Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Chapter 52: The oratory of the monastery


The oratory must be simply 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.)

Jesus teaches me to pray contemplatively in my heart: "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret" (Matt 6:6).  My inner room is my heart, my oratory, where Jesus dwells. In this oratory it is always time for spring cleaning, for the selfless attention of the mantra, for clearing out clutter, self-will, and all of the psychological baggage.

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