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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260515
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DTSTAMP:20260510T091140
CREATED:20260509T231517Z
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UID:14909-1778803200-1778889599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - St Pachomius
DESCRIPTION:A reading from \nTHOMAS MERTON \n◊◊◊ \nObedience is the distinctive factor of the new [communal] monasticism of \nSt Pachomius. The whole Pachomian structure is [actually] built on obedience\, \n[which] is not just the docility of the hermit to a director\, but the lifelong \nobedience of the subject to the superior\, as well as of the son to the Father. It \nimplies a real concept of self-emptying and subjection\, a real renunciation of \none’s own freedom\, “for keeps.” Accordingly\, all are to obey the Rule\, superiors \nand subjects. No one in the monastery is to follow his own will. [Even] the heads \nof houses and their assistants\, [for example\,] had to weave a certain number of \nbaskets in a certain time\, as a norm for the others to meet… \nHowever\, the superior must command\, and he is to be obeyed as God. \nFurthermore\, the brethren are to obey one another\, but above all the superiors. \nIn commanding\, the superior himself obeys God who wants him to command \naccording to the Rule. All must obey meekly and willingly\, without murmuring. \nUnwillingness and resistance show lack of faith and seriously affect the spiritual \nvitality of the mystery of the common life. It is not just an individual defect\, it \naffects the community. \nObedience is the highest value—with charity—in the common life. It is \n“greater than sacrifices.” That is to say that emphasis is systematically placed on \nwhat is enjoined by obedience\, over what may be inspired by our own \nspontaneous religious desires\, however good [they may be in and of \nthemselves]. This is another fundamental principle [of communal monastic \nlife\,] of cenobitism. What is enjoined in the name of the community…leads to \nlife much more surely and effectively than what is merely suggested by \nindividual inspiration… \nTo illustrate the importance this\, Pachomius burned 500 mats that had \nbeen woven by the cook in the kitchen\, while he was cooking. He had been \nordered to cook only\, not ordered to weave mats. Work over and above what was \none’s duty was not acceptable\, because it was outside obedience. Hence\, works \nof extra sacrifice are acceptable only when the approval of obedience brings \nthem within the ambit of the common will and the common life. When a good \nwork\, of personal choice\, is approved by the superior\, then it becomes part of \nthe common spiritual striving and merit of the community—it becomes a work \nof Christ. But any work\, however good\, that is deliberately kept out of and apart \nfrom the common life stream\, ceases to be a work of Christ. Hence it is not \nblessed. Hence it is a potential danger\, to the individual and to the community. \nLastly\, obedience is according to the Rule: there is no longer any purely \nsubjective and arbitrary command permitted. In commanding\, the superior \nmust himself obey the Abba\, the founder\, and carry on the founder’s will… The \nRule represents the personal thought and desire of Abba Pachomius\, and is not \na mere legal document. \nThus\, obedience\, for Pachomius\, strikes deep into the heart of the \n“mystery” of common life. If superiors do their own will and inferiors merely \ncomply with that will\, then there is not yet a religious mystery. This [mystery] \nis constituted by the participation of all in the sacrifice and obedience of \nChrist\, in His self-emptying. All have renounced their will. When this \nhappens in a community\, the Holy Spirit then breathes in and through all its \nmembers.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-st-pachomius/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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