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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250918
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DTSTAMP:20260512T001827
CREATED:20250914T103605Z
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UID:13946-1758153600-1758239999@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTER \nOF MONASTIC PROFESSION \nFrom “Mirror of Charity” by St Aelred of Rievaulx \n◊◊◊ \nAlthough it may not seem completely pertinent to our subject\, I think it \nadvisable for us who are called monks to take into account and examine more \nclosely the force of our rule. Since many things are said there about things \nspiritual and physical\, let us investigate by careful questioning which of these \nthe force of the rule and the norm of our profession consist of most particularly. \nI read a letter on this subject by a certain person who replied as follows to \nsomeone who had questioned him on this: \n“I do not hesitate to say that the rule of the monastic state\, yes the virtue of \nthe monastic order\, indeed\, the essential character of monastic profession itself\, \nconsists in those practices which make the monk when all others cease to exist\, \nand without which the others\, I will not say do not make a monk\, but do not even \ngive an idea of what a monk is. \n“But what are these? The things we have solemnly promised and whose \nstability and observance we have sworn to God and his saints [to keep]. And \nwhat are they? \n“Stability in the monastery”…”conversion of our life\, and obedience \naccording to the Rule of Saint Benedict.” And further on\, [he adds]: “I want to go \nback to Saint Benedict’s book for monks and I will point out in it how the things \nwhich we have already stated constitute the essential character of our rule and\, \neven more\, of our monastic profession\, so my mind may comprehend them as \nnecessary; I will strive with complete devotion to fulfill my promises and those \nthings which I have vowed—to the extent that the Lord will grant this to me. But \nas for the other things\, I will try to accomplish them\, not as part of the body of \nour rule\, but as practices which support and sustain it.” \nWe would perhaps be in doubt as to what those other things are\, had he \nnot himself introduced them afterwards: not to go out of the cloister\, to practice \nmanual work\, the quantity of food and drink\, the number of dishes and their \nvariety\, the bedding\, the use of trousers only by those sent on a journey. \n“What then”\, he says? “If these are of the essential character of monastic \nprofession\, dispensing someone from them or changing any of them on \noccasion would not be allowed\, would it? Otherwise\, no essential character \nexists\, and I am discovered not to be a monk once I have destroyed in myself \nwhat is essential to being a monk.” \nAt the end of his tractate\, he says: “So then\, beloved brother…since it is \npermitted to give dispensation in these matters\, just as blessed Benedict himself \nalso dispensed monks of delicate health to eat meat\, and those sent on a \njourney\, at least\, to wear trousers\, so also\, I say\, that because these matters \nadmit of dispensation and change\, they are not part of the essential character of \nprofession.”… \nWhat he has called the body of the Rule and the essential character of \nmonastic profession is clear: stability\, conversion of life\, and obedience \naccording to the Rule of Saint Benedict.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-351/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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