Chapter 27: The superior's care for the excommunicated

Therefore the superior should use every curative skill as a wise doctor does, for instance by sending in senpectae, that is, mature and wise senior members of the community who may discreetly bring counsel to one who is in a state of uncertainty and confusion; their task will be to show the sinner the way to humble reconciliation and also to bring consolation, as St Paul also urges, to one in danger of being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow and in need of the reaffirmation of love which everyone in the community must achieve through their prayer. (From para. 1 of Ch. 27 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

For me, a crucial part of living is learning to engage with suffering. This morning, Benedict's passage speaks to me of the divinized power of spiritual friendship, of communion in silence, and of the energy of shared prayer.