Chapter 52: The oratory of the monastery
The oratory must simply be a place of prayer, as the name itself implies, and it must not be used for any other activities at all nor as a place for storage of any kind. (From Ch. 52 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Moving from a house to a new home -- a time for me to let go of much of the emotional and material baggage that clutters my heart, my oratory, and keeps me from growing in prayer. My life becomes more and more about living in that creative space with God.
"A place of prayer" is important for me and "place" also means a time for prayer. We are advised to have a place for ourselves where we can sit without interruption for meditation and prayer. It is here that I drop "activity". Is not meditation first of all a stillness of mind and body? No activity, just my breathing, just my mantra, and a believing "that below the surface of my mind and will and heart" I am "being drawn into a place" where the only "activity" is "God at work". (from, A Retreat with Thomas Merton by Esther de Waal)
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