfectly equal time given to each of the three elements. Prayer requires a different level of energy than work does. Communal prayer, with its ritual and singing, requires a great deal more mental vigor than mowing lawns or folding laundry. And private prayer can be a very intense activity; doing more than three or four hours of it a day requires a special sort of person. Therefore, our schedule, in hours, tips in favor of manual work. (We earn our own living.) There is also a recreational period scheduled each day, when monks play cards, watch television, or hash over the day. Sundays are special: No work is assigned, except for dishes, pots and pans, and caring for the elderly.

The sameness of the days is actually a balm. I rely on it. Six hours of work are interrupted by periods of prayer in chapel. And outside the scheduled work and recreation and meals, monks are expected to be doing their lectio divina. Altogether, we are in choir for common prayer two hours or more. And on average, a monk will spend two hours in private prayer (some more, some less). He will spend five or six hours working.

In the old days, every minute of the day was legislated. Every monk accepted the same measure of daily activities, the very same balance. But nowadays, we realize that real balance means different measures for different people. That's why the schedule is slightly more flexible.

In my own mind, the perfect monastic life is ideorhythmic: It is completely at the service of the individual, with his own spiritual requirements and needs. But here's the catch: An individual is oftentimes the very last person who should write his own schedule. Given the chance, some would do nothing but work. Others might spend the entire day in front of a TV set. And at any rate, living a communal life like ours demands that we do certain things together. The life of the community is the life of each monk. The life of each monk is the life of the community.

So, here is my daily schedule for anyone interested: out of bed at 5:30 (some monks get up at 4:30) to read and pray with a cup of coffee until 6:20 when the community begins Morning Prayer. At 7:00 I go out running while others take breakfast in silence. At 8:00, I begin writing (but must confess that I am often disturbed by something called e-mail). At 11:30 I change into my habit again and go to chapel for Noon Prayer with the community. At 12:00 we eat lunch. If I am not assigned dishes or pots and pans, I have another period of prayer until 1:00. After that, I work in the apiary until 4:30. I shower and prepare for Mass at 5:00, and after Mass, at 5:35 or 5:40 (sometimes 5:45 or 5:50), the monastic community eats supper in silence while one of the monks reads aloud. At 6:00 we have recreation until Vespers at 7:00. At 7:30, I'm in my room saying Compline (night prayer), and I write from 8:00 until 9:00. I brush my teeth and crawl into bed with a book and read for an hour (sometimes two) before falling asleep. And there you have it.

PRINTE-MAILRECOMMEND...RSS

FacebookMySpace Mixx Digg Reddit del.icio.us Furl Ma.gnolia SphereStumbleUponCLOSE

SPONSORED CONTENT