Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Chapter 53: The reception of guests (paragraphs 1-4)


The greatest care should be taken to give a warm reception to the poor and to pilgrims, because it is in them above all others that Christ is welcomed. (From para. 4 of Ch. 53 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

The poor are those without possessions. Pilgrims are those who leave everything behind to seek. Being unencumbered, they can become more transparent, so that Christ radiates from them more clearly.  Being poor, a pilgrim, and unencumbered is also the condition of saying the mantra.

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